The importance of having 'power' at the centre....

[Marco]

Well, I've been having a play with centre speakers again, in my home-cinema system, and thanks to DarrenHW (who sourced a single one for me in great condition) I've now added a 15XR as a centre speaker, replacing the existing UL6. So, I've gone from this:




...to this:




I also took the opportunity of having the new centre speaker re-capped (with Jantzen Silver Z-caps) and fitted with Cardas solid-copper binding posts, which Darren kindly did, the same as was done on my fronts. Both these high-quality items notably improve the sonic performance of the Celestions:








Some more images of the overall speaker set-up:




Nice and cosy in the lounge, with the wood burner roaring away, on a cold and rainy day in Wrexham... This is the view from my comfy recliner chair, as I type:



So what difference has employing a centre speaker with an 8-inch bass driver and ABR made? A LOT! Darren, who has an excellent home-cinema system himself, has always been a keen advocate of having 'power at the centre', enabling all information there to be rendered with the requisite detail, depth and scale, giving voices in particular convincing projection and realism...

Yup, yup and YUP - it does all that and more!

The "more" bit being the entirely seamless nature of how the front and centre speakers now, being all the same type and modified the same way, when teaming up with the stunning 'reach out and touch me' picture clarity of the superb Sony UBP-X800 Blu-ray player, deliver a truly mesmerising and immersive viewing experience with all types of movies, making you feel almost 'wrapped around and inside' every film.

And when the three ABRs (contained in the fronts and centre speakers) combine to augment bass frequencies, along with the twin Yamaha 12-inch subs, say with explosions during action movies, the CRUNCH and SLAM is truly palpable!!

I've still to try some music DVDs and Blu-rays, recorded in 5.1 surround sound, where I expect the 15XR, doing centre duties, will really come into its own. So am I delighted with this latest addition to my home-cinema system? You BETCHA! It's now grin-inducing good

The final part of the jigsaw will be to replace the Gale surrounds with Celestion Ditton 11s, which are from the same family as the 15XRs, thus sonically and visually synchronising with the existing centre and fronts, which I expect to provide another nice upgrade. Then it'll simply be about adding to my Blu-ray collection, particularly the 4K HDR variety, and sitting back and enjoying movies through a very realistic mini-version of your local Odeon, minus the crunching of popcorn from others you're forced to share the same space with!

Marco.

[Macca]

I like the 'ye olde equpipmente racke'

[Marco]

Lol - it just goes with the rest of the furniture and 'feel' of the room. It's solid oak and retails for nearly £500, but we picked ours up on ebay for £80. It belonged to an old couple, from new, and it's mint

Does the job, although it was a bit of squeeze getting the Sony AV amp in! Anyway, next time you're here, I'll play you some movies. I think you'll like it...

Marco.

[Macca]

Cool. we still have to sort out that trip to Frank's. I guess after Easter now though.

[Marco]

Missed this earlier, soz...

Cool. we still have to sort out that trip to Frank's. I guess after Easter now though.

Yeah, defo... Just give me a shout when you fancy it. Have you thought any more about cabs?

Marco.

[Macca]

Missed this earlier, soz...



Yeah, defo... Just give me a shout when you fancy it. Have you thought any more about cabs?

Marco.

Looks like Ardens but I still need to sort out someone to build them. I still need to sort everything out basically.

[Marco]

Looks like Ardens but I still need to sort out someone to build them. I still need to sort everything out basically.

What we need to do is convince Frank to do the job

Honestly, he's probably forgotten more than you and I will ever know about Tannoys!

Marco.

[Roy S]

‘Old Charm’? Got my telly on one, ‘Home cinema’ only runs to an smsl amp running jbl control ones at the moment.

[Marco]

‘Old Charm’? Got my telly on one, ‘Home cinema’ only runs to an smsl amp running jbl control ones at the moment.

Hi Roy,

Yup, the AV cabinet is part of the 'Old Charm' range. We've got a few pieces dotted about. They do some nice stuff, which suits our old lodge house: https://www.woodbros.co.uk/old-charm-furniture/



Marco.

[DarrenHW]

Glad you're happy with it!

I look forward to hearing it once the cap's burnt in and it will be interesting to see how well the 11's integrate. One thing's for sure, they'll go lower than your Gales, meaning the sub crossover point can be lowered which (as we found out the other day) will tighten up the already impressive performance of the Yamaha's.