Phantom centre vs (compromised) true centre

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goldfritter

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Hi all

I'm currently looking at options for a TV stand and I need to settle on an approach for a centre channel for a theoretical future home theatre setup.

My current thinking was that I need a TV stand with an open shelf under the TV in order to place a centre speaker there. But I have realised that the ideal centre channel would be at ear height, so putting it on a shelf inside a cabinet would compromise the performance of the speaker.

My options for room treatment are quite limited. Non-negotiables are:
- The TV itself will be at eye (ear) height, so no centre speaker can be placed at that height.
- There will be a coffee table between the TV and the couch.
- Two people must be catered for on the couch, not just a single person sitting in the sweet spot.

So now I'm leaning towards phantom centre. My thinking is, since I can't have a perfect centre channel until I'm able to go the whole hog with an acoustically transparent centre screen, I might as well forego the centre speaker entirely and just use phantom. My system is currently a simple 2-channel but at some point I'll be upgrading to, probably, 5.1.

Any thoughts on the use of a phantom centre instead of a poorly-positioned true centre?
 
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