Center speaker without surround?

[roserez]

I have a 20 year old stereo music system with left and right Boston Acoustics tower speakers. When I bought a large LCD TV a couple of years ago, I started playing movies through that system. As is predictable, dialog can get difficult to understand, especially when people are talking quietly so I've been thinking for some time of upgrading to a surround receiver and adding a center speaker. I cannot currently accommodate a full surround setup in my apartment. Is it possible to get satisfactory results by just adding a center channel to existing left and right without adding a sub-woofer or surround speakers? ("Satisfactory" meaning that dialog would be easier to understand without things sounding worse than they do now.) Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks. Mike.

 

[Swerd]

I have a 20 year old stereo music system with left and right Boston Acoustics tower speakers. When I bought a large LCD TV a couple of years ago, I started playing movies through that system. As is predictable, dialog can get difficult to understand, especially when people are talking quietly so I've been thinking for some time of upgrading to a surround receiver and adding a center speaker. I cannot currently accommodate a full surround setup in my apartment. Is it possible to get satisfactory results by just adding a center channel to existing left and right without adding a sub-woofer or surround speakers? ("Satisfactory" meaning that dialog would be easier to understand without things sounding worse than they do now.) Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks. Mike.

Yes, you are thinking about this correctly. With the 3 front channels and an AV receiver capable of decoding discrete 5 channel audio, you'll get most of the benefit even without the rear channels. In many movies, the rear channels have background or ambient sound, birds crickets and such.

You didn't mention having a DVD player, but I assume you have one.

 

[roserez]

Thanks. That is reassuring. And yes, I do have a dvd player but with anything available on blu-ray, I opt for that. I also rip things into my computer and play it through a network media player. - Mike

 

[JJMP50]

Swerd is right. Most of what you get is from the front 3 unless your watching something like "Saving Private Ryan" and want to duck under the couch during D-Day.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have a 20 year old stereo music system with left and right Boston Acoustics tower speakers. When I bought a large LCD TV a couple of years ago, I started playing movies through that system. As is predictable, dialog can get difficult to understand, especially when people are talking quietly so I've been thinking for some time of upgrading to a surround receiver and adding a center speaker. I cannot currently accommodate a full surround setup in my apartment. Is it possible to get satisfactory results by just adding a center channel to existing left and right without adding a sub-woofer or surround speakers? ("Satisfactory" meaning that dialog would be easier to understand without things sounding worse than they do now.) Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks. Mike.

Yes, a center might help. However a good set of stereo speakers should have good speech clarity. Now I admit they usually don't. Speech clarity is a is poor on the vast majority of speakers, including center channel speakers.

In fact most Hi-Fi speakers have worse speech clarity than most humble table radios or TV speakers, which is a scandal. Poor speech clarity is symptomatic of severe design problems in a speaker, and I know that includes most.

So if you add a center channel as you suggest and it has good speech clarity then it likely won't match you existing speakers.

Also just because a speaker has good speech clarity does not mean it is a good speaker. You can give a speaker mid range shout and it will have good speech clarity, bit otherwise be a lousy speaker.

The speaker that has good balance and speech clarity in my experience is a rare animal.

It certainly is possible. I use a 2 channel system plus subs in my first level great room, and speech clarity and fidelity are excellent. Speech clarity is every bit as good as in my dedicated 7.1 room.

So before buying a receiver you might want to audition some other speakers.

 

[caper26]

you can keep a 2-ch setup and create a center "ghost" channel with settings in the receiver which will divide the center ch into the L and R.

 

[sholling]

You don't say which Bostons that you own but every Boston VR series center that I've owned (3 over the year) had good speech clarity. The key is placing it so that there are no reflections off of furniture or bare floors. Make sure that the front of the center is forward of the TV and TV stand and at least 18" off the floor if you have carpet, higher if you don't. Not many BA center dip below 80hz, and those that do are old and rare as hen's teeth.

 

[TLS Guy]

you can keep a 2-ch setup and create a center "ghost" channel with settings in the receiver which will divide the center ch into the L and R.

I don't think he is using an AV receiver. I think he has old fashioned stereo and not chips with everything.

However I maintain you can watch a movie fine with a set up like this because I have done it with no phantom center. However the whole speech discrimination band is handled by one very good driver in those speakers.

 

[sholling]

I don't think he is using an AV receiver.

I just noticed this and there is no use buying a center with nothing to drive it. I suspect that the OP would be a lot better off reevaluating his current gear and move toward an AVR, modern connections to the cable box and DVD player, and adding a center.

 

[jp_over]

speech clarity

Yes, a center might help. However a good set of stereo speakers should have good speech clarity. Now I admit they usually don't. Speech clarity is a is poor on the vast majority of speakers, including center channel speakers.

In fact most Hi-Fi speakers have worse speech clarity than most humble table radios or TV speakers, which is a scandal. Poor speech clarity is symptomatic of severe design problems in a speaker, and I know that includes most.

Dr. Mark,

I've been following your advice/posts for a bit. Short of building one's own system, have you auditioned any speakers that you find do have excellent speech clarity (specifically, towers)?

I'm out of the country now and can't audition a thing but am doing research and also this question seems in line with the OP's initial post.

 

[TLS Guy]

Dr. Mark,

I've been following your advice/posts for a bit. Short of building one's own system, have you auditioned any speakers that you find do have excellent speech clarity (specifically, towers)?

I'm out of the country now and can't audition a thing but am doing research and also this question seems in line with the OP's initial post.

I have heard speakers with good speech clarity that were not good speakers in other respects.

I don't audition a huge number of speakers, but the three way B & W 800 series come to mind as superior in both regards, largely I suspect because they have good drivers with no crossover in the speech discrimination band.

The other HT system that springs to mind was by Thiel.

 

[roserez]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm not sure if it was clear that I currently have a 2 channel stereo receiver am considering buying a modern surround receiver (maybe an Onkyo) and a center channel. I don't plan to use the center for music, only for TV/DVD/Blu-ray viewing. The only thing I want to accomplish with it is to improve intelligibility of dialog. To answer one person's posting, the TV is a flat-screen and it's mounted on the wall so the center speaker would be on a piece of furniture just below the TV. The reason I'm limited in my options is because the living room is only about 18' x 12' with the TV on the long wall and the viewing couch on the opposite wall (thus only 12' away). When I move, and hopefully have more space, I'll revisit doing this as a matched full surround system. If I understand the responses, it sounds like I wouldn't go wrong with a Boston Acoustics center for what I want right now. Thanks again.