Center Channel Sound: Two Hacks to Improve TV Sound
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 1. 06. 2024
- Watching more tv these days? Same. One thing that customers often ask us is how to improve tv sound so that dialog is really intelligble. These days more and more information comes through the center channel of your system, and if it's too small, or if it's not set up correctly, the result can be muddy, hard-to-understand sound.
00:00 Center Channel Sound
01:29 Need of a center channel
03:09 Hack 1
05:13 Hack 1
06:09 Phantom Center Channel
07:47 Rule of thumb
08:40 Match drive size & Match Configuration
09:18 What I suggest
In this video Andrew Welker gives us two hacks to try with our existing center channels, and failing those, two things to look for in a new center channel.
If you haven't touched your receiver settings in 20 years, this is a must-watch!
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I bought our speakers from Axiom 12 years ago; VP100 centre channel, M22s on stands, M2 bookshelf and the EP175 subwoofer all channeled through an Onkyo receiver. Everything has worked very well over the years, but my husband's hearing has gradually gotten worse. He has been wearing hearing aids for a few years now, but I often have to pause a television programme to repeat the dialogue. Sometimes it's the background music overpowering the actors - not much you can do about that, but when I watched Andrew's video, I thought, "ah, it's not just us!" I followed all of his tips in the video above and it really did make a difference. The follow up video tip from this week's newsletter to make sure the centre channel is at the very edge of it's shelf was another big improvement. Even moving it the 1 inch forward made the dialogue easier to understand. Thank you Andrew and all at Axiom for your great customer service.
Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know how well these tips worked for you! Let us know if there are any other videos you'd like us to do. đ
Az
Hearing loss is a cruel mistress of a hometheater enthusiast. Sorry to hear. (No pun intended)
"full range center channel" - Exactly, absolutely correct. Huge improvement in movie audio.
Thank you! It does make a huge difference and many people refuse to believe the benefit until they hear it.
Are you saying you set your center crossover to full range? Not 80 or 60 hz?
When I bought my B&W setup made sure to get the largest center channel speaker with 6.5â woofers capable of deep and high frequencies. The result is obvious, full nice center channel performance with crisp clear dialog and full range sound effects. My room calibration sets the center channel slightly lower balancing with the rest of the system. Another problem I often see is people placing left and right speakers too close to the center channel. Mine are far apart with dual subs in between, same with the surrounds, providing a great and spatial soundstage. The points in this video are spot on.
Thank you! I agree that many people place the main left and right channels to close to the TV/center channel. If you have the space itâs better to separate them to achieve a good balance and central image when listened to in stereo only. Then make the adjustments to the rest of the system.
I really needed this information, thank you Andrew. I never wouldâve paid attention to Axiom, but iâm a sucker for good honest advice.
Youâre welcome! Thanks for watching our channel.
I did your 1st hack, the 2DB added to center channel Polk Audio S35. Helped a lot.
Another hack is that you might be able to bump up specific frequencies in the centre channel, if your receiver allows for manual eq. I have mine bumped up a few dB between about 300hz and 4000hz, about where voices are.
Also, centre channels should be configured MTM or WMTW not TMT (referring to the arrangement of Tweeters, Mids, Woofers), putting tweeters on the ends of the centre channel can cause acoustic interference, this reduces the width of the sweet spot. Ideally all of the drivers should be as close together as possible to reduce interference. On top of that, try to have a rug or carpet in front of the centre channel - particularly if it is quite low. This will help to absorb the first reflection of the sound off of the floor. A slightly delayed echo from the floor can harm speech intelligibility.
Certainly you can EQ the center, but if you listen to anything other than voice it can screw up the sound, particularly with multichannel music. A carpet in front of the center channel is a great tip!
@@AxiomHomeTheaters True, true. Although I haven't noticed much of a hit. Multichannel music is great, although I've only listened to upmixed music.
@@joshhyyym good to hear!
Reasonable advice. But also consider that in home theatre most bass of the towers and center is crossed over to the subwoofer. So the woofers then become less significant. Not sure who runs their speakers full range with a subwoofer. Also the center speakers can sound different depending on the surface they sit. An acoustic wedge pointed at the listening position will help isolate the speaker and get it ear level. Lastly room noise floor and reflections can have impact on dialogue intelligibility. Placing an area rug between the front speakers and the main listening position can go a long way. So can moving a coffee table out of the way or covering it with a blanket.
