I'm fairly new to the game of home theater components, but I would keen to receive some feedback about which is better, having a single driver center speaker such as an Anthony Gallo micro 5 speaker, or a center speaker with multiple drivers such a JBL ES25C, JBL P25, P35, or a JBL LC1 or LC2?

At one of the audio video shops I visited recently, the staff were pretty vocal about the idea that single drivers are better for center speakers because speakers with multiple drivers have a tendency to muddy the voices and thus lack clarity compared to a center speaker with a single driver. What are you thoughts on this issue?

I want to find a good center speaker to match with my Marantz 7002 and my Japanese JBL 4307 studio monitors, but I'm not sure if I should try to match my 4307's with a JBL center (even though the driver sizes will be a bit different), or go with a single driver center speaker. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

That is a good question. Did you ask if the AVR you are using plays into the picture in regards to how the sound is distributed? I have a beast of a center, an old Polk CS1000p that weighs in at around 70 pounds, dual mid drivers along with dual bass with a built in amp, and a tweeter too. This sucker will blow you backwards, literally, into your seat along with moving some air and your hair, you feel it.

The reason I keep my current setup, I would hate to give up my center due to what it CAN do. The subtleties in dialog are there, I really do not think I could get any better. So I kinda question what you have been told.

Someone else will chime in and set me straight, I am sure of that.

Mike

The set measures 58 inches, and that is a BDI stand and Denon 4308ci AVR... Taken with an iPhone.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/localnet/IMG_0203.jpg

I want to find a good center speaker to match with my Marantz 7002 and my Japanese JBL 4307 studio monitors, but I'm not sure if I should try to match my 4307's with a JBL center (even though the driver sizes will be a bit different), or go with a single driver center speaker. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
First off start shopping some where else. That staff is dumber than a red brick.

All notably good center channel speakers have more than 1 driver, usually a pair of woofers of at least 6" - a single 4" mid driver and a 1" tweeter. 4 all in all for most of the better center speakers. My center weighs 40 pounds and has 2 6.5" - 1 4" and 1 1" driver. I'd put that up against any of the single driver solutions that brain trust tells you is better. And take bets and make money too.

The only important match to your monitor speakers will be in the tweeters. Match those and don't worry about the rest - it'll sound fine.

Do you have any information on those monitors? Which drivers (tweeter) do they use?


Someone else will chime in and set me straight, I am sure of that.




Set you straight? That a singe driver is better?

Don't be so sure.

Nice center speaker. Mine is the Rocket RSC200 sig series. Works great for me!

I'm fairly new to the game of home theater components, but I would keen to receive some feedback about which is better, having a single driver center speaker such as an Anthony Gallo micro 5 speaker, or a center speaker with multiple drivers such a JBL ES25C, JBL P25, P35, or a JBL LC1 or LC2?

At one of the audio video shops I visited recently, the staff were pretty vocal about the idea that single drivers are better for center speakers because speakers with multiple drivers have a tendency to muddy the voices and thus lack clarity compared to a center speaker with a single driver. What are you thoughts on this issue?

I want to find a good center speaker to match with my Marantz 7002 and my Japanese JBL 4307 studio monitors, but I'm not sure if I should try to match my 4307's with a JBL center (even though the driver sizes will be a bit different), or go with a single driver center speaker. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
"Single driver" speakers have the advantage of reduced comb filtering. Most multi-driver, horizontally designed CC's exhibit this problem to some extent. Here is a good article that describes the problem:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/vertical-vs-horizontal-speaker-designs
There are some designs that reduce the problem, but few that eliminate it.

However, single driver speakers have their own set of issues. A small driver will have inadequate bass response. A large driver will not do justice to the treble. It's virtually impossible to make one driver to cover the entire audible range with flat frequency response.

The ideal solution is to use the same vertically designed speaker at all 3 front positions. This gives the best chance of a good timbre match, good dispersion characteristics, and reduced comb filtering. Of course, this is not always possible from a practical standpoint.

