To quote Vance Dickason on page 189 of The Loudspeaker design cookbook, 6th ed., "The center front channel speaker is commonly positioned horizontally , with the drivers in opposite acoustic polarity to the left/right front speakers. This is done strictly for aesthetic reasons." Note that last sentence. And on the top of page 189 he has graphs showing the effects of the various driver arrangements and their effects on off-axis frequency response: figure 10.11 correllates to figure 10.15 on the facing page of a horizontal MTM. From the first paragraph in the second column on page 189 "The consequence for the horizontally polarized speaker at 30 degree off-axis is a dip in the repsonse at the crossover frequency of nearly 15db." The other three driver arrangements perform far more admirably given the task. And this is also why THX certification is not given to driver arrangemnts of a horizontal mtm (should the manufacturer even bother to apply).
what's so special about center speaker ?
For $300 ~ 500, you can buy a center speaker or a pair of bookshelf. To me a pair of bookshelf seems to be a better choice because you can later use them in a stereo system, or rear surround. Also, I think bookshelf is more traditional/classic speaker design than woofer-tweeter-woofer speaker. Are center speakers specially optimized to work as a center channel besides its shape? Maybe the center speakers are optimized to produce vocal/dialogue?
Ken
Ken
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- 10 posts total
- 10 posts total