New SVS Ultra Center (1 Viewer)

[daddyora]

With old ears and damaged hearing, HT dialogue clarity has been a problem for years. I've gone from TV speakers to HTiB to Elac Debut 2.0 with slight improvements at each step but I still relied on closed captions for movies. I really dug in on the research for center speakers over the past year or so plus looked at audio, hearing, room acoustics, eq, etc to see if there was any help out there. Finally, with price increases looming, I ordered an SVS Ultra 3-way center speaker. I've only had it for a few days and haven't run YPAO or played with the settings (much) but I have been a bit impressed with the improvement. The SVS is "edgier" than the Elac which is somewhat "laid back" but if the Elac is a 6-7 on dialogue the SVS is more like 8-9 which is a more significant change beyond what I expected (hoped ?). I've already reduced the cc volume relative to the L/R speakers by a couple of dBs. Also, even tho we don't listen far off-axis for HT, the 3-way SVS is also certainly clearer in adjacent rooms (1/2 wall open) than the 2-way Elac.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Glad to hear it’s working for you, daddyora! BTW, a little EQ can help hearing loss problems – a few dB boost in the 2-4 kHz range should help that “edge” to make voices clearer.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[JohnRice]

Ditto on Wayne’s comment. Some post YPAO adjustments were probably in order, and will probably be needed once you run it with the new speaker.

 

[daddyora]

We watched an old mono movie DVD last night and I made it thru w/o captions in Straight DSP. Based upon Wayne's & John's advice, I checked the Yamaha eq for the center (setup for the Elac center) and here are the numbers (C = centered):

63 h C
160 h C
400 h +4
1 kh +5
2.5 kh +4
6.3 kh +1
16 kh C

ie seems skewed a bit lower than Wayne's recommended 2-4 kh

I'll rerun YPAO with the Ultra and post the results after a few more hours usage.

 

[JohnRice]

Those numbers don't necessarily mean anything on their own. Different speakers will have different calibrations. The hard truth is, the Debut could have been adjusted to produce what you needed. The SVS is probably just a little more efficient, so it plays louder at the same calibration, and maybe brighter. The Debut calibration just happens to produce what you want when used with the SVS, but it could have been accomplished with the Debut as well.

 

[daddyora]

John - pls elaborate a bit. I understand your comment related to efficiency and kinda know what you're referring to on frequency response but I have experimented with the eq with the Elac's and never achieved much benefit (admittedly, the issue is likely my hearing). The SVS seems "edgier", "sharper", "more aggressive", or "brighter". Can these characteristics be adjusted or modified ?

 

[JohnRice]

John - pls elaborate a bit. I understand your comment related to efficiency and kinda know what you're referring to on frequency response but I have experimented with the eq with the Elac's and never achieved much benefit (admittedly, the issue is likely my hearing). The SVS seems "edgier", "sharper", "more aggressive", or "brighter". Can these characteristics be adjusted or modified ?

It probably just needed to be louder. Or needed that the most. The SVS is probably more efficient, which makes it louder at the same calibration. The Debut is certainly capable, though it does have a more reserved sound. I seriously doubt there's nothing that could be done to make it work for you. It just needs to be the right stuff. But, you have the SVS, so you might as well go with it.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

“Edgier,” “more aggressive” would be the frequency range I mentioned previous, which can be helped with EQ. “Brighter” would be higher frequencies above that point.

BTW, if male voices seen “bloated” or a bit boomy, that can obscure “edgier” and “aggressive.” Using the EQ to reduce the 400-160 Hz range could help.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt