Using TV speakers as cheap center (1 Viewer)

[John Di Lauro]

Is there any reason why I couldn't hook up my TV speakers to the center channel pre-outs? I'm thinking this would give me a way to get the center channel until I have the cash for a "real" center speaker.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[Sebastien David]

...because it will sound awful and you'd be better off not having a center at all?

that a good reason?

 

[Thomas_Berg]

um, i completely disagree. its better to have a crappy center than none at all. some people in the past have had success with it...try it for yourself.

 

[Jeffrey_Jones]

I for one do not believe that a crappy center is better then no center. I find nothing more annoying then having to struggle to listen to the dialog of a movie.

I would rather have a pair of good front speakers producing a phantom center channel then rely on the speakers built into the TV.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Chuck Kent]

I vote no also.

I have never seen/heard ANY TV speaker that would keep up on any level with any quality hi-fi speaker. Distortion and limited bandwidth are just 2 of the potential problems that come to mind...

(If you decide to try it anyway, don't turn things up too much. And make sure you have little or no bass added.)

 

[Scott Merryfield]

um, i completely disagree. its better to have a crappy center than none at all.

The center channel is the most important speaker in a home theater setup. Almost all the dialog and much of the rest of the soundtrack comes from that speaker. Since most TV speakers are of poor quality and will most likely not even come close to being timbre matched with your main speakers, you will get a much better effect by placing your receiver in "phantom center" mode. Off-axis listening is not really possible in phantom mode, but it's a better compromise than using TV speaker that make Bose products look good.

 

[Christian Dolan]

Chuck's right. The center channel carries the most bandwidth. You're asking a pair of small, under-powered speakers to do a bigger job than your mains. I wouldn't recommend using your TV either.

-Christian

 

[Sebastien David]

trust me, i was speaking from experience...

i already tried a crappy-center setup and it was MUCH worse than a phantom setup.

you can try it anyways if you have time to waste!