center channel

royalty

Ok so I have posted about this before, but this is a bit different. I have a CS2 center channel speaker and it is hooked up to an onkyo 706 with a blu ray player. Now I thought I had some problems with the center before, but then I wasnt sure. My problem at this moment is that when the voices in the movie are very loud ( for example, screaming or yelling) the sound out of the center channel isnt very good. The treble of the voices is either very very bright to the point of hurting your ears or it distorts. The distortion sounds like the kind where if you blow into a microphone or yell into it too loud it sounds distorted when it is played back like if the level is turned up too high. The volume isnt turned up too loud on the receiver and I just want to know what is causing this. Is it the receiver or the speaker or what? Am I not giving enough power to the speaker? The Onkyo is rated at 100 watts/ channel but I know thats a huge overstatement. What do you guys think is the problem?

royalty

Also I dont think the two fronts sound bad....when louder

TheMARPATNinja7

I had the same type of problems with my CSi3. This seems common among entry level Polk center channels. My guess is a cheap crossover or oversensitive tweeter. Make sure you turn of all tone control (make sure your bass and treble are both set at the standard EQ). I also set my crossovers lower in my CC and that seemed to help a little. That's all I got.

royalty

i dont see why it would sound bad

TheMARPATNinja7

Low quality tweeter=Low quality sound reproduction, simple math really

royalty

I know its not a super high end tweeter but I have plenty of speakers with silk dome tweeters and they sound quite fine. I dont think your math adds up. There is probably some other problem

wutadumsn23

Check the settings on your Onkyo for your center channel and see if you can tweak them to make it any better. I have an 806 with a CS2 and Monitor 70's for my fronts and Monitor 40's for my surrounds. I have never noticed any problems with my CS2 and my Onkyo so it may be a problem with the speaker itself. Try hooking it up to a different system/receiver if you can to troubleshoot further.

cnh

I'm with W23 above. I run M70s/CS2/M30s with an Onkyo 605-in my second system, no such problems. The CS2 one of the best centers at that 'price'. Cheap tweeters? Ok they're not vifa LSIs but 'cheap' really? The tweeter in the M-series is a good tweeter, perhaps not great but smooth and listenable with enough detail. I prefer it because it is a bit more laid back, in fact. Bright is not something I hear with the Onkyo and Polk Ms!

One problem some people have reported is that they sometimes blow out the tweeter on that center...but that's unlikely with a 700 series Onkyo..which is OK.

I would also think about recalibrating the surround system for the blu-ray playback. I find blu-ray soundtracks can be louder than some DVDs I've used. But it is possible you may have a speaker problem. That's a decent center there!

cnh

fast1

what are vifa LSI? sorry still learning

cnh

Those are the tweeters in Polks best line the LSI-series (the ring radiator tweeter). See the Product link above for shots of its design. These tweeters are used in some very high end speakers costing much more than even Polks LSIs.

There's no need to bother about such knowledge at this stage. Stick around and you'll catch the disease....I'm see a couple of LSI-9s in my future?

cnh

TheMARPATNinja7

royalty wrote: »

I dont think your math adds up.

Because thats only part of the equation, factor in AVR tone settings, crossover settings, maybe even give Audessy a shot if you have it on your AVR, even speaker wire can be a variable. In the end it's a matter of finding the one tweak that can solve the whole problem. Keep in mind, I'm going from my hands-on experience with Polk CC's.