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plauged by off center image, am I insane?

It distracts me to no end when the image is off center. I'm not talking about early stereo recordings where spacing was spread out unnaturally, but when there is a fairly simple arrangement with vocal that you expect to be dead center in front of you. Some recordings are dead center, and then some are a just a little bit off center. Almost always to the right.

I also notice that whenever there is a featured soloist, if they aren’t centered they are displaced to the right.

I attribute this to the recording, not my system since some are dead center and some are not. I was wondering if I am the only one who has experienced this. I am pretty sure my speakers are set up properly and I’m not partially deaf in one ear.

Do you think it is me, or my system, or the recordings? Maybe the guy who mixed the recording was careless or has a hearing problem.
herman

Showing 4 responses by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
There is no law to say that a soloist must be recorded equally in left and right channels, so that they image dead center. If your system images well it can put a sound source anywhere between the speakers, and sometimes outside them. The cure for vague imaging is to use a center speaker. Soloists that are recorded dead center will be nailed by the center speaker (regardless of listener position), and off center sources will image nicely between the center and right speakers.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
The elaborate setup procedure described by Hifimaniac amazes me. If it is that hard to get good imaging you have serious defects in the speakers.

I have absolutely no problem with vague imaging and I think the reason is as follows.

1. Planar (MG1.6) speakers. Their sound is unchanged in SPL from the back of the room to your ear at 1 foot in front of them. So moving them a little back and forth has no effect.

2. I use a center speaker even for 2-channel recordings. (My left and right speakers are too widely spaced for straight 2-channel).

3. Fairly big room with very irregular shape and wide openings into other rooms.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Hifimaniac...You should not assume that I am ignorant of all that precise speaker positioning procedure. I went through that kind of exact positioning when I had a Carver preamp with the sonic "Hologram" feature. Yes, I could get the effect, but it was totally impractical for real listening. I will not be so arrogant to accuse you of ignorance about planar speakers, but perhaps you have not had enough experience with them to understand their sound dispersion characteristics. If I had to sit in some particular location, plus or minus an inch, would take all the enjoyment out of the sound system.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Herman...My use of a center channel (for about three decades) is a direct result of the layout of my room. It has two French doors at one end, leaving three pieces of wall. If the center speaker were omitted the left and right would be much too far apart.

There are (at least) two ways to drive a center speaker without any extra amp. (DON'T TRY THIS WITH A DIGITAL AMP).

1. Make a "Y" connection. Returns of the Left and Right tied together and then to the center HI and then the center LO back to the amp. The left and right channels will have an excess of differential signal unless you use a "Blend" resistor, but I always preferred results without the resistor.

2. Invert the polarity of one channel, and bridge the amp with the center channel speaker. You would think that this would create too low an impedance load for the amp, but I found that every amp I had could handle it. Probably because of the two channels being out of phase. Of course the speaker for the inverted channel needs to be hooked up backwards to restore correct polarity. I found this setup to be very very good. Most of the audio signal is common mode (mono) and this benefits from the bridged power capability of the amp. A simple "Blend" control (pot) allows you to attenuate the center channel as required.
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