[Glenn S]

I think I've read much of what has been posted about the Sapphire XLs and they sound like what I'm looking for. My wife likes the look, so that is positive as well, The question is will ACI soon have a matching center and if so when and about how much. Okay,one more question, I'm leaning toward the Titan or Force sub, but my wife is wondering if you will eventually have a sub that will better match the appearance of the sapphire XL.

[Mike Dzurko]

I think I've read much of what has been posted about the Sapphire XLs and they sound like what I'm looking for. My wife likes the look, so that is positive as well, The question is will ACI soon have a matching center and if so when and about how much. Okay,one more question, I'm leaning toward the Titan or Force sub, but my wife is wondering if you will eventually have a sub that will better match the appearance of the sapphire XL.

Glenn:

An XL center has been in the works for sometime now. I've been using the last generation prototype in my HT for a couple of months . . . terrific!

And to your second question the short answer is yes. I can't say more about either right now, but we'll be saying more about both in Las Vegas next weekend

[Evan]

Mike, will the XL center be on par or better than the Essence?  I have an Essence currently and have a pair of XL's on order and it was my impression all your centers were tonally matched to the rest of your speaker line.  Now with the XL's having a recent redesign that may no longer be the case.  Can you elaborate if I'm off base here?

[Mike Dzurko]

Mike, will the XL center be on par or better than the Essence?  I have an Essence currently and have a pair of XL's on order and it was my impression all your centers were tonally matched to the rest of your speaker line.  Now with the XL's having a recent redesign that may no longer be the case.  Can you elaborate if I'm off base here?

Evan:

Sonically the Essence center and XL center are really very close. There is a slight difference in timbre with the XL center being more precisely matched to the Sapphire XL. In practice, it is pretty tough to hear as the difference in placement between center and left-right usually changes the tone a whole lot more. I've swapped the Essence center and the XL center in and out of my system with XLs for a couple of months now and I enjoy it pretty equally either way.

The Essence will actually play a bit louder . . . it is a much larger cabinet with larger drivers. This isn't really a factor for most people unless they have very large rooms and or like to play REALLY loud.  

The XL center has two advantages; it visually matches the Sapphire XL, and it is much more compact than the Essence, about the size of the Protege. Price will probably be higher than the Essence although we haven't run the final spreadsheets yet.

[Anonymous]

Mike,

Thanks so much.  Sounds like the Essence is staying in my system.  As long as it's tonally matched, that's really all I care about.  I do have a large room (nearly 5,000 cubic feet) so the advantages of the Essence will probably be more useful to me in my system.