All great tips, thanks for sharing! The area rug is a big tip, and one Andrew spoike about in this video: czcams.com/video/qFpE5Hwntag/video.html& Thanks for watching, and adding great tips. đ
@thepiecesfit... I must be reading your post out of context. It doesn't seem to make sense. It does depend on the size of your speakers. It's always been recommended to use full range speakers for all discrete channels in a Dolby Digital system, unlike before with Pro Logic. You do want to run all of your connected speakers in full range for Dolby Digital, 5 channel stereo, DVD-Audio, and everything else. Moreover, most if not all receivers give you control over crossover cutoff freqs for your speakers and of course my sub handles all the heavy lifting, that sits on an isolation pad. Isolation pads are highly recommended and now days very cheap. I have my Klipsch Icon Series WF35's and my WC24 center sitting on 20 dollar isolation pads I bought Sweetwater but you can also find them on Amazon. However, I don't use them for my Martin Logans...LOL
I run my center channel down to 60 hertz, which produces a much fuller nicer soundstage than when crossing over at 80 hz. I fined tuned my HT to my liking by listening to various contents and to what my ears enjoyed. A center channel with small woofers will never sound as nice as large woofers, itâs simple physics.
Great info
Glad to see more content as of recent. Hoping time lines up to catch a live feed.đ
Thank you, great to hear you're enjoying what we're doing. Let us know if there are any topics you'd like us to cover.
Seth Rogen knows his shit
Two great advice. Most movies are using auto mix for 5.1, after all, who has the time to sit for hours or days manually mixing 6 channels. Most if not all movies on Netflix come with two mixes: 5.1 and 2.0, the 2.0 being an almost guaranteed automatic down-mix of the 5.1, which may also be done with an AI auto algorithm. Phantom center -- of course. We only use center channels and a sub for playback and 5.1 mixing & mastering. For playbacks, we disengage the center channel, make it virtual and split the info between FL and FR center channel speakers. So basically a 4.1 Quadraphonic or virtual Quadraphonic with a faux center channel info. Then for mixing to 5.1, we re-engage the center channel and use all 5 of them plus the sub. We do not use any bookshelves, towers, surrounds, Atmos speakers in the room, only 3-way center channels. There is nothing like working with and listening to a number of these horizontally laid down 3-way centers. Most pro-grade soundtrack mixing room using 3-way powered studio monitors operate this way.
Very interesting insight into the mixing side of the process, thank you!
Simple advices but very helpful. Thanks a bunch my good man!
Youâre very welcome!
Thank you, I've been struggling with this problem more recently how to get better dialogue sound from our center speaker. The information you provided gives me a good starting point.
Glad it helped! Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions, it's a great way to know what questions should be covered in future videos.
You have an expansive knowledge. Iâve been reading Stereo Review magazines since the late â80s. I know, that you know what youâre talking about. Great đđœ information for even the most die hard audiophile.
Thank you!
Hi, thank you Andrew.
I am watching this the second time. It was useful. I have a 7.1 set up with a pair of M80 1st gen up front. I bought them in 2009 and used a center channel from a different brand (another reputable Canadian brand too) with a smaller form factor, 2 tweeters and 2 mid-woofers. I tried tweaking the center channel output but still not really happy about it. So I bought a VP180 and took delivery earlier this year. The center image and dialogue of a lot of the movies and shows are now more coherent. And, I have also elevated the center VP180 and placing them on top of the shelf with the top just below the TV, helps in the image (I did the same with the old one. Before, it was on the floor with 3" stand-off blocks).
I agree, a triplet from the same line sounds better. I am still using a quad of surround speakers and subwoofer from other brands.
Thank you for watching and for your input. Iâm happy to hear that youâre pleased with the VP180!
The general problem is that most "receivers" that use Dolby Surround Sound circuitry are using a single IC chip as a high-wattage power source. They split the power 5 or 7 ways, which ends up under-powering all speakers within the surround system. Very few will have dedicated power to each and every channel. You will know if your system suffers this cheap trick if you see the specs say, "300 watts stereo, 100 watts surround." Those numbers could even be lower. There is not much you can do here except buy a mono-amplifier and use the receiver's Center-Channel pre-amp output, which some receivers have, to create a dedicated power solution.
