Center Speaker - how important is it ?

bazee

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Hello all

Most of people having 5.1 system must be knowing the imp of CENTER speaker. In movies, 50%-60% of the movie sound is through CS while rest spks come into action during few scenes.
Is it okay to buy a CS of different brand than the front spks?
I am being offered B&W Nautilius CS HTM2 a used one.
Can i place it in my existing spk system

Just how imp is the CS?
 
Center speaker is very important since dialogue is all in the center channel.

It is advised to have the same type of speaker across the front stage since there is lot of panning scenes where sound is panned across left center right. In this scenario if your center is different from the left and right you might see different sound characteristics.

You can probably get away with it but its not ideal so i would not recommend it.
 
IMO,The center speaker is the most important speaker in a 5.1 HT setup for movies. If possible, audition the B&W in the setup you plan to use it in and see if you are impressed with the change.

While on this topic, what is the general opinion about having two center speakers? Since the ideal position is at ear level, which is not possible with an LCD (which also should be eye level), I plan to get two center speakers and place one above and one below the LCD to create a phantom center speaker at ear level. Is this is a feasible setup? How should I plan for this?

Thanks
Teja
 
I plan to get two center speakers and place one above and one below the LCD to create a phantom center speaker at ear level. Is this is a feasible setup? How should I plan for this?

And how will you connect the two sets of speakers to a single output in the AVR?

The positioning of your center speaker and LCD could be wrong. In a correct placement, the center speaker is always at the level of the ear of the listener in his regular sitting position. Need not be exact but a few inches up or down will not make much of a difference.

There are exact measurements available as to how to place the speakers, the LCD, and other parts of a HT equipment.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Teja,
Nice idea but it may not work. The reason we perceive two channel sound as being 'centred' between stereo front speakers is because the left and right channels have different information that the brain reconstructs and creates a phenomenon of soundstaging. If you have two centre speakers outputting the same information (centre channel) all you'll get is two sources of identical information. This may not create a phantom centre channel as you desire.
 
The center speaker is the most important for movie watching. It handles most of the dialogue. I suggest you get the biggest one your receiver can handle/biggest one you can afford. I prefer matching them with the front speakers. Try to get the same series.
 
And how will you connect the two sets of speakers to a single output in the AVR?

I was hoping you would tell me that ;)

The positioning of your center speaker and LCD could be wrong. In a correct placement, the center speaker is always at the level of the ear of the listener in his regular sitting position. Need not be exact but a few inches up or down will not make much of a difference.

Teja,
Nice idea but it may not work. The reason we perceive two channel sound as being 'centred' between stereo front speakers is because the left and right channels have different information that the brain reconstructs and creates a phenomenon of soundstaging. If you have two centre speakers outputting the same information (centre channel) all you'll get is two sources of identical information. This may not create a phantom centre channel as you desire.

Ok, so two center speakers is not a good idea. I remember reading something on this on avsforums a while back, let me see if I can dig up something.

I wish I could listen to some of these speakers people keep discussing about on this forum - no luck in my town. Hoping that work load lightens soon so that I can take the trip to Hyderabad.
 
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