Center channel on two channel amp
March 14, 2023 8:45 PM Subscribe
I recently upgraded from a sound bar to a basic 2.1 component system, mostly for music but some for movies. It sounds great, but I notice that dialogue in movies is feels a little weird, presumably because I don't have a center channel.
I noticed that my two channel amp has four speaker outputs. Would it be possible to connect a center channel to that? I understand that it would duplicate the sound, but would I get better audio for dialogue? Also, would that mess up the stereo sound for music? I'm not trying to spend much or replace what I have already. Looking for cheap and easy solution.
I noticed that my two channel amp has four speaker outputs. Would it be possible to connect a center channel to that? I understand that it would duplicate the sound, but would I get better audio for dialogue? Also, would that mess up the stereo sound for music? I'm not trying to spend much or replace what I have already. Looking for cheap and easy solution.
Best answer: In a surround sound audio mix the dialog is mainly on the center channel, which you dont have.
You want to enable a phantom center channel on one of the devices that processes the audio(amp/receiver?), or tell it you dont have a center channel/only have stereo which may accomplish the same thing.
Or, Select a stereo audio track if there is one, instead of surround sound on the movie player.
Theres also the possibility your speakers are out of phase. The speaker and amp terminals will both have a positive and negative connection. You want to make sure those are hooked up the same way on both sides. Red to red/black to black. Which is annoying if the speaker cable isnt marked well. (Sometimes theres a super tiny ++++ and/or ---- along the cable insulation). If its difficult to tell you could change how the wire is plugged in on one speaker. This only applies if your speakers/amp use separate terminals per wire in the speaker wire pair.
Hopefully one of these options helps.
posted by TheAdamist at 3:15 AM on March 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
You want to enable a phantom center channel on one of the devices that processes the audio(amp/receiver?), or tell it you dont have a center channel/only have stereo which may accomplish the same thing.
Or, Select a stereo audio track if there is one, instead of surround sound on the movie player.
Theres also the possibility your speakers are out of phase. The speaker and amp terminals will both have a positive and negative connection. You want to make sure those are hooked up the same way on both sides. Red to red/black to black. Which is annoying if the speaker cable isnt marked well. (Sometimes theres a super tiny ++++ and/or ---- along the cable insulation). If its difficult to tell you could change how the wire is plugged in on one speaker. This only applies if your speakers/amp use separate terminals per wire in the speaker wire pair.
Hopefully one of these options helps.
posted by TheAdamist at 3:15 AM on March 15, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Amp is a Pyle 506BT (manual) that I got for cheap. I understand that it is not really a HT amp, so perhaps it is not creating the phantom center channel? The dialogue audio is not bad, but I think it just feels unnatural coming from two sides rather than the center. Maybe I will just get used to it. I tried to make sure all the settings on DVD and player are not set on Dolby 5.1. Will also check the wiring and experiment with moving the speakers around. They are Dayton B652, about 4 ft apart. My DVD/Bluray player is a bit old too, so it may be something with the audio conversion as well?
posted by roaring beast at 8:55 AM on March 15, 2023
posted by roaring beast at 8:55 AM on March 15, 2023
Best answer: I had a similar 2.1 sound system and had all kinds of trouble with movie and HD television content. When I turned up the sound loud enough to hear some dialog, any sound effect would blast me off my couch. This is because almost all of the dialog signal is in the center channel, which has not been hooked up to anything, and the the left and right channels are only getting a little bleed for audio fullness.
The short version is that your Pyle 506BT is only an amplifier and is not able to decode or use more than the Left and Right audio channels. You can't hear dialog from 5.1 mixed audio sources because it's not being played through your speakers. Adding another speaker to your 506BT won't change anything, because it is only able to amplify and play two separate mono audio signals (used as the left channel and the right channel). There is no hardware to amplify and play a third mono signal for a center channel.
In order to hear the dialog sound stored in the DVD's center channel:
- You can check your source material to see if it has an audio track that is pre-mixed for stereo. This is probably a per-DVD setting.
- You can check to see if your DVD player has a "downmix to stereo" option. This is likely only available if it is a more advanced unit that has something like "Dolby Digital" stickers on it, indicating that it is able to decode and remap the audio stored on the DVD. More basic DVD players will just read and send the audio bitstream as-is.
- If your DVD player has multiple RCA outputs for 5.1 channels, you could try using cable splitters to add the center channel output to both the Left and Right amplifier inputs. This will very crudely create a "virtual center" by having that center signal emerge from both the left and right sides.
- You could put your DVDs into a computer and use the Dolby Access Windows app (US$ 14.99) to decode and downmix the 5.1 audio signal.
- You could get another speaker amplifier and speaker to plug into the center channel output and create a 3.1 audio system.
- You could get a home theater audio-visual receiver AVR, which is able to decode and downmix the 5.1 audio signal for your stereo speakers.
posted by QuixoticGambit at 3:06 PM on March 15, 2023
The short version is that your Pyle 506BT is only an amplifier and is not able to decode or use more than the Left and Right audio channels. You can't hear dialog from 5.1 mixed audio sources because it's not being played through your speakers. Adding another speaker to your 506BT won't change anything, because it is only able to amplify and play two separate mono audio signals (used as the left channel and the right channel). There is no hardware to amplify and play a third mono signal for a center channel.
In order to hear the dialog sound stored in the DVD's center channel:
- You can check your source material to see if it has an audio track that is pre-mixed for stereo. This is probably a per-DVD setting.
- You can check to see if your DVD player has a "downmix to stereo" option. This is likely only available if it is a more advanced unit that has something like "Dolby Digital" stickers on it, indicating that it is able to decode and remap the audio stored on the DVD. More basic DVD players will just read and send the audio bitstream as-is.
- If your DVD player has multiple RCA outputs for 5.1 channels, you could try using cable splitters to add the center channel output to both the Left and Right amplifier inputs. This will very crudely create a "virtual center" by having that center signal emerge from both the left and right sides.
- You could put your DVDs into a computer and use the Dolby Access Windows app (US$ 14.99) to decode and downmix the 5.1 audio signal.
- You could get another speaker amplifier and speaker to plug into the center channel output and create a 3.1 audio system.
- You could get a home theater audio-visual receiver AVR, which is able to decode and downmix the 5.1 audio signal for your stereo speakers.
posted by QuixoticGambit at 3:06 PM on March 15, 2023
Response by poster: I ended up adjusting the speaker position and upgrading the DAC I was using which helped to get to a decent sound for a budget system. Thanks everyone for your advice.
posted by roaring beast at 2:25 PM on March 22, 2023
posted by roaring beast at 2:25 PM on March 22, 2023
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Posting the model of the amp would help but they almost certainly just duplicate the left and right channel. In theory, you could get a pair of small speakers and put them as a left/right pair in the middle and retain some stereo imagery while having sound coming from the center of the space.
Having a center channel requires decoding the surround sound to extract the channel that's supposed to go to the center speaker. A 2.1 component system is unlikely to do that.
That said, if the speakers are spaced out properly and not too close to you, I don't think the dialogue should sound weird. It's perfectly feasible to have a good soundstage with stereo speakers. You might just be reacting to different frequency responses in the systems. A lot of clarity lives in the 1-4 kHz range, so if the new system has worse response in those frequencies, that could explain a difference. It's not implausible that the soundbar had a boost of them, given the expectation that they'd be used for watching video content rather than listening to music.
posted by Candleman at 9:40 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]