CENTER Madness - Theater i v. Matinee v. Motif v. ElectroMotion C2 - for Spires

We haven't had a good center thread in a while. Wondering if anyone can direct me for what might work best for center with Spires. I am limited by budget and a 150 into 4 ohm amp. I am mostly a 2 ch guy, but the family makes me do the movie thing and we are looking for dialogue clarity as the primary decision point. No nearby ML dealers, so I need to request input before I order something online to try it out at home.

I know the C2 are just hitting the street so I am sure their isn't a large amt of folks with real world listening time, but I threw it in for price point and as a wild card.

Thanks for the input, support and education!

I've been using a Motif with my Summits for a few years... integration is superb, and movie dialogue (and/or 5.1 music) crystal clear. I also considered the Stage, but felt it's larger size was overkill for my needs (not to mention my smaller room).

Agreed here with sleepysurf too. My Motif makes the center channel to shine with vocals. My room is very small also. I do like a lot what I listen through them. Sometimes I get the tweeter, but that's a minor flaw compared to other center channels that cost three times their value!...happy listening,
R.

Sleepy,
I popped over to your system pics. Are you still using the Denon 3808 to run the center?

Roberto, thanks for the vote of confidence with the Motif.

Regards,
PM

Longevity

Has anyone heard of "panels" needing replacements on centers (after 10-15 years)?

The service issue for ML is the same as cone speakers, and the product of these days is more reliable... you do not know when they are going to fail. I had fixed tons of great cone speakers starting with Mirage, Sonus Faber, DCMs, Mission, B&W, Dunlavy, you name it... all speakers need service once and then. Usually what I had a lot was blown tweeters and woofers...mid range was the suspension made out of kind of foam, that with our high humidity weather, was distroyed in less than a year. ML is very reliable here. I do not have too many issues with service, and when a problem arise, it is usually a minor problem. Not have to change the new panels as I did in the past 90s. The new panel coating material last longer!!! and it is trouble free now. If you smoke, you should not do it where your ML are. The tar of the cigarrette smoke is not good for the panel. Happy listening,
Roberto.

nhpm510 said:

... Are you still using the Denon 3808 to run the center?

Click to expand...

Yes, powering the Motif and in-ceiling surrounds. It's still a decent receiver for my occasional family movie or music DVD.

Anyone have any experience with the Matinee center channel? Any idea if it would match well with a pair of Spires?

runnin17 said:

Anyone have any experience with the Matinee center channel? Any idea if it would match well with a pair of Spires?

Click to expand...

I cant help with the spires but my needs from martin logan is HT 100% . I just went with the source se for the fact that my rooms small and I did buy a matinee for the center .The matinee is a superb center channel and it blended with the source as intended . I felt that the 5 inch cones on it lacked the proper punch at low volumes . It is a great center channel but I wanted to try the stage center channel and was torn between the new electromotions as both can be had open box just shy of 2k .I caved in and bought the stage for the reason that the center channel is the main personality in every HT system and it would be a wise direction for the long run

Hold out and buy the stage for the simple reason that I got big tower sound from this little center channel .The bass responce is really mind blowing for such a small package . One other thing I found suprising was how effortless it blended with the source and the 8 inch paper cones . I watched the movie sucker punch on bluray and had a great time comparing A/B and was amazed at how great the matinee sounded but completely blow away with the audio horsepower the stage center channel had to offer

Sucker Punch is a great test because its filled with music and action and among all this I found it hard to resolve all of the dialogue coming from the matinee at low volumes from 9 ft back . The stage had more texture to offer in these types of scene and a very hard tight bass response .The stage goes way higher in the top end and at the same time effortlessly handling all the mid range . The matinee cant hold a candle to the stage when it comes too the soundstage and the big dawg's bark is clearly the more agressive

I love the matinee so I bought another and will use dual matinee for surround duty when it arrives later this week . If you have invested in a pair of spire then I would just go for the stage as I am sure alot of matinee and motif users eventually will .So if you have a large room or a small it doesnt matter because the stage sounds fantastic and is more coherent in the subtle nuances during lower volumes

Thanks for that reply. That actually answers a lot of questions. I didn't think about using the matinee's as surrounds. That is a good idea. Right now I am using my former front speakers (def tech BP7006's) as surrounds.

Guess I will hold out for a stage center channel. I already have the wife's approval as far as the looks of the center channel; now I just need to find the extra cash

Hello,
I love my Stage and in truth it is barely bigger than the Cinema. The Attached Base does make the Stage look bigger, but sans Stand I was quite surprised at just how much smaller it is than the Theater i.

If you can fit the Theater i, I would give that serious consideration. The Stage does benefit from the Xstat Panel, etc..
Cheers,
JJ