RE: Center Speakers was: Tosh RPTV

["Nick Tyson - The Edge" <nick@xxxxxxx>]

Having three identical speakers is fine, in fact ideal. As you rightly say,
what you want is for the sound to move seamlessly from speaker to speaker
without noticing any changes to tonal quality. The reason most centre
speaker are a different design is so that they'll sit on top of the telly
without looking too cumbersome.

In a lot of high end systems, where it is assumed that the system will be
accompanied by a projector and screen, the front speakers *are* identical.
However, in these types of systems the dispersion characteristics of the
speakers are very different to conventional hi-fi speakers. Where a
conventional hi-fi speaker may send the high frequencies out in a
comparitively narrow tunnel (leading to the requirement for precise
positioning of both the speakers and listener) a more ideal dispersion
pattern for AV (and dare I say it on here, the requirements for THX) is for
narrow vertical and wide horizontal dispersion ie the sound is fired out at
listening height to cover a wide area of listeners.

Getting back to the real world, the requirement for magnetic shielding is
obviously very important in a centre speaker, even if it's only going close
to, rather than on, the TV (we had a customer who couldn't even get the
conventional speaker he wanted to use as a centre in the same room as his
TV
without it staining the picture!).

And before you consider hacking a conventional speaker to pieces to put it
in a home-made cabinet remember that a) speaker cabinet design is not as
straightforward as just building a box that's the shape and size you want
and expecting it to still sound OK b) not only may it not sound OK but it
will certainly sound different to the left and right speakers c) the cente
speaker is the most important speaker in a surround set up and will affect
the percieved quality of the whole system. In a typical movie soundtrack
about half the information is centre channel, the other half is split
between the other four or more full range channels. The centre is carrying
the most critical information eg dialogue, and so whilst you hear sound
from
all the speakers the centre tends to be the one you're actively *listening*
to.

The long and the short of it is, don't underestimate the importance of the
centre channel. The equipment is all just a means to an end which is
getting
the best experience you can from a movie (or whatever the source is). When
a
Harley Davidson drives across your screen, if it changes into a Vespa as it
travels through the centre channel it makes you aware of the equipment
rather than immersing you in the film. Incidentally, in this mismatched
scenario, the sound also tends to *jump* from speaker to speaker rather
than
providing a fluid transition across the front soundstage.

Nick Tyson
The Edge
Tel 01473 288211
Fax 01473 288255
Email nick@xxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: Stuart Booth [mailto:lists@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 06 May 2003 14:41
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Center Speakers was: [ukha_d] Tosh RPTV


On 06 May 2003 14:22:20 +0100, Stuart Grimshaw
<stuart@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>On Tue, 2003-05-06 at 14:05, Stuart Booth wrote:
>
>> My centre speaker is waaayyyyy too large and heavy to balance
>> precariously on top of the TV!
>
>I'm just using an old stereo speaker as my centre, what does it
actually
>do? Are there any benefits to be had using a "proper" centre
speaker?
>What's the difference, and would I be able to butcher the thing I'm
>using, and build my own?

The model I own looks like more or less 2 of the front speakers joined
together on their sides into the one cabinet. Sort of.

I'd want 3 speakers of the same type across the front allowing voices
and other sounds to pan across them while still sounding the same, not
changing in tone as they shift between perhaps completely different
sounding speakers.

Ideally they'd each be *exactly* the same, but I wouldn't necessarily
want to waste money on an extra pair of stereo speakers and only use
the one. Then again, I could always use the spare at the rear for 6.1
sound perhaps.

Other than that, does a centre speaker offer any additional magnetic
shielding????

Stuart
--
Stuart Booth
Somewhere in Buckinghamshire, England, UK

stuart@xxxxxxx


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