polk audio csi5 center very bright! need help!

[firefighterchri]

I have a polk audio csi5 center channel speaker that is "ear bleeding" bright while playing certain parts in a movie. I just read the post by james stewart and I'm still wondering what is causing this. I have the yamaha 2500 and use the auto stup when calibrating. Let me first say my center speaker is below my tv (only place to put it) and is in between the upper glass shelf (holding tv) and the bottom shelf. The center of the speaker is 15" off the ground facing straignt ahead at the coffee table and couch. The seat of my couch is 15" off the ground. How I set my microphone up for auto setup is, I place 3 pillows on the couch, place the mic on a tripod, and place it on top of the pillows. (the reason I do this is I was told the mic needs to be at ear level) This total height from the seating position is roughly 18+". My question is, will the difference in heights cause the center to become overly bright? Does the receiver want to put more level in the center to compensate for it being down so low and not aiming directly at the mic (possibly test tones being blocked by table and sofa)? The csi5 has the capability of being turned upside down with the beveled edge down so it is facing more upwards. Will doing this help any? I love my movies loud sometimes but, I HAVE FOUND MYSELF TURNING IT DOWN IN CERTAIN PARTS to be able to understand the dialouge and really enjoy the movie without my hand on the remote all the time! Thanks and as always I have gotten great help on here but, I need more.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

The csi5 has the capability of being turned upside down with the beveled edge down so it is facing more upwards. Will doing this help any?

I think that's your problem. Since the center is not delivering the signal directly to the mic, the mic is compensating by boosting the dB level of the center. Flip it over so it's angled to the listener. I own the CSi5. If properly eq'd, it will sound amazing.

Do you have bookshelves, or towers? Are the front mains set straight forward, or angled "in" just behind the listening position? Angling them in a tad will also affect how the auto setup calibrates the center channel's dB level.

One last item - once you're finished with the auto setup, don't be afraid to go in and tweak it to your liking. You can always cut the high end frequencies if your room acoustics don't do it for you.

 

[firefighterchri]

I have the rti12 for mains and they are slightly turned inward as well as the surrounds. Don't get me wrong the csi5 is sounds great it just that it so bright in some parts of the movies. I will try flipping it over and see what it does when I get back from vacation! I have a feeling that is exactly what is happening too as you stated buckeyefan1 that it is compensating for it not being pointed at the mic and raising the db level up some.