Dialogue and the center channel

[augerpro]

I'm doing a 3way CC right now and I was wondering what regions could be relatively high or low in level to enhance dialogue clarity? I have quite a bit of wiggle room in the overall FR so i wanted to account for this.

[cjd]

In my experience, you want flat from ~100-800Hz for core vocal range and from 1k-3.5k for the really important inflections, etc. and from 3k-10k+ for the hard stops and "s" sounds.

So, um... flat.

I think additionally (if not more) important here is really working to minimize/eliminate diffraction as much as possible, and keeping driver behavior pistonic even if FR appears flat (soft cones and their "lush" sound work against intelligibility in a very big way). Both of these artifacts are most obvious in that 1-3k range where all the intelligibility is derived.

C

[JonMarsh]

Unfortunately, I think a factor working against intellibility and generally smooth response is where these critters are placed most often, which pretty much guarantees issues with early arrival comb filtering and floor bounce modifications to early arrival response. All of these are VERY detrimental to frequency response smoothness and intelligibility.

[kingpin]

How high does a speaker(horizontally laid out) have to be from the floor to minimalize or eliminate the effect of floor bounce?

Also, doesn't placing a speaker over top of your tv have the same effect as putting it under your tv?
Just now, you are getting tv bounce.

Would placing a center speaker(horizontally) on a stand in front of the tv 14"-16" off the floor help reduce these issues?

Mike

[Rudy Jakubin]

How high does a speaker(horizontally laid out) have to be from the floor to minimalize or eliminate the effect of floor bounce?

Dang! You were so close to having a line array. Even sitting way off axis a whisper is intelligible. No center, sub or rears here and after 2 1/2 years there is still no need for them. Oh yeah, and no floor bounce. Although the movies provide that...

[---k---]

Rudy,
Beautiful line arrays. That cabinet in the corner would not last in my room. My wife often worries about the shaking and rattles in adjacent rooms.

I generally agree with your opinion about centers. I've seen the question generate a near holywar threads before. In general, I think for off axis seats, they do seem to better anchor the dialog to the screen. Kingpin asked the question before, and I seem to remember cjd gave him some additional answers why a center is a good thing.


It would be nice if there were some general rules of thumb about when and where to place a center channel to help minimize floor bounce and comb filtering off the tv.

This is, for example, my center placement:



The center is pulled out so that it sticks out about 2" from the stand, and the tv sits back as far as I can get it on the stand. I went for under the TV because: 1) With a 50" screen, over the TV would be a greater offset between my ears and the speaker than under. 2) It doesn't show up in the photo, but running down the center of my room is the HVAC duct, do the center would have been just as close to this as the floor. 3) I figured that the carpet on the floor would help absorb some of the nasties that the drywall ceiling wouldn't.

I haven't done any listening with & without this TV, so I can't say how bad the TV corrupts the sound. It used to be above the old TV. I can't say I noticed a big, smack you in the face difference since I didn't do controlled testing. My center channel supposedly has a crossover that considers the TV (so I assume baffle step). I know I did listen to my mains once without the TV in place, and it gave the music significantly greater depth and feel. I just wish my room and view habits could accommodate a projection setup. Sigh.

[JonMarsh]

I just wish my room and view habits could accomodate a projection setup. Sigh.

Best two sounding scenario's I have had setup are FPTV with speakers well forward of the screen plane and rear wall, or flat panel display on wall with speakers well forward. Optimum height is a real issue...

[crackyflipside]

Best two sounding scenario's I have had setup are FPTV with speakers well forward of the screen plane and rear wall, or flat panel display on wall with speakers well forward. Optimum height is a real issue...

What's your opinion on AT screens and having the same speakers for LCR?

[nelsondog]

Look what Tom Nousaine's oppinion is on "center channel speakers". Link is near the bottom of the page... http://nousaine.com/

[Finleyville]

Look what Tom Nousaine's oppinion is on "center channel speakers". Link is near the bottom of the page... http://nousaine.com/

I receive an error when trying that link on Tom's site.

What was the summary of the article?

[Dennis H]

What was the summary of the article?

Short version, the finest speaker in the world, for all positions including the center, is a 6.5" MT crossed to a sub at 80 Hz. Pretty strange considering what an SPL-meister Tom is when it comes to subs and how SPL-limited a single 6.5" is at 80 Hz. Doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

[Habs4life]

Pretty strange considering what an SPL-meister Tom is when it comes to subs and how SPL-limited a single 6.5" is at 80 Hz. Doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

Yes that is a bit strange coming from him
I have found that my single 6.5" 2way just does not cut it when comes to reproducing demanding sound tracks like Master and Commander etc.It works great for surround music,concert videos and normal dialog but it is too restricted dynamically on action movies.Therefore Im resorting to the dreaded horizontal MTM arrangement although with the offset tweeter.

[WillyD]

And this is why WTMWs make sense.

[Habs4life]

And this is why WTMWs make sense.

Absolutely Will that is the way to go.If my MTM proves unsatisfactory then a WTMW will be the next step.