No, I definitely can't draw it, that is beyond my skills, and I'm kinda blue skying it here anyway ... the concept is really more a need to be met, than a solid product idea. The need to be met is that I'd like
- to own the equivalent of an M60 as a center channel
- I do NOT want it to be above my TV -- it can be at a slightly different level vertically than the mains, but not that out of whack because of next point
- the real purpose should be Hi Rez audio, while seamlessly enhancing HT
- for purposes of Hi Rez audio, which is where a certain pioneering element of hifi is heading, I want this new center to handle bass info at the same full-range of M60s
- elaborating on last point, while a center with a low cut-off around 70 or 80 Hz seems fine for HT, for music the ability to match the mains seems preferable, and perhaps the forward trend.
How to meet these needs? I don't really know, except that the VP-150 isn't quite the answer, and there's no physical way I can realistically get an actual M60 under my TV, shorting of digging a hole in the floor and redesigning a lot of woodwork.
The hypothesis of the idea is that old chestnut from the 1930s or so we've all seen bandied about that the originators of modern loudspeakers knew at the outset that 3 or more speakers were better at setting up a soundstage than just two. Now, one can debate the current state of Hi Rez and clearly many sources are still optimized for 2-channel, but it just seems inevitable that a certain critical mass of us will someday soon want to own 3 or more "mains" for the front sound-stage, and with HT setting us up for 5 speakers, it does seem natural to envision a future with 3 mains for imaging and soundstage, two HT rears lending a hand for ambience ... marketers will muck it up on SACD/DVD-A awhile longer, but this will come to pass, if for no other reason than that it gives the music industry a chance to recycle all its titles to us and the hifi industry a chance to sell us more hardware.
But how will someone who loves fuller-range speakers reach the 3-front nirvana, physically (okay, that comment is open to perhaps a few too many interpretations)?
This was the source of my tv-stand idea. If you could design an attractive TV stand with a modular set-up for advanced, larger center channels, maybe a full-range M60-quality center could fit into it ... or maybe there's another way to solve this problem. My TV cabinet idea is surely impractical marketing-wise, since tastes are so divergent on furniture and it's a bit much to buy a whole new cabinet just for a speaker, but bottom line is I could see a market for a product that meets the needs outlined above ... a route to the "five matching speakers" dream of many. (Personally I'd settle for 3 matching speakers and two kick-ass rears, no pun intended, that like the QS8s are designed for HT and enhancing ambiance of music.)
Birdman
PS - And re: the forum idea, I'd like to know about other innovations people would like to see.