I have a 3.2 setups and when me and my girlfriend watch movies we can barely hear what their saying and if we turn it up they L and R speakers become way too loud, this helped alot! Thanks for this
Glad it helped, and thank you for taking the time to comment.
Thanks for this video! It helped to a lot.
Glad it helped! Thank you for watching, and let us know if there are other topics you'd like to see covered.
11 years and I still love my VP100, (yes, my home stereo needs that size to access my receiver, and CD player, plus my M22's. I probably could do better, but I love what I have. Quality, and great Axiom customer service.
A VP100 is the perfect complement to your M22s. If you're happy with what you have, stick with it! Thanks so much for the compliment, and please let us know if you have a video you'd like to see from us. đđ
@@AxiomHomeTheaters I will. Thanks. đ»
Most relevant information brother đ
Thanks this was incredibly helpful
Glad it was helpful, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
when I put my Thiel .5 speakers into my HT setup, I first found the appropriately sized Thiel center channel...it makes a difference
Wow great information thanks đ
Glad it was helpful and thank you for watching. đ
Smartest thing is to get 3 same speakers to front(and back too), then add subwoofer that can will take all the signals in and send all other speakers only ~85Hz and up. Of course I am now speaking about active speakers.
A great idea if you have the space!
Perfect advice given in this video suggestion. Many will understand but some never will. {face palm}
Thank you, glad you liked the video.
When 5.1 was still new technology it was hard to find a good center channel, so I built my own from a set of high quality Altec Lansing component speakers I had sitting around. It was pretty decent for the time being however just a little undersized for my Acoustic Research towers. A few years later when the technology got better I bought a larger Paradigm center and it matches my towers nicely. Of course by reading the names you will realize I am on a budget, I have done a lot of diy improvements to my listening room and I have some friends with much more expensive setups say that my system sounds better.
Everyone has a budget, and it's important to work with what you have, and get it to sound the best you can. Obviously by your friends' reactions, you've been very successful, congrats! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. đ
@Baba Ganush I recently placed my subwoofer on a slab of marble that I got for free, its the best isolation platform I have found so far. Some people throw money at a problem, I like the challenge of coming up with a solution myself.
Expensive speakers in an untreated room and placed suboptimally arenât going to sound great no matter how expensive they are. Owners of top line speakers might just think itâs as good as it gets and are just unaware that thereâs so many ways to get better sound out of their systems. Inexpensive stuff you can do yourself like room acoustics and speaker placement and tinkering with REW and putting sand into speaker stands and understanding different codecs and going down into the endless pit of information out there in the audio world. When you canât just upgrade everything then you start looking at ways to improve with what you have and it definitely goes a longer way than just buying better speakers
â@@timberray9572 yippee and your not the 1st to do that. Read around I know it works too. Glad it's working for you timđ
Ive always wanted Axioms. Theyve been my upgrade plan from my Athenas for a long time now.
Looking forward to seeing what you decide on, and cheers for choosing Axiom.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Very kind of you, thank you.
Awesome advice. I set my front floor standing speakers and my centre to same DB ? I'm going to raise my centre volume. Cheers from Australia. Subbed and liked. I just scored a pioneer VSX 422 AVR from my father in law. I'm stuck in the late 90s with my old Yamaha A-520 amplifier and Yamaha surround sound processor. LOL.
Glad the video helped and thanks for subscribing! Nothing wrong with 90s gear if itâs still working smoothly.
Thank you. Subscribed.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the subscribe! Please let us know if their are topics you'd like to see videos on.
counter productive! honesty! i highly recommend buying from them
What a fantastic compliment! The whole point though is to get the best sound from what you already own. How else can you decide if you need improvement in your system components. Thanks for watching and please let us know if there are topics you'd like to see covered.
Great information đ
I thought a Soundbar was also a kind of centerspeaker..obviously i was totally wrong
Thank youâŠmany people see a sound bar in the normal location of a center channel and assume itâs the same thing!
In literally 3 secs i knew guy is from or in Canada!!
The center channel for cinema is primarily used by re recording mixersto anchor dialogue. That has always been it's purpose in movie production and very little information below 100 hz is present. Music mixes are different, and proper bass management will take care of the rest. Cant hear the dialogue? Bump up the level by +3 and "Bob's Your Uncle"
As always, I find your videos to be very informative. I have an Axiom home theater which I bought a while ago, and I am very pleased with the quality of the sound, but in light of this video I have a question. My front left and right speakers are Axiom M100, but due to space constraints I went with the Axiom VP160 for the center channel. At the time Axiom said that the VP160 would not be a significant downgrade from the VP180. Is that still consistent with the point of this video?
