Dominick22 said:
DTB300....
What are you talking about comparing the Theater i to 2 scrpits in stereo. Maybe you are ready for the nut house!Lol
It was just an example to help explain my point. Remember my point was to compare a Script i to a Theater i - COMPARISON is price versus performance.
You have to understand that the theater is for...well, theater! Not stereo playback although it does this well too. My point is that I feel it produces voices and some other movie sounds MUCH better than my ascent i's. If you want to compare its value...compare it to other centers at its price point. Now, do you think it is over priced?
I am well aware what it is for and yes I still think it is over priced. I currently use a B&W Center that I paid $800 for - and while it does not match up sonically EXACTLY with my main ML's, it performs very well with MOVIES as you pointed out a Center channel should do. But a Center Channel also needs to perform with MCH Music which includes 5.1 and 3 Channel Classical.
BTW, with the $2000 I saved over the Theater i, I used toward the purchase price (paid for 90%) of my Plinius Amplifier. So let me see here, I could have a Theater i or I can have my B&W AND my Plinius. A real no-brainer.
Although I also think that they could charge less, when I look at it this way, I can justify its worth accross the audio industry...not accross other ML products!
But it IS a ML product. If you look at other companies and compare their Center Channels to their line of products this disparity does not exist - for the most part - especially when looking at model lines and cost.
Do you REALLY think that you wil get the same center like performance out of your script??
When looking at the cost of a Script and AGAIN looking at the cost versus performance, Yep...or else I would not have said it. While the Theater may have been designed to be a Center, it is WAY OVER PRICED for what it needs to do or does. The Script i is a 1/3 of the cost but performs up to 80% of the Theater. Again a MUCH HIGHER COST VERSUS PERFOPMANCE quotient. If the Theater was priced around $1300, then it would truely be a no-brain decision. But it isn't....
I have a challenge for you! And it is even a stereo playback like you wanted! Get the Ashanti CD. The blue one. Borrow it or buy...whatever.
Take it to the dealer or a friends house who has both speakers and audition track 16 (i think). Play the track that is just her voice. It is about 2-3 minutes long.
First of all I do not need the "Ashanti" CD as I have MANY audiophile quality CD's and SACD's for audition, one of which is a live performance, and I have heard the same performer live in a very similar sized venue. How close does the reproduction of the singer compare to the live performance? While we will never achieve live performance quality, we can always use LIVE to see what colorations or subtractions a speaker or component is doing to the song.
This song will clearly show you the difference in voice reproduction between the ML models. The Theater i clearly outperforms my Ascent i's in this demo!
If you say it does on your setup, then I cannot argue the point with you. But doesn't it bother you that your $2800 Theater sounds better (to you) on vocal reproduction than your $4400 Ascents? So when you are listening in TWO CHANNEL with the Ascent's, vocal reproduction is worse than your Theater?
Vocals are one of primary items in audio reproduction that we can all relate to as we hear vocal sounds all of our lives, yet your Theater sounds better than your Ascents.....
The Theater is more crisp and rxact like the singer is right where the speaker is. With the ascent i's, the singer is somewhere in between, and behind the speakers.
Crisp or accurate? Two different things here. Singers and vocals are not always right in the center, so a center should try to match up with your left/right speakers for that seamless sound, yet you have stated that vocals are better reproduced by your Theater than your Ascents. While we all have to make choices and decisions on the center we use, your Theater and Ascents still do not match up as seamless as they should by your statements.
END POINT: Theater i is probably overpriced, but I feel that it is still the best center channel buy in 5.1. Can you think of a better channel for under 5k??
Here are a couple....
The Aerial CC5 is a nice center and is priced lower than their model 9's and 7B's - which are a couple of their top of the line models (2nd and 3rd models).
Wilson Audio Watch - just over your $5k point, but another great center channel.
Remember the INITIAL POINT ABOUT THE ML CENTERS...which you have missed here. In comparison to performance versus price, the Theater is priced WAY TOO HIGH. For a third of the price, the Script i performance is not 1/3 of the Theater i.
Dan