Out comes the center channel

[zx_toth]

I went on a trip to India at the end of Feb. While we were gone we had our hardwood floors redone. The most stressful part of that was that I had to disassemble my ENTIRE rig .... all components out, all wires pulled out and stored upstairs. I was SO NERVOUS about doing all this because the more you move things the more there is a chance of dents, scratchs and damage. I was very stressed about this.

Upon coming back I rather quickly put together my rig again and noticed it didnt sound as good ... the center speaker was muffled, the left LSi 25 had a low background buzz and my subwoofer didnt seem to work anymore. Several weeks have gone by and I finally took the time to fix all of the problems.

One thing I did notice when playing around was that my center speaker sounded clearer when I took it out of the center speaker drawer of my TV stand that housed it. I always worried that the sound would reverberate inside the cabinet a bit and the rear ports didnt seem to have a huge amount of room to vent air, so perhaps something like this was messing with the full capability of my LSiC.

I watched the new Rambo with the center speaker in and than out, watching the same scene over and over and for sure noted the improved clarity. Though it is aethetically less pleasing to have it out of the drawer I have decided to get my rig ready to make the change. I will need a TV bracket to allow the TV stand to accomodate the center channel.

Anyone else have experience with improved clarity from their center speaker by moving it about? is anyone else concerned about aethetics versus sound quality?

Not much point behind my post besides making conversation :D

Zsolt

[Murray1]

Great looking set up. I have been considering LSi 15 or 9's and LSiC. Also considering DT Mythos speakers because of my concern with verbal clarity of the LSiC when watching a movie. If you do not mind, let me know how things work out after you tweek the center.

[zx_toth]

Great looking set up. I have been considering LSi 15 or 9's and LSiC. Also considering DT Mythos speakers because of my concern with verbal clarity of the LSiC when watching a movie. If you do not mind, let me know how things work out after you tweek the center.

The LSiC has very clear vocals for sure. Being in the LSi family it has very accurate reproduction of sounds including vocals. I noted no 'muffleness', if that is even a word when taken out of the cabinet and putting it on the TV stand. Putting it up 6 inches, on top of the cabinet, inside of in, also gave it a more ideal height. Instead of the speaker being pointed straight at my groin while Im sitting it is closer to my ear level when I slouch on my couch ... hey that could be a rap "slouch on my couch", anyhow, the connection between the actors' speech and voice was improved. It seemed more eminating from their mouths rather than their chests.

I will certainly make updated impressions once I have a TV bracket in hand and made the necessary changes. Thanks for your compliments and comments.

Zsolt

[bdtae5656]

The LSiC has very clear vocals for sure. Being in the LSi family it has very accurate reproduction of sounds including vocals. I noted no 'muffleness', if that is even a word when taken out of the cabinet and putting it on the TV stand. Putting it up 6 inches, on top of the cabinet, inside of in, also gave it a more ideal height. Instead of the speaker being pointed straight at my groin while Im sitting it is closer to my ear level when I slouch on my couch ... hey that could be a rap "slouch on my couch", anyhow, the connection between the actors' speech and voice was improved. It seemed more eminating from their mouths rather than their chests.

I will certainly make updated impressions once I have a TV bracket in hand and made the necessary changes. Thanks for your compliments and comments.

Zsolt

What do you guys have your LSIC set to on your crossover?? Large, 80Hz??

[cfrizz]

Speakers in general DO NOT belong in little cubby holes. They need room to breathe & to spread their wonderful sound.

SCREW being nice and neat & hidden! Display them proudly and let them operate the way they were meant to.

Or go get youself some Bose!

[zx_toth]

Speakers in general DO NOT belong in little cubby holes. They need room to breathe & to spread their wonderful sound.

SCREW being nice and neat & hidden! Display them proudly and let them operate the way they were meant to.

I took some time at work to research this issue :D and lo and behold the SEARCH function is amazing ;)

Cfrizz, you hit it on the spot about the cabinets. Not sure why some TV stand manufacturers make these types of center speaker drawers when they impact the sound ... muffling it as I mentioned.

For any of those interested following archived threads discuss what Cfrizz was talking about ....

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...all+large+LSic

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/show...all+large+LSic


No CFrizz I do not want Bose unless you are giving them away for free so I can sell them to some sucker :) Actually I would never sell them to anyone unless they fully understood they were inferior card board box decorations.

Z

[zx_toth]

What do you guys have your LSIC set to on your crossover?? Large, 80Hz??

I have mine currently set at small but tommorow night Im going to take it out of that damn center speaker drawer and play around the settings (i.e. large vs small).

My understanding is that if it is set to small than frequencies below 80 Hz are sent to the subwoofer ... is this correct?

What would be the advantages of putting an LSic on small vs large if you have plenty of amplification?

I tried doing a search for this but kept getting all those dozens of posts of people thinking their LSiC was broken due to the cascade design of the LSiC.

Zsolt

[cfrizz]

Yes, you are correct about setting it to small so that the low stuff goes to the sub. That's why it is there, why try to force your speakers to play something so low when it would sound much better coming from the sub without the strain.

But try it out & let us know what you think.

[bdtae5656]

Yes, you are correct about setting it to small so that the low stuff goes to the sub. That's why it is there, why try to force your speakers to play something so low when it would sound much better coming from the sub without the strain.

But try it out & let us know what you think.

Question....Why does it sound better/louder playing my Lsi25's by themselves opp to playing them with the center??

[VSchneider]

If "better" in your case only means "louder", then maybe the receiver is producing less power per channel in surround mode vs. stereo at the same volume setting.

Otherwise, there's just not enough detail about your system and the setup in your post.

[zx_toth]

Question....Why does it sound better/louder playing my Lsi25's by themselves opp to playing them with the center??

Not sure. You have a 3-channel upfront from my understanding of you setup, so the LSiC should not be under powered. Perhaps you can describe your front stage a little better ... is your center in cabinet like my own, is your center to low to the ground, etc.

Z

[bdtae5656]

MY C is three 1/2 feet from the floor out in the open. Powered by a Emotiva XPA-3, LSi 25's are slightly turned in

[bdtae5656]

If "better" in your case only means "louder", then maybe the receiver is producing less power per channel in surround mode vs. stereo at the same volume setting.

Otherwise, there's just not enough detail about your system and the setup in your post.

How do I change that in my Receiver? I was told that my HK 3550HD has more than enough to let teh power come thru

[VSchneider]

Different speaker levels in the setup options for Stereo vs. Surround mode? Otherwise, the volume knob. Nice AVR, btw.

[bdtae5656]

Different speaker levels in the setup options for Stereo vs. Surround mode? Otherwise, the volume knob. Nice AVR, btw.

Thanks!

[zx_toth]

I just ordered th optional TV stand mount for my stand here is a picture of the mount attached to the stand. This will allow me to elevate my Tv high enough so my LSiC doesnt block the lower inch of the screen. Additionally having the TV really close to the piano black finish of the center caused a reflection off the center so I need them a bit further apart. Ill post some pictures and impressions when I do this. They said they will ship it Monday or Tuesday ... I may have it the end of next week hopefully.

http://www.bdiusa.com/theater/avion_8540.shtml

Of course the whole reason for this is to allow my LSiC to get out of that damn center speaker drawer which was interfering with the sound causing a muffled sound to emit from it when hearing dialogue from a movie. When I listened to the center out of the speaker drawer it sounded like I had just upgraded my center .... so it'll definately be worth it.

Zsolt