What does Proprietary Iso-Drive mean? I am trying to find a good center channel to voice match my Pioneer main speakers. Many on this forum have told me I should buy a center channel of the same manufacture as my mains. This leaves me with only two options, the Pioneer SDC-1k (with proprietary iso drive) and the SHO52-ck. Anyone ever use these? Is it absolutley necessary for me to stick with the same manufacturer? I know the timre can be different between manufacturers but can it not also be different within the same company? I don't want to limit myself to Pioneer if I end up with a center that is not voice matched after all is said and done. I have strongly considered the SDC-1k but the term proprietary implies that the rest of the speakers should have the same technology. I don't know that mine do. (they are cs-r580 Pioneer,with 12" sub 5 1/4" mids and tweeter.)

From Pioneers web site
[Link: pioneerelectronics.com]


"ISO-Drive is
Pioneer's method of mounting the drivers on a baffle made from stiff, non-resonant molded polymer
material, then mounting that baffle to the front of the speaker using a rubber gasket to "float" it. The
company's engineers say this isolates the speaker cabinet from vibrations in the speaker drivers
themselves, which should reduce sonic coloration caused by cabinet vibration.

Think, what Westie told you means that the sound of ISO-Drive should not be very different from the other Pioneer speakers.

And, yes, it's very possible for Pioneer speakers to sound different from each other. That's why perfectionists say that five identical speakers should be used in surround systems.

The best bet is to find Pioneer speakers that use the same drivers, i.e., the same midrange and tweeter, as the upper ranges affect sound the most. Betond that, the only thing you can do is see if moving sound sources in movies seem to change tone when panning accross the screen with your choice of speaker.

Hey, nobody said this hobby was cheap! : - )

Larry