Chet, this suddenly quite long thread probably doesn't really need a comment from me, but I'll say that my experience is that a small, but high quality vertical center speaker, such as the M2, gives excellent results. There's no need to be concerned about "keeping up" with large tower mains unless those mains are being played at a dangerously loud level. If so, "turn the damn things down!".

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.