Celestion AVC-301 Just Doesn't Sound Right

[MY99 2.5GT]

I have a full set of Celestion speakers in my home theater application.

Specs for the speakers can be found here:

http://www.celestion.com/products/soundstyle/soundstylespecs.html

QTY 1: AVC301 - Center
QTY 6: AVP301

I am running the Yamaha RX-V663 and my PS3 is taking care of Blu-Ray duties.

I'm having a lot of trouble with dialog clarity and volume. Often times background effects that are clearly meant to be in the background play far louder and clearer then the dialog. This happens with all videos played not just one or another so it seems that its a calibration issue or the center speaker itself.

I have the system setup using the YPAO auto speaker calibration. After the auto calibration is finished I check the speaker distances sensed by the mic and they are right on. Even after bumping the center speaker level up a few notches things just don't sound right.

Any ideas?

Brad

 

[TLS Guy]

I have a full set of Celestion speakers in my home theater application.

Specs for the speakers can be found here:

http://www.celestion.com/products/soundstyle/soundstylespecs.html

QTY 1: AVC301 - Center
QTY 6: AVP301

I am running the Yamaha RX-V663 and my PS3 is taking care of Blu-Ray duties.

I'm having a lot of trouble with dialog clarity and volume. Often times background effects that are clearly meant to be in the background play far louder and clearer then the dialog. This happens with all videos played not just one or another so it seems that its a calibration issue or the center speaker itself.

I have the system setup using the YPAO auto speaker calibration. After the auto calibration is finished I check the speaker distances sensed by the mic and they are right on. Even after bumping the center speaker level up a few notches things just don't sound right.

Any ideas?

Brad

First off switch of YPAO and balance it by ear. The other thing is that I suspect those speakers were designed by the marketing department not engineers.

KEF and Celestion were unfortunately bought by Gold Peak industries Hong Kong in 1992. They formed a holding company KH holdings formerly based at the Celestion works Ipswitch that Celestion moved to after moving out of the old Thames Ditton works. They are now with KEF at Maidstone

Manufacturing that is left in the UK is done at the old KEF works at Tovil Maidstone, on the banks of the River Medway.

Unfortunately the Hong Kong owners are destroying both companies over time, and a lot of their best engineers have defected. So your difficulties do not surprise me. Its a shame they were both great companies.

 

[MY99 2.5GT]

Thanks for the info. I am ashamed to admit that these speakers were bought a few years ago without a sound test because they looked pretty at Best Buy. I did a little bit of research on Celestion before buying and everything I found about there older equipment received raves.

The strangest thing yet from this speaker set came when I opened the casing on the center speaker to find that it doesn't use 2 - 4" midbass speakers. It uses one 4" midbass and a 4" passive radiator.

Next time around I will build a set of speakers. Do you think the a pair of HiVi F5 5" midbass-es with a single Vifa XT25TG30-04 tweeter in the middle would outperform the Celestion?

HiVi F5 5" Bass/Midrange
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=297-435&scqty=2

Vifa XT25TG30-04 1" Dual Concentric Dome Tweeter
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-555&scqty=1

Seems like this would make for a decent qaulity low budget compact center speaker.

Brad

 

[MY99 2.5GT]

Problem confirmed. I swapped out the Celestion center channel speaker for an older Infinity CC2 I loaned my brother a few years ago and magically my home theater came alive.

I had no idea such a well respected name in audio could make such a crappy set of speakers.

Brad

 

[TLS Guy]

Problem confirmed. I swapped out the Celestion center channel speaker for an older Infinity CC2 I loaned my brother a few years ago and magically my home theater came alive.

I had no idea such a well respected name in audio could make such a crappy set of speakers.

Brad

Everything that was once great seems to be getting trashed right now.

 

[Pyrrho]

Problem confirmed. I swapped out the Celestion center channel speaker for an older Infinity CC2 I loaned my brother a few years ago and magically my home theater came alive.

I had no idea such a well respected name in audio could make such a crappy set of speakers.

