Center Channel or No Center Channel?

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

I got a Rogue and now want to put a system in it. I have the SL with the Premium Bose System (joke of system). The system has a center channel on the dash. I was going to keep it but am now considering scraping that idea. other than imaging will I really miss out on anything by eliminating the center channel?

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[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

Depends on what is more important to you. Watching movies or listening to audio. Center channel helps to "lock" the audio imaging on the screen (when your not seated dead center), but mostly ruins the stereo imaging effect created by the L & R. Especially for music.

IMO, center channel is not needed. Spend more on your main L & R speakers instead.

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

keep it and run it off the headunit so it doesn't over power your other speakers

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

Depends on what is more important to you. Watching movies or listening to audio. Center channel helps to "lock" the audio imaging on the screen (when your not seated dead center), but mostly ruins the stereo imaging effect created by the L & R. Especially for music.

IMO, center channel is not needed. Spend more on your main L & R speakers instead.

i'm keeping the factory headunit that has no nav or dvd function. it's just going to be playing music.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

keep it and run it off the headunit so it doesn't over power your other speakers

if I get rid of it I was going to use the space it would occupy to mount an eq.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

i'm keeping the factory headunit that has no nav or dvd function. it's just going to be playing music.

Then definetly get rid of it.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

if I get rid of it I was going to use the space it would occupy to mount an eq.

You don't need that either. Spend the money on better front speakers.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

You don't need that either. Spend the money on better front speakers.

i've got MB Quarts to replace all the door speakers just don't have the 3.5in to replace the center channel.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

other than imaging will I really miss out on anything by eliminating the center channel?

Having a center channel for non-5.1 sources isn't really "imaging", it's just faking it.

You'd be surprised at what two-channel can do for a center image, by itself //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

i've got MB Quarts to replace all the door speakers just don't have the 3.5in to replace the center channel.

What ever money you were going to spend on the center speaker, rear speakers and eq; instead spend on upgrading your 6 1/2" front door speakers. Get higher end MBQ's, Focals, Boston Acoustics or step up to Dynaudios. Skip the rear speakers.

Power them off an external amp with plenty of power. Use lots of SecondSkin DP to seal up the doors well.

That would be money and time much better spent than eq, center speaker or rear speakers.

 

[GMCJimmyslt2000 10+ year member]

if he is gonna keep the factory HU, he should def get a EQ to help fine tune everything.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

if he is gonna keep the factory HU, he should def get a EQ to help fine tune everything.

Do you know if he doesn't have an eq in his H/U? Why would he need two eq's? Even without any eq better speakers is always the better choice.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

well fellas thank you all for your input. and for me to help you guys out on stuff I got. EQ is going to be an Audiocontrol Three.1, speakers are MB Quart QSDs (front and rear), amps are Hifonics Txi 6408 and 1508 or Crunch GVP 1600.4 and 2000.1, as for sub I don't have anything laying around that I'd want to use but I was thinking of either an AQ HDC12 or 2 AQ SDC2.5 10

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

Depends on what is more important to you. Watching movies or listening to audio. Center channel helps to "lock" the audio imaging on the screen (when your not seated dead center), but mostly ruins the stereo imaging effect created by the L & R. Especially for music.

IMO, center channel is not needed. Spend more on your main L & R speakers instead.

Having a center channel for non-5.1 sources isn't really "imaging", it's just faking it.
You'd be surprised at what two-channel can do for a center image, by itself //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

I tend to agree with the above statements, only because it is generally done WRONG.
Many people let the L and R channels play the center channel information freely, and simply summing the two channels for the center channel information. This results in a response as outlined above.

I am a big proponent of stereo at HOME, but in a car, other methods should be employed for better imaging.

You need an external processor, such as the audio control ESP-3, to have a discrete center channel and discrete left and right channels. In addition, you need ambiance with a L-R channel and R-L channel for the rear. This combination runs circles around stereo in a car since you are generally way to close and off center to produce a stereo image accurately. Time alignment, EQ, etc. are only band aids.

This is by far the easiest way to produce an accurate image. All that's really needed is EQ for the response, which saves a lot of time with tuning. There are other methods, such as VBAP (vector based amplitude planning) which could prove to be better, but are more complicated and require external processing via a computer.

Here is a simple outline for the the basics of a "matrix stereo"

http://www.sonicdesign.se/matrix.htm

With the surround speakers added, using discrete channels is not necessarily needed, but does improve width.

The result?

A TRUE two-seater car without compromises!

You can create a two-seater car with stereo. However, one seat will have a staging/imaging advantage while the other will have tonality balance. YOU CANT HAVE BOTH!

One more note, If you can, I would try to move the midrange/treble to the A-pillars for a more concrete height for L/R channels. Then run dedicated midbass in the doors/kicks. Or atleast in the kicks. Although, with the ambiance, it generally is not required //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Regards,

-Serg