Center Channel Speakers: Part 1

[Roger]

Today Home Theater in a box solutions are being snatched up like sticky rice banana leaf rolls at a Dim Sum buffet. These are specialized systems specifically for Home Theater application. You'd think we'd have better acoustic answers for such a specialized market space. But it seems the crucial center channel is no better off than it was in the days of the Pro-Logic add-on units. We'll take a closer look at the history starting with part one of the Center Channel Speaker.

A market shift in home audio was probably complete years ago. The shift was away from hi-fi / stereo and into Home Theater. Today you almost never hear about hi-fi or stereo (except in car audio) because Home Theater has taken over.

Let's step into a time machine and head back to the mid 90s. Back in this day Dolby Pro Logic add on systems were the new thing in home audio. Grunge rock had fully eclipsed the glam inspired big hair metal of yesteryear. A saxophone playing president was creating budget surpluses and something called "alternative" was now a mainstream style of music. Electronic sounds were also beginning to filter into the mainstream as the rave sub-culture was in full swing.

Home Audio was still home stereo but affordable receivers armed with Dolby Pro Logic surround sound started to get popular. These new systems could decode your favorite VHS tape and create center and a rear channels. Most people that were into hi-fi at the time (the obvious market for the new but as yet undefined Home Theater market) already had a stereo system.

Back then a "good" stereo system meant a system anchored by a quality receiver or integrated amplifier. Kenwood, Marantz, Pioneer are big named that made some historic receivers that were designed with a build quality the like of which is now extinct except in a very small market.

This was a common statement back in the mid 90s.

"I've had this kick arse receiver since the early 80s. There is no ****** I am going to pay $300 + to replace it with one of these flimsy Sony receivers because it's got a "pro-logic" logo on the front!"

And so it was the add-on becomes the order of the day. The add-on was a clever way to add three more speakers to your system. All you had to do was engage and external processor loop or a tape monitor function and BAM instant Dolby Pro Logic.

What went along with the new Pro-Logic add-ons and sadly many receivers were the smallest cheapest "quick fix" speakers you could find. Nobody could blame you if you were under whelmed by the quality of surround sound in the home. What was to blame was the tiny drivers in these little speakers.

Maybe a smaller speaker made sense for the limited range of frequencies being played through the rear channel. But the center channel in these systems, although also limited in range were going to reproducing sounds our human ears hear the most. There is more information on a movie soundtrack coming from the center channel than any other. The center was intended to reproduce dialogue between actors in your movie. It would also reproduce sounds in the midrange and any action that occurred front and center. A stereo system with a cheesy surround add-on was doomed to mediocrity.

Sadly HTIB solutions proves what Sting once said.

"History will teach us nothing."

Next week I'll delve into the importance of the center channel speaker.

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