Audio Systems: Center channel speaker tinny sound at high notes, center channel speakers, center channel speaker

Question
Hello,

Forgive me but I probably have what you'd consider a poor man's surround sound system.  I am using a JVC receiver RX-7020V which has both 5.1 and DTS...my surround speakers are pieced together cheap ones..but have worked ok until now.  The center channel is a technics sb-c22.  And the two satellites are technics sb-s29.  I've noticed that the center channel starts to sound tinny (I guess that's the best way to describe it) when a certain high note/frequency is hit on a movie.  It's like it can't handle that note.  For example, on a movie like the sound of music...julie andrews has some pipes and when she hits a certain high note the center channel speaker just screeches.  Are these technics speakers worth keeping?  I've had my eye on this fairly inexpensive bose center channel speaker that is sold by itself at best buy.  Let me know your thoughts...

Steve in Denver.

Answer
Dear Steve,

There are a couple of ways to approach this. First, if your receiver has individual controls for each of the speakers (many do), then you may want to back off the treble control for the center channel speaker, give it a dose of Julie, and see what happens. I would not suggest using the tone controls (bass, treble) on the receiver because that would affect all the speakers, and you only want to deal with the center channel.

The alternative is to face the fact (okay, likelihood) that Technics makes poor speakers, and the C22 is one of them.

I never recommend Japanese speakers. First, I don't think they do a very good job of engineering or building them. Second, they're oddly voiced, accentuating the high end to the point of being shrill--which sounds an awfully lot like what you're experiencing.

I haven't auditioned the Bose center channel speaker. However, I would try some others while you're at it. Boston Acoustics, Cambridge Soundworks, Atlantic Technologies, and Polk Audio all make good center channel speakers and are all sold at Best Buy.

The best center channel speaker I've used is the Mirage OmniSat Micro at $99. It's a very neat open dispersion design that I've never had break up no matter what the source signal. BTW, they also make great satellite and surround sound speakers. I had a whole 7.1 home theater array with nothing but OmniSat Micros, and the sound was glorious. You can check 'em out at http://www.miragespeakers.com/

Good luck. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!

Kindest regards,

Kevin