Brad

In virtually all cases, sound problems are caused by speakers or room acoustics. To distort the dialog, a receiver or digital source would have to be seriously malfunctioning.

 

[rnatalli]

Now you have an excuse to shop for speakers

 

[chucksrt]

I'll never forget a pair of Celestion subs that I used in my car audio days that sounded insane. Thay stopped making the subs I'm guessing right aroud the buy out and Tweeter was selling them for $14 for a 12"sub and it was the higher line. Boy what a deal and now what a shame.

 

[MY99 2.5GT]

Now you have an excuse to shop for speakers

This was my thought exactly. Unfortunately they will have to wait until the flat panel tv is bought and paid for.

I'm going to try and home build a set of HiVi, Vifa MTM style speakers. So I need to source some better woodworking equipment as well.

Brad

 

[T2T]

This was my thought exactly. Unfortunately they will have to wait until the flat panel tv is bought and paid for.

I'm going to try and home build a set of HiVi, Vifa MTM style speakers. So I need to source some better woodworking equipment as well.

Brad

Brad, I'm about 50 miles south - down rt. 15 on the Virginia side from you. Let me know if you need to use any woodworking tools. I'd be very interested in seeing your plans for the MTMs.

 

[MY99 2.5GT]

Thanks for the invitation. It will be a while until I'm ready to work on this project. Lots of other things going on right now.

To be honest I planned to just use the following plans but modify the enclosures a little to make it look more pleasing.

http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/indexn.cfm?project=MillenniumIII

Oh also I won't be incorporating the lower woofers. Only the dual 5" and Vifa tweeter.

The reviews of the speakers sounded pretty good but assumably subjective. The reviews of the individual components are what really sold me. Especially the Vifa tweeter.

I'm brand new to crossover design so the current plan is to just copy the components and layout in the directions.

Let me know what you guys think.

Brad

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for the invitation. It will be a while until I'm ready to work on this project. Lots of other things going on right now.

To be honest I planned to just use the following plans but modify the enclosures a little to make it look more pleasing.

http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/indexn.cfm?project=MillenniumIII

Oh also I won't be incorporating the lower woofers. Only the dual 5" and Vifa tweeter.

The reviews of the speakers sounded pretty good but assumably subjective. The reviews of the individual components are what really sold me. Especially the Vifa tweeter.

I'm brand new to crossover design so the current plan is to just copy the components and layout in the directions.

Let me know what you guys think.

Brad

Your plan will not work. You have to use the lower enclosure. The dual MTM mid ranges are fed via a band pass filter. All filters including both side of the band pass filter, at 18db third order. There is also a notch filter to the mid range drivers also.

If you want a relatively compact MTM enclosure, we can help you.

 

[MY99 2.5GT]

I would be more then happy to hear any suggestions you guys may have (ie. speakers, crossover design, and enclosure ideas)

Thanks
Brad

 

[TLS Guy]

I would be more then happy to hear any suggestions you guys may have (ie. speakers, crossover design, and enclosure ideas)

Thanks
Brad

It is your lucky day.

Parts express have this Audax aerogel woofer on at a bargain basement price. This woofer is no longer in production. They are excellent. They are a little trick to design for as they have a nasty break up peak at 3.8 kHz.

I used this woofer recently in a set of speakers for my father and achieved excellent results.

This afternoon I adapted the design for MTM configuration with a choice of two tweeters.

The cheapest tweeter is this Vifa.

This slightly SEAS tweeter should give slightly superior results.

The details of a number of designs featuring this woofer can be found at my web site.

You could build a first class MTM speaker like you want for around $140 in drivers. The crossover build will cost you more than that! I have a feeling these excellent drivers will not be available for long, so if you are interested snap them up!

I have done crossover designs for two members now with good results. The first was for Guiria. He has been very pleased with his speakers and says he "loves them". You could pm him if you are curious.

I also designed new crossovers for a member that was very dissatisfied with a set of speakers he built using Focal and Focal Axiom drivers. These speakers were designed by a designer of some note, however he missed the mark on that design. The member is over the moon with his "new speakers". We will be reporting on that makeover in a little while.