Absolutely, the VP160 or VP180 are both excellent partners for a pair of M100s and will provide similar balance and bass extension.
Thx for it âïž
Youâre welcome đ
Informative.
Glad you got some good info from the video, thanks for watching!
Definitely going to try to bump the dB on my VP100 slightly and see if that helps. Fronts are currently M3's.
I have had an Axiom sound system for 13 years now. M22's, VP150, EP350, and QS8's all V2. I have also noticed a difficulty understanding dialog at times during movies etc. After watching this, I am now in the process of building a temp. shelf so that I can lift my TV to make room for my Centre Channel Speaker directly below it. My Centre Channel right now is just above floor level in a unit. I have recently been thinking about upgrading my M22's maybe to M60's. Would this improve sound quality by a lot? Would my Sub woofer still be good to use with the M60's?
Yes, absolutely in both cases! Your EP350 will work perfectly with a pair of M60s and the latest M60 v4 will be a huge step up from your M22s. Thanks for your comments, and please let us know if there are any other topics you'd like us to cover.
My dialog level is great. My problem is that it is too localized to a 2" area at the bottom of the screen (65"). I have a nested MTM style center with 5" woofers. I have adjusted the receiver to spread some dialog to L & R mains, but it sounds a little weird. Only thing I can think of is to adjust the EQ to reduce the tweeter impact or move the speaker behind the tv and have the sound physically blocked. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Infinity classica speakers (only ones my wife could aesthetically tolerate), Yamaha RX-V6, Emotiva amp for mains.
Try bringing the centre channel level down just a touch in your receiver settings.
I have a martin logan 50xt center channel. Can you recommend an isolation board or wedge for that model? Will a board make a difference in the sound?
An isolation pad is not likely to do much, however a wedge may help if your center channel is positioned below ear height. I would recommend looking at products from Auralex.
Interestingly enough, most dedicated center channel speakers, frequency responses are starting in the 55 to 80 hz range whereas most left/right main speakers start in the 35 to 45 hz range. I realize having 3 identical speakers, L/C/R is ideal but like most people, that simply is not an option. I have been dragging purchase options out for months as dialogue is an issue in movies and I know this is the cure. If I want to spend 2500 per speaker, this problem magically goes away. As a long time working musician, I laugh at that prospect. Musically, my stuff is dialed but this blasted center speaker.......hahaha. Great info here regardless! Thanks.
Itâs true, and a difficult situation and decision. I think that in many cases people will just not accept a large speaker sitting under or over their TV. They want it to be small and fit in or on a cabinet. With careful subwoofer tuning and AVR settings, you can make things better with a center channel that does not extend as low as your mains.
Hi, I want to ask a question about back ported center speaker , I have a cabinet that the inner dimension are just fit in my center. The cabinet has 1 of 1 3/4 inch hole on the back for cable, I'm planning to put port plug on both (it has 2 port), I know it will affect the low frequency sound but will it affect much? or should I buy, let say closed box or front ported speaker?
Since you already have the center channel, I would set it up with port plugs and see how the bass sounds. You will loose a bit of extension, but it may not be noticeable if you have a subwoofer in the system. You may also want to watch the video on Port Plugs: czcams.com/video/xMVWaFeJImM/video.html
Thanks for your comment and for watching.
If like me you donât have room for a centre channel out front of your tv and have to place it behind the tv, point the speakers either upwards or backwards to bounce sound off the wall. Much better sound.
Itâs certainly not ideal, but if it works for you that all that matters! Thanks for watching.
