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I had just finished putting together a great-sounding cost-effective setup with the RSX-1067 and Behringer Truth B2031P studio monitors (2-way, 1" tweet, 8.75" woofers, dual-slot port design, 4ohm, magnetically shielded - only $160/pr!!). I had ordered 4 pairs of the monitors in hopes of utilizing the 7.1 configuration but seeing that 5.1 is sufficient for now I am just sticking with the 5.1 setup which left me with an extra 3 monitors (DTS locks in on most of my DVD's and not even a matrixed Center Back channel can be simulated, so it's too artificial to worry about until true discrete 7.1 is on the rise). These Behringer Truth passive monitors come in "matched pairs" so it was impossible to just get odd number quantities. Anyhow, while watching movies I noticed how direct the single center channel slightly distracted the soundstaging from the focal point of the visual aspect. My wife noted how the diaglogue was too direct above the picture, and also how it was too centered, even in the width of the picture itself - I'm using a Mits 65" HDTV, so a 1" tweeter working 2-way with even a decently large woofer is too focalized. I decided to use that center monitor's matched pair counterpart as ANOTHER center channel wired in series for 8ohm. I arranged them so that the tweeters would be towards the center of the picture for both monitors. Also, I spaced the speakers so that the woofers on each of the monitors were on the outer edges of the TV...
this did the trick! Although I had to raise the gain on the center channel +7dB to get the pair calibrated correctly since this was now an 8ohm pair, the whole 5.1 soundstage was soooo much better! Instead of a focal center sounding like it was coming from the upper-mid 1" center of my 65" viewing width, it was as if it were coming from inside the screen and helped smooth out the directness associated with single 2-way center speaker config's.
I urge anyone to try this, even though you may not be in my same category with an extra speaker from a matched pair. Wire those centers to be evenly arranged across your TV's top panel and the positioning of the dialogue will sound much more realistic.
There is one thing in the future I do foresee myself further doing to the center channel array, and that would be to add sound focalization (is that a word?
BELOW the screen, because even though there is now a wider center source, it's still higher than the middle of the screen. Fortunately most dialogue visually should come from the upper portion of the screen since actors' mouths are in that area, but it's not at the exact top edge of your TV either! Today I will run an RCA splitter from the Center channel pre's of the RSX-1067 to the in's of the TV and adjust the volume on the TV so it's barely there.... that should pull the dialogue just down a tad and center it all. Phase cancellation shouldn't be a big issue but that's mostly bass that gets affected there - mmmhmmm got that bass/treble adjustment on the TV.
Isn't this somewhat how movie theatres are truly setup? I know I'm hearing sound above and below the widescreen when I do go there and face the smells of popcorn. I suppose ideally, one should have two arrays for center channel configurations - above and below, with the lower array having less volume than the top. I see this as very important because, as HDTV's are becoming more popular, screen sizes (and oh $hit, HUGE projection screens) are also becoming much larger.. it will be important to possibly add a second discrete center channel for the height factor. Four may be overkill but I'm not seeing enough audio engineers mix dialogue evenly between the Left/Right mains and the center. An example of needing that type of mixing/panning would be when an actor walks and talks from the left of the screen to the right... many movies still have the dialogue too centered and it's lazy on their part.
BTW, those B2031P Behringers sound so good and natural, you'll be amazed at the quality - there has been an "official" review by some audio engineer about the ACTIVE version of these monitors having harsh highs, but I'm telling ya, on the RSX-1067 I had no reason to even touch the equalization yet!
this did the trick! Although I had to raise the gain on the center channel +7dB to get the pair calibrated correctly since this was now an 8ohm pair, the whole 5.1 soundstage was soooo much better! Instead of a focal center sounding like it was coming from the upper-mid 1" center of my 65" viewing width, it was as if it were coming from inside the screen and helped smooth out the directness associated with single 2-way center speaker config's.
I urge anyone to try this, even though you may not be in my same category with an extra speaker from a matched pair. Wire those centers to be evenly arranged across your TV's top panel and the positioning of the dialogue will sound much more realistic.
There is one thing in the future I do foresee myself further doing to the center channel array, and that would be to add sound focalization (is that a word?
BELOW the screen, because even though there is now a wider center source, it's still higher than the middle of the screen. Fortunately most dialogue visually should come from the upper portion of the screen since actors' mouths are in that area, but it's not at the exact top edge of your TV either! Today I will run an RCA splitter from the Center channel pre's of the RSX-1067 to the in's of the TV and adjust the volume on the TV so it's barely there.... that should pull the dialogue just down a tad and center it all. Phase cancellation shouldn't be a big issue but that's mostly bass that gets affected there - mmmhmmm got that bass/treble adjustment on the TV.Isn't this somewhat how movie theatres are truly setup? I know I'm hearing sound above and below the widescreen when I do go there and face the smells of popcorn. I suppose ideally, one should have two arrays for center channel configurations - above and below, with the lower array having less volume than the top. I see this as very important because, as HDTV's are becoming more popular, screen sizes (and oh $hit, HUGE projection screens) are also becoming much larger.. it will be important to possibly add a second discrete center channel for the height factor. Four may be overkill but I'm not seeing enough audio engineers mix dialogue evenly between the Left/Right mains and the center. An example of needing that type of mixing/panning would be when an actor walks and talks from the left of the screen to the right... many movies still have the dialogue too centered and it's lazy on their part.
BTW, those B2031P Behringers sound so good and natural, you'll be amazed at the quality - there has been an "official" review by some audio engineer about the ACTIVE version of these monitors having harsh highs, but I'm telling ya, on the RSX-1067 I had no reason to even touch the equalization yet!
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