Tips for Proper Setup of your Center Channel Speaker to Enhance Performance

[DD66000]

I agree. If we look at the picture of the front:


View attachment 11660

If the center speaker were placed directly under the TV, but on top of the TV stand, then its tweeter would be closer to being in line with the right and left speaker. That way, when a sound pans across the front channels, it would not go up and down much. As things are, a sound panning across the front starts at a normal height, goes way up, and then comes back down again, which is not a good thing at all.

Of my various setups, the only time I was happy with the center on top of the TV was when I had a 32" TV sitting on a 13" tall base. That put the bottom of the TV inline with the bottom of my 24" tall speakers, which were also sitting on their 13" tall bases.
So with the center on top of the TV the difference was only about 11" vertical to the main's tweeters.
When I replaced the 32" with a 65", I put the center out front & just below the screen.

 

[twoeyedbob]

Thought this might be a good place to ask this...
I've got two small bookshelf's operating as a centre..
Would it be an idea to disconnect one tweeter..?
Are the two side by side likely to be causing any issues ?
Sounds pretty good ...possibly slightly brighter since i angled
Them slightly upwards...
Although i've only just done this(2hrs ago) and haven't re-run ypao yet..
So i cant really draw any conclusion's

Any advice would be great ...thanks

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pyrrho]

View attachment 11661
Thought this might be a good place to ask this...
I've got two small bookshelf's operating as a centre..
Would it be an idea to disconnect one tweeter..?
Are the two side by side likely to be causing any issues ?
Sounds pretty good ...possibly slightly brighter since i angled
Them slightly upwards...
Although i've only just done this(2hrs ago) and haven't re-run ypao yet..
So i cant really draw any conclusion's

Any advice would be great ...thanks

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

I recommend just using one of the speakers, not both. For one thing, if you have them wired in parallel, then you are presenting the center channel amplifier with half of the normal impedance, which, depending on the specifics involved, could be a problem.

Second, you can have cancelation affects from having two speakers try to reproduce the same signal, due to the sound being out of phase from one to the other relative to where you are, at certain frequencies.

In other words, it could be a problem electrically for your amplifier, and it could be bad from a sound standpoint. I recommend that you use only one of the two speakers for your center channel.

 

[3db]

I agree. If we look at the picture of the front:


View attachment 11660

If the center speaker were placed directly under the TV, but on top of the TV stand, then its tweeter would be closer to being in line with the right and left speaker. That way, when a sound pans across the front channels, it would not go up and down much. As things are, a sound panning across the front starts at a normal height, goes way up, and then comes back down again, which is not a good thing at all.

I thought that may have been a problem so I experimented with a few movies. The pans are seamless. No elevation detected at all when panning across the the three

 

[Pyrrho]

I agree. If we look at the picture of the front:


View attachment 11660

If the center speaker were placed directly under the TV, but on top of the TV stand, then its tweeter would be closer to being in line with the right and left speaker. That way, when a sound pans across the front channels, it would not go up and down much. As things are, a sound panning across the front starts at a normal height, goes way up, and then comes back down again, which is not a good thing at all.

I thought that may have been a problem so I experimented with a few movies. The pans are seamless. No elevation detected at all when panning across the the three

That is surprising. So when there is center channel dialog, it does not sound like it is coming from above?

Of course, the further one is away from the equipment, the less any of this will matter, as the relative angle will be more similar the farther one gets from the speakers. Distance to listening position is always an important part of the equation.

 

[3db]

That is surprising. So when there is center channel dialog, it does not sound like it is coming from above?

Of course, the further one is away from the equipment, the less any of this will matter, as the relative angle will be more similar the farther one gets from the speakers. Distance to listening position is always an important part of the equation.

From the seating position which is between 10' and 12' feet away, it doesn't sound like its coming from the top. I suppose it might if I sat closer. All my testing was done from the seating position

 

[j_garcia]

That is surprising. So when there is center channel dialog, it does not sound like it is coming from above?

Of course, the further one is away from the equipment, the less any of this will matter, as the relative angle will be more similar the farther one gets from the speakers. Distance to listening position is always an important part of the equation.

I used to have my center sitting on top of the TV angled down similar to his and it did not sound like it was above unless it wasn't angled down. Kind of hard to see the leveling feet here, but the rear is lifted slightly. Then I switched to the MoPads

 

[twoeyedbob]

View attachment 11661
Thought this might be a good place to ask this...
I've got two small bookshelf's operating as a centre..
Would it be an idea to disconnect one tweeter..?
Are the two side by side likely to be causing any issues ?
Sounds pretty good ...possibly slightly brighter since i angled
Them slightly upwards...
Although i've only just done this(2hrs ago) and haven't re-run ypao yet..
So i cant really draw any conclusion's

Any advice would be great ...thanks

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

Just a quick update....
angling the centre spkr('s) ...seem's to have had quite a major effect,certainly from main listening position.
Bass integration ,on music anyway..appears to be markedly improved....my rel sub seem's to have dissapeared ....whereas before it was fairly easy to place.
Voicing seem's better..not as striking as the bass issue ,however.
Possibly over the next few days/weeks it'll prove to be
A placebo effect...hopefully not


I will at some point try disconnecting either one of the centre's or one of the tweeter's ,as advised...
I doubt(although cant prove) there are any impedance issues
As it's been running this way for between 3 or 4 yrs ,with 2 different yam's and i've yet to have any heat issues or shutdown's, but maybe it's having a detrimental effect on sound.


Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

 

[j_garcia]

Are those ported or sealed? Sound wise, if they aren't shutting it down, they're probably fine - yes it changes the impedance seen by the receiver whether you are running them parallel or series, but if crossed over and they aren't demanding speakers, it probably isn't an issue and it doesn't sound like it is. I wouldn't disconnect one tweeter, but I might try flipping them 180 so the tweeters are on the outside, not unlike the old Axiom VP-150, or use just one.

 

[twoeyedbob]

Ported..however although it doesnt look it
Ive cut away all shelving behind tv and the bricks are only one deep..
So no where near as bad as you would think from the photo

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

 

[j_garcia]

Axiom VP-150:

 

[twoeyedbob]

I've tried them both ways and ended up with them
The way they are now...tbh i cant remember if there was a
Difference either way...

My logic behind disconnecting one tweeter was
It would just be a slightly longer version of many
Centre's i've seen, cept each woofer would have it's own
Cabinet and crossover..neither of which sounds like a
Bad thing..?

Easy to disconnect as they're bi-amp connection's

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2