Craig

Here's the information on the JBL 4307's. I was rather skeptical about the idea that having one driver would be a good match for the 4307's.

ype 3 way bookshelf types Use unit LF 250mm diameter [piyuaparupukon] woofer MF 125mm diameter [porimakoteingu] [piyuaparupukon] mid range HF 38mm diameter [deyuarureiya] diaphragm tangential [ringutsuita] + [arumidaikiyasuto] [autahon] Impedance 6Ω Allowance input 150W (music) Output overpressure value 91dB (2.83V/1m) Frequency characteristic 45Hz~45kHz (- 6dB) Crossover frequency 1.5kHz (- 6dB/oct. ) 6.5kHz (- 6dB/oct) Size (W×H×D) 328×545×300mm (the grille it includes) Weight 16.6kg (the grille it includes)

形式 3ウェイブックシェルフ型
使用ユニット LF 250mm径ピュアパルプコーン・ウーファー
MF 125mm径ポリマーコーティング・ピュアパルプコーン・ミッドレンジ
HF 38mm径デュアルレイヤー・ダイアフラム・タンジェンシャル・リングツイーター+アルミダイキャスト・アウターホーン
インピーダンス 6Ω
許容入力 150W（music）
出力音圧レベル 91dB（2.83V/1m）
周波数特性 45Hz～45kHz（－6dB）
クロスオーバー周波数 1.5kHz（-6dB/oct.）、6.5kHz（-6dB/oct）
寸法（W×H×D） 328×545×300mm（グリル含む）
重量 16.6kg（グリル含む）
店長一押し！

http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/joshin/4968929003693-31-2597.html

That is a good question. Did you ask if the AVR you are using plays into the picture in regards to how the sound is distributed? I have a beast of a center, an old Polk CS1000p that weighs in at around 70 pounds, dual mid drivers along with dual bass with a built in amp, and a tweeter too. This sucker will blow you backwards, literally, into your seat along with moving some air and your hair, you feel it.

The reason I keep my current setup, I would hate to give up my center due to what it CAN do. The subtleties in dialog are there, I really do not think I could get any better. So I kinda question what you have been told.

Someone else will chime in and set me straight, I am sure of that.

Mike

The set measures 58 inches, and that is a BDI stand and Denon 4308ci AVR... Taken with an iPhone.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/localnet/IMG_0203.jpg


Although I would never have use of any speaker that weighs more than 30-40 LBS but having a fully dynamically capable center speaker is best.

A single driver is great and all but having multiple drivers that are of great quality will give you a greater dynamic range on demanding tracks such as the Lossless Dolby digital soundrack on the Mission Impossible 3: 2-disc special edition DVD which distorted my previous center speaker like crazy.

That is one serious center speaker. :D

Although I would never have use of any speaker that weighs more than 30-40 LBS but having a fully dynamically capable center speaker is best.

A single driver is great and all but having multiple drivers that are of great quality will give you a greater dynamic range on demanding tracks such as the Lossless Dolby digital soundrack on the Mission Impossible 3: 2-disc special edition DVD which distorted my previous center speaker like crazy.

That is one serious center speaker. :D

It is one serious center, and carries the bulk of the load. There was the scene in I Am Legend with Will Smith, the Mustang chasing the deer. My hair moved and it knocked me backwards along with everyone else in the room. And what you don't see in the picture is the SVS PC13-Ultra cylinder sub in the corner. You can feel her outdoors.:D

Mike

It is one serious center, and carries the bulk of the load. There was the scene in I Am Legend with Will Smith, the Mustang chasing the deer. My hair moved and it knocked me backwards along with everyone else in the room. And what you don't see in the picture is the SVS PC13-Ultra cylinder sub in the corner. You can feel her outdoors.:D

Mike

The sub is a she? (Shudders) :eek:

how about this...tannoy dc12i - tweeter is coaxially mounted
http://www.tannoy.com/products/294/Definition_DC12i_Data_File_V1.06_Web.pdf

http://www.audiophileliquidator.net/images/Tannoy/dc12.jpg

I would pose this question over at the Lansing Heritage forum, and what would help most is if you could post the tweeter and midrange driver model numbers from your 4307's. You may be much better off in a JBL Japan forum.

1.) Using a 3rd 4307 is ideal. Many folks would recommend using phantom mode rather than using a compromised center channel. Lastly, a receiver that allows individual channel equalization will help match a similar center to your fronts. My Denon AVR-987 has a mode which adjusts the eq of center/surrounds to match the fronts. Though I don't run that exact setting; I did use it to get some idea of the center EQ needed to match the fronts.

