Jedi Joe Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 Hi, I have a centre speaker which is currently placed laying horizontally. I am looking to place it vertically, is this going to cause any issues. I know using a floorstanding speaker as a centre produces great results but is it ok to stand a 'centre speaker' vertically or is it a big no-no? Any opinions of +'s and -'s of doing this would be greatly appreciated. P.S Here's a link to the centre speaker im wanting to do this to. http://www.mordauntshort.com/summary.php?P...itle=Avant+905i Cheers.
rocky500 Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 (edited) I thought it was only for convenience that you place centre speakers horizontal. Speakers work better vertical so it should actually be a touch better the way you will do it. There is an article somewhere about horizontal centre not being ideal but convenient, I will see if I can find it. Edited October 19, 2008 by rocky500
rocky500 Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 I think this is why I have seen a few people complaining about a B&W htm61 center not been so clear on voices. Could be they listen off axis from direct in front. It has a quite large Midrange and Woofer each side of the tweeter.
mquin1503560492 Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 agreed, vertical is better but usually impractical (and looks a bit silly) if you have any form of cabinetry underneath your viewing screen
momaw Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 (edited) I think this is why I have seen a few people complaining about a B&W htm61 center not been so clear on voices. My HTM61 has phenomenal vocal reproduction. I have never heard or read a complaint like this. I watch a lot of classic films which means most films I watch are dialog driven (actually just finished watching Harakiri and Tatsuya Nakadai's droning tone for his character was magnificent). A good centre is vital for these types of films. The HTM61 performed best after going through a lot of other speakers in the audition process (at the same price point). However that article was a good read and perhaps I will try vertically mounting it to see if there is any further improvement. One thing with the HTM61 is that while as mentioned it does have a large midrange and woofer on either side, the fact they are different sizes and frequencies may lessen the impact of waves canceling each other out? Just a guess. I would think the better speaker manufacturers take this into consideration when designing and testing speakers??? Edited October 19, 2008 by momaw
betty boop Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 My HTM61 has phenomenal vocal reproduction. I have never heard or read a complaint like this. I watch a lot of classic films which means most films I watch are dialog driven (actually just finished watching Harakiri and Tatsuya Nakadai's droning tone for his character was magnificent). A good centre is vital for these types of films. The HTM61 performed best after going through a lot of other speakers in the audition process (at the same price point).However that article was a good read and perhaps I will try vertically mounting it to see if there is any further improvement. One thing with the HTM61 is that while as mentioned it does have a large midrange and woofer on either side, the fact they are different sizes and frequencies may lessen the impact of waves canceling each other out? Just a guess. I would think the better speaker manufacturers take this into consideration when designing and testing speakers??? hi mo its why B&W when you go up in their range use vertically orientated tweeter and mid range in their centre speakers. the critical drivers that need to be vertically aligned is the tweeter and mid range and you'll see many other speaker designers eg paradigm and focal doing the same with their centre speakers. colin whatmough at a gtg a year or so ago gave an excellent technical explanation of why his latest centre uses the same arrangement. focal has a white paper on my centre that explains along the same lines as well. the same thing happens with bookshelf speakers if you take them and turn them horizontally. with your centre I have no doubt it sounds great horizontally, but give it a go vertically if you have the chance. I have heard two other speakers the previous gen B&W LCR, the monitor audio gold signature LCR and the legend kangas turn them verticall and its almost like a veil is lifted off their sound other centre speakers with their vertically aligned tweeter and midrange are designed to be used wiht the centre placed horizontally
rocky500 Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 (edited) I have had a good listen to the HTM61 and think it is awesome center. I would have brought one but it was too big for my cabinet. I brought the htm62 instead. Edited October 19, 2008 by rocky500
Brendon Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 (edited) By coincidence I had the manuals out today for the B&W 600 series speakers in my system .First paragraph on positioning in the LCR60/600 manual states "Positioning All applications. The speaker may be used in either vertical or horizontal orientation . However ,vertical orientation offers better horizontal dispertion and is to be perferred in most cases as this leads to a more stable image over a wide listening area. Horizontal orientation can be used with little detriment to imaging if the speaker is used in the front center position of a home thearter instalation wherethe listeners are within 15 degrees of the centre line -equivalent to 0.8m at a listening distance of 3m." I actually ended up with two LCR 60 's in my system orientated vertically as my rears. Brendon Edited October 19, 2008 by brendonc
Mr.Bitey Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 I know Krix alter the cross overs in their horozontal center speakers vs the veritcal ones: The only difference is found in the crossover network for the KDX-C, because the centre channel is horizontally aligned and placed on top of a television or in a cabinet. This creates additional low frequency for which the crossover compensates. Which would imply (at least for the krix) running it vertially would lose some of the low end. Cheers, Bitey
Jedi Joe Posted October 20, 2008 Author Posted October 20, 2008 I know Krix alter the cross overs in their horozontal center speakers vs the veritcal ones: Thanks guys for the info, I've just fired MS an email to confirm that there wont be any issues such as with the Krix speakers but it all looks good to spinnin my speaker on its side . I'll report back on my findings when i do this to see if it does indeed improve or hinder the sound. Thanks heaps!
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