# centre channel and mains problem



## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

Hi guys firstly i am running a 7.1 setup and all my surrounds work fine. I own a denon avpa1hd pre/pro and have it hooked up to a pioneer vsxax10aig recievers amp section which boasts 170watts per channel of 8 channels. I am running everything through the multi channel outs on the pioneer.I have the sub run direct into the denon processor which i know is correct. I have all speakers bi-wired(if that makes a difference).On my pioneer i have done a factory reset so i can take advantage of the denons fine processing so the pioneer is running on anolog through my 8 ch multichannel outputs.The problem im having is that the centre channel speaker has all this action and the mains are very laid back and are hardly working. Should only the vocals be coming from the centre channel. After an audyssey setup this is what i am left with.The balance between the front 3 speakers is, well seems to me way off.Could the bi wiring of the front 3 speakers be the problem.I do get vocal from the centre but its with all this action as well. My mains i find hard to hear. I dont think i need to turn them up anymore.I am a little confused.Any help would be great as i dont want to damage my centre speaker.By the way i am using Yamaha HX8 mains and Yamaha HX7 centre channel. what i didnt mention is that i am using the ps3 as a source and it is set to bitstream. Thanks


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## RubiconAlpha (Dec 27, 2011)

It's normal to have your center speaker do most of the heavy lifting during movie playback. At first this seems odd to have vocal, soundtrack and many effects coming from just the center channel but this is how most movies are coded.

You should be able to control the levels of the center channel's volume to blend in more with the rest of the speakers but 80% of the movies soundtrack will still come from the center channel when using Dolby or DTS decoding.


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

RubiconAlpha said:


> It's normal to have your center speaker do most of the heavy lifting during movie playback. At first this seems odd to have vocal, soundtrack and many effects coming from just the center channel but this is how most movies are coded.
> 
> You should be able to control the levels of the center channel's volume to blend in more with the rest of the speakers but 80% of the movies soundtrack will still come from the center channel when using Dolby or DTS decoding.


Thanks for the reply Rubicon, i didnt know that it was normal for the centre to do most of the work, i should have another listen to 7 channel stereo and see what i can hear just to be sure then.I will do some tweeking with the mains and see what happens.I am thinking of turning them up 2 decibels then. I was thinking that as my speakers are bi wired i would get greater seperation maybe that might have something to do with it. When i had my velodyne dd15+ sub installed the guy told me that something was odd with the centre and mains,but he didnt hang around to long so i could talk to him about it.


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## CdnTiger (Feb 16, 2007)

If you can tell that the sound is coming from the centre speaker when you're in the listening position, something's off. You should never be able to tell that sound is originating from a specific speaker - it should blend in to create a whole soundstage.

Did you follow Audyssey's mic positioning guidelines for performing the Audyssey calibration?


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

CdnTiger said:


> If you can tell that the sound is coming from the centre speaker when you're in the listening position, something's off. You should never be able to tell that sound is originating from a specific speaker - it should blend in to create a whole soundstage.
> 
> Did you follow Audyssey's mic positioning guidelines for performing the Audyssey calibration?


Thats what ithought. the only time i could tell was when i walked right up to the speakers. I noticed my audyssey collabaration was out in my distance mesurements from speaker to listening position by 2metres. I did follow the rules laid out. I now believe that audyssey was correct in terms of creating a whole sound stage due to rubicons and your reply. I believe your answers to be correct. But i did go into the settings and correct the distance messurements and turned the front mains speakers up 1.5 decibels each and left the centre as is.There is a huge difference now.Its amazing how much difference 1.5 decibels make.So my 2 front mains are now on 2.5db and the centre is on 0.5. and the 4 surrounds are on 3 and 2 for surround backs.My sub is set to -11db.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Looking at your photo I would like to recommend a change in how you have your speakers. I would move your sub into the corner and pull your mains closer to the screen You may think that this will make the sound stage narrower however you have them so close to the side wall that you are possibly causing reflection issues.


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Looking at your photo I would like to recommend a change in how you have your speakers. I would move your sub into the corner and pull your mains closer to the screen You may think that this will make the sound stage narrower however you have them so close to the side wall that you are possibly causing reflection issues.


 I will certainly do so very soon. I dont know how many people have told me that, and due to these minor issues i have with the sound, i think its about time i did. I have 1 problem though and that is the speaker cable only comes out the wall say 400mm i will have to make up more cable. Any suggestions on how to join it.Thanks


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

grassy said:


> i will have to make up more cable. Any suggestions on how to join it.Thanks


Are you good with a solder iron? just solder the new ends of the speaker wire to the old ones and then tape them up with electrical tape it will be as good as if it was one solid cable. If your not then just use electrical marretts or a crimp connector and you will be fine.


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Are you good with a solder iron? just solder the new ends of the speaker wire to the old ones and then tape them up with electrical tape it will be as good as if it was one solid cable. If your not then just use electrical marretts or a crimp connector and you will be fine.


Yea tony, i was thinkining of that or i could probably make a plate on the wall with the connections and run a 1meter or so cable from my speaker to my wall plate. Would that work.Thanks


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

grassy said:


> Yea tony, i was thinkining of that or i could probably make a plate on the wall with the connections and run a 1meter or so cable from my speaker to my wall plate. Would that work.Thanks


Yes, that would be just fine


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Yes, that would be just fine


 Thanks tony for the help. :TT


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

Tony, i moved my speakers to just each side of the screen and things have improved out of sight. I picked up some monster z1 cable and it did the trick.The system is sounding awesome.Thanks Again


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

Tony Heres a pic of the new speaker placement


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thats fantastic! so it made a difference in the sound?


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Thats fantastic! so it made a difference in the sound?


 Oh yea, it made a huge difference, before there was too much seperation from the ear, now i have a complete sound from the ear and has narrowed the sound out. Its more focused on the viewers position especially after doing another audyssey run. But even before the audyssey run, i noticed a huge difference. I had to do another audyssey run because i also moved the sub. I also checked all my connections and a few had gone stale and hard on the amplifier end and cut them back with the fresh wire exposed.It definately has made a difference. Its the best $120 i have spent for a while.Grassy


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

grassy said:


> It definately has made a difference. Its the best $120 i have spent for a while.Grassy


Good to "hear"


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## needspeed52 (Aug 2, 2008)

grassy said:


> Oh yea, it made a huge difference, before there was too much seperation from the ear, now i have a complete sound from the ear and has narrowed the sound out. Its more focused on the viewers position especially after doing another audyssey run. But even before the audyssey run, i noticed a huge difference. I had to do another audyssey run because i also moved the sub. I also checked all my connections and a few had gone stale and hard on the amplifier end and cut them back with the fresh wire exposed.It definately has made a difference. Its the best $120 i have spent for a while.Grassy


grassy are your mains rear ported, if so you might want to pull them off the front wall a bit, have you experimented with toe in? Just some thoughts my friend, you have nothing to lose and maybe some gain. Good luck.
Jeff


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