I had a friend who placed all his small satellite speakers to bounce off the wall and it really helped those small speakers with soundstage and immersion. They sounded bigger than what they were. Atmos does the same thing bouncing those small Atmos modules off the ceiling
i have a Aventage A880 with preouts for all channels. I previously used anXTZ Edge to power my fronts with the mains preouts. This significantly improved the overall power of the system but especially the center. I recently changed that set up and use a switch box to isolate the fronts for two channel music, with the edge now as only a two channel power amp. Combined with a Schiit Freya+ and wow, a great set up. But now my HT is back to square one, all 7 channels powered by the receiver and not enough juice in the center presentation. Id like to add an amp for the center channel but dont want to spend too much, less than $100. Any recommendations? Also, id like the amp to auto power on and off :)
Iâll be honest with you, I donât think there is an amp available for $100 thatâs going to outperform the amp section in your receiver. Iâd suggest saving up! đ
@@AxiomHomeTheaters appreciate the reply! I found a 100w mono amp on amazon for $29 lol, no power supply. Thing fits in the palm of your hand. Class D is something isnt it. Bought a 24v,5 amp, power supply to pair with it for $20. Gonna see how it goes, for shits and giggles more than anything. Hey if it works though lol, better than spending $1200 on a new HTR.
@@damienlahoz Yes, Class D can be amazing. Iâll be interested to hear how your experiment turns out!
Yeah, Pro Logic 4 discrete channels and the center was restricted to dialogue only, depending on the content, maybe a little more but usually not much else. In a Pro Logic system, the surrounds were basically one channel and that sucked. Better than nothing right? I chose to buy Dipole speakers back in the day for a little extra fan fare. It didn't get interesting until Dolby Digital came along with five discrete channels and low frequency effects channel (LFE), the .1 in your system. I could go on and on but I really wanted to emphasize making your left, right, and center channel speakers, your front sound stage, timbre matched. You definitely want to buy all three speakers from the same company, but also ensure that all three speakers are part of the same package, model, or series. This is part of their marketing and is why they usually point out a center channel speaker matching well with a specific pair of front left and right speakers. You may not think it makes a difference but when you listen to a music DVD concert, or especially DVD-Audio, you may find out the hard way.
I agree 100% with the importance of matching the front three speakers in any multi-channel systemâŠit can make a huge difference.
Help please?
I just got the klipsch rp8000f (8 inch woofers) for fronts 150 peak power.
For center Iâd want the rp504c but I have no space for it :( 150 peak power.
Would the klipsch rp500c (5 1/2 woofers) be good for my fronts? 100 peak power.
As long as the center is from the same series in the Klipsch line it should match well. Thanks for watching.
Great information. If I get the vp180 will it work with my svs Prime towers?
Absolutely it will work with your svs Prime towers. Thanks for watching đ
@@AxiomHomeTheaters
Thank you, will it be an upgrade from my SVS Prime center?
With the larger 6 1/2 inch woofers and more cabinet volume you'll likely notice the biggest improvement in bass performance.
Thank you for this great video!
In your opinion, do you think we can use center speakers as front speakers as well? It will be installed vertically as front speakers and horizontally for center channel.
Thank you! I donât recommend doing that unless the speakers have been specifically designed to act at LCRs (Left/Center/Right).
Thank you for your reply! I have R52C center speaker and since it is recommended to keep the same brand for at least the front speakers, I am considering using same R52C center speaker for the front left & right. Nor sure if this will be a good setup.
@@sg7246 I would check with the manufacturer to see if they recommend using those center speakers vertically, or recommend and different model for front left and right.
Can we have a video covering large speakers vs small speakers?,particularly the front ones. Thanks
These two videos give a run down on choosing bookshelf & floor standing speakers: czcams.com/video/6S23iXjbDzE/video.html & czcams.com/video/_cuINzPoMm0/video.html
As well this older video talks about choosing stereo speakers: czcams.com/video/CzdhqgTQfmg/video.html . Hope this helps, and feel free to ask more questions. Thank you for watching.
I have heard some say put the center in front of the tv some behind which is better?
I prefer to have the center at least slightly in front of the TV to prevent acoustic reflections. Thanks for your question and for watching.
One of the best videos on centre channel, somethong that just does not get the required attention. I would love to run full band towers for centre channel. Not sure if that's a good idea! If it is not possible to get the same series/company centre channel, would a different brand not work? Even if it's more bigger and powerful. I have great front towers that go down to 40hz, would like to upgrade my centre channel and then also get towers for surrounds. What would you do? Thanks!
Thank you! If you have the space for a matching tower for a center it will certainly work very well. Mixing brands is difficult as the timbre matching might not be very good, unless itâs another company with a similar design philosophy. One way around this would be to find a dealer who might be willing to let you borrow their demo unit so you can try it out before buying.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters I have the space for a centre tower but I keep reading something about horizontal vs vertical displacement of sound as the drivers are horizontal in a centre channel vs a tower speaker.
