I mainly listen to music but finally got a decent tv set so I could use some assistance completing the setup.
I'm pretty much set all around except for the center channel so I'm looking to get a center speaker, my budget is about $300.00.
The fronts are older JBL L36's and the receiver is a Denon AVR-2802. (Humble system as you can see)
I have been reading the archives and it seems that "Matching" the speakers is important even for the center channel. That is a bit of an issue for me since the fronts are so old. I sure could use some Direction there. Size matter since the center speaker would have to sit in front of the tv set.
I also read that I could do without a dedicated center speaker. As anyone experimented with that and is the result adequate?
For movie watching (Not very often) I sit on a comfortable chair located nearest the right so I would not be centered. Some commented that this is an issue with a center speaker.
I think that you would watch more movies and certainly enjoy them more if you had a center channel speaker, they are basically the core of a Home Theater. Depending on your risk tolerance I would suggest looking for a decent used JBL. The idea with keeping with the same brand is a good one.
Consider the purpose of a center channel speaker which is to anchor the actions coming from the main screen area to the sounds which appear in a proper location with the actions. If an actor speaks in the general vacinity of the center of the screen, the sound should be perceived as coming from that same generic space. If an actor speaks from center stage and your listening position relative to the two main speakers is off to one side the result will suggest a sound that originates from far right or left of the screen. At that point your attention is taken away from the physical action on screen and diverted to the physical location of the speakers. The center channel speaker(s) serve to place the sounds in a proper perpspective whether at home or in the theater.
Further, if the sounds travel or pan across the width of the screen from side to side, without a center channel anyone seated outside of the very narrow center sweet spot allowed by a pair of L36's would hear a sound which remained predominantly to one side and then made a rather sudden leap to the opposite side speaker. A proper three across the front speaker assignment would gradually pan the sounds from outside of the left edge of the screen across the center and to the right side speaker without any sudden disruption to the soundfield. The concept of a center channel is to provide a seamles transition across the screen to voices and foley effects and to place sounds so they do not distract from the film's action.
It's very difficult for any two speakers to achieve this goal unless the screen is very small and the spacing between speakers is minimized to less than three feet and the seating area is tiny and grouped near the center. At three feet between speakers there's hardly room for most center channel speakers. I'm not here to tell you what you should buy as far as components but a screen small enough to allow less than three feet between left/right front speakers isn't much of a home theater. Even with that compressed spacing anyone sitting to the extreme left or right will hear predominantly one speaker which is not the idea of good home theater.
I think it's time you face the fact you own speakers that are 35 years old. At the time the L36 was designed speakers were not capable of wide dispersion and the L36's ancient tweeter and cone midrange will only make matters worse when it comes to smooth tansitions across the screen width. The L36 was not designed with T/S parameters in mind and falls more generally into the cut and try method of designing a bass reflex cabinet than today's more exacting methods of predicting the response of the system. The L36 was/is for the most part a one note boom box by comparsion with even smaller high quality bookshelf speakers built today. They were also designed for the source material of the day which for most listeners was LP which had somewhat limited bandwidth back in 1975. By almost anyone's estimation the L36 is now a very dated speaker.
Take some time during the week to spend a few hours listening to how a well matched system - new receiver included - makes a good film sound. If you do not come away with the firm belief your system has been outclassed in virtually every way, I will be surprised. Spend some money - cash in part of the 401k or whatever it takes - to step up to a better system for movies. Do not piece meal a series of stop gap components that have nothing in common with one another other than a name that no longer belongs to the company that built your speakers. Do not shop at a big box such as Best Buy. Find a decent dealer in your area and have them explain how systems and speakers have changed over the last four decades. Face it, your L36's were still budget speakers 35 years ago. They have not aged well. The Denon is no longer a runner up in the sound quality sweepstakes.
If you are going to do this, do it right. Find a dealer you can trust and who offers service after the sale for set up and any problems you encounter with the complexities of a modern HT system. Move the Denon and the JBL's into another room for a secondary system.
"For movie watching (Not very often) I sit on a comfortable chair located nearest the right so I would not be centered"
To me, this is more reason to have a center channel. If you were sitting smack dab in the middle of the sound stage, a center may not necessary, but if you're off to one side, that side is going to be more prominent and a center would help anchor dialogue to the screen.