2. home-theater
  3. 1101313932

B&K and Martin Logan Theater i

I have a Laurier Odyssey entertainment center. I have placed my theateri on the very top instead of the bridge above the t.v., so my wife can use it for display. Once I got all of the speakers hooked up this weekend, I tried watching a couple of movies. The front L&R, effects, and sub were great, but the dialog from the center was less than
desirable. It sounded like the speaker was in a box--muddy, echoing, and dialog was not understandable most of the time.
Now, I have angled the theater down toward the listening position. It was shooting strait forward to begin with--over my head. It is better, but in my opinion it needs to be more crisp and clear. Especially, for a $2500 center channel speaker. I don't ever want to say "what did they say" during a movie again!!!!!
Does anyone have advice for tweeking my theateri using my B&K 507 avr w/ ref 3220 amp?
Music sounds really nice from the center I think! I have listened to 3 dvda disks--Dianna Krall, Look of Love; Eagles, Hell Freezes Over; and Manheim Steamroller, House of Mouse. Seamless integration with the rest of the system. On the other hand, the two DTSES movies I have tried just sound like crap--Seven & Osterman Weekend. I have played with room equilization, notch filters, and angling it down. How can music sound so good, and a movie sound like they are in a cave? Voices have echoes and they cut in and out--very difficult to hear. The speaker must be fine if music sounds so good. I need help with set up through my 507. I want audio from a movie to be crisp and pure. I want the actors to be in the room talking to me!
rynopr

Showing 1 response by drew_eckhardt

drew_eckhardt
394 posts
 
By placing your speakers near room boundaries (the ceiling and front wall) and objects you've boosted the lower frequencies and introduced early reflections that confuse things. You also have them above furniture and people that will limit the sound bouncing off the back wall.

Using speaker stands a good distance (a couple feet will help but more is better) from anything does wonders for speakers designed for placement in free space. Frequency response is more uniform, the early reflections will be delayed and reduced in level, the ratio of direct to reverberant sound will increase...

I use short Sound Anchors center channel stand about 3' off the screen wall when running a center and have the mains about 4' out from the front wall and 2.5' from the side walls.
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