@@sutraleticsssutraleticss5001 As long as the tower is a well designed loudspeaker with wide dispersion, it will work great. The horizontal driver placement of most center channels is out of necessity as most people need something thatâs not too tall so it can be placed on a rack or cabinet below a TV.
do you think that putting 2 speakers stacked in serial to have a very good center channel
I think a single speaker would likely perform better in terms of vertical radiation pattern. Speakers should ideally never be wired in series as they will interact each other. Thanks for a great question and for watching.
I bought center channel speaker , I had this question weather both the woofers get different signals, as right woofer functions more than the left woofer. Is it normal with all center channel speakers ? please answer
It depends on the design, but in most cases the two woofers or mid-woofers will carry the same signal. Thanks for your question, and for watching.
For new movies on Bluray or 4K, playing Atmos or DTS, how much low-level signal does the center channel receive? Does it go down as far as 30 or 20 Hz?
Yes, the center channel information can be full range.
Thanks
Is it true that nowadays, in certain movies, the center channel gets more information than the front left and right channels because now they not do dialogues, but also special effects?
@@mengirex AbsolutelyâŠeffects can be present in the center channel with pretty much any current digital format like Dolby Digital, Atmos, DTS-HD, DTS:X, etc.
Curious about the VP180, why the two widely separated tweeters? Normally this would be considered a bad thing due to the comb filtering it should cause. Just curious what the argument is for this design and why it would work.
We actually tried a number of different design layouts, and the spacing you see on the final product won in blind listening tests, and has the smoothest and widest dispersion. All driver configurations will have some level of comb filtering, itâs considering the impact in relation to the sound power and listening windows thatâs critical.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Yes other than a point source like a coax or something it's pretty much unavoidable. The CBT lines I'm building for my theater are MTM in the horizontal axis with greater than ideal spacing. I might try using linear phase digital filters as described by Horbach and Keele to reduce the problem. Ref: Application of Linear-Phase Digital Crossover Filters to Pair-Wise Symmetric Multi-Way Loudspeakers Part 1: Control of Off-Axis Frequency Response. This is not really an option for most applications however given it requires active DSP crossovers.
Anyway, I had seen that VP180 on line and always wondered, "what the heck were they thinking" but if it works, it works. I thought the same thing the first time I saw open baffle and now that's almost all I do, have since 1994.
@@mfkhometheater7742 Thank you for the follow-up response. Even with DSP crossovers, you will unfortunately still be limited by the actual acoustic properties of the drivers as placed in your cabinet. DSP can certainly be a help, but it unfortunately canât fix everything.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters That's true but the method developed by Horbach and Keele does eliminate the comb filter problem. The crossover is unique in that it has no pass band. Each driver pair has a, "critical frequency" with steep filters either side. The center tweeter behaves normally above the critical frequency and the last pair also behave normally based on their spacing below their critical frequency. Unfortunately in my case I have only the tweeter and one flanking pair so it won't really accomplish much. To get constant directivity over a large bandwidth you need multiple flanking pairs with increasing distance between them. The ones in the middle, that have only a critical frequency and no pass band, control directivity very precisely.
It's an interesting concept, and the math does work. Once you see the math behind it you will see that it must create a well controlled center lobe with minimal side lobes and no comb filtering in the designs intended primary beam. I built one for my old theater and it did control directivity very well but had the limitation of the single tweeter and small drivers in the initial flanks. I later scrapped it and replaced it with a horizontal open baffle CBT array designed for +/- 45 deg dispersion. I had often thought about trying the method in the opposite axis of the CBT but when I just recently really put thought into it, I realized it wouldn't really work without having multiple flanks and making it very wide. Yes the math works, it is a valid means of achieving constant directivity but it just isn't really practical.
If Axiom wants to make a constant directivity speaker, I would suggest going with a CBT array. Harmon has a patent but they acquired it many years after it was in the public domain so technically it's not enforceable.
@@mfkhometheater7742 đšâđŹ
Dude finally gets to the point of the title right after 4:00. Skip there if you came here to see what the suggested "hacks" are, everything before that is just noise.
