Opinions wanted - speakers

[xneox]

I've got no budget to be buying new gear right now, but I want to be sure I'm using the best of what I have.

I'm currently using JBL Voice for center, Monitor bookshelf for mains (see gallery).

I've got a pair of the infamous Insignia NS-B2111 bookshelf speakers I'm using as computer speakers.

Would I be better off using one of them as the center & picking up another pair for mains ($90 isn't really a budgetary consideration)? I could easily build a stand for one of them to lay on its side as a center if the consensus is that I'd get significantly better performance.

[aramis109]

I wouldn't buy any more speakers unless there's a large upgrade there. Insignia, while supposedly being decent for the price, still is more suited to a surround duty than mains or center. Also, turning a speaker on its side messes with the dispersion- most center speakers are designed to throw sound out in a very wide field. Bookshelfs and towers are designed to do that as well, to an extent- but when you throw it on its side you're getting a lot of vertical and not much horizontal.

Just doesn't seem worth the money in what at best will be a lateral move.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by aramis109

I wouldn't buy any more speakers unless there's a large upgrade there. Insignia, while supposedly being decent for the price, still is more suited to a surround duty than mains or center. Also, turning a speaker on its side messes with the dispersion- most center speakers are designed to throw sound out in a very wide field. Bookshelfs and towers are designed to do that as well, to an extent- but when you throw it on its side you're getting a lot of vertical and not much horizontal.

Just doesn't seem worth the money in what at best will be a lateral move.

Thanks...I appreciate the input. Just so we're all on the same page here, though - the NS-B2111 is a coaxially-loaded design (tweeter in center of mid-bass), so upright or on its side makes absolutely zero difference. See below.