buffeh
Standard Member
I currently have Bronze 2 / Bronze C150 Centre and Bronze FX speakers with Denon 3500H. I have what I believe is a very good sub (a BK PB P12-300SB-PR)
My room is only 3.5m by 3.5m, listening position is middle of the room. Main usage is movies and games, 2ch music usage is very rare.
I have found the Centre channel lacking in terms of clarity and getting overwhelmed by the LR mains, I have it overhanging the cabinet it's sat on (it is not enclosed) in front of the TV, and angled up towards the listening position. I have run Audyssey (many times!) and have the centre bumped up 3db. I have Dynamic EQ disabled. I have all my crossovers set to 80hz. I have tried a higher crossover for the centre (100hz and 120hz) and this possibly helps a little - I have tried Dynamic Volume on light but don't like the way it flattens out the levels.
As an example - I watched Hamilton on Disney+ which is in 5.1, so the vocals come through the centre, and I had trouble making out the vocals - particuarly when there was a lot of instrumentation / multiple singers - due to a lack of clarity. I watched a different musical show a few days later which was in Stereo, and the vocals were significantly easier to understand.
I do have a wooden coffee table between centre and listening position but I've experimented with moving it and don't feel like that made much, if any, of a difference. I have run the Audyssey MultiEQ app so I can see what the microphone picks up in terms of the "before correction", and the graph basically looks the same with or without the coffee table, the latter meaning nothing is between me and the speaker except a carpeted floor. I note that the centre speaker graph has quite a few peaks in the low frequency area, much more so than the other speakers, which could contribute to muddy dialogue, either something is not right or this is just how the speaker naturally is!
Sometimes I feel the dialogue on the centre is so muddy / quieter / hard to understand that the speaker must be faulty, but both woofers and the tweeter seem to be working, and it's definitely wired up correctly + to + and - to -. I don't know if it can be faulty in a specific way that means it sounds bad even if all parts seem to be firing ok. I do feel it sounded clearer when it was new, but maybe that's just because I'm concentrating on it more now!
Anyway I am digressing slightly! I was considering an upgrade to the Silver Centre C150, if that didn't make a difference I will return it, if it DOES make a significant difference I might be tempted to upgrade the L and R to properly timbre match. If for some reason it makes a big difference I'd probably think my Bronze C150 was faulty - I guess I can find out....!
If I did want to upgrade the L and R to match, according to Monitor Audio themselves the C150 is meant to go with the smaller Silver 50 or 200, although Richer Sounds say it goes with the Silver 100 as well, and many sites (i.e Peter Tyson) sell the C150 + Silver 100 combo as a set so it can't be that crazy a thing to do.
I wonder if I would be happier with the smaller Silver 50 as they would have the same size drivers as the Silver C150 centre, so wouldn't overwhelm it - but I DO like the way my larger Bronze 2 speakers sound, and I have got used to / enjoy the way they look at the front of the room in terms of size, so I would be concerned that the smaller Silver 50s would look a bit small and lost on the Ataca 6i stands I have.... and obviously I'd be concerned that the Silver 50s would underwhelm me sonically when compared to the Bronze 2s.....!
I think the logical upgrade from the Bronze 2's is meant to be the Silver 100s, but they are quite a bit bigger than the Bronze 2s and my Bronze 2s are already dangerously close to the wall, I don't think I can pull the stands out into the room any more really and the Silver 100s need more space to breathe, presumably the Silver 50s can get away with being a bit closer to the wall especially with the port bungs in.
Also I understand the Silver 100s are really meant to go with the C350 centre, believe me I'd love to get the C350 centre but I just can't fit it into my setup, I have thought of ways to do it but it's just not going to happen! So I would be concerned the Silver 100s would overwhelm the Silver C150 if I go that route.
Anyway sorry for the wall of text, I'm just getting a bit fed up of spending time focussing on the dialogue clarity / quality rather than just enjoying the things I'm watching, if I try the Silver C150 and it doesn't help I'll probably just return it, sell my Bronze C150, and go phantom centre, which I have tried and do feel that the clarity is improved, but I like having a centre probably for the rather stupid reason that "it's correct to have one for a 5.1 setup"!
