is center specific speaker overrated

I would consider instead:

Ascend
Axiom
AV123
Swan
SVS
HSU

etc.

For your money, you can get speakers that are MUCH MUCH better.

What exactly are you looking for?

Size?
Room?
Source?

You can definitely use the same speaker as your mains for the center, and generally, it's a better idea to. That way, there's absolutely no difference in the sound between them.

One thing he is looking for is in-ceiling speakers. I don't think all those manufacturers you listed (if any) make an in-ceiling speaker.

And I don't think he really asked what speakers might be better than what he is considering.

Have you heard the in-ceiling speakers he is considering? Have you heard a lot of in-ceiling speakers? How do you know, since he wants in-ceilings, that he can "get speakers that are MUCH MUCH better"? You seem like you may be biased against them because they are Yamahas.

I agree with Enzo. If you've got a speaker whose sound you like (VERY important - audition the speaker) and want to use the same speaker for all three fronts, it'll have seamless sound. Use the same speaker for the rears too (if you're going to have rears).

Just make sure the speaker sounds good to your ears.

I use Athena speakers because I like their sound. And it took a couple of weeks for the speakers to break-in and sound as good as they were to become. I used Athena IC8s (Inceiling) for the rears. Inceiling rear speakers sound good to me. And they had the same tweeter as the fronts (AS-B1 and an AS-C1 center). I used Athenas for all of the speakers.

Good luck

This is very good advice, bigboomhts, although with in-ceilings there could be reasons to buy a center-specific speaker.

What center-specific speaker would you consider to go with those in-ceilings?

Matching ALL your speakers in a HT is the ideal situation, actually, and yes, putting your front speakers "in a straight line" would also be ideal.

I wouldn't put the center in the ceiling, but only because it will limit where you can sit and hear the center well. If you can position your mains well (equidistant and at a 60-degree angle from the main seating area) you may be able to get away with a phantom center.

Would it be possible to put the in-wall center speaker in the wall right above or below the TV?

That would be best, actually sending sound out to the viewer rather than the floor itself. Granted you would still here it in the ceiling but not nearly as much and it would have to be a really small room.

I read all your responses, when I come accross them, and I like the answers you give a lot, but these flaming posts are not useful. Why do you do that, sivadselim? You keep jumping on people that are trying to help the OP in these threads. I personally think the comment was valid, even if the OP may not necessarily agree with the suggestion, which is the whole point anyway. Why do you think you need to reprimand people because you consider that they are off topic and you think the information would not be useful to the OP, as well as implying that they know nothing each time you do this?

If I had asked the OPs question, I would have been very happy to read Johnsteph10's suggested alternatives. That doesn't mean I would take his advice. And please: don't bother flaming me either, I just think it's a shame that you spoil your otherwise excellent record with these aggressive and unhelpful messages. It doesn"t seem like good forum etiquette to me.

JMO, you don't have to like it or heed it!

If he had taken another tact, his post might have been OK. But instead all he did was blurt out what HE thought was better without even considering that the OP was looking specifically for in-ceiling speakers and was asking a specific question about center-channel speakers. Look at the title of his post.

He COULD have said something like:

"Well, in-ceiling speakers are OK if that's what you specifically need. But if it's at all possible for you to get in-room speakers, you will find that, for the money, they will sound much better than in-ceiling speakers will sound, because............................etc.. Some that I would recommend would be.......................etc.."

But he didn't say that. Instead he listed a bunch of the usual suspect ID brands and simply told the guy that he could do "MUCH, MUCH better". I don't even think he read through the OP's post.

Sorry, but I didn't think his post was that helpful to the OP and THAT is my primary concern; not whether I step on someone's toes.

That's one advantage of in-walls - you're not forced to use a dedicated horizontal center-channel speaker, which never works as well as just using the same speaker for all three fronts.

So yes, if you're going with the Yamahas definitely use that same model for left, right, and center. Indeed, if possible use the same spkr for all six channels.

Do they have to be ceiling speakers? Or will bookshelf speakers, or even floorstanding models work too?