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Does a center speaker really improve things in a HT setup?

S

StormRider

Diamond Member
Right now my HT setup only has 2 speakers and a subwoofer. I'm planning on installing the 2 rear surround speakers for a 4.1 setup soon.

One of the things that is really important for me is the clarity of dialogs in movies. Would adding a center speaker help with this? Even if the center speaker is about the same quality or maybe less than the 2 front speakers?

The inexpensive center speaker I'm looking at seems to be of the same or lesser quality than the 2 front speakers I currently have -- does the improvement come from just having a front speaker or does the front speaker need to be designed in a special way to have great clarity in dialogs?
 
adds a lot of clarity to dialog and "anchors" the dialog to the center of the screen.

In a really nice home theater with only two seats it is not needed however.
 
the center is the most important piece of a home theater system... all of the voice goes there, unless you ghost out your center speaker and put it through your main speakers. get a center channel!!!!
 
Absolutely. My dad had a 4.0 system for a long time and HATED watching movies because the dialogue was so low. You do get a little bit through the right and left, but not much at all. It's like trying to pick out a whisper in a busy club.

So for this xmas I bought him a Klipsch Synergy center channel. He then went out boxing day and got a Yamaha receiver and I still haven't heard the end of it. "Oh yeah, this sounds so much better now..."
 
Originally posted by: CraigRT
the center is the most important piece of a home theater system... all of the voice goes there, unless you ghost out your center speaker and put it through your main speakers. get a center channel!!!!
Click to expand...
 
another key thing... is to make sure your front speakers are timbre matched with your left and right speakers... so that panning sounds seem natural and flow as one...
 
Originally posted by: silverpig
Absolutely. My dad had a 4.0 system for a long time and HATED watching movies because the dialogue was so low. You do get a little bit through the right and left, but not much at all. It's like trying to pick out a whisper in a busy club.
Click to expand...

Perhaps he should have set up his receiver correctly, the only explanation for the behavior you describe is that he neglected to put his receiver into "phantom" mode, meaning that it was sending all the dialog to the center speaker outputs, even though there was no speaker connected. :disgust:

As for center speakers in general - it really only serves one purpose - sound positioning.

If you are sitting exactly in between your L&R speakers, and your TV is exactly in the middle of them, as it should be, then you do not need a center. Your brain will still interpret the center channel sound (which is being split 50/50 between the left and right) as coming right from the TV. However, if you are sitting even a foot to either side - you will be closer to one speaker than the other, and the effect is ruined. A center channel anchors the sound where it should be.

So basically, if you live alone, watch TV alone, and have a perfectly placed HT setup - 2 speakers is all you ever need. However, if you'd like the person sitting NEXT to you to get the same effect - the center channel speaker is a priceless addition.

Never skimp on the center channel. It becomes the most important speaker in the system, since you rely on it to accurately reproduce dialog. It should match your L&R speakers as closely as possible, but if that's not an option, spend MORE on the center, not less.
 
Dude, MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SPEAKERS ARE OF THE SAME TIMBRE. If at all possible, try to have your center speaker be the exact same speaker as your Right and Left speakers.

I read you saying: "The inexpensive center speaker I'm looking at seems to be of the same or lesser quality than the 2 front speakers I currently have -- does the improvement come from just having a front speaker or does the front speaker need to be designed in a special way to have great clarity in dialogs?"

DO NOT buy that inexpensive center speaker. If it does not match at least the timbre, then you will easily be distracted in the movies. Center channel is very good to have, just do not attempt to place any speaker in its place. Make sure at minimal it matches the left and right .
 
Originally posted by: flot
Originally posted by: silverpig
Absolutely. My dad had a 4.0 system for a long time and HATED watching movies because the dialogue was so low. You do get a little bit through the right and left, but not much at all. It's like trying to pick out a whisper in a busy club.
Click to expand...

Perhaps he should have set up his receiver correctly, the only explanation for the behavior you describe is that he neglected to put his receiver into "phantom" mode, meaning that it was sending all the dialog to the center speaker outputs, even though there was no speaker connected. :disgust:

As for center speakers in general - it really only serves one purpose - sound positioning.

If you are sitting exactly in between your L&R speakers, and your TV is exactly in the middle of them, as it should be, then you do not need a center. Your brain will still interpret the center channel sound (which is being split 50/50 between the left and right) as coming right from the TV. However, if you are sitting even a foot to either side - you will be closer to one speaker than the other, and the effect is ruined. A center channel anchors the sound where it should be.

So basically, if you live alone, watch TV alone, and have a perfectly placed HT setup - 2 speakers is all you ever need. However, if you'd like the person sitting NEXT to you to get the same effect - the center channel speaker is a priceless addition.

Never skimp on the center channel. It becomes the most important speaker in the system, since you rely on it to accurately reproduce dialog. It should match your L&R speakers as closely as possible, but if that's not an option, spend MORE on the center, not less.
Click to expand...

It was an old receiver. There was no phantom mode. It was made before 5.1 existed.
 
It comes in pretty handy when I'm trying to watch movies with a lot of explosions and such when the kids are in bed. I'll turn up the center channel like 8dB and then I can turn the whole system down but still have the dialog loud enough.
 
