Center Channels

Phoenixcolt · Post by **Phoenixcolt** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:50 pm

Hey folks, i have had the SRK5 for a while now because it is an ideal fit for tight applications. I have never been happy with it but have not changed it because it would be a big job to mess with my dash at this point.

This little center channel comes with it's own amp and I was careful to tune the gain properly from the start but when you turn the system volume up, it gets terribly distorted. It sounds piss poor and defeats the purpose of a center channel in a Dolby Digital setup because it responds so badly to the frequency range a center channel is supposed to tackle best.

I ran across a few of the same problems on google but no one had a remedy. They said the plastic casing is what is affecting the sound and I am wondering if anyone out here has tackled this problem or if anyone knows of a shop that has tackled it so I can make it sound good when I am watching a movie. It may be a matter of just applying dynamat to the inside but I don't want to do that until I have heard someone else has because I don't want to waste time on it if it won't work.

Let me know, dying to find my answer cuz I would love to hear my 5.1 the right way...Thanks a bunch.

brenzbmr@sb · Post by **brenzbmr@sb** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:49 am

same probelm with the alpine din sise center channel
this is what we did
we took that piece of crap and stuffed it with some fiberglass insulation
then we layed a couple of coats of dynamatt on the outside of it.

did it help. yeah it made sound more natural but it still wasnt enough
so we made our own center channel and i liek to use 5x7s
for some reason.

the setup in my other car uses jl xr 3ways inthe front and a xr 5x7
coaxial for center.
thing sounds sweet.
but i think i will swap out for some dls mids and highs

Phoenixcolt · Post by **Phoenixcolt** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:35 pm

Yeah I'm gonna take it out today or tomorrow, I think I am just going to put a decent 4" coax up there. I have an infinity reference 4" from a few years ago so I think I will do that for now. If it sounds good, Maybe I'll throw an RsD in there...I could fit 1 4x6 or possibly 2 3.5". I was going to put another monitor in the space I am using for this center channel but maybe I don't really need another monitor even though it would have looked cool : ).

slc72005 · Post by **slc72005** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:50 pm

i used to use the pioneer center channel speaker for my talking navigation, and it sounded good, real clean, no distortion even when turned up high, and for a talking navi, wheni had it turned up all the way it was the same as if someone was yelling at you to make a right hand turn.

it cost me i think about $35

here is a pic of the center channel speaker

Phoenixcolt · Post by **Phoenixcolt** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:55 pm

That may be an option in order to keep my extra monitor plan, I have seen that speaker but never heard anything about it. Thanks for bringing that to my attention : ).

slc72005 · Post by **slc72005** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:31 pm

Phoenixcolt wrote:That may be an option in order to keep my extra monitor plan, I have seen that speaker but never heard anything about it. Thanks for bringing that to my attention : ).

it does sound good and pretty damn clear, as i said when i used it for the talking navigation and had the volume all the way up it was like someone was screaming at you, but not a scratchy loud either

i think it would be great for its inteded purpose of center channel speaker,, the sound seems to be pretty detailed, i dont think you would go wrong by using this speaker.

i picked mine up locally for about $35 its about the same on ebay (atleast when i was searching for the speaker for the talking navigation)
the thing actually weighs alot for its size

if your interested in it let me know, you can have it for $10 plus shipping, so at most $15 total

but now it is just sitting in a box in my garage not being used

Phoenixcolt · Post by **Phoenixcolt** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:44 pm

So a while ago I did end up ripping out that Clarion piece of crap. Put a Boston RX47 in there that i had kicking around run off the same clarion center ch amp, sounds a hell of a lot better, extremely clear.

Any ideas how an RX47 compares to a PG RSd 4" coax? If the RSd is better, I may put that in instead of the Boston.

Also, is it just my setup or does playing dvds in dolby digital 5.1 or dts play at a ridiculously lower volume than any other normal source, I mean I know it plays quieter but what is the reason for that?

brenzbmr@sb · Post by **brenzbmr@sb** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:32 am

yes it will be slighlty awe hell alot quieter then regular sources

just turn it up man

Post by **stipud** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:04 am

The reason is that they haven't decided to screw up the dynamic range of DVDs (yet). Put in a CD recorded in the 80's and I bet it will be just as "quiet".

Phoenixcolt · Post by **Phoenixcolt** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:22 pm

Thats a good point. Older cds do sound crappier, even early 90s.

Post by **Bfowler** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:02 pm

Phoenixcolt wrote:Thats a good point. Older cds do sound crappier, even early 90s.

to a point. what tom was getting at was that many record labels are tweaking the range of recordings to that they sound better (louder) on the radio (artificially adding bass and highs) so that they sell more.

Post by **stipud** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:14 pm

Phoenixcolt wrote:Thats a good point. Older cds do sound crappier, even early 90s.

Ah, you've been hypnotized!

Let's say we have a recording with one guy yelling his ass off, and one guy whispering in the background. An old recording would sound like just that... one loud-ass guy, with someone whispering. A new recording would essentially average everything out so everything it is at maximum output, so the guy screaming and the guy whispering would be at the same volume. They do this by cutting back the volume of Mr. Screamer.

When applied to music, this means you get less dynamics. An 80's/90's recording will be "quieter", that is, that the average volume is lower, but you will have the same "volume" of dynamic peaks. Now since the music in the background is quieter, but you have high dynamic peaks, you can turn up the volume and hear the volume at the same level, yet the dynamic parts will tap into the wonderful headroom of your expensive amplifiers, and produce that bit extra wattage for the small period of time.

Now a modern recording will cut all of these peaks down, so you have to turn up the volume less to get the same output as compared to a 90's recording. People think this sounds better, because louder = better, right? Wrong! You just cut all of the range out of the music!

Here's a video that explains things better than me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