2.) Having owned/used several JBL centers trying to match my own fronts, I can advise you to stick with a true 3-way JBL center model. Not something like the ES25 or LC1 that is really a 2-way with the UHF driver, but a model with a real midrange driver. My short list would be the S-center 1 or 2, EC35, P35, or LC2.

3.) I have JBL L5/L7's from the mid 90's which use the 1" 035ti/tia titanium tweeter. From my limited experience I can say that a EC35 with a slight treble boost matches them reasonably well, assuming you are using subs to produce center channel bass output. I was surprised by this given the EC model 3/4" laminate tweeter, but in the end I trust my ears. The EC25 was a huge step down, due to the missing midrange driver and much smaller cab. I also tried an LC1 and found it to be completely different in tone, despite it being JBL's recommendation to match older 035tia equipped models. In my testing to find a good match I went through the following JBL's: SC305, EC25, LC1, S-Center1+2, EC35 listed in order from worst to best.

Having said all of that, there are some Japan market offerings that I think are much better than what is offered in the US. If you are in Japan I would do everything I could to listen to a TS60 or a LS Center before even considering the US offerings.

PS. I wouldn't take any further advice from someone who recommended a true single driver center channel. There are some co-axial designs that mimic the appearance of a single driver (KEF) which are nice, but a true single driver would be terrible.

1.) Using a 3rd 4307 is ideal. Agreed.

2.) Having owned/used several JBL centers trying to match my own fronts, I can advise you to stick with a true 3-way JBL center model. This applies to any brand. The issue is that a 3way permits a vertical arrangement of the mid and HF drivers which helps minimize interference and "venetian blind" radiation pattern in the horizontal plane. A single driver does this, too, but at the expense of limited dynamic capability.

Thanks for all the advice and comments. Something just didn't seem to click when the shop guy said that a single driver would be ideal for clarity.

I wouldn't mind saving up and buying a 3rd Model 4307 but I'm not sure where I would place it. At the moment I don't have enough clearance space to set a monitor of this size on the floor and I don't have the means to place it above the TV unit either, especially one this size (I'm in a rental an apartment and unfortunately putting holes in the walls to mount a speaker is out of the question).

The JBL TS60's look nice, but out of my price range, the LC 2 Center speaker is closer to my price range, but the LS is almost twice the price of a 4307. So maybe it would be ideal to get a larger piece of home entertainment furniture that could support s decent sized monitor above or below the TV, if a 3rd 4397 would be superior to an LC2.

I'll also see if I can try out a JBL EC 35 but I'm not sure if they sell them in Japan. I might be able to find an LC 2 though.

As for a sub, I'm in an apartment and I'm not sure if my wife will let me get one considering that it's likely to piss off my neighbors if not used judiciously.

Also,I'm not really sure as to the tweeter type since all the info I have about it is in Japanese. I'll have to ask my wife.

Cheers!

This applies to any brand. The issue is that a 3way permits a vertical arrangement of the mid and HF drivers which helps minimize interference and "venetian blind" radiation pattern in the horizontal plane. A single driver does this, too, but at the expense of limited dynamic capability.

As do many two-ways with the same vertical driver arraingement.

My advice is to focus on acquiring a center speaker that produces a sound as similar as possible to your left and right main speakers from the midrange up. I'm not familiar with your existing main speakers but if they are part of a line perhaps you could use the bookshelf model within the line that hopefully uses the same midrange driver and tweeter with similar (though likely not identical) crossover. I mention the bookshelf model (if available) because of your space constraints.

Good luck with your selection.

Eric

As do many two-ways with the same vertical driver arraingement.

My advice is to focus on acquiring a center speaker that produces a sound as similar as possible to your left and right main speakers from the midrange up. I'm not familiar with your existing main speakers but if they are part of a line perhaps you could use the bookshelf model within the line that hopefully uses the same midrange driver and tweeter with similar (though likely not identical) crossover. I mention the bookshelf model (if available) because of your space constraints.

Good luck with your selection.

Eric

Thanks! But as far as I know there aren't any book shelf speakers that match the 4307's, I'd like to assume because they are studio monitors. The smaller JBL studio monitors that I've checked out appear to have somewhat different specs.

I think I'll most likely have to find a piece of furniture that could accommodate a 3rd 4307 under the TV, possibly a Bell 'O. I just hope I can buy or order one in Japan, they seem very reasonably priced.

Cheers!