big screen - two channel system enough for dialog?


If I have a large screen (100"+), will I need a dedicated center channel to hear dialog well??

My priority is music, and movies are mostly drama and comedies where dialog is critical. Surround effects are NOT a priority. Many folks here believe you can get much better value from 2 channel systems, but I am getting older and dialog intelligibility is key.

I am concerned about blu-rays needing to downmix from 5 to 2 channels and with such a big screen and separation of my mains, will two channels just make the dialog more diffuse??
tswei99
I am sorry I did not read all of your posts thoroughly. Since you have the luxury of building the room, by all means take advanatge of the abilitiy to make the side walls and ceiling non-parallel. This will effedctively kill any standing waves in the room and largely eliminate nulls and voids in the rooms frequency response. If you have the money for it ($2k-$5k), I would *highly recoommend you employ the services of a firm such as Rives Audio. They are *experts* in such things and will give you invaluable information on the proper design and construction of a terrififc looking and sounding HT room.

Man, I wish I was in your shoes, you are one lucky man!!!

-RW-
Rlwainwright,

did you mean Mitch4t's 22 ft wide, 70 ft long and 22 feet high room?

What makes this a standing wave problem, the relative proportions or absolute size??

My room is about 17' x 30' x 10'. It's also irregular (about 15' along the long wall the wall jogs in maybe 4' and widens). Will this be a problem??

I have yet to sheetrock it so I can make tweaks if necessary.
Rlwainwright,

did you mean Mitch4t's 22 ft wide, 70 ft long and 22 feet high room?

What makes this a standing wave problem, the relative proportions or absolute size??

My room is about 17' x 30' x 10'. It's also irregular (about 15' along the long wall the wall jogs out maybe 4' and widens to about 21'). Will this be a problem??

I have yet to sheetrock it so I can make tweaks if necessary.
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Rainwright, in theory it may be a standing wave nightmare, but in reality, the room sounds incredible from top to bottom. I have no such problems with my room. I am currently running a 7.1 system.

I am considering adding height and wide channels. Additional rear speakers in the ceiling are also under consideration.
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