Center image smearing on 2.3TL's...

nooshinjohn

I was wondering if anybody else has had this problem with the large SDA's. The trouble simply put is that although the speakers sound fantastic overall, the sound that comes from the center area of the soundstage(vocals or instruments) are fuzzy at best and on poor recordings, are smeared and deeply resessed in the soundstage.

The placement of the speakers appears to NOT be the cause as I have tried them in several positions. Currently they are 8" off the back wall, spiked, and 3'4" off the side walls with exactly 6 feet between them. The listening position currently 7 feet from the front of the speakers, but at all distances, whether 5 feet or ten feet, the center images and blurred. All drivers are functioning perfectly, as are the SL-3000 tweets. The crossovers are stock.

I have upgraded to a Rogue Audio Perseus Tube Preamp, and this has helped somewhat, but I still lack cohesiveness in the center.

Any ideas here guys?

Tony M

Have you checked the wire hook-ups on the mid-woofers?
I had one wired wrong on one of mine. I was informed by a friend that saw it was pulsing in when the rest were coming out.

I noticed yesterday that I had a pos. speaker wire not even attached to my amp. The balance was a little more to the left and the sound was ok BUT not quite right. I had a little trouble with that wire a week ago moving things around and so I thought about looking in the back and sure enough, the pos. was just floating in air but the speakers played pretty well.

But when I put it back in....BAM...pure clarity again with dead on center stage vocals..

Good luck to you finding your weak link.

nooshinjohn

I have verified all connections at the amp, speakers and the interlink. Internally, all appears good there as well

Conradicles

Very interesting John. The center stereo image is the strong point of my smaller SDA-1C's.

Do you notice this same situation with well recorded CD's?

nooshinjohn

Yes... It does not matter what material or source I use. It is always present to some degree.

leroyjr1

Get some better speakers.:)

lightman1

I'll take 'em off your hands for $100 and part them out if you want..........

zarrdoss

Maybe a bad cap in your x-overs? Mine sounded better the further apart I put them about 8-9' right now.

nooshinjohn

lightman1 wrote: »

I'll take 'em off your hands for $100 and part them out if you want..........

My foot.... your ****.:p;):D

nooshinjohn

zarrdoss wrote: »

Maybe a bad cap in your x-overs? Mine sounded better the further apart I put them about 8-9' right now.

I cannot get them any farther apart right now than where they are, and I have given thought to the crossovers being the likely cause. I was hoping someone here has experienced what I am talking aboutand could say definitively what they did to solve the problem before I toss $300 bucks at crossover mods and another $300 at RDO's.:cool:

NotaSuv

maybe bigger isn't always better.................speaker wise that is

Face

Did you have a solid center image with any other speakers?

Face

nooshinjohn wrote: »

before I toss $300 bucks at crossover mods and another $300 at RDO's.:cool:

Those are things you should have taken care of before going through different pieces of gear to find better synergy. Bite the bullet already!

FYI, upgraded crossover parts can improve imaging.

nooshinjohn

Face wrote: »

Did you have a solid center image with any other speakers?

My LSi-15's are better in this regard, but the 2.3s are better in everything else.

Face wrote: »

Those are things you should have taken care of before going through different pieces of gear to find better synergy. Bite the bullet already!

FYI, upgraded crossover parts can improve imaging.

I am leaning towards that sentiment as well, but am hoping someone with experience with the upgrades can confirm this will make a difference for the problem I am experiencing.

erniejade

This might sound crazy but, on some music, the SDA cable,,, just messes with it.. On some LP's or cd's I unplug the cable and it all comes back. While I do love the SDA effect, on some recordings it kind of kills it or makes it almost sound like it is out of phase in a way.. Hard to explain.


On a different note, what kind of CD player are you using? I have a friend that is running 1.2's and a theta dac and he was running some kind of time align jitter unit, .. Well, it sounded terrible on the SDA's the sound stage was off and just didn't sound right... Took the jitter unit out and the time thing and just ran it with the DAC problem solved.

F1nut

It's not the design of the speakers and your set up is spot on, so I'd check for weak/bad tweeter(s) and/or crossover issues.

heiney9

Face wrote: »

Those are things you should have taken care of before going through different pieces of gear to find better synergy. Bite the bullet already!

FYI, upgraded crossover parts can improve imaging.

Absolutely and absolutely.

Toolfan66

What does one use to check a cap and/or resistor?

Face

An LCR meter.

Bobsama

A digital multimeter should work too.

heiney9

You need an ESR meter to check the caps as they are in the circuit and operating. Just taking a cap and putting it on MM won't tell you anything.

see this post.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1332336&postcount=5

Just replace the damn things, they most likely need it anyways. Do the RD0's as you have funds.

ESavinon

My 2.3TL have perfect center imaging and I have yet to do tweeter and crossover upgrades.
Check your crossovers. If you have an issue with mid recessed imaging, You may have defective crossovers.

ben62670

Bobsama wrote: »

A digital multimeter should work too.

It won't most likely read caps. You need a special meter to read inductance and capacitance. None will tell you sound quality.

nooshinjohn

Thanks for all the support guys. This place is the best!:)

I did some homework, with the information you guys provided, and decided the crossovers are the place to start. The most annoying part of the original crossover is no doubt the polyswitch, so I bypassed the switch using the method suggested by Ben(thanks for the call bro) and reinstalled the crossovers.

Imaging problem SOLVED!!! :D It is as others have said countless times before. The veil has been lifted and the difference in clarity is night and day. If the crossover upgrades are anything as dramatic as this, I will be sending them out by the end of the month!:D

Toolfan66

John IMO you have waited too long already.. My 1.2's only had about an hour of playing time before I tore them down for the upgrades, as well as my 1C's.

I love ya bro but get it done already....

nooshinjohn

^^^Lol, yes SIR!


I am saving the coin for them now.

nooshinjohn

Am I crazy for thinking the harshess has been deminished from the SL3000's by removing the poly's???

heiney9

WTF, weren't the 1C's you sold Dave modded? If so, you should know how dramatic the change is.

nooshinjohn

The poly's were still in place on those...

FTGV

heiney9 wrote: »

Just taking a cap and putting it on MM won't tell you anything.

It can tell you if it is either shorted or open,and some meters like my Fluke 175 can measure capacitance.

hearingimpared

Crossovers & RD0 upgrades are what will take care of this "issue" John.