Center channel with AR 303a's?

[administrator]

I'm currently in search of a center channel for the AR 303a's. I believe the center that was part of this series was the 205vc, but that particular model seems impossible to find and I saw a post on Usenet it is not entirely effective with the magnetic shielding. Since I have a Sony Wega, I don't want to take any chances.

So .. here are some relatively inexpensive options:

http://www.hifi.com/store/category.cgi?cat...r2ee&type=store

http://www.hifi.com/store/category.cgi?cat...rp1e&type=store

http://members.aol.com/KDresch/nht.html

http://accessories4less.com/aless4/Corpora...%2DSC2&cc=&tpc=

Any thoughts? I'm leaning towards the Cambridge Soundworks because of price and acoustic suspension.

Mark

[Guest Nigel]

Hi Mark;

The critical thing is: "It’s crucial that the center be able to deliver accurate sound that acoustically matches the two front channels. As a sound pans from left to center to right, it needs to stay consistent in tonal balance and quality."

You'll have to do that by listening.

There was a guy on ebay a few weeks back selling 338, 302 and 303. He was planning to put the 338 on thier sides woofers towards the outside, touching, for the center channel. Looked good to me.

I would build something similar, in a cabinet(s), with steel shielding (really shunting). You can copy the 303's crossover.

Nigel

[ToastedAlmond]

I like the 338's on their sides idea, but were those shielded? I remember Accessories4less blowing those out for $159/pair! Kick myself in the shorts for not ordering. I DID get a pair of 302's/cherry.

At one time I had six KLH 6's in-house, and was planning on trying an all KLH 6 surround system with two centers, one above and one below the monitor. I never tried it, shielding WOULD have been an issue, and I only have two 6's left now anyway.

How bad could his best effort at CSW sound?

George

[Guest Nigel]

Mark;

There a could of AR38BXi, need refoaming on ebay now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1940785888

refoam them, put steel shielding in the cabinets, replace the mids and tweeters, and rebuild the crossover to match the 303a's.

In otherwords, build a pair of shielded 338's.

Nigel

[administrator]

Hey Nigel!

Once upon a time I would have embarked on this type of project, but I don't have the workspace, tools, or patience anymore.

I've continued looking for an off-the-shelf solution and the CSW seems to be the best right now. They have a 45 day return policy, so worst case I don't like it I just send it back.

I'll keep you guys informed .. hopefully my venture into Dolby Digital doesn't turn into a never-ending quest for audio nirvana like I went through in college.

Mark

[administrator]

Here's another possibility .. would using an AR 303a as a center be insane? I'm wondering about the logistics here. I have a 36" Sony Wega on the Sony stand. Even if I pulled the shelves out, the AR 303a would not fit horizontally. And if it did, it would be too close to the TV with the magnetic field. I wouldn't even entertain this idea except for their may be a vendor on the net with a single 303a.

Any ideas? Mounting a 303a on the wall would probably involve a full scale construction project that my landlords might not think is amusing.

Mark

[ToastedAlmond]

Hang said 303 from the ceiling, rather than attaching it to a wall.

Toasted Almond

[administrator]

That's an interesting idea .. I think I refurbished a pair of AR-3's in college that had been hung by hooks by the looks of the cabinet backs.

I could get some decent looking steel braided wire and do the same. People might think I'm out of my mind, but I guess that's a foregone conclusion.

On a side note .. does anyone know if the lack of a center channel is handled by the Dolby Digital specification? I know some Dolby Pro-Logic receivers (but not all) would perform phantom center functions. I don't have this option on my Dolby Digital processor, but I do have the ability to configure it so that a center channel does not exist in my "configuration" .. so I'm wondering if the Dolby Digital scheme effectively sends center channel information to the two mains, or if this is some kind of DSP function my processor vendor would have had to include?

Mark

[Guest]

Why not get a pair of 303's for the center?!!! If you can only get em by the pair, I guess. My friend Tim Has 2 TSW-310's as centers(his 910's are mains)...what impact!!!!

