Center channel speaker upgrade

French_guy

I have 2 x RTi A5 and the CSi A4 for the center
I would like to upgrade the center. I know I should ideally go with the CSiA6, but I can't find it (new or used)
What would be a good upgrade, but still matching my RTiA5?
Thanks

pitdogg2

Yes CSiA6 was part of the same series.

rooftop59

CSi5 would also be fine. What AVR do you have? Might be able to go back to a cs400i or up to a reserve or legend series if you have a good auto eq setup.

French_guy

rooftop59 wrote: »

CSi5 would also be fine. What AVR do you have? Might be able to go back to a cs400i or up to a reserve or legend series if you have a good auto eq setup.

It's the Yamaha TSR-700

txcoastal1

I would stay in the hunt for a CSiA6, is a really good center channel. While waiting, have you manually adjusted the CSiA4 in settings?

Kex

The TSR-700 is not going to drive a 4Ω speaker like the Legend L400. Maybe the Reserve R400 would match well enough, but, IMHO:

1️⃣ I’m not sure you’ll find the improvement you’re looking for, and,

2️⃣ If it were me, I’d save an eBay search, or scour local listings on Craigslist, and try to find a CSi A6 instead.

What exactly are you not happy about? Have you tried boosting the output to the center channel manually on the Yamaha? Have you tried checking the settings using a sound level meter?

French_guy

I feel what's coming from the center channel (dialogues) is usually weak. So I need to raise the main volume, but when action scenes come, it's way too loud.
I ran YPAO, but it still doesn't "sound right". I did try to boost the center channel, but I had to put +10 dB to have the feeling that dialogues were OK
So I thought (maybe I'm wrong though) that a better center speaker (CSi5 or CSiA6) would sound much better......
How should I use a sound level meter (I guess I can buy one on Amazon)?

Kex

Is the tweeter on the center channel pointed at head height, more or less, in the listening area?

From what you describe, I’m really not convinced a bigger speaker will cure the issue you’re experiencing. It’s not caused because the speaker you have is too small. Something else is amiss IMHO. 🤔

Basically, a sound meter allows you to measure the output of each channel, if the Yamaha software allows you to output the tones to do so. In this way, you can manually calibrate the sound levels of each channel yourself, instead of relying on YPAO. This would include checking the distances from the speakers to the center of the listening space. Remember that you need total silence for YPAO or manual calibration. Turn off all heating and cooling so that they don’t turn on during the test.

Will the Yamaha show you the levels that have been set after running YPAO, including the levels and distances? Do they seem correct to you (the distances in particular)?

Are you sure the extreme loudness during action scenes isn’t coming from the subwoofer being set too “hot”? That can be a common failure with calibration programs like YPAO. Maybe you could try lowering the level on that channel, as well as raising the center in the way that you’ve tried in the past. It doesn’t make sense to me that the center channel would be ruining action scenes in movies.

Milito

YPAO shows the levels and distances. You can also do test tones. He needs to check these.