Best centre speaker for clear vocals in movies?

morguk said:
There's nothing specific, but me and the wife went through a phase of putting subs on stuff just so we don't miss key parts of a story.

To the others, I'll try putting a few more DB on the centre so I don't have to increase total volume all the time.

If that doesn't work, I think it's the fact it's small and mounted on the wall with not much space to breathe behind it (its ported).

Anyone actually upgrade and get an improvement?
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I upgraded from a MTM 2.5 way to a 4 driver 3 way and noticed a big upgrade in sound quality, and intelligibility.

If you can find a specific movie/scene where you find it difficult to hear speech I'll try it
 
Op what is your entire setup, model names of each thing?
What is your source and how is it connected?
What displays on your avr when you play movies in terms of the detected audio format? Like does it say PCM, DD, Dolby Digital, Pro logic etc?
Does your AVR come with a setup mic to help set levels?
Are the levels and distance of each speaker setup or are they at default?

You might just have it not setup right and it's defaulting to a stereo signal or Pro logic or worse, you have some weird artificial "intelligent" room setting turned on or some such virtual surround. Possibilities are endless.

Not sure what your knowledge levels are so going in low here to rule out the basics.
 
jaybee said:
Op what is your entire setup, model names of each thing?
What is your source and how is it connected?
What displays on your avr when you play movies in terms of the detected audio format? Like does it say PCM, DD, Dolby Digital, Pro logic etc?
Does your AVR come with a setup mic to help set levels?
Are the levels and distance of each speaker setup or are they at default?

You might just have it not setup right and it's defaulting to a stereo signal or Pro logic or worse, you have some weird artificial "intelligent" room setting turned on or some such virtual surround. Possibilities are endless.

Not sure what your knowledge levels are so going in low here to rule out the basics.
Click to expand...

Can't remember all the specs but it's old but half-decent Yamaha AVR (100w per channel), 300w BK Sub, Dali Spektor 1 for fronts, Wharfdale DX-1 rears and centre.

It was setup with the mic, crossover all good etc. I use "straight" setting and as it's usually Netflix it's whatever 5.1 codec they use.

The centre speaker is above the TV attached to the wall, and is angled down as the TV is quite high. I'm starting to think this is the biggest issue.
 
ChrisD. said:
Classic hornetspammer comment.

Are you going to show us your setup anytime soon?
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they already did, don't you remember?

hornetstinger.png
 
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petertyson.co.uk

Dali SPEKTOR VOKAL Centre Speaker - Black Ash (Vinyl)

The DALI SPEKTOR VOKAL delivers a detailed, dynamic and powerful audio reproduction and is a perfect match for the other speakers in the DALI SPEKTOR series.
petertyson.co.uk petertyson.co.uk
Would be the obvious upgrade as would match the fronts (matching the fronts and centre is typically said to be most important), and is an upgrade from 2x 3" drivers, to 2x 6.5" drivers, and a slightly larger tweeter
 
hyperseven said:
they already did, don't you remember?

th.jpg
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Cry harder

morguk said:
Can't remember all the specs but it's old but half-decent Yamaha AVR (100w per channel), 300w BK Sub, Dali Spektor 1 for fronts, Wharfdale DX-1 rears and centre.

It was setup with the mic, crossover all good etc. I use "straight" setting and as it's usually Netflix it's whatever 5.1 codec they use.

The centre speaker is above the TV attached to the wall, and is angled down as the TV is quite high. I'm starting to think this is the biggest issue.
Click to expand...

Check crossover settings, yamaha can set speakers to large during auto setup, my yamaha avr does.

Check sources are set to bitstream.

oh MTM designs do have drawbacks, look into that.
 
morguk said:
Can't remember all the specs but it's old but half-decent Yamaha AVR (100w per channel), 300w BK Sub, Dali Spektor 1 for fronts, Wharfdale DX-1 rears and centre.

It was setup with the mic, crossover all good etc. I use "straight" setting and as it's usually Netflix it's whatever 5.1 codec they use.

The centre speaker is above the TV attached to the wall, and is angled down as the TV is quite high. I'm starting to think this is the biggest issue.
Click to expand...

The centre speaker on the DX-1 shouldn't be causing you issues (unless its broken or faulty), sounds more like a setup problem in the amp side, another thing to check is your wiring is right and not out of phase <-- click will explain more (meaning wires are wrong way round compared to the others). Check the wiring to the speakers too and make sure positive from amp is positive to speakers and same for negative.

Also if the distances from where you sit from front left and right are different from centre then you may need to either bring the fronts down a touch or bring the centre speaker up a touch in the speaker section of the amp and if it has a distance from speaker setting make sure all are set to right distance too, I find the auto setup stuff to be rubbish on most av amps and do it manually with a decibel meter, you can even use your phone or tablet and download a decibel meter app and see if any speaker is not outputting the same level as the others in the listening area. You can use test tones on youtube or download some and stick on a usb stick and use on the amp or any device that is connected to the amp.

 
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ibb.co

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Image 439196888-733007819038860-940797809423115458-n hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
ibb.co

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Image 439200141-733007785705530-5591665649453624319-n hosted in ImgBB
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They're all behind his sofa? In such a small room don't need that much. Totally OTT and stupid. Couple of 13-15" SB will be plenty. he's got SIX dual 18" ported sub?

HHAAAA

and he may have even have subs along the front wall I can't tell if those black cabinets are subs or just a black cupboard.
 
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hornetstinger said:
ibb.co

439196888-733007819038860-940797809423115458-n hosted at ImgBB

Image 439196888-733007819038860-940797809423115458-n hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
ibb.co

439200141-733007785705530-5591665649453624319-n hosted at ImgBB

Image 439200141-733007785705530-5591665649453624319-n hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co

They're all behind his sofa? In such a small room don't need that much. Totally OTT and stupid. Couple of 13-15" SB will be plenty. he's got SIX dual 18" ported sub?

HHAAAA

and he may have even have subs along the front wall I can't tell if those black cabinets are subs or just a black cupboard.
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??????





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hornetstinger said:
ibb.co

439196888-733007819038860-940797809423115458-n hosted at ImgBB

Image 439196888-733007819038860-940797809423115458-n hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
ibb.co

439200141-733007785705530-5591665649453624319-n hosted at ImgBB

Image 439200141-733007785705530-5591665649453624319-n hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
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I have cinema seating from a company called Elite HTS in Canada, I can seat 6 people and there are switches to recline the seats forward and back, it originally retailed for £7000 but I paid a fraction of that price pre-owned. 6 seats might not sound much but they take a lot of space up. It looks very similar to the seats in those pictures posted above with metal cup holders in the arms.

www.elitehts.com

Home Theater Seating | Custom Made in Canada

Movie Theater Seating customized for your home cinema. Theater seats for home or commercial cinema. Hand Made in Canada, 20 year warranty.
www.elitehts.com www.elitehts.com
 
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