I have the bdv-e3100 sony blue ray surround sound system, I really don't like the sound quality from my center speaker, is there any center speaker channel that can upgrade my sound? Thanks in advance, you are a pro and know what your talking aboutđ
Unfortunately, this type of system is only meant to work together. You'll need to look into upgrading the entire system, possibly to a separate AVR and speakers, if you want better sound.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters thank you đ
@@AxiomHomeTheaters one last question, do you think the Sony SSCS8 2-Way might help by any chance?
@@u2fkeys665 As I mentioned, these all-in-one surround systems are designed to really only work together. You would need to confirm with Sony if the SSCS8 would work.
@T.ELEGM-AxiomAudio đ
Is the vp150 a decent match for the m80s?
Unless you're space constrained we recommend a VP160 or VP180 to go with the M80s.
please i need help i dont have reciver for this sony active subwoofer model sa-wsrh1 s-master i need run this sub
I would check with Sony as Iâm not familiar with your subwoofer.
Phantom Centre have a problem, have only King sit to heard right position.
All other sit. Will heard sound from left or right.
With a good, wide-dispersion pair of main speakers this should not happen.
Horizontal dispersions is king along with a flat response. Let your sub handle sub bass
I agree 100% with the importance of good horizontal dispersion in a center channel.
Is there a way to blend the center channel with the front speakers to fill out the sound?
In case you miss the reply on your other comment, repeating it here: In the past we could blend the center channel with the L/R fronts with an external processing box, but thatâs not possible anymore. You can try reducing the trim level of the center channel in your receiverâŠthat can sometimes result in a better blend.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Hi, sorry for posting twice. I just wanted to check all the information first. Since it was possible in the past and I am using a PC as my processor, there must be some software to enable this. Is it called LCR mode?
@@9hundred67 LCR mode is likely only running the front three channels without surrounds. Since you are running PC audio, Iâm sure someone makes software to blend a phantom center with the actual center channel signal.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters yes there are several DSP apps and the previous Dolby formats are still available today, like Dolby Surround for this exact purpose. Even today we can still use the older analog formats. Anything is achievable with the right tools or research!
I figured something would be available. Great job sussing it out, let us know how it turns out for you!
Your speakers do not need to be full range speakers. We have subs for low end and life. But obviously centre channel should be able to play well above cross over frequency to a similar spl as your fronts or at least to the normal spl you listen to music watch video at. Very few speakers can be considered true full range speakers. In most cases regardless of the size the speakers should be crossed over at 60-80hz
4:01 you're welcome
i cannot get my center channel to work with my front left and right speakers can u help
Have you checked the connections and the speaker settings in your AVR to make sure the center channel is configured properly?
What about object based DTS X or ATMOS I would have presumed the center channel was essential.
Yes, you are absolutely correct. Any format from Dolby Digital onwards can make use of full-range information in all channels.
Excellent video, I just did this yesterday. I upped my center channel 3db. My theory and you can correct me because you are the engineer but my theory is I, and most of us don't listen at reference level 0. At -20 which is where we watch movies the center channel is not gonna provide the volume you need for dialog. Yeah at 0 reference it will be enough but not at -20. I have the exact same speaker for my LCR, the same exact speaker, not manufacture but same exact speaker. Let me know if I'm way off on that?
You are correct that speech intelligibility depends on the absolute SPL of the signal, so you are certainly on to something. There is also the issue is that there is really no reference for how loud the dialog signal should be relative to everything else in the mix, so you are also at the mercy of what the sound engineer decided to do. Thanks for a great question, and for watching.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Thank you for the reply and glad to know I'm on to something. I was very, VERY reluctant to up the center channel because I like what Audyssey does and I don't want to mess with the balance and all that but I just had to. One thing I'm also gonna do because this is a new set up home theater for me is point my center channel up a tad. I ordered the old trusty door stops to angle me center up just a bit. It is a little low, just a little too low. So when the rubber door stops come I will angle them and see how that works. The rubber door stops will accomplish two things, raise the center channel up and rubber will isolate the speaker from the TV stand. The center is open and by itself but directly on the TV stand top.
Excellent thinking! Anytime your center channel is not close to ear height, itâs best to tilt it up or down slightly towards the listening position.
You could have your towers set to large, have your center set to small and instead of using lfe plus main just use lfe so your sub will be sending the low frequencies to the center.
This would certainly work, but you need to confirm that your main speakers can handle the bass information.