My room is only 3.5m by 3.5m, listening position is middle of the room. Main usage is movies and games, 2ch music usage is very rare.
I have found the Centre channel lacking in terms of clarity and getting overwhelmed by the LR mains, I have it overhanging the cabinet it's sat on (it is not enclosed) in front of the TV, and angled up towards the listening position. I have run Audyssey (many times!) and have the centre bumped up 3db. I have Dynamic EQ disabled. I have all my crossovers set to 80hz. I have tried a higher crossover for the centre (100hz and 120hz) and this possibly helps a little - I have tried Dynamic Volume on light but don't like the way it flattens out the levels.
As an example - I watched Hamilton on Disney+ which is in 5.1, so the vocals come through the centre, and I had trouble making out the vocals - particuarly when there was a lot of instrumentation / multiple singers - due to a lack of clarity. I watched a different musical show a few days later which was in Stereo, and the vocals were significantly easier to understand.
I do have a wooden coffee table between centre and listening position but I've experimented with moving it and don't feel like that made much, if any, of a difference. I have run the Audyssey MultiEQ app so I can see what the microphone picks up in terms of the "before correction", and the graph basically looks the same with or without the coffee table, the latter meaning nothing is between me and the speaker except a carpeted floor. I note that the centre speaker graph has quite a few peaks in the low frequency area, much more so than the other speakers, which could contribute to muddy dialogue, either something is not right or this is just how the speaker naturally is!
Sometimes I feel the dialogue on the centre is so muddy / quieter / hard to understand that the speaker must be faulty, but both woofers and the tweeter seem to be working, and it's definitely wired up correctly + to + and - to -. I don't know if it can be faulty in a specific way that means it sounds bad even if all parts seem to be firing ok. I do feel it sounded clearer when it was new, but maybe that's just because I'm concentrating on it more now!
Anyway I am digressing slightly! I was considering an upgrade to the Silver Centre C150, if that didn't make a difference I will return it, if it DOES make a significant difference I might be tempted to upgrade the L and R to properly timbre match. If for some reason it makes a big difference I'd probably think my Bronze C150 was faulty - I guess I can find out....!
If I did want to upgrade the L and R to match, according to Monitor Audio themselves the C150 is meant to go with the smaller Silver 50 or 200, although Richer Sounds say it goes with the Silver 100 as well, and many sites (i.e Peter Tyson) sell the C150 + Silver 100 combo as a set so it can't be that crazy a thing to do.
I wonder if I would be happier with the smaller Silver 50 as they would have the same size drivers as the Silver C150 centre, so wouldn't overwhelm it - but I DO like the way my larger Bronze 2 speakers sound, and I have got used to / enjoy the way they look at the front of the room in terms of size, so I would be concerned that the smaller Silver 50s would look a bit small and lost on the Ataca 6i stands I have.... and obviously I'd be concerned that the Silver 50s would underwhelm me sonically when compared to the Bronze 2s.....!
I think the logical upgrade from the Bronze 2's is meant to be the Silver 100s, but they are quite a bit bigger than the Bronze 2s and my Bronze 2s are already dangerously close to the wall, I don't think I can pull the stands out into the room any more really and the Silver 100s need more space to breathe, presumably the Silver 50s can get away with being a bit closer to the wall especially with the port bungs in.
Also I understand the Silver 100s are really meant to go with the C350 centre, believe me I'd love to get the C350 centre but I just can't fit it into my setup, I have thought of ways to do it but it's just not going to happen! So I would be concerned the Silver 100s would overwhelm the Silver C150 if I go that route.
Anyway sorry for the wall of text, I'm just getting a bit fed up of spending time focussing on the dialogue clarity / quality rather than just enjoying the things I'm watching, if I try the Silver C150 and it doesn't help I'll probably just return it, sell my Bronze C150, and go phantom centre, which I have tried and do feel that the clarity is improved, but I like having a centre probably for the rather stupid reason that "it's correct to have one for a 5.1 setup"!