The most important speaker in a HT is.... (1 Viewer)

[Mike Knapp]

I saw my name dropped so I thought I would chime in. The most important speaker in a home theater is the one that is working at any given moment. In other words, synergy.

Short of that, the most important speaker is really two speakers, the left and the right.

Any decent processor will allow for a phantom center AND a phantom subwoofer. That should be your clue as to where those two speakers stand in the pecking order. Ive never seen a processor with an "opt out" for the mains or the surrounds.

A phantom center will deliver better sound than a poorly chosen dedicated center and the phantom mode will also deliver better sound than a great dedicated center speaker in a poorly treated room. One caveat...you must be in the sweet spot. Some people have a very wide sweet spot. I have been in one that was easily 3 people wide, this is not the norm however and a center channel speaker is usually suggested.

As for the subwoofer, it does play an important role in action/adventure type films but not much in a dialog/plot driven films. The majority of Oscar winning films could survive with no subwoofer.

So, in order of import in a multi-channel home theater speaker system...

1) Mains
2) Surrounds
3) Center
4) Subwoofer

There it is. Sure it is my opinion, but I back my opinion with 30 years of experience in A/V and the fact that manufacturers allow for users to opt out of the speakers the industry feels can be folded in with the least loss effect on a multi-channel soundtrack.

Dont forget to enjoy the presentation regardless of the system quality, but always strive to have the best presentation possible to honor the creators visions.

Happy viewing everyone!

Mike

 

[Reginald Trent]

I agree with Mike Knapp.

 

[Mike Veroukis]

Which one do you guys think is the most important?

Without a doubt, it's that little speaker that goes "beep" when you power on your HTPC!

- Mike

 

[Lewis Besze]

I agree with Mike Knapp.

I don't

 

[Mike Knapp]

Reginald,

Does agreeing with me frighten you as much as it does me?

Lewis,

I'm curious as to why. Is it just because you Hungarians always disagree?

Please elaborate as to where you find fault with my reasoning.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

 

[Jin E]

If you don't want to agree with Mr Knapp... you can always say you agreed with my post

 

[Kevin. W]

I think we are losing track of the initial question. He asked what was the best speaker for "HT". Not 2ch, DVD-A, I'm right your wrong, etc, etc. Everybody has a different opinion and is free to express. What a wonderful country we live in. Though I do feel this thread could soon travel down the dark road to "I'm right your wrong. Prove it."

Kevin

 

[Mike Knapp]

My answer was strictly directed at home theater use. I hope no one thought otherwise.

Mike

 

[Ernest Yee]

Well - heck, I didn't realize we could count R/L Mains as a single speaker - I would then have to change my vote from R Main to Both L/R Main.

But yeah, I definitely agree w/ Mike Knapp for his phatom center reasoning. I mean, although we all use our Hifi setups for television viewing - there is a reason why they have a pair of speakers inside the television vs 1 or 3. That stereo sound can be only brought by the Mains. Not just one center.

 

[Lewis Besze]

but always strive to have the best presentation possible to honor the creators visions.

Well there you go.If you folding discrete audio channels into others,which doesn't "honor the creator's vision",as this is not how it was mixed,you'are esentially "remix" it if you fold the center or surround into the mains.Remember this isn't DPL where matrix is the keyword.The fact that manufacturers lets you do that is simply a compatibility issue,not a requirement,or "endorsment".
The question wasn't what speaker you would buy first as a base of you HT ,or why people have lousy center speakers,or to define what HT is. Rather which is the "hardest working" one in an existing sextet while you listening to it[not stereo music].The center gets top billing by the soundtrack mixers and it should be treated as such.

 

[Jin E]

The question wasn't what speaker you would buy first as a base of you HT ,or why people have lousy center speakers,or to define what HT is. Rather which is the "hardest working" one in an existing sextet...

Actually... the original question was which is the most important speaker.

It looks like some people are defining "important" differently IMHO. Some define it as which is used the most in a 5.1 setup (center). Some define "important" and which speaker brings the most grins and enjoyment (sub). Some define it as which speaker you could not live without on any HT setup (Main L/R). I count the Main L/R as one. Even though they are two seperate speakers, they act together as a single homogenous unit (the same can be said about the surrounds). You do not see people saying "I need a new left speaker" or "My right surround needs to be replaced". JMHO of course.

Now there that argument that the creators of the 5.1 mix made a center channel, and by folding into two channels you are detroying the artist's vision? So the artist intended to sound A to come from the center of the front soundstage. What difference does it make if you sound comes from a speaker sitting in the center sound stage or if it is the image of that sound is created via two speakers. My argument is that with the exception of off axis response from the ideal listening position, recreation of the front soundstage is the same, so the center is NOT the most important because the system can function just fine without it. I say removing a surround speaker, or a front L or R speaker will do more to destory the artist's intended effect then removing the center channel. Now if all 5.1 speakers have to remain then I would want my center to be the best speaker in my system. If I had to chose the first to remove it would be the center channel. If I had to chose which speaker I would start a system with it would be Main L/R.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Now if all 5.1 speakers have to remain then I would want my center to be the best speaker in my system.

Bingo!

 

[Mike Knapp]

Lewis,

Jin is correct. If you were building a theater from scratch the center channel speaker would not be the first speaker you would buy...especially if you were building a 5.1 system.

The center speaker cannot be the most important one as the information in it can be assigned elsewhere. The same goes for the subwoofer. The fact that you cannot assign the L/R or Surrounds to any other speaker makes them of more import by default.

That said, a good theater system will have all the speakers including the sub and center and the center would be of equal caliber to the L/R speakers..

Mike

 

[Ernest Yee]

I have to say - Jin E made the best argument / analysis of this entire thread topic.

 

[Chris Tabor]

Ok, going with the assumption or the understanding that you are stuck with all speakers, no elimination intended. I would have to go along with the mains being most important over all. I would choose for my mains to be the highest quality speaker in the entire setup. As for the others, I would rather have a high end sub and surrounds than a center channel. The only problem with this whole thread is that there are too many ways to interpret it.

 

[Lewis Besze]

The center speaker cannot be the most important one as the information in it can be assigned elsewhere. The same goes for the subwoofer. The fact that you cannot assign the L/R or Surrounds to any other speaker makes them of more import by default.

This analogy is going once again in the same line as if you started to build and HT with less then 5 speakers.Then of course I would start with the L/R.No argument there.
So in effect you guys arguing something else other then the topic here IMO,which I've been trying to explain with no apparent success.

 

[Mike Knapp]

I cannot understand what difference it could possibly make whether you are starting from scratch or eliminating speakers from a fully operational system. The center channel speaker is not the most important in either case.

I shall take my leave now, I have other arguments to tend to.

Carry on.

Mike

 

[Lewis Besze]

 

[Mike Knapp]

As you wish. Nice disagreeing with you (and im not even Hungarian), we must do it again sometime.

Mike

 

[Chris Tabor]

No, but I think its a way of telling which speaker is playing the biggest role overall.