Center channel speakers are designed to
reproduce movie dialogue and to anchor the sound to the
screen. It is important that the center speaker does this
with the utmost clarity and intelligibility because it is
responsible for over 60% of the dialogue. The center channel
should also blend tonally with the main front left and right
speakers.
Some home theatre speakers use a similar
speaker for the center, left, right channels and, in some
cases, the surround channel as well. This ensures that the
tonal balance blends more seamlessly across the soundstage.
Center channel speakers and some main speakers are normally
shielded to prevent distorting the picture when placed close
to a television.