Is a script or clarity or purity etc always a better center?

[akm3]

If you have the vertical height on your display that you can stick a shorter ML speaker under it, will it always be a better choice of center channel than a Stage?

Lets say, for example, that I could squeeze a Script i (probably one of the 'worst' ML electrostats (Still awesome!)) under a relatively high mounted Plasma. Would, under all circumstances (dispersion, sound field, sonics, range, MATCHING (with Summit/Spire/Vantage era stuff) tonal quality, etc) this be superior to using the Stage?

 

[JonFo]

Short answer: No

Long Answer: While I do advocate a vertical ESL as a center, it really does need to be behind the screen (hard to do with a plasma ) and sufficiently far away from listeners (>9") so dispersion is not a problem for seats off to the side.

Bottom line, a Stage will be a much better match.

Also, having display's mounted to high on a wall is bad ergonomics. Your neck will thank you if it's lower, but your chiropractor might object to the loss of business ;-)

 

[akm3]

I was hoping you'd chime in; Thanks!

So, now I have to decide if I prefer the tradeoffs of the stage, or phantom center.

 

[akm3]

Short answer: No

Long Answer: While I do advocate a vertical ESL as a center, it really does need to be behind the screen (hard to do with a plasma ) and sufficiently far away from listeners (>9") so dispersion is not a problem for seats off to the side.

Bottom line, a Stage will be a much better match.

Also, having display's mounted to high on a wall is bad ergonomics. Your neck will thank you if it's lower, but your chiropractor might object to the loss of business ;-)

This makes me ask a different question - what about using three stages as your left/center/right? What do you lose in that scenario? I assume it wouldn't be that different from traditional box speakers, but with weird dispersion and crossover patterns

 

[JonFo]

This makes me ask a different question - what about using three stages as your left/center/right? What do you lose in that scenario? I assume it wouldn't be that different from traditional box speakers, but with weird dispersion and crossover patterns

I’m afraid that’s not a good option either.

The dispersion characteristics of the Stage are really tuned for center channel duties.
And even if mounted correctly (unlike the abominable pictures in the ML ads for the Motif, with L/R’s mounted vertically. My goodness, that’s sooo wrong … ), a set of stages is just not going to give the same results as using larger L/R’s.

While a stage is quite a different beast from a Spire, the usual load on the L/R would tend to favor having a bigger unit like a Spire handling those channels.

Yes, ideally, the three fronts would be identical speakers. But for ESL’s, that requires an acoustically transparent screen.

So the compromise of a Stage is reasonable.

Moving beyond that (as I have) requires a way more complex (and expensive) setup.