Do I need better center ch speaker-dialog unclear?

Thanks for all replies.

The speaker sits on top of my Mits RPTV. I have the center speaker set to "small" in the receiver. I have the speaker angled down toward seated ear level. I just intalled a run of Paul Speltz' AntiCables, which has helped just a little.

Update 1: About a year ago, I replaced the PSB with a Paradigm Studio Monitor cc570 version 3. This is definitely better and clearer than the PSB. It should be, as it is significantly more expensive. However, we still had a lot of problems understanding dialog in movies.

Update 2: Removed the spade connectors from the Speltz anti-cables, and connected the bare copper. This resulted in a definite increase in clarity. Much easier to understand dialog.

Update 3: Just yesterday took delivery of a single run of Alpha Core Goertz MI-2 speaker cable for the center channel. I also got some of their jumpers to jump down to the LF binding posts of the cc570, whereas with the anti-cables, I was just using the stock jumpers. I have only yet sampled one movie, but there does seem to be a difference from the anti-cables. It seems like there is more "presence" and "air". There seems to be more high frequency response and it is clearer(is that a word?). I do think this addition has improved the clarity of dialog even further.

Thanks,

This system is in the family room, and behind the speaker(which sits on top of the RPTV) there is a painted wall with ceramic plates and other knick knacks mounted. The wall also has "picture frame" paneling, so I'm not optimistic as to the WAF of hanging something on the wall, but I will look into it.

Thanks, I did bump up the center channel to +1 today.

As to the room, there is no coffee table, but rather an ottoman we prop our feet on. It would probably absorb sound, rather than reflect it.

I can't really put that center speaker in front of the TV, as that is the traffic path in the room.

I sit on a sofa about 9 feet from the front speakers, and the sofa is about 5 feet from the back wall. It really is a terrible room for audio, but it is all I have.

I am just going to have to optimize my equipment and cabling.

At this point, I am beginning to agree with Shadorne, and I think I am going to give up on having a center channel speaker until I can afford a really good one. I got a deal on a Swans C3 center speaker, so I have been checking it out. I also have a new receiver, a Yamaha RX-V1800, which should have better decoding than the Sony DA4ES. The Swans is not bad, but it is smaller than the Paradigm cc570v.3.

Currently, with the Yamaha, it just sounds best to set the Yamaha to no center speaker and let my Legacy Signature IIs front L/R handle the job. The sound is just overall much better like that.

Actually, the Legacys do sound significantly more clear on dialog after I recently switched speaker cables to Morrow SP2, which is silver coated copper.

So this means I have tried: PSB Image Series C9, Paradigm cc570v.3, and Swans C3. All are supposed to be decent speakers but both me and my wife still cannot make out dialog in movies. Yes we have typical over 50 year old hearing loss, but not terribly so.

As a last ditch attempt, I did order a run of the Morrow for the center speaker to see if this will clear up dialog a bit. If that doesn't do the trick at all, I am just going to sell the Paradigm and the Swans and try and save up for the big Legacy center channel speaker. I can still use the Morrow cable later if I get another center speaker.

"01-03-09: Eldartford
For dialog a speaker with restricted and contoured frequency response is most inteligible. Lousy for music though, where the center speaker should be as good or better than the Left and Right speakers.
Maybe you need to DOWNgrade the center speaker."

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, in addition to home theater, I have gotten into multi-channel audio with DVD-A and SACD. Musical selections that include male vocals concentrated in the center channel REALLY illustrate the importance of a large center speaker. No matter what settings I select in the setup of the receiver, much of the character of the male voice is lost when using the center speaker. This is clearly noticeable by setting the receiver for no center speaker, which send the vocal to the front L/R speakers. Then you hear the voice properly.

I am on a mission to save up for a big center speaker that can both reproduce dialog and singing vocals with great clarity, and at the same time is as close to full range as I can set on my TV. I just don't yet know how much that is going to cost.

Mnnc,

Thanks for the recommendations. My speaker distance settings are correct, 10 feet for each of the front 3 speakers. I also calibrated all speakers with my Radio Shack sound meter. The way I was given to understand to do it, and the way I did, was to set the receiver master volume setting to 0db, and then calibrate each speaker to 75db. I am not sure of what advantage your suggestion would offer me, as I would just end with a different master volume for regular listening.

The settings I was talking about, with regard to my dissatisfaction with the sound from the center, are speaker size and crossover for the center speaker. It doesn't seem to matter what crossover settings I select, in that whenever I switch the center speaker selection from "None" to "small" or "large", I lose all the bass out of male voices. I had thought that the sub would pick that up, but it just doesn't, and I have the crossover setting on the sub turned up as high as it goes, and have tried all the crossover frequencies available on the receiver.

This is why I am thinking a really big center speaker is indispensable for accurate movie dialog reproduciton.

I think I now have the best sound so far from my center, which is the Paradigm cc570v3. I sold off the Swans speaker, as it had an obvious mid range resonance. I am using a Yamaha RX-V1800 as a pre-pro, and powering my front L/R and center with a Sherbourn 5/1500A power amp at 200wpc. Plus, I am using Audio Art ics from the Yamaha to the Sherbourn, and Morrow speaker cable. I think there may be something to burning in cables, because the sound is much clearer after a week or so of playing the system. This is the best center channel clarity I have had so far, although I am still not sure the Yamaha is providing the best decoding possible.

I am still lusting after a higher end center speaker and better processor at some point.