Suggestion on the best MTM centre

[wilsonj]

Hi,

A few years back I made a proac clone to use as a centre channel. This worked out ok, but I find the sound a little too layed back. And there seems to be something missing.....

Now I want to try another design, preferably a MTM. With a reasonable budget (~$700US not including box) in mind what should I look at? There are so many kits available, I'm not sure where to start.

I also want to approach this with the idea in mind that I will build matching LR speakers later.

Would an Ariel or ME2 be a good idea as a centre??

[rabbitz]

Try playing with the crossover and it can make a huge difference. You can tailor to suit your tastes and equipment.

[zigzagflux]

Originally posted by wilsonj
Would an Ariel or ME2 be a good idea as a centre??

I can think of few speakers in that price range that would produce better vocals; perfect for a center speaker. A tad weak in the midbass (100-400 Hz) range, but fantastic above that. Might even want to build five of them for surround sound

I liked mine so much, I bought a spare set of matched drivers, and tucked them away for the future.

Don't skimp on the tweeter capacitor.

[Lionel]

Would an Ariel or ME2 be a good idea as a centre??

If you agree that the center is dedied to human voices and dialogs, perhaps you will have noted that TV speakers are better than HiFi ones to do this job (you are not obliged to answer) .

You can built Ariel or prestigious speakers to listen some music but for Christ's sake don't spend so much time and money for a center chanel.

BTW if flat MTM is a nice "looking" design for a center chanel it's far to be the best audio solution.

Good luck !

[wilsonj]

Thanks for your suggestions.

I have already changed the proacs xover b changing the resistor value of the tweeter. I found the suggested one reduced the treble a little too much for my taste. I don't feel I have enough experience to make further changes though...
I have also used quite expensive xover components already.

Lionel, I'm not sure I completely understand your comments. Are you saying I should skimp on the centre speaker? I always thought it was the most important part of a HT speaker system. And equally important to match tonally with at least the other front speakers.

What would you suggest?

[Cal Weldon]

I can't speak for Lionel but my experience tells me that if you have a good full range, it makes a good centre channel. By this I mean that it may not be necessary to have a multi-way if the centre channel is used only for HT and that you set it to "small" on the receiver so it cuts off the low end. A great deal of the signal comes through the center channel so it is important for it to cover the mids well. You can set your L&R to "big" if they are the units you listen music with and set your rears according to their power handling.

You are using a separate woofer correct?

[planet10]

Have you tried a virtual centre channel yet?

dave

[wilsonj]

Hi Cal, Thanks for your comments. Yes I do have a subwoofer. Recently eqed with REW and a BFD, and intergrates well with the L+R. Its crossed over at 80hz so I really only need a centre that is bass limited. But something that does an excellent job of the vocals/midrange as you suggested. But any ideas?

Planet10, virtual centre!? like a phantom channel? I really don't use the system for critical music listening, only movies so I don't see the advantage of not using a discreet centre. Or am I missing your point?

Cheers
Jamie

[planet10]

Originally posted by wilsonj
virtual centre!? like a phantom channel? I really don't use the system for critical music listening, only movies so I don't see the advantage of not using a discreet centre. Or am I missing your point?

In my experience, if you have speakers that image, and no one is seated in a compromised place, a virtual centre outperforms a real one.

Centre channels in movie theatres are a band-aid that lets theatre owners sell tickets to more patrons by putting some of them in less than ideal seats.

When HT came along 0/ you have to recreate the theatre right? 1/ many people had compromised seating arrangements 2/ now a centre speaker, and an extra amp channel could be sold and generate more profit.

Once it was "accepted" that a centre was required it became "common knowledge"

For a real centre to perform close to a virtual one it needs to be exactly the same as the mains, at exactly the same height (which often means trying to occupy the same space as the TV screen) and in the exact same geometrical alignment. Rarely does this happen (i particularily detest the sideways MTMs which are just aweful)

If you find a virtual centre does the job you have more money to spend on movies, and you don't have to find a place to put a real one.

Now if you have a situation where cousin Joe (or heaven forbid you) is sitting off to the side on the couch, you may want a centre channel... in which case Cal's suggestion of a good full-range is a good one -- of course it would also be a good idea to upgrade your mains to match.

dave

[Hartono]

"If you agree that the center is dedied to human voices and dialogs, perhaps you will have noted that TV speakers are better than HiFi ones to do this job (you are not obliged to answer) ."


also the box...............well not everybody agree that tv is better box than most speaker boxes.

for practical reason center channel does improve intelligibility on speech, and remove some power load from left and right speakers, so home theater should be build starting from the center channel (my point of view) , not adding it later.

so if you do make a good, and intelligible center channel, you might feel that you other speaker seems "lacking". and diy-ing will continue......





Hartono