Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Get a view of an entire thread on one page

General Asylum

I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music.

24.205.98.160

In Reply to: RE: Maybe..... posted by Ozzy on July 26, 2012 at 02:56:50

I have a 2 channel audio/video system and this position also works great for Video as voices appear to come from the TV screen which is in the center between my two speakers.
Action such as something flying or a horse moving galloping one side of the screen to the other extends way beyond my TV's boundaries to outside of the boundaries of my two speakers.
So in 2 channel I can't imagine the set up for audio and video being different. However I have read that the optimal placement of the left and right speakers is different for 2 channel stereo and 5 channel surround sound. Is this perhaps what you mean?
Perhaps something like 2 channel stereo for music and multichannel surround for movies? Some folks also listen in multichannel surround of music and movies. And others like me listen in 2 channel stereo for music and movies.
However I get even better phantom center channel imaging with NO TV in the room. I was without a TV for many years, with the same speakers, preamp and amp I have now and the imaging and realism was to a higher level with no TV monitor in the room. However I like movies and TV and can't afford anything larger than a studio apartment so what can I do? If I was rich I would have two rooms, one for stereo music only and one for stereo video only with large TV. I abhor surround sound.
"Happy Listening,
Teresa."

Edits: 07/26/12

Follow Ups:

RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - 3db 04:46:56 07/27/12 (5)
There is typically a narrow sweet spot for 2 channel listening to get the most out of a speaker's imaging capabilities. Switch this to video and surround 5.1 and the sweet spot now becomes much larger and less defined in imaging. The reason for that are two fold; a.) The display forces the distance between left and right speaker to grow beyond optimal placement for most 2 channel setups and the sound track is now dispersed between 3 speakers instead of two.

Teresa, if the listening position is dead center of the display, then you won't need the center channel to anchor the sound to the display. The center channel comes into use once the listening position grows beyond 20 to 30 degrees off center from the display.

My setup equipped with center channel is still optimized for 2 channel listening as my distance between the speakers is less than the distance from each speaker to the listening position. The imaging I get is life like and did not improve after I removed the display to get some wiring done. The trade off is that I'm not receiving the full benefits from my HD display becasue I sit too far away from it to see the benefits.
- RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - Raymond Leggs 09:09:34 07/27/12 (4)
  The placement of the front peakers for 5.1 and higher is the same as for 2 channel stereo, you should gt the same sweet spot and imaging as you did before you added the centre and rears. Most 2 channel setups have speakers toed in. and the same should be for 5.1 if your speakers are directional.
  
  I always thought that if a speaker has to be toed in then the speaker may have a very narrow sweet spot. certain speakers like the KEF IQ series have this problem due to the easily localized HF driver.
  - RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - 3db 11:10:36 07/27/12 (2)
    Placement of left/right speakers have different contraints then two channel and are different. The fact that one introduces a large display which may cause the physical position to change from non optimal 2 channel psition relative to the listening can be the biggest factor. Toe in can only do so much.
    - RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - Raymond Leggs 12:05:34 07/27/12 (1)
      If you bought a Display so big that you cannot place the speakers in the best position to allow for the proper listening of music, then you have problems. no normal sized room should have a display bigger than 46 inches... Unless you have enough room on either side as to not have to place the speakers in a compromising position.
      - RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - bluemooze 12:33:25 07/27/12 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. posted by Raymond Leggs on July 27, 2012 at 12:05:34
        
        That does makes sense. Thanks for helping me understand. I would never have figured that out.
  - RE: I optimized my left and right speakers for the best phantom center image using music. - bluemooze 10:09:45 07/27/12 (0)
    Your original post makes no sense. What are you talking about?

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

MagneQuest Transformers

[ MagneQuest Forum ]