Questions regarding a Center speaker

[Deleted member 38504]

Right,so the next thing I want to add is a Center speaker.

Points to note:
1. I won't be adding surround speakers and making this a 5.1 setup.
2. Current setup is a Polk sub and Polk rtiA1 speakers for the front.

So right now I have a stereo setup (kind of) with only two front speakers and a subwoofer.

To enhance my movie experience I was thinking of adding a Center speaker to this setup. So basically what I will have is two front speakers,a Center speaker and a sub.

Will this improve my movie experience? Will it give me a better clarity with movie dialogues? Please keep in mind this will be a 3.1 setup and I don't plan to add surrounds due to space constraints.

I have got mixed answers regarding this. Some say by adding only a Center with fronts,lots of background sounds could get missed out.

Also my amp is a denon 520BT. The sound mode I have is stereo, virtual and direct modes. I listen to movies on stereo mode.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kaptan]

When it comes to movies 80& of the audio is from center channel , Fronts & sub. 90% of the dialogue from a movie will be rendered from the center channel . So it is highly suggested to buy a good center channel instead of rears. You can go with rear speakers later.

Since you have polk rti fronts you should go with either Polk csi A4 or csi A6.

 

[elangoas]

Yes.. A center speaker will definitely help for movies..

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Super....thanks....I was looking at the CSiA4, got some nice reviews too.

Point is ,I'm not going to add rear surrounds to this setup. Will that still be ok?

And also, I have only three sound modes as of now to select on the denon AVR. So it will still be in stereo mode right?

 

[Vinay2013]

Point is ,I'm not going to add rear surrounds to this setup. Will that still be ok?

And also, I have only three sound modes as of now to select on the denon AVR. So it will still be in stereo mode right?

Surround sound in a movie is altogether a different experience. It may be just 20% but awesome experience. Even in a simple rain like situation, you may want to check if it is raining actually. And in movies like star wars it is a crime to watch it without surrounds.

There must be some settings in the AVR for 3.1 where rear surround sound will pass on to front channels. There is no point adding a center in a stereo mode. Audessey should be able to help in this regard.

 

[elangoas]

Super....thanks....I was looking at the CSiA4, got some nice reviews too.

Point is ,I'm not going to add rear surrounds to this setup. Will that still be ok?

And also, I have only three sound modes as of now to select on the denon AVR. So it will still be in stereo mode right?

If you have 2.1 set-up also, you AVR should display DTS/Dolby on the front panel..

When you add center speaker and change the OSD speaker setting - center to yes, you should get to see DTS/Dolby on your AVR..

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks for the reply, but I don't see any modes on the avr except stereo virtual and direct.

Is there a way to change that and get to Dolby mode?


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[elangoas]

Thanks for the reply, but I don't see any modes on the avr except stereo virtual and direct.

Is there a way to change that and get to Dolby mode?


Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

I guess you must set the audio to bit-stream in your media player/Blu-ray player. It would have been set to PCM.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Elangoas.... In my philips blu ray player, I have pcm down sampling which is on.

In advanced setting in blu ray player, there is down mix mode, which has two options - stereo and Lt /Rt.

In the denon avr I see no other option to change the sound mode :-(

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[Deleted member 38504]

And just as I typed that I thought let me once again check the avr settings....

So here's the catch.... Only when I go to speaker configuration in the avr, and select the center speaker to small or large, I get new modes on the sound mode function.

These new modes are PLII cinema, PLII music, PLII game, pro logic, DTS NEO 6 cinema DTS NEO 6 music, multi channel stereo, virtual and direct.

Does this help in understanding the problem? Thoroughly confused.

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[elangoas]

Just check if you have bitsream/passthrough function.

When you set it to pcm down sampling to stereo, your bluray player is decoding and your AVR is receiving it.. Hence you get access to matrix modes PLII cinema, PLII music, PLII game, pro logic, DTS NEO 6 cinema DTS NEO 6 music, multi channel stereo, virtual..

If you set it to bitsream/passthrough, your Bluray player will send the signal to AVR which will then decode.. Then you must be able to see Dolby Digital & DTS on the AVR menu..

Hope i was clear..

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Hey thanks again for the reply.

In the avr I have selected center to small.

In the blu ray player settings, I have selected HDMI audio to Bitstream and digital audio to Bitstream and PCM DOWNSAMPLING to off.

I still don't get to see DOLBY DIGITAL in the sound mode in the avr :-(

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[elangoas]

Hey thanks again for the reply.

In the avr I have selected center to small.

In the blu ray player settings, I have selected HDMI audio to Bitstream and digital audio to Bitstream and PCM DOWNSAMPLING to off.

I still don't get to see DOLBY DIGITAL in the sound mode in the avr :-(

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

Strange you don't get to see DTS/Dolby on your AVR display.. Hope the movie you are playing contains DTS/ Dolby track's..

Restart your blu-Ray player & your AVR too and see if you can find them

 

[Naturelover]

Are you playing a disc with Dolby or DTS options or is it from USB? USB will normally play only in 2 channel.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Spot on Rajiv sir! I'm playing via USB :-( I'll be back in Bombay on Sunday now and then will check setting again via a blu ray disc.

Thanks.



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[aadi007]

I play most of the time through USB.
I don't have any issues getting DTS/Dolby in AVR.

My setup is simple -
USB/HDD to TV. (no blu ray/media player)
TV to AVR via HDMI ARC

In TV, there are sound settings where you will be able to select DD/DTS/PCM.
Similarly in your Blu ray player, there has to be some options to bitstream.
How have you connected AVR n player?
If HDMI does not work, try optical.

Or you can try directly playing the USB through TV as I do and try bitstreaming from TV to AVR.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks Aadi I'll go back home and try out what u said. Currently away from home for a few days. Will update once I'm back.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Hey guy's, I'm back home in Bombay for a day and as soon as I got home reached for my blu ray discs!

So put in a blu ray, selected center speaker to small (even though I don't have a center speaker) and viola! I get DTS - HD MSTR on the AVR!

So I guess I've done something correctly?

Also, in the AVR video settings I have three options :

HDMI audio out - AVR
HDMI pass through - off/on
Pass source - dunno what to do

So, how do I make the avr do the video upscaling? I guess the upscaling by the avr wud be better than my 5000 rupee philips blu ray player.

Thanks!

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[MaSh]

Hey guy's, I'm back home in Bombay for a day and as soon as I got home reached for my blu ray discs!

So put in a blu ray, selected center speaker to small (even though I don't have a center speaker) and viola! I get DTS - HD MSTR on the AVR!

So I guess I've done something correctly?

Also, in the AVR video settings I have three options :

HDMI audio out - AVR
HDMI pass through - off/on
Pass source - dunno what to do

So, how do I make the avr do the video upscaling? I guess the upscaling by the avr wud be better than my 5000 rupee philips blu ray player.

Thanks!

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

Your settings on bluray and receiver are correct. Do not change anything.

HDMI audio out - AVR CORRECT
HDMI pass through - off/on ON
Pass source - dunno what to do SET TO EITHER LAST SOURCE OR TV' source.

MaSh

 

[efernand1]

Hi,

I have tried this with my 5.1 setup at home to see if I am really missing anything.

I play DD or DTS movie content through an external hdd connected to Pioneer BD player.

As always DD or DTS lights up on AVR screen and I enjoy the effects/surrounds etc.

I also have the Virtual Mode and watched the same movie with that mode which only activated the fronts and sub...you may need to pump up the volume a bit but the experience was as good as 5.1

So Celester340, try something and perhaps you can totally avoid adding the center speaker.