Experience with Line Array phantom center?

[dhenryp]

I have just ordered 36 PE 4.5" vifa JBL butout mid/woof buyout drivers for a line array pair (13-16 /midrange/woofers plus a TBD tweeter array). (FYI: it is a BIG mistake to combine Google, a Mastercard and a pint of Vodka!) It will be used in my large screen (100+ ") front projector HT. Do any of you have experience with using a phantom center channel with line array speakers? Are two main speakere adequate or should I bite the bullet and add a mini line array (6 driver mid/woof array) center speaker?

[johninCR]

For me it's really the ideal way to go when using a projector because the large sound image of the array matches well with the large image. I'd suggest going with some power tapering of the array to avoid some larger than life audio images that can happen with arrays. For example deep male voices (Barry White or James Earl Jones) can sound like their head is 4ft accross using a normally wired array.

Center channels just don't work very well with projectors unless you use a screen that is supposedly "sonically invisible", which they really aren't, and they are detrimental to video quality. Otherwise you have to put the center channel above or below the screen and the only way to do that with an array is to use a bessel array, since a normal array can't be laid horizontally.

Just the array pair is your best bet.

[Bizarroterl]

Could you explain what you mean by power tapering?

[johninCR]

Power tapering is where you send more power to the center drivers and less to the ends. With a normally wired arrays you can hear the drivers at the top and bottom of the array along with the rest, but they are delayed slightly in time because they are farther from your ears. This results in a "stretched" audio image. By essentially turning the volume down on the drivers at the end of the array, you get better imaging with giving up the benefits of a line array. You do it using a special series/parallel wiring configuration. See Jim Griffin's paper about this and other great line array info at http://www.prism.gatech.edu/%7Egte929u/LinusWP.pdf

[Jim Griffin]

A better reference (more up to date) to my line array white paper is the following link:

http://www.audiodiycentral.com/resource/pdf/nflawp.pdf

It discusses power tapering.

Jim

[Timn8ter]

FYI: it is a BIG mistake to combine Google, a Mastercard and a pint of Vodka!

Been there, done that.

Friends don't let friends drink and Internet shop.