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Should the sounds coming from the center speaker disappear between the it and the mains or should it be a focused sound that is obviously coming from it. I have a vp150 and m60's. Due to space constraints the m60's are only about 5 feet apart and the center is mounted so the cones are at the same height as the tweeter/woofer of the m60's.

I think you mean you have the center mounted so that the cones are at the same height as the tweeter/midrange.

It all depends on how you have set up your PLIIx and Neo6 parameters. In DD or DTS, the sound should be focused from the middle (at least that's how it is on mine and it sounds great!).

How far away from the M60s are you sitting?

Scot, it's unclear in what sense you're using "disappear", but a center channel sound should be anchored solidly in the center, so in at least that sense yes, it should appear to be coming from the area where the center speaker is.

For movies the dialog/voices should primarily come from the center channel speaker.

For music listening, if you have your left/right speakers position properly for best imaging, at times you will swear your center channel speaker is producing the singers voice, when in fact it is coming form the left/right speakers in 2-channel music.

To much or to little toe-in can affect this experience.

The singer's voice always appears to come from the centre in my system with 2-channel...with the exception of chorus or background singers that may be solely recorded in the left or right channel.

Randy, you need to toe your speakers in more

. BTW, nice family you have there!

I sit about 10' from the speakers. From the descriptions above I have to conclude my center is set up incorrectly.I can never tell if sound is coming from the center unless I walk up to it and check. On the other hand dialogue is clear and audible. I would guess that because I have such a narrow sound stage maybe it is difficult to get seperation. I will have to work on it more.Thanks.

Quote:

I think you mean you have the center mounted so that the cones are at the same height as the tweeter/midrange.

When I wrote that I at first put midrange but than had remembered Axiom's tech. data of the speakers called them woofers so I changed it. It did seem a little strange calling the midrange woofers but I assume they are correct thus the larger cone is the sub-woofer.

Just another random thought on this. I guess midrange is not a description of a speaker but of a freq. range. Just as you would not call the tweeter "high". Just thinking to myself that maybe midrange is not the best word for the midrange speaker. But at the same time it is more universally understood while woofer may not be.(end of me rambling on)

You're sitting too far away given the 5' speaker separation. As an experiment, situate yourself 5' away from the speakers to see if there is a difference. Also, 5' of separation may not be enough to achieve a stereo effect.

Midrange is a perfectly acceptable term for a driver that spans anywhere from 100Hz to 3KHz. I find it surprising however that Axiom calls its woofers sub-woofers. A sub-woofer handles frequencies below 30Hz (and this is the M80's half power point). It would be interesting to know how these designations were arrived at historically.

Yah, i know the 5' of seperation sucks. I am going to get longer speaker wires and see if I can find a solution for that. It would mean the front mains would need to sit another 15-20 inches further forward because of a fireplace that is in the way.After posting here I checked out some other speaker websites and find they call them midranges. It is kind of an oddity compared to the nameing convention of other speakers.

I have my M22's about 5' apart and my VP100 above the TV and I can't tell which speaker the dialogue comes from either, it just seems to come from the TV. I think this is what it should be like. However, I do wish I had more seperation for music or action scenes in movies, but I am stuck as my system is in a corner with no other options. I do find I have the best sound when standing about 5'(the magic triangle) away and not the 8-10' that I have my couch at.

Scot I’m not sure you are having a problem with your center speaker “disappearing.” As John mentioned the center should anchor the front soundstage to the screen but not to the center speaker itself. ideally all three front speakers should blend together seamlessly so you don’t ever hear what speaker the sound is coming from.

In most 5.1 movies the front sound is mixed so that some of it follows the action on the screen. If there is no left or right panning of the sound then something is amiss, however, if some of the audio follows the action but you can’t identify which speaker it’s coming from then it sounds like you have things setup well. If the sound doesn’t follow the action then it does sound likely your speakers are too close together for the distance of your listening position.

For movies my speakers are also only 5 feet apart and I sit 7-8 feet and they blend perfectly. I did sit about 10 feet back and they still sounded great but moving forward made the rear soundstage sound better.

Dean

>>I find it surprising however that Axiom calls its woofers sub-woofers. A sub-woofer handles frequencies below 30Hz (and this is the M80's half power point). It would be interesting to know how these designations were arrived at historically.

If you're talking about the "woofers" in M60 and M80 the sub-woofer terminology must be new. I have always seen them referred to as "woofers" on the Axiom site.