Hello timfg
When you were out shopping for your 1K HiFi speakers ten years ago if the guy/girl in the shop had suggested you buy just one of them and use your TV speaker for the other channel would you have tried it???
Heh. I didn't pay £1k for them, my neighbour did - he gave them to me for £200 when he blew £3k on some electrostatic monsters.
Interesting comments otherwise though. I previously had a Philips TV that output 5.1: I used the TV as the centre, fed the floorstanders via Rotel pre/power amps. The rears were a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 3s, my first 'proper' speakers, bought 20 years ago, fed via a NAD 3020e, my first 'proper amp. I thought it sounded pretty good, but I am no HCophile - it was my first and only experience of surround-sound. I'm intending to wire up the same speakers as rears in the next day or so and see what it sounds like, but I'm still struggling with the centre (and whether to procure a sub as well - not sure I need it). I'm thinking I might go and buy a decentish centre from Richer or similar and a sub - perhaps spend £100 on each. Interesting though, your comments re just L&R fronts - I had this on last night with the amp set to 'simulated surround' or whatever the setting's called, and I thought it sounded rather good. But I'm always going to be conscious that this isn't 'right' and, however good it sounded, there's no substitute for real rears...
But, regardless, this will be a true mishmash, albeit one driven from a reasonable amp. When (and if) I mount the TV on the opposite wall I can mount a centre appropriately, so I'm not too bothered about it being a tad off-centre at the moment...but I am keen to do this as optimally as possible, without losing my floorstanders. And I struggle to find the time to audition stuff: I have a busy job and two young children :-(
Thoughts?
PS - a bit of sotto voce heresy....I'm going to have to join an additional length of cable to the existing for the rears, as I'm not recabling the room for what may be a very short-lived arrangement. How much is this going to impact the reproduction?...it's pretty cheap cable anyway.... I know it will work, but....