Center channel male dialogues are not clear?

[rnaeye]

I have using Polk S55 tower speakers and Sony SSCS8 center channel. I have been happy with S55, and SSCS8. A week ago, I have decided to upgrade Sony center to Polk S30 center channel. I have been very disappointed so far. Polk S30 has better and clear non-diaogue sounds, but male voices in Poks center sound muddy or not clear. Female voices are ok but male voice is much worse than my Sony SSCS8. Polk and Sony centers are placed at the exact same place for testing. Sony has 4 inch woofers and I believe Polk center has 5.5 inch woofer. I am wondering if I got a bad product, or I need to experiment with the position of my speakers. Does anyone have any idea, why male vocals sound bad? Suggestions are much appreciated.

 

[lovinthehd]

Could just be the way that speaker sounds....but what frequency do you have the center speaker crossed with the sub? Does your receiver have a setup/calibration routine that you re-ran with the installation of the new speaker? Have you tried to adjust level of the center channel?

 

[shadyJ]

Sound to me like there is a rise in mid-bass or upper bass and that can cause a boominess that can make male voices unclear. Your Sony might have been very light in the bass, so there wasn't much acoustic boundary gain that normally boosts bass frequencies, and that is why it sounded OK. One thing that might help is to remove the port shield and stuff a rolled up hand towel or sock in the port, so that it forms a seal. This will reduce the type of bass output that can create a masking effect that can color male voices. It won't eliminate the bass but it will very significantly reduce it. Plug the port, and see what happens.

 

[KEW]

Try plugging the port like Shady suggests - that is free!
If that doesn't work, you best bet is probably to simply go back to the Sony Center that you know works well for you!

 

[JerryLove]

I've had very mixed results with physical center channels in general.

While my Klipsch 650s have been amazing LCR, many of the other times and other rooms I've put in centers I've had trouble with hearing dialog and reverted over to a phantom center.

Sadly: that doesn't give you much actionable (except kicking out the center entirely); but know that you are not alone.

 

[Macmack]

I have using Polk S55 tower speakers and Sony SSCS8 center channel. I have been happy with S55, and SSCS8. A week ago, I have decided to upgrade Sony center to Polk S30 center channel. I have been very disappointed so far. Polk S30 has better and clear non-diaogue sounds, but male voices in Poks center sound muddy or not clear. Female voices are ok but male voice is much worse than my Sony SSCS8. Polk and Sony centers are placed at the exact same place for testing. Sony has 4 inch woofers and I believe Polk center has 5.5 inch woofer. I am wondering if I got a bad product, or I need to experiment with the position of my speakers. Does anyone have any idea, why male vocals sound bad? Suggestions are much appreciated.

I don’t know if you have access to either DSP or equalisation in your system, but here’s a useful guide to which frequencies need adjusted - BTW - if your centre speaker is on or near the floor, that’s the reason!

 

[DigitalDawn]

If horizontal, try orienting your Polk center channel vertically to see if that helps.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Could just be the way that speaker sounds....but what frequency do you have the center speaker crossed with the sub? Does your receiver have a setup/calibration routine that you re-ran with the installation of the new speaker? Have you tried to adjust level of the center channel?

That’s what I was kinda thinking. If the Sony for example was brighter naturally, the AEQ would have pulled down treble peaks. Then when the poll went in, if it was a little flatter naturally, then it would sound dull. Same thing for midrange too I guess. Seems I recall most polkies having a “smiley face” sound.

 

[rnaeye]

Thanks for all the suggestions. They contain educational content for me. Much appreciated.

At least in part I think it is also something to do how these speakers sound. The issue was particularly noticeable when I watched the movie "12 Strong", the voice of Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth). I guess he has a bass voice. After my tests, I will update. Cheers!

 

[Jamesrxx951]

As mentioned, did you rerun the audio correction software in the receiver? Maybe something relate to that. I also pumped the center up 1DB over the calibration setting.I have the S55's but use the s35 for center and in my system it works great. No issues as of yet for any voices.

 

[rnaeye]

As mentioned, did you rerun the audio correction software in the receiver? Maybe something relate to that. I also pumped the center up 1DB over the calibration setting.I have the S55's but use the s35 for center and in my system it works great. No issues as of yet for any voices.

I repositioned the speakers and ran Yamaha YPAO. It improved bass vocals, but It's not perfect. I only did couple of hours of listening. I have not tried any other suggested tricks yet since I did not have time for it. I am not sure this speaker have a break-in period, or period that my ears will get used to the sound.

 

[rnaeye]

Hi all,
I thought I should share my further experience with my speaker in the hope that in might be helpful to some others who are also beginners like me. In general I am much happier with my center channel. Surprisingly, I have noticed that when I watch movies from Blu-ray disc, male vocals dramatically improves. I was so surprised; actually there was a smile on my face. If I had time, I would watch the movie "Alita: Battle Angel" for a second time back to back! Now, it's clear to me that my center speaker is performing as expected from what I paid. But, when I watch some Netflix show male vocals still suffers. I guess it's mostly Netflix compression of the sound not the speaker itself.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi all,
I thought I should share my further experience with my speaker in the hope that in might be helpful to some others who are also beginners like me. In general I am much happier with my center channel. Surprisingly, I have noticed that when I watch movies from Blu-ray disc, male vocals dramatically improves. I was so surprised; actually there was a smile on my face. If I had time, I would watch the movie "Alita: Battle Angel" for a second time back to back! Now, it's clear to me that my center speaker is performing as expected from what I paid. But, when I watch some Netflix show male vocals still suffers. I guess it's mostly Netflix compression of the sound not the speaker itself.

I have no trouble with Netflix. The basic problem is that most center speakers are not fit for purpose and people would be better off without them.

 

[shadyJ]

I have no trouble with Netflix. The basic problem is that most center speakers are not fit for purpose and people would be better off without them.

Another issue is that center speakers are often placed in settings which can boost the bass from boundary gain which will create a masking effect that can hurt dialogue intelligibility.

 

[rnaeye]

I thought I should give one more update on my Plk S30 central channel speaker after use of 3 years. It would be fair to Polk and it might be helpful to someone like me. Now, I am very happy with it. Dialogues are very clear including bluray or streaming movies. What made difference: I replaced my Yamaha RX-V675 with TSR-700, which now has 8 point multi-point calibration (YPA), and I can set up crossover frequency for individual speakers. It made an unbelievable difference. My old AVR had only single point calibration and did not allow crossover frequency set up for individual set up. Moreover, I am using 100watts per channel external amplifier for the front LR to take some load from the AVR. I feel it also little improved dialogue clarity, but this one is open to a debate as I need to give more time to test.

 

[Teetertotter?]

Is the EQ sound turned off?