3-Way Center Channel selection

[drummertime]

Multi-channel stereo sends the same signal to all speakers, so it's not surprising that the rears and sides are too loud. It can be an interesting effect on older recordings like some Beatles material but for modern material it can require tweaking the levels of the surrounds, but that could mess up the levels for movies. There are usually better options for upmixing 2-channel audio to surround like Neural:X on new AVRs or PL-II on older AVRs. It's a matter of trial and error as to what one likes but I generally leave 2-channel music on Stereo as my AVR does not have Neural:X.

Whether you like Audyssey or not again is a personal choice. Direct mode will by-pass all processing while turning Auddyssey on and off will leave other features enabled. Pay particular attention to vocals when experimenting. I like Audyssey on for movies but usually disable it for stereo music. For multi-channel music you may find it better turned on. If you can stream Dolby ATMOS music that will give you a much better idea of what multi-channel music can do vs upmixing stereo tracks.

Its interesting, when I do use Audyssey it defaults to Dolby Atmos even though my receiver does have Neural:X. I play these apps through Xbox-X. But even with the Dolby Atmos songs on Amazon Music the sound only plays through my front three, subwoofer and height speakers.

 

[Eppie]

Its interesting, when I do use Audyssey it defaults to Dolby Atmos even though my receiver does have Neural:X. I play these apps through Xbox-X. But even with the Dolby Atmos songs on Amazon Music the sound only plays through my front three, subwoofer and height speakers.

I believe there is a Dolby plugin that has to be installed on the XBox but I don't own one and would defer to another member with experience playing ATMOS tracks on the XBox.

 

[drummertime]

I believe there is a Dolby plugin that has to be installed on the XBox but I don't own one and would defer to another member with experience playing ATMOS tracks on the XBox.

Yep I do have the plugin downloaded. I was using my Roku Ultra but IMO I seem to get better sound from the Xbox-X. But I believe all of this isn't used when the bypass to receiver is selected. To me that's the setting it should be, I would rather use the decoder in my receiver then then what's used for the Xbox-X,

 

[Teetertotter?]

To resurrect this thread, I might add, for music from iHeart or other internet radio via AVR, I use the "Virtual," sound setting in my Denon. That is my taste for my HT 5.1 small room for Music.

 

[Fosi Audio]

My current setup:

Speaker Type	Max Power	Impedance	Frequency Response Hz	Sensitivity Decibels	Crossover Frequency Hz	Type
Elac FS U5 Uni-Fi Slim Floor standing	140 Watt	4 ohms	42-25,000	85	270-2700	Floor
Elac Uni-Fi CC U5 Slim	140 Watt	4 ohms	48-25,000	85	270-2700	Center
Elac Uni-Fi UB5 Slim Book Shelf	140 Watt	4 ohms	46-25,000	85	270-2700	Rear Surround
Elac Uni-Fi 2.0 UB52 Book Shelf	140 Watt	6 ohms	46-35,000	85	200-2,000	Back Rear Surround
Elac Debut IC-DT61 6.5" In-Ceiling	120 Watt	6 ohms	45-20,000	89	3000	Height
Sumiko S.9 Subwoofer	350 Watt Cont		30-120		120	Sub

I'll will be replacing my left/right mains and center channel. I know its not good practice to not match the mains with the center channel. But I have to start somewhere given the crazy cost of speakers! My Elac's are just to tough to drive. My elac center channel distorts pretty bad. I'm running a Marantz SR-7011 Receiver with a 7-channel Outlaw 7000x external amplifier. I also have 2-15" Stark subs ordered.

If it is because of the distortion that you want to replace them, I would recommend to use a separate power amplifier for your center channel.