TL2 Center

leela222

So I have to say, I was super excited to get this speaker. I needed a small speaker to fit underneath the tv and this is the perfect size. After reading many, many reviews here and elsewhere, I made the decision to purchase this. I am sad to say that I feel like I wasted $140.00! I bought the speaker brand new. I also purchased 2 used, mint condition TL2 satellites.

To me, the center sounds HORRIBLE. I don't know if I can explain, but it sounds muddy and muffled, especially male voices. The higher the volume, the worse. Seems like the highs sound great, but the lows are bad. Someone had said they didn't like the sound of their TL3 center and hooked up a TL3 satellite and it sounded better. Well, I just tried that tonight and the TL2 sat was at least, in my opinion, 50-75% better sounding. I was using an infinity reference series 2000.1 from around 1998 as my center and was really looking forward to having a center channel speaker. (I had an old Sony HTIB and the center was bad. I had upgraded the center to a larger sony center which was pretty good, but I left that behind when I moved). Even the infinity bookshelf speaker sounds much much better!

VR3

Do you have the crossover on your receiver/processor set to small?

leela222

I have a Pioneer VSX-921-K receiver. Speakers are set to small and the crossover is set to 100hz. I really don't want to return this speaker as I absolutely love the look and size of it. Could the subwoofer be part of the problem? My current subwoofer is the Sony from my old HTIB which I do plan on upgrading (I plan on purchasing the DSWPRO550wi). The subwoofer though sounds good in other areas, and like I said, when I switched the TL2 sat as the center, it sounded really good. I am hoping that I can tweak it to get it right, but so far, I have had no luck.

VR3

I honestly feel like your subwoofer is causing more issues than the center but other questions beg to be asked here..

What kind of player do you have? How are you hooking that player up to the receiver? Have you ran any type of calibration?

Drenis

Did you rerun MCACC after changing things around?

leela222

I appreciate all the replies! I have a PS3. PS3, TV and Directv box are all run via HDMI through the Pioneer. I did not rerun the MCACC as the calibration speaker has been packed away...lol. Also, all our blu rays have been packed away, so I am only watching movies on the premium channels and this is what the sound is based on. We are closing on our home on 10/19 and it was packed away and don't know what box it is in..duh! I will have to wait until everything is set up in our new place to rerun it. Also, I won't be getting the new sub until well after the holidays, probably not until spring.

I have another question. In our new home, I will have the 7.1 surround set up. Currenly, I am only using 5.1 due to the size of our living room. As I mentioned above, I just bought the TL2 sats. Should I use them as the surrounds with the infinity reference series bookshelf speakers as the rear surrounds??

Thanks,
Lisa

VR3

Eh, I would wait to assess an opinion until you A) Can run better quality stuff and calibrate

leela222

Great! Thanks VR3, that is what I will do. Hopefully by the end of October, I will be calibrated and up and running and testing blu ray! Thanks again for your replies.

tonyb

Whats considered "higher volumes " ? What number on the dial ? How big is this room you have it set up in ? What is the center channel level set at ? Did you try a different crossover setting ? Is it connected directly to the receiver or connected to the subwoofer ?

leela222

Higher volumes would be 35-38 and above on the dial. The room is about 10' x 10'. Center channel level is set at the highest (like it was with my other speaker). I did change the crossover down to 80hz and its connected to the receiver. I don't know much about the crossover and frequencies and stuff, sorry for being clueless, I am by no means an expert.

Drenis

leela222 wrote: »

Center channel level is set at the highest (like it was with my other speaker). I did change the crossover down to 80hz and its connected to the receiver.

That's half the issue right there. Speaker levels should be at or near 0. Let the calibration determine. Also a 80hz crossover is doing no good for that small speaker.

leela222

The crossover i changed back to 100hz after testing out the 80 hz. If i put the speaker levels at 0, I can't hear a darn thing. The volume has to be near MAX for me to hear anything. Now, how come with my speaker levels where I have them, the TL2 sat and the infinity bookshelf speaker I was using as a center sound 50% better than the TL2 center???

I changed the speaker levels after I first got the receiver and set everything up. I had to change the levels to hear anything!

Drenis

The MCACC calibration will fix the majority of your issues I bet.

Also make sure you're using the right DSP/Surround mode for the type of programing/material you are watching.

leela222

Drenis, I changed all my speaker levels back to basically 0, left the front at +3....oohh.....so much better! I have to put the volume dial higher, but no distortion and sounds great! I will def re-calibrate after we move into the house, but for now, I am very pleased. Thanks for the help.