Optimized Center Channel

First, allow me to say I am humbled by the contributions from all of you to help me work on this dilemma.  Sometimes it takes a community and the experience and opinions of others, which is what this Forum is all about.  I take it all to heart (well, most of it, anyway) and am analyzing and strategizing while sitting in front of the home theatre beast I have wrought.

We live our lives in context, and mine is in a 225 year old house which has its beauty and obvious warts.  With something historic (nothing worthy of a historic registry), I look at our time here as stewards rather than simply owners, doing our best to ensure it thrives another century or two.  Over the years we’ve done much to improve and bring it to current standards.  Some aspects, like my listening room, are a battle that ends in a draw, rather than victory.  There are SO many things about it that need improvement to make it acoustically acceptable, first and foremost its slightly L-shape.

I spent a great deal of time positioning the front L/R speakers to get balanced stereo sound.  As equipment has changed, the distance between them and their positioning (toe-in vs facing front) has changed, and they now sound better than ever.  I just measured and yes, the center speaker is off center by a foot.  But then, so is my listening position.  If I could, I would move my throne (prime listening chair) a few feet closer to the system and a bit to the right to be in an ideal spot.  Alas, I sit on a couch, off-centered against the back wall, and having it centered and two feet from that wall ain’t gonna happen.  Acoustic treatments on the walls or ceiling?  WAF says “ain’t gonna happen.”  I think you see where this goes.  Aging ears, tinnitus, less than perfect audio tracks… everything in context.

The Marantz itself does not have PEQ; you need either the phone app or the full-blown version of Audyssey to make and upload EQ changes.  I have the phone app and had the full Audyssey version for my previous Marantz AVR (they frustratingly do not permit transfer from one product to another even with the same owner) and found those tweaks daunting (where to start, what to change).  Any suggestions on managing that are greatly appreciated.  In my research I see that Dirac has that capability embedded, and thus might be a worthwhile Black Friday gift to myself and potential solution.

I know it’s sacrilege to suggest this but, 

https://us.kef.com/products/xio-soundbar?variant=49680916316407

@traubr  I’d like to point out two things that others have mentioned and my feedback.

First off, you’re using a modded appletv to stream. The file you’re hearing is compressed heavily in the audio department and you lose a lot of the info. It doesn’t matter what’s been done to the AppleTV and all it’s doing is polishing a turd. I have demoed that very claim hundreds of times to clients by playing a movie clip on an AppleTV then that same clip using a bluray disk and a cheap bluray player. 

Second - I would strongly suggest utilizing the Dirac feature. You mentioned the price of the mic, the MiniDSP UMIK1 is around $80. Considering you bought a highly modded AppleTV, $80 is pretty cheap. With that said, Dirac has a ton of really great tools and if you’re not comfortable in diving into them all I would suggest hiring someone that can help you. There are a ton of options of dirac wiz kids that can even work on your system remotely which works out too. 

If you are wanting to get the very best audio and video out of your system and still stream, there’s only one option and that’s from a company called Kaleidescape. Their files are a true 1 to 1 bit rate to the original. Below is a link to their player, scroll about half way down and you’ll see a graph comparing an appletv to their file. I’d suggest finding a dealer close and look into it further if you’re interested.

https://www.kaleidescape.com/strato-movie-players/

@mm1tt77, I have the same experience as you regarding recorded matter vs streaming: Blu-ray excels, end of story.  Back a few years, if a movie warranted a place in my collection, I bought it and enjoyed superior sound.  My DVD collection is doing a great job as a dust collector now, as I am drawn to streaming.  Very little of it has truly good sound that takes advantage of Atmos, likely the result of our ills.  I remember watching a series recently where the activity was on the street, and the production did a terrific job of filling the background (rear speakers) with the ambient street sounds you hear but may not pay particular attention to.  That quality is rare, but when it's there, it's home theatre bliss.

The stand idea for the center channel is interesting, but is a no-go for me in my space (notice the recurring theme).  After a review last night, I feel my center channel is working just fine, actually quite well.  I'm sure the next level in the Focal line, the Sopra, could provide an even better experience, but it comes at a significant and this point, unrealistic cost.  Many of the ideas here are excellent and warrant trial, with the understanding that dialog particularly, and sound in general, can be somewhat compromised.

The ATV-X streamer I have is not the typical Apple TV streamer (link is earlier in the thread).  As one can spend tens of thousands on music streamers or DACs, I was surprised the best "TV" streamers were under $200.  Surely someone, somewhere has made an uber streamer that performs as you could only wish for, at (of course) a breathtakingly high price?  Enter the Apple TV-X.  It helps, believe me, but there are limits.  For my edification, if you know of any other uber streamers, I am eager to be aware of video streamers that can scale the heights.

@gkelly 

Sacrilege indeed!