Swaping out an older Ultra Center for a new one....

[Pogre]

Pics of your setup?

 

[fast fred]

View attachment 45179

Wow sweet!

 

[fast fred]

two sb3000's will not give you the same low frequency extension as a single pb4000, if those are the only options I'd wait for the pb4000

Or thinking dual SB4000's

 

[Pogre]

Or thinking dual SB4000's

Also note in my pic that my tweeters are all at the same ear level. The Sierra 2 I'm using for a center is only temporary tho. I have a Horizon center on order right now, which is pretty much one of my towers in a different form factor. Then I'm gonna move my S2s to surround duty.

 

[Pogre]

Or thinking dual SB4000's

Or dual PB3000s. I might even prefer dual PB2000 Pros over a pair of SB3000s...

 

[fast fred]

So dual sb4000 won’t come close to a single pb4000 in my room??

 

[ryanosaur]

Sealed should never really be an option unless space is at a premium in a small room.

So much else to unpack from being away for 2 hours!

 

[ryanosaur]

BTW I did crank up the db's under the denon to +8, helped a little

OK.
First bit of unpacking.
You turned your AVR Trim up to +8?!

This is generally regarded as BAD. Boosting like this is done in the digital domain and is easliy one of the most guaranteed ways of introducing deleterious distortion into your system. If the signal were to clip at all, your speaker goes; *POOF.

 

[fast fred]

OK.
First bit of unpacking.
You turned your AVR Trim up to +8?!

This is generally regarded as BAD. Boosting like this is done in the digital domain and is easliy one of the most guaranteed ways of introducing deleterious distortion into your system. If the signal were to clip at all, your speaker goes; *POOF.

Oops k will lower!

 

[shadyJ]

Did you run any kind of room correction like Audyssey? That can really screw up the sound sometimes. There is also the chance that something is wrong with the speakers. Maybe the leads to the drivers have been knocked out to one of them. You might run a sine sweep and listen close to each driver to make sure they are all operational. If one of them isn't making noise, unscrew it from the enclosure and make sure the leads are connected. You can use this website for a tone generator.

 

[ryanosaur]

The guys already touched on the placement issues... Just to review:
Front baffle should be in front of the edge of the stand or cabinet.
Ports need room to breathe behind.
Speaker should be elevated/angled in a way that puts the tweeter within ±15º axis of you ears. I prefer to aim at shoulder level at the LP just so you aren't in the direct beam if there is any brightness in that tweeter.

When I used a horizontal center, I used these:

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They show as currently unavailable, but it gives you an idea... I turned them backwards so the speaker back was nestled against the foam ridge. Angle can be adjusted by the wedge. 1 pair for the center speaker.

 

[ryanosaur]

OK... I just found your photo again...

You also need to bring your speakers off the front wall by at least 6". Again, those Ports need room to breathe, no different than your Center.
This will affect the sound in your room.

Also, its hard to do things about the ceiling, but you should get a pad and area rug down on the floor in front of your gear. You want to soften the Floor Bounce from all of your speakers on the Front.

 

[NINaudio]

OK... I just found your photo again...

You also need to bring your speakers off the front wall by at least 6". Again, those Ports need room to breathe, no different than your Center.
This will affect the sound in your room.

Also, its hard to do things about the ceiling, but you should get a pad and area rug down on the floor in front of your gear. You want to soften the Floor Bounce from all of your speakers on the Front.

Oh wow, I was so focused on the center channel that I didn't even notice the mains were right up against the wall too. Good catch.

 

[Pogre]

OK... I just found your photo again...

You also need to bring your speakers off the front wall by at least 6". Again, those Ports need room to breathe, no different than your Center.
This will affect the sound in your room.

Also, its hard to do things about the ceiling, but you should get a pad and area rug down on the floor in front of your gear. You want to soften the Floor Bounce from all of your speakers on the Front.

Just more reason not to be too hasty and blame the speaker.

Ryan picked up on a couple more things we didn't point out. Any one of the tips we've offered so far can offer some improvement. I'll bet if you tweak everything that's been suggested it'll almost sound like a different system.

 

[Pogre]

Oh wow, I was so focused on the center channel that I didn't even notice the mains were right up against the wall too. Good catch.

Yup. Me too! I stopped at center channel and didn't really look the rest over. That was the big one per the question, but the other stuff will have impact too.

 

[Pogre]

Just more reason not to be too hasty and blame the speaker.

Ryan picked up on a couple more things we didn't point out. Any one of the tips we've offered so far can offer some improvement. I'll bet if you tweak everything that's been suggested it'll almost sound like a different system.

Of course run room correction again after performing said tweaks...

 

[ryanosaur]

Of course run room correction again after performing said tweaks...

This.

 

[MDK210]

Huh?

I'm saying the Primes are not nearly as good as the Ultras so use their upgrade program, if you can, to get rid of the Primes and upgrade. If you can't afford Ultra towers and the Ultra center then drop the center until you can afford it. Pairing Primes towers with an Ultra center isn't worth it if the center is holding you back financially from getting Ultra towers.

 

[Pogre]

I'm saying the Primes are not nearly as good as the Ultras so use their upgrade program, if you can, to get rid of the Primes and upgrade. If you can't afford Ultra towers and the Ultra center then drop the center until you can afford it. Pairing Primes towers with an Ultra center isn't worth it if the center is holding you back financially from getting Ultra towers.

He has Prime Pinnacles in the system he's using the new center with. Those are pretty much in the same family with the Ultras, sharing the same midrange driver and tweets.

 

[ryanosaur]

He has Prime Pinnacles in the system he's using the new center with. Those are pretty much in the same family with the Ultras, sharing the same midrange driver and tweets.

And easier to place in-room than the Ultra Towers.