Advice regarding AMP and Centre Speakers - Upgrade?

[xjkx]

Hey all,

Wondering if anyone could help answer a question that's been bugging me.

I'm in the process of upgrading my surround system. I began very low end, Tannoy SFX Satellites, and a Yamaha RVX 375, i've now upgraded my centre and Left/Right speakers with Cambridge Audio Aero 2 bookshelves and an Aero 5 Centre. (but with the old amplifier, sub and surrounds, to be updated in due course).

The left/right now sound really fantastic. Massive difference. The centre also sounds great in terms of quality (clarity/depth etc) but seems to lack power and general presence. Even if I turn up the speaker in the amp settings it still somehow feels/sounds weak and is overpowered by the Aero 2 bookshelf sides.

My question is: is this simply highlighting the weakness of the (relatively budget) amplifier i'm using? I am just wondering whether the centre speaker in particular might show the weakness more than the sides (which sound brilliant).

Would I notice an improvement with a better amp? In which case i'll upgrade that first.

Or should I stick to upgrading my sub and surround next etc

Any advice appreciated!

jack

 

[thx1138]

Jack,

I don't have experience with the products you are using, but it looks like the Aero 2 speakers are supposed to be paired with the Aero 5 centre, so tonally the 3 fronts should be pretty well balanced and should be a good match.

Do bare in mind, the primary purpose of the centre speaker is to tie dialogue to the screen. Dialogue should be crisp and clear, but shouldn't sound too bright. You shouldn't be aware of the centre speaker itself. Rather, the whole front soundfield should sound blanced and well defined - there certainly shouldn't be a 'hole' between the left and right speakers, but the centre should *not* bring attention to itself either and shouldn't have a noticable presence. Low frequencies should be going to the sub-woofer (see below). If you AV Receiver has a tone generator, use it to adjust the volume of each speaker so they deliver the same loudness.

Ideally, your seating position should be equidistant from all three front speakers (triangle), with the left and right speakers toed inwards to point towards you. Changing the angle of the left and right speakers, can change the whole front sound-stage, so you may want to experiment - also try moving them further out, and then closer to the centre position, and see if that makes a different. Most people position the centre speaker below their display, you may want to point it upwards slightly, if it's low down. Ideally, it should be on a plain close to that of the left and right speakers.

The crossover frequency between your speakers and sub-woofer is crucial. As a rule of thumb set the crossover fequency to 80 Hz (THX recommend this). However, read up on your speaker specifications - you may find they recommend different values and it's not uncommon for the centre to be quite different to the left and right. Some AV Receivers allow you to set the speaker crossover frequency seperately, other systems only allow a global preset. When using a global value, pick the highest value from all your speakers. If they can all handle values comfortably below 80 Hz, leave the crossover at 80 Hz.

Remember: if you have a subwoofer, you should always (without exception), set *ALL* your speakers to Small. Not Large and Not both.

Also, check what listening mode you are using. DSP settings can have dramtic effects on how things sound. If you system allows it, just engage standard ProLogic II and switch off any other processing.

Finially, check the polaity of your speaker connections. If the centre is out of phase, it won't sound right, and could sound shrill or 'lost'. Also check the ohms settings are correct and in spec with the AV Receiver.

Hope this gives you some generally pointers.

Regards,

James.