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Center not in the center. How will this affect soundstage?

463 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Charles R 
#1 ·
My wife and I are building a new home. We haven't had a home theater setup but are planning to put one in our great room in the new house. We have already purchased a Denon AVR-X2000 receiver and we set ourselves an approximate $2000 budget for speakers. Through several requests for advice and a lot of research through various forums and web sites, we've pretty much decided that we're going to purchase the HSU Hybrid 15 5.1 system in Rosenut veneer.

I've attached a room layout showing our furniture layout and the main listening position. The room is approximately 20' x 20' but is also open to the kitchen and a study and there are cathedral ceilings. I know this a huge, cavernous space to fill with sound, and we could easily spend tens of thousands of dollars to try to get the perfect home theater but neither of us are audiophiles and we're moving up from built-in television speakers so I'm certain the sound we do get will blow our minds.

My question concerns the center channel speaker. We're going have a 55", 60" or 65" Samsung 4K television mounted over the fireplace. We haven't settled on which size yet but we're heavily leaning towards the 65". We'd planned to have the center channel in the center, sitting below the TV on the mantel. The problem is that the center channel that comes with this HSU system is a beast. This thing is almost 10" tall. Even if we set our mantel at the lowest point allowed by code, I still have to leave a foot of space between the mantel and the bottom of the television and that just puts the TV way too high for aesthetics and ergonomics. Even though this is the perfect spot sound-wise, it just can't go there. My question is how much it would affect the front sound stage to put the center channel on top of the base cabinet of the built-ins to the left of the fireplace and maybe angle it a slight bit towards the main listening position. I hoping that maybe the Audyssey calibration system will help alleviate much of the issue.

Oh, I almost forgot, we're swapping the sub and future sub locations as well.

Anyway, I'm curious how much this may affect the sound from the main listening position. I'm sure it will have more of an impact to someone sitting on the other side of the sofa but, honestly, it's my wife and I 95% of the time so guests aren't the main concern.

Thanks to anyone that chimes in.

- Byron
 

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#2 ·
Hi, this is my suggestion.. and it's just that ...a suggestion. ;)

I came across your exact problem when fitting out my uncles holiday home. TV above fireplace and nowhere for a centre. Here's what we did:

Forget about the centre speaker, disable it in the AVR and use your fronts to create a phantom centre. If doing this I would also suggest you bring those fronts in if you can - get them out of the corners, preferably positioned at the 1/4 and 3/4 points along the front wall ....again, if this is possible.

Works perfectly well as long as your not seated to close to either front L or R speaker...
 
#5 · (Edited)
Even if we set our mantel at the lowest point allowed by code, I still have to leave a foot of space between the mantel and the bottom of the television and that just puts the TV way too high for aesthetics and ergonomics.
Don't be so sure about that. People tend to want to have the screen much lower than it really should be. Why? Because that's how they've always done it. Now, consider a real movie theater. Do you sit upright looking straight ahead? Not if you're in the good seats. In those you're leaning back, looking slightly upward.
I have my screen center 76 inches off the floor. It does look a bit high at first glance, until you watch it and find that it's at the perfect viewing angle. In your case I'd absolutely put the screen up high, otherwise your fireplace will be the unintended center of attention, not the screen.

As for a phantom center, it's a compromise. If the L/R speakers are placed close enough together for good phantom center imaging they won't have good left/right imaging. If placed wide enough for good L/R imaging they won't have a good phantom center image. If you're going to build a house the way you want it don't start off by making compromises that you'll later regret.
 
#6 ·
As for a phantom center, it's a compromise. If the L/R speakers are placed close enough together for good phantom center imaging they won't have good left/right imaging. If placed wide enough for good L/R imaging they won't have a good phantom center image. If you're going to build a house the way you want it don't start off by making compromises that you'll later regret.


Do current AVRs still apply DRC for DD material when the center speaker is set to none?
 
#7 ·
My question concerns the center channel speaker. We're going have a 55", 60" or 65" Samsung 4K television mounted over the fireplace. We haven't settled on which size yet but we're heavily leaning towards the 65". We'd planned to have the center channel in the center, sitting below the TV on the mantel. The problem is that the center channel that comes with this HSU system is a beast. This thing is almost 10" tall. Even if we set our mantel at the lowest point allowed by code, I still have to leave a foot of space between the mantel and the bottom of the television and that just puts the TV way too high for aesthetics and ergonomics. Even though this is the perfect spot sound-wise, it just can't go there. My question is how much it would affect the front sound stage to put the center channel on top of the base cabinet of the built-ins to the left of the fireplace and maybe angle it a slight bit towards the main listening position. I hoping that maybe the Audyssey calibration system will help alleviate much of the issue.

Oh, I almost forgot, we're swapping the sub and future sub locations as well.

Anyway, I'm curious how much this may affect the sound from the main listening position. I'm sure it will have more of an impact to someone sitting on the other side of the sofa but, honestly, it's my wife and I 95% of the time so guests aren't the main concern.

Thanks to anyone that chimes in.

- Byron


You could always mount the speaker above the TV location if you plan ahead of the build.
 
#8 ·
Once framing and or the drywall is up I would blue tape the location you plan on placing the TV to see how it works in the "real world" I know with my screen six inches made all the difference in the world. From constantly looking upwards to comfortably looking forward. This is for just the length of a movie... with a display you could be watching for hours I'd try and get it right. It's just me but I would forgo above the fireplace all together on several counts and we do need to support the arts... :)
 
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