Chris

[administrator]

How are the TSW-310's mounted?

And two 303's for centers .. you guys are lucky that the website will still be running while I'm sitting in jail after the neighbors frame me for something because of the noise.

Mark

[Guest Nigel]

Mark;

How about 302's, a bit smaller for the centers:

http://accessories4less.com/aless4/Corpora...=SPK%2DTWR&tpc=

Still has two pair.

Nigel

[Guest]

Mark:

In response about the TSW 310's they're:

Floor level actually. They're so tall, with the woofer and tweeter mounted high, that when you're sitting on the couch, they sound incredible and almost ear level exactly. His other option was end to end on his entertainment center, which was good also, but he wanted the space for "stuff". Floor was the better choice. The action really runs well from the left-center-right in movies like T2, etc.

I personally went with an MB Quart center which matched the mids and tweeters of my TSW's, but is a bit smaller. QL S330 CTR. Sounds kick ass, but I also have MB Quart "Q" series in the car(bucks, but worth it), and of course Quart made all the tweeters for the TSW series. People say my stuff is too "bright". I love those tweeters.

Just keep the self-control with the 303's, and you will stay out of jail!

Chris

[kkantor]

Do you have the ability and inclination to tweak the response of the center channel, mildly? As in EQ? If you do, a world of possibilities open up.

-ken

[Guest]

Mark,

I have an AR 205VC center channel speaker in Rosewood in very good condition. I used it until just recently atop a shelf just above my Sony Wega and never had a problem with the video shielding.

I'm willing to part with it since I converted to an all Celestion front speaker array (no traitor posts please). The only problem is I wish to sell it as part of an all AR HT setup, a pair of 303a's and a pair of 302's, which i never used, in rosewood as well as the SW30 in black.

Any suggestions?

Dr. Roberts

[administrator]

Send me an email (webmaster@arsenal.net) and we might be able to figure something out. I'm not sure even I can rationalize buying the entire set from you, but my coworkers might be willing to. They are all in the process of putting together audio systems after listening to mine .. which I wouldn't consider "the" system, but one of my coworkers uses two of the smallest CSW cubes as his main speakers, so you get the idea.

Mark

[administrator]

Thanks to the good Doctor, my dilemma has been solved.

I am now using a 205vc as my center and two more 303a's as rear surrounds.

Unfortunately, the 205vc can definitely not be put on top of my Sony Wega. As soon as it got close, the color began to distort in the upper corners. I moved the shelf around in my TV stand (the one that comes with the 32" and 36" Wega's) and am now angling the center up from below the TV on the bottom shelf. Not ideal, but it will work until I get better furniture with top mounted shelving.

I've been playing around for a few minutes with Rules of Engagement and The 13th Warrior. I can't believe I waited this long to get into surround sound!!

Thanks again Mark for getting in touch with me regarding these speakers.

Mark

[administrator]

Regarding surround sound ..

Now that I listened to a couple movies in Dolby Digital 5.1, when I put a Dido CD in, the "hole" in the center was impossible to ignore. I tried a bunch of surround modes and nothing really sounded perfect anymore ..

For example, in stereo the HK Signature 2.0 processor effectively leaves the signal in the analog domain away from the DSP. In this mode the center channel is off, and I notice the "hole".

In Dolby Pro-Logic (even though this is a straight stereo CD) the system enables the center channel, but ALL vocals are re-directed to the center channel! This leaves my AR 303a mids doing ambient sounds! NO!

In "Mono+" mode I get (as far as I can tell) the same signal going to all speakers. It's purpose is to get a "stereo effect" from older mono signals .. so I do not know how this is hacking away at the stereo stream and splicing it to the center.

And I have no idea what the DTS 2 channel and DTS 4 channel modes were doing, but they sounded different.

Anyway .. I solved one problem and created another. Has anyone else run into this after setting up their Dolby Digital 5.1 systems and going back to listen to normal stereo CD's? Is there any kind of "solution" or should I leave these stereo sources alone in the analog domain?

Mark