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Center Channels sound crappy

Why do center channels sound so crappy with music?

This is something that absoilutly baffles me...

I was talking to a KEF rep at SoundTrack audio, he said it is becuase they are designed for dialogue more than anything else.
What im wondering, is why can alot of center channels only give marginal preformance with music?
My front KEF Q1's do a fantastic job creating a phantom center channel, the dialogue is crisp and clear. They do a fantastic job on music as well.

Wouldnt it make more sence to just get another KEF Q1 for $225.00 and use that as a center instead of paying 350 for a speaker that does great voice but crappy musical preformance?

I know it was not the "center channel" amp either, it is on a DENON 3803 and all channels are identical, i was playing it with the 5/7ch stereo mode and all the speakers sounded great for music but the center channel really really sucked..

i noticed this with my past DefTech setup as well...

has anybody done a serious comparison between a center channel and a monitor of the same brand with same drivers and heard any vast improvement with the center speak with dialogue?

does it have anything to do with sound dispersion?

----- Slappys disclaimer-----
It was not my intent to offend anybody with the above post, im genuinly curious and hope it does not offend anybody becuase that is clearly not the intent. If so, please reffer to "My Apologies" thread which explains more.
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THANKS IN ADVANCE
slappy
david_berry
211 posts
 
Slappy,

Following your DVD-A thoughts, I had a Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel SACD player hooked up into a Denon 3802 via the 6 cables. The recordings that were multichannel sounded just fine through the center channel.

Regards,
drew_eckhardt
394 posts
 
1. Placement. Any speaker not designed to be placed on a TV or in an entertainment center will sound bad there - and most center channels aren't. Finally, a plastic TV cabinet is also very resonant.

2. The horizontal MTM orientation. There will be off-axis nulls of up to 20dB.

With many center channels, your best bet is to put it on an adjustable height stand (Sound Anchors) a few feet in front of the TV/screen, vertically, raised as high as you can without getting in the way of the picture. Or perhaps suspended a few feet from the ceiling - we can't localize height as well when sounds are coming from above us.

3. I used to think the center channel was only for movie dialog therefore making it less important (I figure that I don't know what actors & actresses sound like in the flesh - although I've heard plenty of musical instruments and know when they're off). One of the dipole list guys decided to do a survey - 14/15 movies he tried had music up there. I played with it in my system, found that this was mostly the case. After upgrading main speakers (Linkwitz Orion), the sound quality issues from an inferior center channel (Definitive C1) using a fabric dome tweeter (metal/fabric tweeter seems to make the biggest difference i ntweeter integration) are readily aparant; so I'll be building a shorter 3-way dipole center.
distortion
571 posts
 
I rarely use my center channel when listening to music.

But when I do, I prefer the "DTS:NEO 6 MUSIC" setting, with my center physically about 1 foot behind the front L/R plane and the Delay set 2 feet further back. e.g. 12 feet for front L/R and 14 feet for my center. (my pre/pro uses feet for delay instead of millisecs)

It is a fairly timbre mathched setup, although the CDM-CNT(center) uses a different mid/bass driver than the CDM-9NTs(mains), they are at least similar, and they have identical tweeters. Two different amps are in use. Bryston on the mains and Rotel on the center/surrounds.

It sounds fine by my ear, articulate, and responsive, the soundstage is deep, and involving. I would say a highly intergrated sound.

I prefer analog bypass 2 channel however.
brainwater
520 posts
 
Hey Slappy. My handle is stupid but its my first initial of my name run together with my last. I do in fact have water on the brain however!!!!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
david berry...Today most people drive their center channel using a SS processor, which, as you say, involves digital processing. However, digital processing is not absolutely necessary. My optimum way of getting a center channel is to drive one channel of a stereo amplifier out of phase, and bridge the amp with the center speaker. This was very easy to do with an LP source, simply by reversing the pickup connections of one channel. Usually with this system, the center speaker seems a bit too loud, but this is very easily corrected by a "blend" pot bridged across the two signals at the preamp output. With 4 ohm speakers you probably have a low impedance problem for your power amp, but in my experience even relatively low power amps can handle 8 ohm speakers without difficulty.

Of course, if you are playing a CD the signals are already digital, and if you feed digital into the SS processor, so that no extra A/D is done, your Center channel ought to be just as good as the Left and Right.
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