Which center? Luna, S2, or Horizon?

[Jaybeez]

Yesterday afternoon, Dave and the team put a Duo together for me. I brought it home and looked at the box while my wife and I rented and watched "Downton Abbey". We fell asleep about halfway through, on my part because I couldn't make out the dialogue of the British actors (as usual). This afternoon, I installed the Duo, along with S2s doing L / R duty. Ran Audyssey and didn't like what I heard. Over-rode the crazy Audessey choices (fronts are big? crossing over at 50 hz?) and then watched the rest of the film. Absolute night and day difference! Dialogue was crystal clear and the front end of my AV set up was as perfect as I could imagine. I watched a bit of TV and listened to multi-channel music streaming from Apple TV just for fun. Everything I heard brought a smile to my face!

[daddyo]

Thanks for the post. You're coming very close to my needs as my wife is Brit (a lot of British shows) and I am looking for dialog clarity. Can you describe what L/C/R that you were coming from? It appears that you upgraded to S2's and a Duo center - I am considering the Luna bookshelfs and a Duo for myself and since you have talked with Ascend, did you evaluate the Luna vs the S2 ?

[Jaybeez]

Thanks for the post. You're coming very close to my needs as my wife is Brit (a lot of British shows) and I am looking for dialog clarity. Can you describe what L/C/R that you were coming from? It appears that you upgraded to S2's and a Duo center - I am considering the Luna bookshelfs and a Duo for myself and since you have talked with Ascend, did you evaluate the Luna vs the S2 ?

Hello daddyo. I've actually had the Sierra 2s for a few years, and used them for 2 channel music in a dedicated space. My AV rig had a front end of Polk LSIM (703s and 704c) which were capable, but never gave me the vocal clarity I was looking for.

I didn't look at the Lunas, though depending on the size of your room I would imagine they would work. I haven't actually heard the Lunas, though have put ears on everything else in the lineup.

Early next year I plan to replace the Sierra 2s with an EX set, and move the 2s to rear surround duty.

As I also use my AVR for multi channel music, this gives me an all Sierra 2 listening experience.

[daddyo]

You are helping me a lot. That Polk 704 is a 3-way speaker and you have noticed a marked improvement with the Duo (an MTM design at about 2x the price). Very good feedback to say the least. So good components (more expensive) can top whatever tech advantage that a 3-way brings for a cc. I think Luna would be adequate for us, we don't listen loud and the room is small at 1800 ft3 but it does have a half-open wall. Mostly HT. We're nowhere near high volume with my 5.2 Elacs.

[Bruce Watson]

This afternoon, I installed the Duo, along with S2s doing L / R duty. Ran Audyssey and didn't like what I heard. Over-rode the crazy Audessey choices (fronts are big? crossing over at 50 hz?) and then watched the rest of the film. Absolute night and day difference! Dialogue was crystal clear and the front end of my AV set up was as perfect as I could imagine.

This is my experience as well. That little Duo center punches *way* above its weight class.

[natetg57]

Yesterday afternoon, Dave and the team put a Duo together for me. I brought it home and looked at the box while my wife and I rented and watched "Downton Abbey". We fell asleep about halfway through, on my part because I couldn't make out the dialogue of the British actors (as usual). This afternoon, I installed the Duo, along with S2s doing L / R duty. Ran Audyssey and didn't like what I heard. Over-rode the crazy Audessey choices (fronts are big? crossing over at 50 hz?) and then watched the rest of the film. Absolute night and day difference! Dialogue was crystal clear and the front end of my AV set up was as perfect as I could imagine. I watched a bit of TV and listened to multi-channel music streaming from Apple TV just for fun. Everything I heard brought a smile to my face!

It's not unusual to have to override some of the Audyssey 'choices'. Standard practice would be to change everything to small and set the crossover at 60 or 80hz. I change the Audyssey setting to 'Front LR Bypass'. That way I'm getting EQ on my subs and surrounds but not on the front mains.

[rdkusher]

one thing to keep in mind with front l/r bypass.audyssey is eqing your other speakers to match the uncorrected response of your fronts.

[natetg57]

one thing to keep in mind with front l/r bypass.audyssey is eqing your other speakers to match the uncorrected response of your fronts.

That's a good point. I didn't intend to go with this setting, it just sounds better to me with two channel music and I'm a 'set it and forget it' guy.
The measured response of the left and rights, doesn't seem too far off from flat so I think I'm ok.

Eventually I'll upgrade to a newer Denon, 4400 or 4500. This would give me the options that I think I'm looking for.

[Mahawkma]

Partially thanks to this thread my Duo center arrived today. It’s replacing a Sierra 2EX that I upgraded this summer. Looking back, I should have just bit the bullet and ordered the Duo along with the upgrade for my LR. Should be able to get it in my system this weekend and hopefully it will be worth the price of admission. ��

[daddyo]

Partially thanks to this thread my Duo center arrived today. It’s replacing a Sierra 2EX that I upgraded this summer. Looking back, I should have just bit the bullet and ordered the Duo along with the upgrade for my LR. Should be able to get it in my system this weekend and hopefully it will be worth the price of admission. ��

You've lived with the Duo for about a month, what are your impressions ?