Speaker dstorting???

[jman103099]

Okay, this has been bugging me a little and I wanted to know what someone else thinks. When I am watching a movie I sometimes will hear distortion or fuzz out of vocals through the center channel. Its hard to explain, and my girlfriend says she cant hear anything - however, I know its there

Anyway, I am using a Yamaha 5750 receiver and JBL ec25 center channel with matching e60 towers up front. I wouldnt say im listening to it that loud, and im sure it cant be the center channel maxing out(?) The stuff is all hooked up with either AR pro-series or Monster (what can I say, I work at Best Buy and get a discount )

Im just not sure what could be causing this. I watched Toy Story (the new one that just got re-released) and could notice it when voices got loud (like when the toys were screeming at eachother). I also notice it in regular movies too and now that I know its there its hard to watch a movie without listening for it! Am I paranoid? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin

 

[j_garcia]

Do you have the center set to small? Does it only do it during a loud passage or is it random?

Same spot on a particular movie? Could be the recording.

 

[Tomorrow]

I hear this on rare occasions. If it's the same thing I experienced....it's the source. Listen to your mains' tweeters and/or mids...they should be doing the same thing. It scared me the first time I heard it, too.

 

[jman103099]

My center is set to small... it seems to only do it on the loud parts, but again, its hard for me to tell.

 

[Pyrrho]

My center is set to small... it seems to only do it on the loud parts, but again, its hard for me to tell.

Try listening to those same portions with the volume turned down a bit. If the distortion goes away, and is there only with the volume turned up, then your distortion is almost certainly caused either by your speaker being overdriven, or you amplifier clipping. To find out which, if your main speakers can handle more power than your center speaker, hook up one of them to the center channel (disconnecting the center channel speaker, of course) and listen to the same passage again. If you can play it loud without distortion, then you should consider replacing your center channel speaker with something that can play louder. If it still distorts (and if your main speakers have the same efficiency as your center speaker), it is likely that it is your center channel amplifier. In which case, you either buy a more powerful receiver, a more powerful amplifier (if you have a center channel preamp output), or a much more efficient center channel speaker.

If the distortion does not go away when you turn down the volume a bit, then it is likely to be the recording, in which case the only thing you can do is live with it or watch another movie.