JBL Center Studio LC2 vs. L880 / L890

[arwun]

I am thinking about purchasing the JBL Studio L-Series speakers for a 16'x21'x9' theater room that I am building in the basement. I will have a projector, and hence a screen that is a ways above the floor w/ nothing underneath.

My Question is this: If I'm using a pair of L890 speakers as my main front L&R's, what's the best center channel to match? If I truely want the soundstage to have an exact match of timber, etc, should I purchase a single L890 or L880 to go along with the two sides, or should I purchase their complementary LC2 center channel, and mount it to the wall - which will sound better? Since most of the audio comes from the center channel in a theater room, I would think that it's the most important speaker; I am assuming that most people use two large speakers for their F L&R, and then use a smaller matching center channel speaker because of the fact that they have a CRT, LCD or Plasma TV that it has to incorporate with, no?

BTW, I'm also planning on utilizing one or two JBL L8400P subwoofers in the room. Do I need one or two?

[Vintage Nut]

I believe most movies soundtracks utilize the center channel for dialog and allow most of the other sound to go to the two front (main) speakers, using the surrounds for special effects, etc. So, you probably don't need a third tower for the center. I would suggest going with the LC2 for a center channel with the L890s.

As for a subwoofer(s), it is probably going to be answered by your personal preference. I own two pair of L830s that provide plenty of bass at louder-than-normal listening volumes, but could use a subwoofer to help with special effects at lower levels. My living room is about the same size as the room you are building. I would guess that a pair of L890s would provide a bit more bass at lower (as well as upper) levels than four L830s could. Using that as a sort of baseline, I would suggest listening to the L890s before you add any subwoofer. You might be please enough with what they offer. You could always add a sub later (the L8400P should be a good choice.)

[Titanium Dome]

When it come to subwoofers, I almost always recommend two (or four). You don't necessarily need two for loudness, especially if you have one of the "killer" subs; one is often enough. But two (or four) really good subs are often needed to make the LF output uniform throughout the room, eliminating most peaks, nulls, and voids caused by room modes. (Sometimes there's some EQ, too.)

This says it better than I can:

http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf

Now I'll admit that I use a single sub to augment some two-way systems, but all my multichannel systems have at least two subs, and the HT has four. Sure I could crank the LF to insane levels, but I don't; rather I enjoy uniformly excellent bass response throughout the room.

[Titanium Dome]

While I'm posting Harman International White Paper links, I might as well put this on here, too.

http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/Loudspe...ndRoomsPt3.pdf

[Vintage Nut]

That's a good point about uniformity, TD. I've never owned a sub, thought they were really more for vibration. But the LF sound quality should benefit from equilateral production.

Apparently, after some research regarding center speakers on this site, it is quite evident that the center speaker should be identical to the two front main speakers in order to obtain optimal accuracy in sound quality. Check out this thread: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=17693