C40's in a Theater Room - OK?

[arwun]

I have been working on a theater room in my basement, and posted a while back asking you guys about the possible use of my paragon and/or my 3-way C40's (15" woofers, 070 tweeters, etc) in the room:
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=17809

I've decided not to use the paragon in the theater room, and instead enjoy it in another part of the house.

I'm hooking up a McIntosh MHT200 A/V Receiver to drive the theater room speakers (& the paragon outside the room).

In order to save some money initially, I would like to try using the C40's as my front L & R main speakers. If they work well, then I will save from getting new speakers + be able to enjoy my C40's. My issue is the center channel speaker. The "experts" (speaker salesmen) are telling me that I can't do this - that I NEED to use a "matched set" of three up front. I am having a hard time believeing that to be true - is it?

I would like to purchase a JBL Studio Series LC2 (http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=LC2&Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA&cat=BFS&ser=SLS) for my center channel speaker & an L8400P sub-woofer. And if for some reason the C40's don't work out, I can purchase a pair of L890's to match.

Will it sound right? The big question is how do I know if it doesn't? :blink:

[clubman]

I am runing D130's with the 175DLH in my HT setup and I find that the volume output from the left and right is way more than the rest of the setup(due to the db rating on the d130s) so you may have to ajust your levels on your reciever to match them up. I have a Infinity center channel that mates up with the vintage fronts pretty nicely, its not perfect but its ok for me. I listen mostly in 2 channel anyhow. My HT reciever is a Marantz 5600 Just try it and see if you like how it sounds.

[arwun]

Yea, that's one of my concerns - that the super-efficient C40's will be much louder than the center channel. I was hoping that I could adjust the settings in the receiver to compensate for the difference.

[toddalin]

Try the C40s in "phantom center" channel mode. If you like the C40s, just build a center channel that incorporates the same components and crossover in a similar sized and ported cabinet. That way everything matches sonically. Those parts are easy to get.

[arwun]

Wish I could find someone with a pair of C40's that have one of the two blown out, so I could get one for a reasonable price.

[arwun]

Any other suggestions on a center channel?

[clmrt]

A matching center would be ideal, but don't stress out about it. Just get a competently designed speaker and go with it. If it's horribly mis-matched, you'll know it, but your tolerance for such a mis-match might make it OK.

I have an Athena AS-C1 ($25 on the used market) and it gets along with my JBL's and my ADS L810's just fine.

And I consider myself picky. Broke, usually, but picky.:biting: