Boston Acoustics Center Channel?

Question

I have never heard any boston home audio. i have boston flagships in my car, and it is some of the clearest cripest, most clean sound i have ever heard. i love it. i dont buy anything but boston speakers in my car. however my home speakers are differnt. no one sales boston around here, so i went with klipsch referance. i currently have RB-5's in the front RB-35 on the sides, and i am looking into a center channel. i know i dont want anything less then a RC-35 or a RC-5, but i am very interested in what a boston center channel might sound like. right now i have a infinity primus and its by far the weakest link in my surrond sound. so any of you that have heard both boston and klipsch, which did you like better, why ect. if i buy a boston its going to be off ebay, so when i plug it in will be the first time i hear boston home theater. so needless to say, i really dont want to loose any money on this if i dont like it as much as the klipsch.

Thanks guys and girls.

Answer 1

As I'm sure you would agree that since Boston Acoustics makes some excellent sounding car audio speakers, their home theater speakers will perform in a similar quality manner. HOWEVER, if you like your Klipsch home theater speakers that you already have, a Klipsch center channel would match much better than would a BA center speaker. Even your Infinity center that you have now would sound better if it were matched with the proper Infinity fronts and surrounds.

In a similar way that your current center channel seems to be the weakest link in your home theater speaker system, a BA center channel will be seemingle the weakest link teamed up with your Klipsch system. The main reason is because the Klipsch speakers are high-efficiency (96dB @ 1m/2.83V for the RB-5) horn-loaded tweeter designs whereas the Infinity (only 90dB for the Primus C25 and also only BA's 92dB for the VRC) uses lower SPL ("sound pressure level" -loudness level) capable dome tweeter set-up, which also sounds different in nature.

With all of that being said, I recommend going with one of three options:

1) Change out your Infinity center channel for a Klipsch (the Klipsch recommended, yet discountinued production RC-3 or currently produced RC-51) center channel

2) Change out your entire speaker system for a matching BA surround system

3) If you want the high SPL performance, save a lot of money in buying a new surround speaker system, and improve on the sound quality of the already good sounding Klipsch system, I recommend the BIC Acoustech system.

The BA system will probably be smoother sounding and better for music, but the Klipsch system will play louder and offer better dynamics for movies. Actually, horn-loaded designs are used in most public movie theaters because of their high SPL capabilities.

RULE OF THUMB: Without getting into a lot more details as to why mixing the front channels is almost always less than ideal for a good home theater experience, always MATCH at least your FRONT THREE CHANNELS, if not your entire system for a seemless soundstage presentation.

Happy Listening!

Answer 2

I would also recommend getting a matching Klipsch center channel.

The Infinity Primus series are not very good speakers IMO. And with Klipsch in the same, I'd bet it sounds even worse.

If you really want a BA system, and are willing to wait a while, Circuit City will be offering BA sometime at the end of September.

Answer 3

Boston Acoustics have been around for years, and make fine speakers. They have to, this is all they do for a living. I considered buying them myself.
But for your system, if you already have Klipsch speakers in front, I would stick with Klipsch, or else you might not get a seamless sound from your center speaker .
By this I mean that the BA speaker will have a different sound than you Klipsch, it might sound too bright or not bright at all.
Also the Klipsch are known for their speaker effeciency , and the BA speaker will not be as loud as them.
Both speaker co.'s have a sound of their own,
so I would recommend that you stick with Klipsch
for just that perfect sound.