Prescence & dialogue. Oldboy?

[RobinKidderminster]

Still toying with buying a couple of Kef eggs or similar for prescence & maybe firing them upwards into the front corners rather than truly front mounting. Bad idea?? I wondered (Oldboy?) how they effect speech since my older ears sometimes find music & effects overpowers the speech.
Opinions appreciated.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Front effect speakers shouldn't affect dialogue, although front effect can be used to "lift" the dialogue when used with larger screens. I'd only recommend this though when the front effect speakers are equally as good as the centre/fronts. I think if you're finding dialogue a little hard to follow sometimes, maybe your centre isn't quite up to the job. That is of course, assuming it isn't an issue with the mastering of the film in question - do you have any examples?

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Thanks David. I think main issue is with Sky broadcasts as well as ears. I would hope my centre was up to it tho I often wonder why centres are not even more powerful considering the work they do.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Is the centre set to large or small? If it is set to small, what crossover point is it using?

 

[GSB]

Have you tried turning the center leval up,mine sits at +2.5....you could even turn the front L/R levals down

 

[chrisup]

Robin

My hearing has probably suuffered from too many rock concerts and getting older so I have adjusted the centre to compesate.

Best Wishes from Kidder

Chris

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Cheers for comments. Small and lately taken 80hz to 90hz crossover. I certainly turn up the centre to compensate but often feel the need for a little extra. I guess I need to check a few bd's to check if its a Sky bias

 

[RobinKidderminster]

And .... wonderin' if u can adjust the level and distance of the prescence speakers?

A fellow Kiddy chrisup?

 

[Oldboy]

And .... wonderin' if u can adjust the level and distance of the prescence speakers?

A fellow Kiddy chrisup?

Hello Robin,

Sorry for being late to your thread but I can confirm that the prescence speakers can affect dialogue but it depends on the receiver being used and the DSP mode you are using. My Yamaha has several DSP settings that all have various affects on dialogue, for example the spectacle setting raises the dialogue higher as the prescence speakers share the dialogue duties slightly but it's never over bearing or over the top.

Other settings such as Sci-Fi and Adventure offer more surround effects and leave the dialogue to the centre speaker which to my ears sounds more realistic and involving although I do use the spectacle setting on occasion if dialogue is getting lost but usually that's only with the occasional tv boadcast such as the football where for some reason the commentators levels can be very low.

On my Yamaha you can indeed adjust the level and distance of the prescence speakers infact the only thing you can't do is set them to small with a crossover or to large but apart from that they are treated as normal speakers and can be adjusted accordingly.

As for firing them upwards into the corners that is a bad idea as from all the research I done all advice pointed to them being mounted in line with your front left and right at least 3 feet above them and firing slightly down towards the listening position, you can fire them straight ahead but I found they worked far better when tilted down towards the listening position.

If speach is your main motivation for using front prescence speakers then I would advise increasing the centre level first or maybe trying it set to large to see if this has any effect on how well it performs. My centre needed to be boosted slightly when I done an SPL meter calibration although not by much and as a rule it's the centre that needs boosting the most and even if you do an SPL meter calibration your ears are the best judge of how high or low the centre should be set.

At 80hz the centre is certainly set to the correct crossover level as that is the THX recommended level so it could just do with the level being increased.

As for the prescence speakers...you know you want to do it and I can tell you from experience that they are certainly worth getting and you have the sort of set up that would easily be able to make the most of them.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Thanks oldboy. Useful considerations taken onboard. Will share my experiments!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Splashed out on a pair of full range 6inch drivers. Piggy bank hardly missed the £20. Sat on the corner bass traps firing into the top corners. Not ideal nor recommended but with a brief audition, I recon I quite like the effect. Clarity and bass dont seem affected. Dialogue seems fine. Soundstage and surround seems wider. Will report back after more experimentation but worth the punt so far.

 

[Oldboy]

Splashed out on a pair of full range 6inch drivers. Piggy bank hardly missed the £20. Sat on the corner bass traps firing into the top corners. Not ideal nor recommended but with a brief audition, I recon I quite like the effect. Clarity and bass dont seem affected. Dialogue seems fine. Soundstage and surround seems wider. Will report back after more experimentation but worth the punt so far.

Nice job!

Look forward to hearing how you get on with them but it's not ideal placement as you are aware but with a bit of experimentation I'm sure you will get it sounding great, I still love the effect of front presence speakers but I am thinking of going 9.1 now and adding another pair at the back but I'm far from sure I'm going to do that just yet as placement may be an issue in my room.

Look forward to the update Robin and hope you get it sounding just as you want it soon

 

[RobinKidderminster]

I have 7.1 against yr 9.2. When I use front prescence the rears are off. On an occasional 7.1 bluray the rears are useful but I rarely find them effective with 5.1 dd using dsp. Must depend on positioning I guess as do the front prescence. I thought the rears would fill in behind the setee but unconvinced. Still experimenting ....
Too hot to do much more