Martin Logan Center Channel-make sense??

I have Cinema center with B&W Signature 805's on front, Sunfire sub, and Paradigm rears. The Cinema is quite bright and takes some getting used to. We use our system predominantly for TV and movies and it seems to work together just fine. I had a set of Dynaudio 1.3SE's on the front for a while and it still worked just fine. Many told me not to mix speakers but I got such a great deal on the Cinema, I figured I could always sell it if it didn't work. My Sunfire receiver allowed me to adjust the relative volume between the fronts and center. If you can locate a used Cinema at a good price, you will always be able to get rid of it for close to your purchase price. I'd say give it a try.

No...I doubt it would work. Even if you mix cone speaker brands, it's usually pretty obvious. Heck, even mixing different models within the same brand often causes noticeable mismatches.

You should use a center that exactly matches the L/R speakers or you're better off using no center channel at all.

OK, Results of a little experiment I did:

I have ML Aerius i's and Kef Q65s. Just for the heck of it once I used the Kefs as my front L/R speakers and the ESL section of one Aerius i (with appropriate amplification) as my centre is a HT setup. The results were less than satisfying with well-recorded concert DVDs (Eric Clapton unplugged etc.) where I could clearly hear the 'difference in pace' between the Kefs and the Aurius i. The voice sounded unfocussed and muddy, more like hearing someone talking from behind! However, with movies this was less evident due to the ambience noises of surrounds.

Now, I may be way out on limb here with my assertion since Cinemas are obviously different to the ESL panel of Aerius i. Anyway, just make sure that you actually listen to it before making up your mind. Believe me, getting the ESL panel and Dynamic woofer integration is something even ML took years to master. So, more often than not, you might find this whole "mix and match" business frustrating.

Cheers,

I used Thiel CS2.2 for fronts, an older Spendor center channel (funny square shaped thing..very very good speaker), and a pair of Spendor 2/3 for the rears. Amps were Levinson 27.5/fronts, bryston 2b/bridged/center, and Adcom 545 II for rears. An older parasound psp 1500 processor was used in conjunction with a Sony ESP9 dolby digital processor. The sound was simply great; lotta wires, though. I replaced all those amps with a Parasound HCA 1206; it was a move backwards from the Levinson and the other amps (well, not the Adcom but that was the rears). The speakers worked fine together once I got the relative volumes balanced.

Mixing planars and woofers is another story, though.