What makes a good center channel speaker?

I think that the most important thing in a center channel is that it is voice matched to the left and right main speakers. When I went from an unmatched center to matched the difference was night and day.
 
Voice matching is also called "Timbre Matching". To timbre match, the center speaker needs to be the same brand, and from the same series (model number) of speaker. Example: If you have Polk LSi9 speakers as your fronts, you want to use the Polk LSiC as your center. Don't use the Polk RTi A center, even though it's a Polk, because it's from a different series and won't timbre match with the LSi9s.

The reason for timbre matching is because when the sound pans across the front, you don't want the sound to change, when it goes from the left front, to the center, and change again when it goes from the center, to the right front. It should sound exactly the same as it pans all the way across.

Different brands and different series from the same brand, can be made from different materials, use different drivers, or use different cross-overs, which means there's no way they'll match the sound. The panned sound needs to sound the same, or it's just weird sounding, and not realistic at all..............
Hope this helps? :)
 
If the speaker isn't voice/timbre matched, you're more likely to have a sound that sounds like it's coming directly from the speakers, instead of a sound that sounds like it coming from whatever is happening on the screen. At least that was my experience.

Beyond that, it should just be a good speaker as much of the sound on a movie happens in the middle. I've often seen HT setups with huge left and right main speakers and tiny center speakers, and it sounded, well...small...as so much of the sound comes from the middle speaker.
 
Voice matched?

I'm just a Noob, and don't understand that.

The best way I've able to hear it is to turn the FM muting off on the tuner/receiver and tune between stations to get the hiss (which is about the same as pink noise) and switch between the left-center-right speakers. They should all have a similar tone quality (sound somewhat alike). If they don't possess this ability then the sound from one speaker may sound dominate over the others and give you less than a desirable or accurate surround effect. Just increasing or decreasing the volume of the center channel speaker will not correct this issue; i.e. a color TV where the faces are all green and you try to fix the problem by adjusting the "color control" instead of getting the "tint" correct.

I hope this helps. :thmbsp:
 
Beyond that, it should just be a good speaker as much of the sound on a movie happens in the middle. I've often seen HT setups with huge left and right main speakers and tiny center speakers, and it sounded, well...small...as so much of the sound comes from the middle speaker.

This is getting closer to my original question.

I guess what I'm really asking, is ' What is it, that makes a speaker a center speaker? '

I go to Best Buy ( appears to be one of the few 'Electronics' stores in the area ), and I see these tiny speakers that are supposed to be used for HT, and I have a hard time believing that they are going to produce any decent sound.

I admit, I'm trying to build a HT on a serious budget, and so I'm trying to figure out what I need to know to make everything work.

I have 3-4 pairs of speaker ( either given or acquired over the years ), but each pair is from a different company - if I can use them, that allows me to put the money that would have been spent into other things ( like a bigger TV :D )

Does this make sense?
 
first off, i wouldent buy anything from best buy unless it was a pencil or pen...
but perhaps thats just me...
id check out craigslist or ebay first.. i have seen pleanty of 5.1 or better systems on cl going for under $100.. some of them claim to be new.
 
You can use your speakers, and it would sound ok, but the difference between a timbre-matched surround setup and one made up of a bunch of different brands is, to my ears, pretty significant. But you could use what you have while upgrading other things. Nothing 'soundwise' makes a center speaker a center speaker. They're just usually configured differently so that they can lay horizontally above or below the screen. I've used normal stereo speakers as a center before. I haven't been speaker shopping at best buy in a long long time but if they are one of those stores that has a magnolia store inside them, they have some ok speakers there. Some of the Definitive Technology speakers soound really nice. But you can pick up some great deals on Craigslist, too, depending on where you are at. Or you can order online, but it's hard to order speakers on line because you just kind of have to go on reviews. One speaker maker I'd recommend is PSB, at least as far as new speakers go. You could also go vintage. There is a ton of info on AK about vintage speakers.
 
Vintage speakers is basically what I have:

Realistic Nova 7B
Sony SS-M90N
Sherwood S-1900
KLH 912B

The Realistic's have mixed reviews
The Sony's don't have much data
Can't find anything about the Sherwood's here on AK or on Google ( althow I must admit, they sure look impressive ) and only a little about the KLH's.


As for Craigslist - I'm just not seeing much - mostly the type of stuff available at Best Buy, and most of the rest is either big DJ type systems or more unmatched 'pairs'.
 