Great idea but u will need speaker to go down to 20hz and thats tuff I would just set everything to small send all bass to your sub and bump up the center by 2db or turn your volume up I watch movies at -18db and it sounds amazing super clear dialogue
Personally I would never buy an L,R or C with a speaker larger than 6 1/2". Any bigger and my experience is your sacrificing midrange for bass that a good subwoofer should be taking care of. I had some BIC venturi's I tried to use for home theater and with a single 8" woofer and 1" tweeter, the music sounded good, but any dialogue was terrible coming through them. Plus then your tempted to move your crossover to the sub down in frequency and that just seems to open up more trouble as well. It puts more undo strain on your receiver/amp just to name one issue.
These are good suggestions, and I tend to agree unless itâs a 3-way center channel where the woofer should not be extending very far up into the midrange.
Or you can get a sound transparent screen for your beamer, and make the center the same size as the screen.
Not cheap screens sure, but if you are pumping money into it already, go for it.
AbsolutelyâŠif you have the space and use a projector!
i been a 2 channel guy fer years hence still my favorite is an old sansui system but i may use surround one day but last time i tried it was not sold on it most likely not likely a good system and is was 15 years ago .yea pro logic was a lie at best. i use a PC and VLC media player equalizer setting to hear movies setting are called threshold and makeup gain the only way star wars is watchable or it will blow you of the couch.i really ant a movie guy any more to gross but pure flix has a few good one i would think ant tried them yet
Interesting to use the EQ setting in the media player.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters yep VLC is open source stuff i like it been around for ever playes and records network streams about any file type dvd back up wile watching it all by a record button is a cool feature being the terrible quality of disks theses days with that eco friendly printed layer disks {cheap junk} .but one can get M-DISC an archival-quality storage made with vapor deposition metal layer oxide [they all used to made that way to my knowledge } they last longer than we will .glad i found them as i lost data all ready from sun light rot and it takes no time at all to kill a disk and it will start flaking off or just not work..i hope that help you save you favorite Family files or movies i hate it wen folk say ill just burn it on a disk because sd card hard drives loss memory over time i tell them about issues disks are worse choose now unless its A M-disk or old japan made disks OH their are codes on dvd disks to tell if it good or crap to on a website i found last year God bless
@@overbuiltautomotive1299 thanks for sharing the info, you're right people don't realize this.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters God bless been fun
Some good info, but this guy could put a dead man to sleep. Basically, if the center channel is not paired correctly to the other speakers then you have three things to do. Get a better center channel, downgrade the left/right speakers or throw them all out and get a soundbar. Yes raising the CC speaker a few dbs will help in some cases; especially as people age.
However, if someone actually purchased three way speakers for L/R and a two way for the center, time to go back to Mono.
Center channel speakers like the one show will always be very poor off axis. The cancelations caused by having two midrange drivers that far apart on the horizontal axis will make this thing horrible IMO. In addition many low cost matching center channel speakers only match the looks and not the frequency response. This is very common. Since the crossover is different even with the same drivers the frequency response may not be close to the same.
At some particular off-axis angles, that might be true. But we need to look at the entire listening window and sound power to make a judgment how that will sound in a room. The goal of a dedicated center channel is always to have as close a timbre match as possible with the mains, even if the topology is different, as it will be in most cases.
I think the sound in this video is distorted
Had to look twice, thought this was Seth Rogen.
What he said "Make your centre speaker the same size as your fronts".
What I'm hearing "get smaller fronts".
No way am I having a huge speaker right under (or above) my TV!
SureâŠdifferent strokes for different folks!
Anyone wanna tell me the good part his. This clear eyes voice is killing me
My best advice: never use center channel and buy better left/right speakers and placethem right
Aka "Phantom center" ? Why do you think it's better?
The central channel elevation is not a hack! For those seeking alternative solutions, consider this: Instead of purchasing a center channel speaker, utilize two bookshelf speakers in series, preferably with half the impedance of your other speakers. Avoid a setup where the main speakers are 4 ohms and the center speakers are 8 ohms.
I have to be honest, it's very hard to take this video serious with the quality of audio and visual. For an "Audio" channel, I hope that newer videos are better.
Nevertheless, good video.
The most boring voiceover I've ever heard :)
there is a much better hack for center channel dialog. by a different brand receiver until you find one that isn't retarded.