Center Speakers(do they have to match fronts?)

[zodiak]

Taking a break from my quest to find a receiver, my question is does the center speaker have to be match the fronts in terms of brand ie polk?

what is important in the center speaker?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by zodiak

Taking a break from my quest to find a receiver, my question is does the center speaker have to be match the fronts in terms of brand ie polk?

what is important in the center speaker?

Yes, the three front speakers work best if they are timbre matched. Ideally, three identical vertical speakers is the best option.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by zodiak

Taking a break from my quest to find a receiver, my question is does the center speaker have to be match the fronts in terms of brand ie polk?

what is important in the center speaker?

Yes the best sound will come from timbre matching you're front 3 speakers !
All 3 speakers should be the same brand ! All 3 of mine are the same speaker !!

[Rob J in WNY]

Indeed, the center channel speaker's role in multichannel cinema audio cannot be overstated. On some high-end setups, the center channel speaker may even be larger than the L & R fronts! That is a rarity, though.

Your center channel speaker will be responsible for carrying 50 to 75 percent of a movie's multichannel surround audio, and practically all of the vocal dialog. Having a center channel is one thing, but having a great center channel is so much more. Clean vocalization is challenging to reproduce. Muddled, more indistinct dialog is the bane of entry-level and basic center channel speakers. A quality center channel speaker offers precise, detailed midrange response, making for more distinguishable vocal dialog.

The importance of matching your center channel to your fronts, as stated, has to with "timbre" matching, or the ability for all three front speakers to reproduce sound identically across the entire audible sound spectrum. This comes into play more so for the front soundstage than for the surround speakers (although timbre-matching surrounds is not a bad idea if it can be done).

You'll hear sounds pass from left to right (or vice versa) right through your center channel as well. If the speakers have similar or exact timbre, then you will not perceive a change, or shift, in the tonal quality of the audio as the sounds pan across your soundstage. Without timbre-matched speakers, the difference can be quite noticeable, deteriorating sonic imagery.

You can compensate a little bit for mis-matched center vs. fronts if your receiver has channel-selective multi-band equalizers, but it will only get you so far. One can adjust specific frequencies to create a closer match, but in the end, all the aspects of timbre cannot be controlled by equalization alone. Matching your center and fronts is the easiest and best solution. Generally, making sure that the center channel uses the same drivers as the fronts is the first and foremost step to selecting the match for your fronts.

Check out crazyBLUE's theater setup (posted above this). Three Boston Acoustic floorstanding towers, all identical. Now THAT'S about as timbre-matched as it gets!

Hope this helps!

[JasonR]

I had a Polk center channel in my current setup and decided to go without until budget allows if that tells you anything....

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Indeed, the center channel speaker's role in multichannel cinema audio cannot be overstated. On some high-end setups, the center channel speaker may even be larger than the L & R fronts! That is a rarity, though.

Your center channel speaker will be responsible for carrying 50 to 75 percent of a movie's multichannel surround audio, and practically all of the vocal dialog. Having a center channel is one thing, but having a great center channel is so much more. Clean vocalization is challenging to reproduce. Muddled, more indistinct dialog is the bane of entry-level and basic center channel speakers. A quality center channel speaker offers precise, detailed midrange response, making for more distinguishable vocal dialog.

The importance of matching your center channel to your fronts, as stated, has to with "timbre" matching, or the ability for all three front speakers to reproduce sound identically across the entire audible sound spectrum. This comes into play more so for the front soundstage than for the surround speakers (although timbre-matching surrounds is not a bad idea if it can be done).

You'll hear sounds pass from left to right (or vice versa) right through your center channel as well. If the speakers have similar or exact timbre, then you will not perceive a change, or shift, in the tonal quality of the audio as the sounds pan across your soundstage. Without timbre-matched speakers, the difference can be quite noticeable, deteriorating sonic imagery.

You can compensate a little bit for mis-matched center vs. fronts if your receiver has channel-selective multi-band equalizers, but it will only get you so far. One can adjust specific frequencies to create a closer match, but in the end, all the aspects of timbre cannot be controlled by equalization alone. Matching your center and fronts is the easiest and best solution. Generally, making sure that the center channel uses the same drivers as the fronts is the first and foremost step to selecting the match for your fronts.

Check out crazyBLUE's theater setup (posted above this). Three Boston Acoustic floorstanding towers, all identical. Now THAT'S about as timbre-matched as it gets!

