help on center speaker

I will keep it at 80 hz and small speaker setting, until I upgrade my front speakers.

Remember that the Afekt is factory set to match the Unik. If you put it with a "larger" speaker with better bass response than the Unik, such as an Index, you may find the bass a bit tubby. This is what happened when I put an Afekt with Tukans. I had to adust the Afekt so that it crossed over at a point more appropriate for the Tukans (i.e. lower). However, if you do this, it will now not match the Uniks, which you also have. You might not notice it in HT, but if you listen to newer formats of multichannel music, such as SACD or DVD-A, it may not be a good thing . This is one reason why speakers all around should be relatively similar, and full range, as opposed to the days when rear speakers only produced effects.

Regarding one of your other comments about front speakers having to be be full range, they don't "have" to be. However, if you have full-range speakers, you will have bass in stereo. This gives good musical reproduction. And for HT, let the sub take care of the non-musical booms and crashes. If you have small monitors, crossed over at a high point, with bass filtered out and handled only by the sub, you will have mono bass. Fine for HT, but there's a lot of musical bass in the 40-80Hz mid-bass region. (The open E string on a electiric guitar is around 36-38Hz) It won't be in stereo if you filter it out. That's one reason why some people suggest that you need two subs, ... or full-range speakers in front.

Some NADS have a reputation for audible hum and hiss. You have to live with it. NAD is good value for the money but you get what you pay for.

I think a Centrik would be fine as a centre It's more likely to match than a different brand, if you can find one. As far as other brands go, trust your ears. Remember Linn's philosophy: "if it sounds better, it is".

So I guess in this case I have 2 options:
- Upgrade front speakers: I am thinking of the Linn Ninka (50Hz-20KHz), then set them as full range front l+r and crossover the rest of the speakers (Linn Trikan in the center and 3 Linn Unik in the back). Also the Ninka are matched to the Trikan center speaker. A bit expensive, but I will try to get them used. If I get the Ninkas I am thinking of also buying a better power amp (NAD THX 216).
- Buy a second sub (Linn Affect) - this is a cheaper option - used can be found for like $700. The only problems is that my receiver does not have l+r outs for the sub (it has only sub1 and sub2).

I am thinking that option 1 is better. Any ideas?

and regarding the center speaker - I got the Linn Trikan.

If the Trikan goes well with your Index, why not sit on that for a while? Catch your breath and let your budget prepare for what you might want to do next. You may not even need a second Afekt. Remember that the objective is to build a system that you like, not to spend a lot of money as fast as you can.

Do you really need 6.1? Do you watch a lot of movies with 6.1? Do you need a centre rear to fill in a space in your room? If you don't, if you can be happy with 5.1, another option, instead of two Ninkas, and at roughly the same price, is four Katans. Sell the Index and Uniks. The Trikan matches the Katan as well as the Ninka. It's a sideways step from your Index, rather than an upgrade, but it provides an upgrade path to a 5.1 Aktiv system. Katans all around with a Trikan would be sonically matched and upgradeable to Aktiv. Ninkas/Trikan/Unik would be matched in front but not as well in the back, and would not be upgradeable to Aktiv, unless you later replaced the Uniks.

I obviously can't say what's best for you, but these represent options in addition to what you proposed above.

I find your thread quite interesting because I am in the middle of doing the same thing, i.e. building a HT. I have Ninkas, a Trikan, and Katans. I have an Afekt sub that I'm not using since it's too small to use with Ninkas, although it is big enough to use with Katans. I'm skipping the 6.1/7.1 options at this point and concentrating on 5.1