[michwill36]

when playing dvds im constantly having to adjust the volume. i have to turn it up to hear voices . i have to turn it down at gunfire or car accident etc. what ajustments do i make or do i need a better center channel. my centerchannel is a paradigm cc170.

 

[BowerR64]

I think we all have to go threw this. I think its part of the mix, i dont know any way to avoid it.


Some receivers have a "night" mode wich can help but then it robs all the cool effects from the movie.


How old is your receiver? i had more issues when i had an older receiver, the newer ones seem to do somthing different to help this.


Depending on the movie some movies are better mixed then others, valkerie with Tom Cruise was the worst one if i remember right. It was like the whol emovie they were whispering and then BOOM! POW! BANG BANG!

 

[cdy2179]

You could have an underacheiver as a center but it's probably due to the following..

Poor Placement..

It should be as close to being the same level as the tweeters in the mains as possible....if it's above or below this level aim it at your ears...having it below a tv usually isn't as clear audibly as having it above the TV aiming down. Also if it's sitting on a shelf or stand the front of the speaker shouldn't be set back from the edge.


2nd and usaully the what really kills clarity

Reflections... every side wall, bare floor and ceiling is bouncing ever sound back to you... these sound reach your ears milliseconds after the original source (directly from the speaker) sent it to you... this causes audio mud and will make any system no matter the price sound like trash.

Do a search on how to treat 1rst reflections to help with this issue.


Having a treated room I almost never find movies that are mixed so bad they are hard to understand vocally anymore.....actually I can't think of any in the past year....most have no idea how badly room relections trash the sound.

 

[BowerR64]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cdy2179 /forum/post/18250893


You could have an underacheiver as a center but it's probably due to the following..

Poor Placement..

It should be as close to being the same level as the tweeters in the mains as possible....if it's above or below this level aim it at your ears...having it below a tv usually isn't as clear audibly as having it above the TV aiming down. Also if it's sitting on a shelf or stand the front of the speaker shouldn't be set back from the edge.


2nd and usaully the what really kills clarity

Reflections... every side wall, bare floor and ceiling is bouncing ever sound back to you... these sound reach your ears milliseconds after the original source (directly from the speaker) sent it to you... this causes audio mud and will make any system no matter the price sound like trash.

Do a search on how to treat 1rst reflections to help with this issue.


Having a treated room I almost never find movies that are mixed so bad they are hard to understand vocally anymore.....actually I can't think of any in the past year....most have no idea how badly room relections trash the sound.

Yeah i forgot about that, i notice this myself. The center speaker is a very directional speaker. Not sure why but man if you are not in the direct path of this speaker it seems to lose alot of the audio level.


I have both of mine pointed and tilted up to my seating location, aimed right at my head.

 

[Menasor]



Quote:
Originally Posted by michwill36 /forum/post/18250702


when playing dvds im constantly having to adjust the volume. i have to turn it up to hear voices . i have to turn it down at gunfire or car accident etc. what ajustments do i make or do i need a better center channel. my centerchannel is a paradigm cc170.

Like others have said, make sure that your center is aimed at the listener's ear level, and not set far back from the edge of your tv stand. Reflections will kill your sound quality. Also, make sure your center level is properly calibrated. You may feel the need to bump your center channel volume a db or two compared to the other speakers in your setup. Please reply back and let us know what kind of placement you have. A photo of your setup would be best.

 

[michwill36]

my center is below my tv my fronts are 5 to 6 ft above that on top of the bookshelves. do i need to bring those down maybe? i have towers in the rear becuase the way the house is made. i could put em up front but they would be 25 ft apart. my reciever is an integra 6.3 . i have an emotiva upa 2 for the rears.

 

[Nuance]

Based on those pics I'd say the others gave you some great advice (tilt the center toward ear level, and level match the dB level to the mains). Also, did you properly set your distances in the receiver?


If you don't own an SPL meter perhaps you could purchase one or borrow a friends to get things level matched.

 

[Syndrone]

I prefer to just take the center out and let the left and rights handle the entire front end.