Any cons (soundwise) to using all 3 same speakers for LCR

[Checker9]

Assuming one has the space and can mount the speaker in its normal vertical standing, is there only benefit to using the same three speakers as LCR for home theater movies/tv? Does a speaker made to be a center that matches your L and R offer any soundwise benefit? I.e. would you be giving up anything using same 3 as LCR?

 

[Swerd]

You would give up nothing to use 3 identical speakers as LCR. More people don't do that only because they don't have the space.

The only caveat might be if the left & right speakers do a poor job in reproducing the human voice, the center speaker will do no better.

 

[Checker9]

The only caveat might be if the left & right speakers do a poor job in reproducing the human voice, the center speaker will do no better.

Thanks. Is there anything about a center specific speakers that help more on dialog/human voice. For example, is it safe to assume that a speaker in the same series as the center will be just as good in dialog as the center?

 

[Swerd]

Thanks. Is there anything about a center specific speakers that help more on dialog/human voice. For example, is it safe to assume that a speaker in the same series as the center will be just as good in dialog as the center?

In general, yes that's a safe assumption.

A general example of a speaker that does poorly on human voice would be one where it is deliberately designed to produce exaggerated bass in the ~75-150 Hz range. This makes male voices sound too boomy, and can result in muddy sounding dialog. Most center channel speakers don't bother trying to do bass, and avoid that problem. However, I think that is a relatively rare problem with most speakers today.

Don't worry. If you have the space and the price is right, go with 3 identical speakers across the front of your HT.

 

[Checker9]

A general example of a speaker that does poorly on human voice would be one where it is deliberately designed to produce exaggerated bass in the ~75-150 Hz range. This makes male voices sound too boomy, and can result in muddy sounding dialog. .

This concerns me now, because I am thinking of getting SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers. They have strong mid-bass and extend well for bookshelf speakers, which is one of the reasons I am considering them (to go with my PSA v1500 subwoofer.) I know in SVS subwoofers, SVS strives for a pretty flat FR, and it looks like the ULTRA speakers have a pretty flat FR.

But if speakers did have a bump in that frequency range, would Audyssey usually correct it in its in-room calibration?

 

[Checker9]

Even my current speakers (EMP Tek R5BIs and center at a 80Hz crossover in my AVR) are elevated in the FR, as I have room curve FR with bass sloping down. Here is full range response with Audyssey on:

I do not notice any problem with male voices etc. Does this FR look troubling?

 

[Swerd]

If speakers did have a bump in that frequency range, would Audyssey usually correct it in its in-room calibration?

Audyssey and its competitors are made to correct acoustic problems caused by room reflections that occur after sound has left a speaker. If the problem is caused by the speaker itself, room correcting software systems won't fix it or hide it very well.

I noticed a thread below discussing (among others) Ascend 340 speakers. I didn't read the whole thread, but if you are considering them, they are good speakers and would make an excellent front 3 set. They don't suffer from exaggerated bass.

 

[j_garcia]

I used identical speakers across my front stage for years. Properly setup and calibrated, it works extremely well.

 

[Swerd]

Even my current speakers (EMP Tek R5BIs and center at a 80Hz crossover in my AVR) are elevated in the FR, as I have room curve FR with bass sloping down. Here is full range response with Audyssey on:

View attachment 17613

The display you showed is (one or several?) speaker's in-room response. It includes sound from both the speaker and reflections from the walls. I'm referring to a speaker's inherent sound. This is can be measured if the microphone only hears a brief pulse of sound from one speaker, with a time frame from about 1 to 4 milliseconds. This in effect ignores sound reflected off the walls. I doubt if your AVR can do that, so don't spend a lot of time trying. Maybe I've said way too much here. The bottom line is don't over-interpret your receiver's display. It isn't showing a speakers inherent frequency response.

In the past I heard EMP Tek small monitors, maybe they were R5s, and I thought they were rather good for their price. They certainly did not try to exaggerate bass.

 

[Swerd]

This concerns me now, because I am thinking of getting SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers. They have strong mid-bass and extend well for bookshelf speakers, which is one of the reasons I am considering them (to go with my PSA v1500 subwoofer.) I know in SVS subwoofers, SVS strives for a pretty flat FR, and it looks like the ULTRA speakers have a pretty flat FR.

But if speakers did have a bump in that frequency range, would Audyssey usually correct it in its in-room calibration?

Don't worry. I heard SVS Ultra towers at an audio show in the past, and I thought they were good. They will not muddy up the upper bass or lower midrange. I doubt if the bookshelf versions of the Ultra sound different except for their bass extension. Three of those up front are an excellent idea. Go for it.

 

[Swerd]

Checker9 – sorry if I caused confusion. I should have asked you earlier what speakers you now have and what you have in mind to buy.

I did think about asking you that, but decided it wouldn't help if I wasn't familiar with them. That turned out to be a poor guess.

 

[Checker9]

Checker9 – sorry if I caused confusion. I should have asked you earlier what speakers you now have and what you have in mind to buy.

I did think about asking you that, but decided it wouldn't help if I wasn't familiar with them. That turned out to be a poor guess.

You did nothing wrong - I over-think everything, so I wanted to clarify that since I had not thought about it.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

You will be fine with using 3 identical speakers. Some even say it is better way if you have the space for it.