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I am not really a true believer about timbre matching. Im using Advent Heritage Towers for mains and a BIC for center channel. Matching can be made using the HT receiver's setup functions. Maybe not perfect but close enough for me. A center channel is mostly for voices anyway. The most important thing is to be able to hear dialogue clearly. For playing cd's, its better to turn off effects and play in Stereo mode anyway.
 
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Matching can be made using the HT receiver's setup functions. Maybe not perfect but close enough for me.



This is what makes sense to me - at least something that I keep hearing about with Sony's systems - the ability to 'blend' the speakers to the room.


A center channel is mostly for voices anyway.

So are you saying that smaller speakers ( midrange types ) might be preferable for this function?
 
If you have a receiver you can just try it out and see if it's good enough for the sound you want. You can match levels with your receiver, but you can't match the timbre/tone/voice of the speakers and whether that's good enough for you is, well, up to the listener. I know when I went from NHT left and right with a Klispch center and sony speakers in the rear to all NHT, the difference was night and day. All of a sudden I was enveloped by seemless sound, instead of hearing a sound coming out of the back left speaker, then the back right speaker, then the mains, and then the front..etc etc. As with any audio, you can take it to whatever level that makes you happy.
 
What Dolby is designed to do is push dialogue to the center channel. The setup function on an HT receiver allows you to raise or lower the volume on the center channel in order to best match with the mains. You can try a small speaker and if it sounds good to you, fine. Thats what counts. If you have trouble making out the dialogue no matter what you do, then its time to move on to a bigger center channel speaker.
Also, keep in mind that some movie soundtracks can be great and others can be poorly mastered, just like cd's. Im using a Yamaha HT receiver and there are always differerences between movies that require fine tuning of the center channel. That's why most HT receivers have some button that makes it easy to adjust the center channel.
 
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Timbre is relative to the materials and construction of a musical instrument.
An E-flat played on a grand piano will sound different than that of the same E-flat played on a Violin.
Same note, but reproduced on a differently engineered stringed instrument.

Hence...Timbre.

It really has to do with construction of the component in question.
Issues of resonance, decay, and what's called spurous and sympathatic anomolies, can and do, occur.
All materials and design characteristics, within an instrument or loudspeaker WILL alter the sound to a certain, audible, degree.

The goal of timbre matching a center speaker is directly related to being able to produce the same sound, within the mid-range specifically, that is being produced from the front L&R speakers.

And what that involves is having a center speaker that is derived from or engineered to compliment whatever front main speakers your using.
The idea being that the left and right direction of the sound will match seamlessly with your Right and Left speakers when the sound goes from say...Right to Center to Left speaker.
Meaning, a good center channel will, in effect, be able to "pan" an image across the front "soundstage" and also, have been engineered well enough to handle most dialog that happens to occur in the mid-bands, with realtive ease.

In my experience, when trying to build a Home Theater, you should try to get a center speaker that has been specifically engineered for the main R&L speakers, .... or if the vintageness of your gear doesn't allow, then to find a 3rd speaker, that matches your main speakers "Identically", to use as a center.

That seems to produce the best results.


Have fun.


Regards,
John




P.S. For what it's worth,...... Missed the Easyrider rodeo this year but looking forward to the local poker run this weekend.
Here's to hoping I get a winning hand. :)
 
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Same bit, brother.

Either speakers that were engineered for surround use within a specific manufatures' models' guidelines..."if made within the last 10-12 years". or identical speakers as those used as mains.

For instance, if you're gonna use vintage gear for home theater use, then ideally, you would want to use 5 or 7 identical speakers.
That assures that all the sounds you hear, regardless of the source being processed ie.., Pro-Logic, Dobly Digital, 5.1, 7.1, THX, whatever... will sound that same at every position it was intended.

The key word be continuity.
Consistency.

This will only aid to enhance to viewing/listening pleasure.

Sure...it's possible to achieve decent surround sound with different speakers, but for the real deal, they should all have the same reletive timrbrel output.

They should all be able to at least reproduce the upper mid range and treble sounds of anything you play to the point of YOU not being able to tell any difference between them. (the speakers)

The bass side is subjective and usually diverted, anyway, in cases of Home Theater use.


John
 
Ideally, ALL speakers should match. But rear speakers aren't as critical as the front three.
 
Figures. :(

About the only speakers over 3 inch I can find in any real quanity is RCA's and Sony's, unless I shell out $$.
 
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