using two center channel speakers, front and rear. (1 Viewer)

My mother doesn't hear as well as she used to, but her eyesight is good. She likes to lay on the couch on the opposite side of the room from the TV. But, even with a center channel speaker above the TV, two front speakers right/left, two rear speakers right/left and a subwoofer, she can't hear the dialog very well without the volume turned up high, which bothers everyone else. She hates the idea of remote headphones and dislikes reading closed captioning (which everyone can see, as well). Whether it's one of the hundreds of channels we get, something Tivo'd, or a DVD, she has trouble with the dialog. She would like a second center channel speaker, maybe resting on the back of the couch, so she can hear the words without the volume being so loud it bothers others. I have audio cables that would allow me to plug two speakers into the center channel jack on the surround sound receiver, but is that the best way to hook it up? And, what speaker would be best? Thanks. MDF

This sounds like a perfectly reasonable solution to me. If you have a line level out from the receiver, it will need to go to the input of an amplifier and then on to the extra center speaker. This is good, because then you can change the loudness of the extra speaker to get it right for your mom, and turn it off if others are watching a movie without her.

If you are splitting the speaker-level output from the reciever's amp section, it may not be the best way to go. Look for a line-level out, or get a gizmo that converts the speaker level to line level, and use an amp as suggested above.

I've read online that other people have two center channel speakers, either above and below the TV or on both sides. But, there weren't many details.
I can't open the speaker enclosure, so I can't wire anything together.

I used a Y connector to hook a second speaker to the center channel jack. Mother loves it, there is dialog from above the TV and from behind the couch. But, a sharp sudden sound causes the receiver to shut down. Would a speaker selector work? Or, something else connected between the receiver and the two center channel speakers that would allow for good sound from each speaker and not hurt the receiver? And, what should I be looking for? I've been using audo and video components for many years, but my knowledge of impedance and speaker wiring is still somewhat limited. Thats again. MDF

What you've probably done is reduce the impedance by half when you connected the 2 center channels speakers in parallel, which means the amp section of the receiver has to provide more current to drive the 2 speakers, and when the current demand (loudness) is too high, the amp section shuts down.

Just for simplicity sake, say you have 2 center channel speakers with 8 ohm impedance ratings, so when you connect them in parallel, you reduce the final load to the amp section driving the center channel(s) to 4 ohms, and that makes it a tougher load to drive when the audio demands a loud level of sound.

When you can try is connect the 2 center channel speakers in series:

Center channel amp's Positive terminal is connected to the Positive terminal on center speaker 1, and then connect Negative terminal from speaker 1 to the Positive terminal of center speaker 2, and then connect the Negative terminal of center speaker 2 to the Center channel amp's Negative terminal.

This might decrease the sound level on the front center channel by 3dB (or more, you never know), but provide some sound to the back center channel.

The other option is to see if your receiver has analog audio outputs for all the different channels including the center channel. If this is the case, then you'd need another amp or receiver to power the back center channel speaker (after connecting the primary receiver's center channel audio output to the any of the audio inputs on the 2nd receiver, and select that audio input), and that allows your mother to raise the volume as loud as she wants it, independent of your primary receiver's loudness level.

As someone at another forum suggested, a small powered speaker connected to the DVR did the trick, with it by the couch she can at least hear the dialog. It's not the solution I hoped for, but the AIWA has speakers in plastic enclosures with plugs on the other end, so I couldn't get to the wires. Having two center channel speakers connected to one center channel just wasn't going to work. Thanks for the responses. MDF

I have a similar situation, where I want to connect a second Center Speaker to my existing Center Speaker ..without having to do a whole lot of re-wiring from the amp, is there a device that I can buy that I can connect the 2 speakers to, then using the wire connected to the amp? Any thoughts or details on how to connect 2 center channel speakers would be greatly appreciated !