Hope this helps!

Rob,

This may be one the most easily understood posts on the importance of why timbring-matching your Fronts & Centre is critical for a proper experience. An excellent explanantion with easy to understand examples, and might I add...very eloquantly written. Well done indeed!

John

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by John72953

Rob,

This may be one the most easily understood posts on the importance of why timbring-matching your Fronts & Centre is critical for a proper experience. An excellent explanantion with easy to understand examples, and might I add...very eloquantly written. Well done indeed!

John

Thank you, John. Very nice of you to say that.

[rded]

Ok! This thread makes me wanna crawl under my bed and weep uncontrollably I really appreciate you guys discussing the tonality and timbre matching of the LCR speakers. Yeah yeah yeah! I know my fronts and center don't match as my SC center is just severly outclassed by my C2s. I really though I was just gonna skate by with it, but even my wife said that the the Center channel can't keep up with the fronts the moment we watched our 1st bluray movie(Underworld rise of the Lycans) to test out the C2s. Now I feel compelled to go with at least the Contour SCX with an Esotar2 Tweeter

[callas01]

Originally Posted by zodiak

Taking a break from my quest to find a receiver, my question is does the center speaker have to be match the fronts in terms of brand ie polk?

what is important in the center speaker?

From your other thread about the reciever you were discussing getting just the front 2 speakers first, is that still the same or are you planning on getting the front 3 now too?? Also, do you have a budget in mind? and What brands are you considering? Or have you even thought that far?

[zodiak]

thanks for the info.....the plan is still two fronts the add in center & sub

with such importance on the center if you cant have three towers as one member has what are some of the better centers?

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by zodiak

thanks for the info.....the plan is still two fronts the add in center & sub

with such importance on the center if you cant have three towers as one member has what are some of the better centers?

That depends on what speakers sound good to you and your budget. If you were to get the Polks as you referenced, you just want to make sure you get the center that matches that line of Polks. Their website will help you with matching a center with any fronts you may be looking at.

However, it all comes down to what fronts you decide on and what sounds good to your ears. If you are talking manfacturers, and want an "entry"level speaker, then there is the afroementioned Polks or Klipsch, but there are so many others to choose from. The following is a speaker manufacturer's list from Big Daddy that may help you or you could browse the threads for that particular speaker brand you may be interested in to pick up more information......good luck!

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=100022

[StimpsonJCat]

Good, Better, Best.

Good: Timbre matching speakers (same Tweeter helps this)
Better: Same speakers (LCR - with a horizontal center)
Best: Same speakers vertical (like Crazy has)

I've always had timbre matched speakers and have been happy with the front soundstage. I recently went with the E70's (LCR) accross the front and was shocked at how big a difference it made. A seamless front soundstage is a beautiful thing.

If I had a choice between running a phantom center and a non-timbre matced center I would go with the phantom. If there is any way you can have the same speaker for all three I highly recommend it.

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by StimpsonJCat

Good, Better, Best.

Good: Timbre matching speakers (same Tweeter helps this)
Better: Same speakers (LCR - with a horizontal center)
Best: Same speakers vertical (like Crazy has)

I've always had timbre matched speakers and have been happy with the front soundstage. I recently went with the E70's (LCR) accross the front and was shocked at how big a difference it made. A seamless front soundstage is a beautiful thing.

If I had a choice between running a phantom center and a non-timbre matced center I would go with the phantom. If there is any way you can have the same speaker for all three I highly recommend it.

great example. i never thought about getting the same speaker.
the problem is what happens if you want TOWERS for the front l/r.....most people dont want or dont have room for a 3rd tower in front of the tv

[callas01]

Originally Posted by zodiak

thanks for the info.....the plan is still two fronts the add in center & sub

with such importance on the center if you cant have three towers as one member has what are some of the better centers?

A lot of times if you go to the manufactures websites they will give you recommended systems and you can see what Centers speakers they would match with a particular Tower speaker. You can tell by looking that the larger centers are always paired to the towers and the smaller ones paired to the bookshelf systems. This is done so that you don't have a center channel has to be turned up constantly to hear the dialog and turned down when action occurs, rather you get a smoother overall sound that flows well together across your sound stage.

Here are some examples
Paradigm on that page, pay attention the systems that say Monitor, click on them and it will show you the systems as they should match up

Energy
PSB