2. home-theater
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B&K and Martin Logan Theater i

I have a Laurier Odyssey entertainment center. I have placed my theateri on the very top instead of the bridge above the t.v., so my wife can use it for display. Once I got all of the speakers hooked up this weekend, I tried watching a couple of movies. The front L&R, effects, and sub were great, but the dialog from the center was less than
desirable. It sounded like the speaker was in a box--muddy, echoing, and dialog was not understandable most of the time.
Now, I have angled the theater down toward the listening position. It was shooting strait forward to begin with--over my head. It is better, but in my opinion it needs to be more crisp and clear. Especially, for a $2500 center channel speaker. I don't ever want to say "what did they say" during a movie again!!!!!
Does anyone have advice for tweeking my theateri using my B&K 507 avr w/ ref 3220 amp?
Music sounds really nice from the center I think! I have listened to 3 dvda disks--Dianna Krall, Look of Love; Eagles, Hell Freezes Over; and Manheim Steamroller, House of Mouse. Seamless integration with the rest of the system. On the other hand, the two DTSES movies I have tried just sound like crap--Seven & Osterman Weekend. I have played with room equilization, notch filters, and angling it down. How can music sound so good, and a movie sound like they are in a cave? Voices have echoes and they cut in and out--very difficult to hear. The speaker must be fine if music sounds so good. I need help with set up through my 507. I want audio from a movie to be crisp and pure. I want the actors to be in the room talking to me!
rynopr

Showing 1 response by arlenm

arlenm
9 posts
 
Rynopr:
I too have the Laurier with the bridge. I'd been struggling with a similar problem. I have the ML Logos as my center with Martin Logan CLS's in the front and Aerius's in the rears. Movie dialogue sounded muddy and difficult to understand. I tried a different AV processor but nothing seemed to help.
My problem turned out to be echo waves that were peaking where the wall in back of me hit the ceiling. That wall is about 20 feet high and undamped without any sound treatments, bookcases etc.
I didn't figure the problem out until I stood on a stepladder and started clapping as loud as I could in front of the Logos at varying heights. Lo and behold I got terrible echoing and "ringing" at the wall/ceiling junction when I clapped at the height of the bridge but none when I clapped down at floor height. My problem was solved. Once I moved the Logos onto the floor I could suddenly understand all the movie dialogue I was missing. Later, for asthetic reasons, I may move the Logos back onto the Laurier bridge and invest in quarter round echo busters at the ceiling junction.
Try the clapping test and see if you detect echos at the wall/ceiling junction behind you. Either damp those with room treatments or move the center channel onto the floor.
I hope this might help.
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