Setting available on most surround sound decoders allowing the user to eliminate the physical center channel speaker and instead create a virtual speaker by shunting the center channel output to the front left and right speakers. A phantom center channel relies on stereo technology to lock sounds to the screen between the left and right front speakers. However, listener’s not seated in the sweet spot directly between the two front main speakers will lose the effect. he center channel is meant to carry primarily voices in surround sound soundtracks and anchor that sound to the screen where the actors are for everyone viewing a movie regardless of seating position. A phantom center channel can be effective for a single person or a few people seated in the proper position, but it does not realize the benefits of a true center channel speaker. However, using a phantom center channel eliminates the need to mate the front stereo speakers with a similar sounding center channel speaker (the front left, center and right speakers should all have a very similar sound and have the same amplification power). In most cases, using a true center channel speaker is preferable to using a phantom center channel.