Home thaeter heresy?

Posted by rico (A) on July 29, 2004 at 07:56:04

Having been involved in the audio hobby/pursuit for close to fifty years I have spent the last 14 learning about and assembling through an evolutionary process a home theater for music and watching my large and growing collection of movies on laserdisc and and DVD. Like many, I started with a stereo system, then graduated to Dolby Pro Logic with its "phantom" center and rear channels, then to a system with a powered sub woofer, then to Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround sound (the .1 is the sub), then most recently to a processor which creates a "phantom" sixth channel in the center rear for Dolby Digital and DTS movie soundtracks for a 6.1 surround arrangement.

All this time I have stuck to the conventional wisdom that a "hard" center channel (i.e., a center speaker with its own amplification) is necessary to center both dialog and sound effects, especially for those sitting off to the left or right of the "sweet spot". Occasionally I have read of folks preferring a "phantom" center but I have never tried it. Last night I did. My system automatically shifts the center information to the left and right front speakers when the center channel is switched off; on other systems you may have to manually set the center to "phantom".

I started with a DVD I know well, the 5.1 surround mix on Sting's "Brand New Day" . I switched the center on and off and found that, in every case, the "off" position sounded better (sweeter, clearer, more natural, more coherent). Sting's voice became more "human" and there was a delicacy to instruments that was not there with the center on. I then tried well known surround mixes, some remastered for 5.1 (Ben Hur, Spartacus, 2001) and others originally recorded in Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1, including what in my opinion is the best DVD sound track yet, the DTS mix on "Master and Commander" (again in my set up I'm getting six channels plus the sub woofer). In every single case the "phantom" center won hands down: I could hear subtleties in the mix I never heard before and the whole experience was much closer to the real thing ( again the "human-ness", sweetness, naturalness).

So I set the system permanently that way and now my six channels come from four "real" speakers and two phantom channels, one in the center and one in the center rear. I would be interested in comments from anyone who tries this, including those who prefer a hard center.

BTW my four real speakersd are Magnepan 1.6's on custom sand filled and spiked stands.

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Topic - Home thaeter heresy? - rico 07:56:04 07/29/04 (17)

you can spend a lot for 5 lousy speaker or just buy 4 great speaker. doing that who need center speaker!!! (nt) - dammajor@hotmail.com 05:31:58 08/16/04 (0)

Re: Home thaeter heresy? - Rich H 18:30:31 08/10/04 (0)

Once more. - Kal Rubinson 08:09:58 08/02/04 (0)

Re: Home thaeter heresy? - Pam 22:25:54 08/01/04 (0)

Re: Home thaeter heresy? I agree - Peter Breuninger 10:07:52 07/30/04 (0)

I run phantom with my Maggie setup and have no complaints. - grantv 12:29:02 07/29/04 (1)

Re: I run phantom with my Maggie setup and have no complaints. - rico 15:03:33 07/29/04 (0)

Re: Home theater heresy? - Kal Rubinson 10:47:40 07/29/04 (0)

Estes has an excellent point, furthermore - Auricle 08:59:01 07/29/04 (1)

Re: skip the dialogue... - Estes 14:43:32 07/30/04 (0)

Re: Home thaeter heresy? - Kala 08:56:00 07/29/04 (0)

Re: Home theatre heresy... - Estes 08:17:06 07/29/04 (5)

Re: My center channel - rico 09:03:42 07/29/04 (4)

Re: My center channel - Estes 14:37:10 07/30/04 (3)

Re: My center channel - rico 02:32:41 07/31/04 (2)

Re: My center channel - Estes 17:13:12 08/01/04 (1)

Re: Good advice - rico 07:19:12 08/02/04 (0)

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