Try the phantom center mode flot suggested. Many audiophiles use the phantom center method and don't buy a center speaker.
 
Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Originally posted by: CraigRT
the center is the most important piece of a home theater system... all of the voice goes there, unless you ghost out your center speaker and put it through your main speakers. get a center channel!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

meh, the sub is the most important speaker.

With good main speakers that image well a center is totally unnecessary and actualy pretty hindering to a good image.

What people have trouble with is their main speakers are not propertly positioned (like up against the walls, or tweeters not at ear level) leading to too much mid bass (reinforced by the walls).

That in turn overpowers the vocals. It can literally take a few hours to get the mains positioned (not to mention trying to position a center channel as well).

What I'm trying to say is a center speaker will not magically make these problems that MOST all home theaters have go away. It just makes them less noticable.

Then again, I'm a big fan of 3 identical speakers for the front - that avoids a lot of the problems with center channel speakers and allows ones speaker budget to get a better sub.

So spend some time with your speaker placement - pull them out from the walls 18 or more inches, aim the tweeters at the listening spot and start there. If you still have trouble with dialog clarity then go for a center speaker. Also make sure your receiver knows you don't have a center speaker.
 
Originally posted by: silverpig
Absolutely. My dad had a 4.0 system for a long time and HATED watching movies because the dialogue was so low. You do get a little bit through the right and left, but not much at all. It's like trying to pick out a whisper in a busy club.
Click to expand...

Perhaps he should have set up his receiver correctly, the only explanation for the behavior you describe is that he neglected to put his receiver into "phantom" mode, meaning that it was sending all the dialog to the center speaker outputs, even though there was no speaker connected. :disgust:

[/quote]

It was an old receiver. There was no phantom mode. It was made before 5.1 existed.[/quote]

Phantom mode has been around since Pro Logic. If it was a prologic receiver, there was a way to make this work.

Otherwise, perhaps he used a source (DVD ?) with 5 seperate RCA outputs for LeftFront/Center/RightFront/LeftRear/RightRear and hooked up the receiver to LeftFront and RightFront. This would also have been incorrect, as again, the source still would have been sending dialog to the unused center output.

In a scenario like that, all (?) sources still have a seperate STEREO left/right output, which would have been the correct ones to use, as they would have contained the center channel dialog split 50/50 between the left and right channels.

If you really had to "strain" to hear the dialog, someone plugged it in wrong.
 
I tried every setting possible. The only way we could get decent sound was to select the dolby 2.0 track on the DVD.

And when I say old I mean it was bought back when we were just switching over to CDs.
 
Originally posted by: lancestorm
Dude, MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SPEAKERS ARE OF THE SAME TIMBRE. If at all possible, try to have your center speaker be the exact same speaker as your Right and Left speakers.

I read you saying: "The inexpensive center speaker I'm looking at seems to be of the same or lesser quality than the 2 front speakers I currently have -- does the improvement come from just having a front speaker or does the front speaker need to be designed in a special way to have great clarity in dialogs?"

DO NOT buy that inexpensive center speaker. If it does not match at least the timbre, then you will easily be distracted in the movies. Center channel is very good to have, just do not attempt to place any speaker in its place. Make sure at minimal it matches the left and right .
Click to expand...

So, in order to match the left and right speakers in timbre, it's better to use a center speaker that is exactly the same as the left and right? I have inexpensive KLH 911B speakers for the left and right. I have a pretty good Yamaha 5750 receiver. Right now, I'm looking at this Sony
center speaker from Best Buy.

I was also looking at this KLH
center speaker since its the same brand as my front speakers.
 
Originally posted by: StormRider
Originally posted by: lancestorm
Dude, MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SPEAKERS ARE OF THE SAME TIMBRE. If at all possible, try to have your center speaker be the exact same speaker as your Right and Left speakers.

I read you saying: "The inexpensive center speaker I'm looking at seems to be of the same or lesser quality than the 2 front speakers I currently have -- does the improvement come from just having a front speaker or does the front speaker need to be designed in a special way to have great clarity in dialogs?"

DO NOT buy that inexpensive center speaker. If it does not match at least the timbre, then you will easily be distracted in the movies. Center channel is very good to have, just do not attempt to place any speaker in its place. Make sure at minimal it matches the left and right .
Click to expand...

So, in order to match the left and right speakers in timbre, it's better to use a center speaker that is exactly the same as the left and right? I have inexpensive KLH 911B speakers for the left and right. I have a pretty good Yamaha 5750 receiver. Right now, I'm looking at this Sony
center speaker from Best Buy.

I was also looking at this KLH
center speaker since its the same brand as my front speakers.
Click to expand...

no, timbermatching doesnt mean getting the same brand... it means that the speaker compenents are sonically matched to provide the best acoustic match... make sure the center is of the same line of your left and right

 
Definitely! It makes a huge difference. Most of the dialog comes from the center and it makes a big difference in a HT setup. I have mine sitting right on top of my 50" RPTV.

Your center speaker should be timbre matched to your front/main speakers also. If it isn't it makes things sound strange as a sound is passed from right to center to left like for instance the sound of a car driving by or a plane flying by. The sound will change as it goes through the center speaker. Ideally all your speakers will be matched but the rears aren't nearly as important as the fronts and center channel.
 
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