Yeah, Chet; that's been discussed here occasionally. Although I personally have no need for a horizontally configured center speaker and suggest a small vertical unit if one identical to the mains can't be accommodated, I've also suggested that the W T/M W configuration be considered. One possibility would be the 4" mid-range from the QS4 with the standard tweeter above it, and flanked closely by the 6 1/2" woofers.

As you mention, there are quite a few(but not most)centers configured this way which perform very well. Axiom appears to be at a competitive disadvantage in this area.

Audio repercussions aside, I suspect that horizontal center channels sell much better to the average consumer because their shape is naturally easier to place in a typical room/cabinet setup.

I sensed you might pick that out

I plan on putting M2's that I have just ordered on top of my M80's a using them as dual centers powered by an Emotiva UPA-1. The M80's are about 5 inches from my 50 inch Samsung plasma. Has anybody else done something similar to this? Opinions welcome, thanks.

In what way would that be "better" than a phantom center channel?

Dddt dtt tha.. that's. drrrr dttt dttt that's not a center channel! <twitch>

While positionally 2 m2's atop the towers is in some respects like a phantom center channel, I would think maintaining the discrete center information would be important/helpful. Anyways I will have 30 days to try it out. Thanks

Ron, welcome. The center channel information is "maintained" just as discretely when it's played by the mains; speakers always have to play a multitude of different sounds and the center info is just another category.

Your proposed arrangement would have one of the two benefits that a separate center speaker can have: the ability to adjust the level of the center channel independently of the mains, to try to make low-level dialog more understandable. The second benefit, anchoring dialog to the center of screen, wouldn't be realized; the center image would shift to the side along with the position of the listener, but not farther out than the center channel speaker on that side. This is the same result that occurs when the mains are playing the center channel.