Blending in an HTM1..

[chin kwan]

My current set-up is N803, SCM1 and HTM1 driven my Mark Levinson 23.5 (l/R)and Proceed Amp2 (bi-amp center channel).. my processors are Yamaha RX-V1 and Proceed PAV/PDSD pair.

I am currently using identical Madrigal (Mark Levinson) HPC balanced interconnects from the processor to the front 3 channels.. I have previously borrowed a ML23.5 to bi-amp the HTM1 as well..

Speaker Cables are Maridgal CPC, OCS and Harmonix HS101..

Plus the HTM1 is suspended with a Sound Anchor model specific stand..
which have also been sand filled and additional weighted down with a bag of sand on the stand.

Seriously.. the equipment used to drive the HTM1 is sort of overkill in my opinion.. most of the items are worth more then the HTM1 by itself..

My room is dedicated 9X13X22 foot room.. with no coffee table to reflect the sounds from the HTM1

My biggest issue is that I can't get the vocal to float in space.. the sound is easily localized to originiate from the HTM1 enclosure.. I have used a laser pointer and aimed the midpoint between tweeter and midrange to a point between my eyebrows. Plus I have played with the angle by way of altering the lenghts of the Sound Anchor Spikes.. and of course arbitrarily aiming higher and lower.

Right now, I have almost given up on how to establish an airy image playing 5.1 concerts.. I found my staging is better if I only use the N803 on their own..

Please suggest waht I can try to improve on the placment of the HTM1..If not I might consider listing it here for sale and call it a day..

[beden1]

I think I understand that your speaker is on a floor stand? Did you try angling/tilting the HTM1 upwards and above your direct listening level? My HTM1 is on top of a high equipment cabinet that is above the listening level when seated, and the vocals were not localized.

In my case, I played with different angles downward until I got a more localized center channel sound field for watching movies. I also use the option on my pre-pro to center the vocals. In your case, check to see that you don't have this option selected, as you may want to defeat it for music DVDs.

But, and in the case of watching/listening to music DVDs, I almost always turn off the center channel as I feel the left/right fronts give me a better sound stage. I usually only turn on my center channel when watching TV and movie DVDs.

[RobP]

Chin, have you calibrated the levels on the systems as a whole? Also do you have all of your delays setup correctly? I have the same setup as you with the Sound Anchor stand and the voices come from the area on the screen in which they are supposed to, no localization at all.

[chin kwan]

Yes.. I do have my HTM1 on the sound anchor stand and I have played with the height adjustment on the stand as well as aiming the speaker by way of spike height but no success..

Yes.. I have calibrated it numerous times using AVIA and Radioshack SPL meter as well as set delays by way of measuring tape..


Wondering if it has to do with my Sony Grand Wega 60" LCD rear projection right behind the HTM1.. but I guess that it's unavoidable..

Maybe the solution is to turn off the center for music DVDs..

But it still sucks to spend that kind of money on HTM1/Amp/pwr cord/spk cable/interconnect and be able to use it only for movies and still not very satisfactory..

Had a CDM-CNT before and that was hollow sounding compared to Matrix HTM.. then upgraded to HTM1 and I EXPECT perfection given I went Nautilus all around..

[beden1]

Unfortunatetly, I am also going to have to put my HTM1 on a floor stand when I setup my new system next week in another house. The one I have there now is centered on a shelf at listening level (closest seating is about 9 feet away), and I notice the center speaker is also more directional.

In my established setup in another house, the center speaker is on top of my Pioneer Elite 58" rear projection HDTV. At that position (higher angled down), it blends very well with the other speakers. I really think this higher positioning is best for a center channel speaker, but sometimes we only have what there is to work with. Maybe you can mount a shelf above your TV to hold the HTM1?

Another option: In that setup, I used to have the main speakers positioned at the left and right front corners. I later added another equipment cabinet and sub, and I had to move the left front speaker to the left rear corner of the room. The right front speaker is at the right front of the room. I have a sub next to each of those main speakers. This positioning has really done some interesting things for my room when listening to any music or HT. There is now no directional response, and we are engulfed in the sound. I really like it for this room which is about 32' by 19' with a cathedral celing. There are also 4 surrounds, one at each top corner of the room.

[hifiguymi]

chin kwan, it sounds like a slight delay problem. I read that you have gone through your level calibration and distance pretty thorough but have you tried physically moving the center channel a little closer or further away to you. Since most processors don't have distance increments at an inch or less you may have to move the speaker to lock it in. It's worth a try.

Eric

[chin kwan]

I have calibrated delay by measurement then calibrate by ear.. a intended 2ms over what is theoretically correct deepend the vocal within the staging but the vocal does not float.. I will play with the distance inch by inch and report back.. Thankx for all the suggestions..

Suspending the HTM1 on top of the TV is not possible at the moment.. the Grand Wega LCD is about 2 inches deep on the very top and it will be impossible to place on top and I imagine a custom stand will need to be made to have it anchored to the wall and have it stick out enough..

I will report back.. thankx again..