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504c sounds cheap with dialogue


Shanery

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Just bought the 504c center channel, it’s gorgeous and sounds great with music, my only issue with the speaker is that the dialogue often sounds boxy or airy or thin especially at higher pitches of voices or when people are talking softly it sounds like an over exaggerated whisper on top of their voice, or even like the talker is wearing a surgical mask while talking it is not what I would call crisp. I upgraded from the JBL studio 520c which imaged great and dialogue was crisp. My L/R is a pair of RB 61 IIs that also sound fantastic. 
 

im disappointed spending the money on a speaker and it not sounding better or even up to par from what it’s replacing. My entry level sound bar sounds better with dialogue than this speaker and I’m convinced something is wrong. I have it hooked up to a Sony 1080 receiver and have tried several settings, has anyone else experienced this or found just the right settings to make this speaker shine? I don’t want to have to return such a beautiful speaker 

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@Shanery,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry you are not quite happy with your 504c.

 

Where/how is your 504c placed?  Is it in a closed "tunnel" where the rear port is not allowed to "breathe"?  What are your current settings?  Is the 504C on the same plane as your ears, or is it mounted low or high?

 

Bill

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3 hours ago, willland said:

@Shanery,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry you are not quite happy with your 504c.

 

Where/how is your 504c placed?  Is it in a closed "tunnel" where the rear port is not allowed to "breathe"?  What are your current settings?  Is the 504C on the same plane as your ears, or is it mounted low or high?

 

Bill

Hey Bill,

 

thanks for the response! The speaker is on the top of a cabinet pushed out to the edge with plenty of room to breathe and in the exact height of the listeners ears.

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54 minutes ago, Shanery said:

The speaker is on the top of a cabinet pushed out to the edge with plenty of room to breathe and in the exact height of the listeners ears.

Well that is solid proof that is not the problem.:D  Maybe wired out of phase?  Maybe not well timbre matched to the RB-61IIs.  Tough to say.

 

When I first got my RC-64 several years ago, I kind of thought the same as you are experiencing.  I changed amps, experimented with crossover settings, and bumped up the center channel volume a bit.  My NAD T175HD pre/pro has a setting with the tone controls called "center dialogue" and it really made a difference.  All this combined pretty much made my soundstage seamless.

 

Bill

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14 hours ago, Shanery said:

Just bought the 504c center channel,

 

@Shanery It could be that it needs to be broken in.

 

I had some pro woofers from Celestion for a DIY project a few years ago.  Right out of the box I hooked one up in open air and it just sounded awful.  I mean cheap plastic AM radio from the '60's awful.  I noticed the suspension was very stiff.  I built the enclosure and installed it anyway and I was surprised that about a month later after 100 hours of playing it sounded great.  That's when I became convinced that some speakers, maybe not all, need a break-in.

 

I've never heard the 504C.  I owned the RC-64 and I own the RC-64 III.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi,

 

My system is RF62II, RC62II, RS42II, SW112, Onkyo TXNR 929, Marantz PM 8005, Marantz CD Player 6005.

I also experienced similar issue. Especially this was true for some male voices. I don't know exact reason, but strongly believe it is due cabinet resonances, floor reflections, subwoofer integration.
 

After running Audyssey calibrations, i made the following changes,

1) XO at 100HZ to remove lower frequencies (still some go to center at 12db/octave) and diverted to subwoofer, other speakers set at 100Hz, LPF for LFE at 80Hz, Subwoofer knob at 80 Hz (was not worried about hole between 120 to 80Hz) to get non-directional sound from subwoofer. I find anything above 80Hz becomes directional and doesn't integrate with Mains properly, unless placed next to fronts.
2) In Manual Equalizer, I changed 63Hz at -6db, 2.5kHz at +2db, 16kHz at -2 db. Rest all at 0db. This is for all the speakers. I found changing 63Hz near to 0 db in manual equalizer makes sound muddy (think due to subwoofer integration) even if sub volume turned down hence reduced to -6db. I find the +6db boost given during calibration for subwoofer (75 db for sub and 69 db for mains) evens out -6db for 63Hz set in manual equalizer and gives flat response for the frequencies intended for mains. Alternatively, we can run mains crossed over at 40Hz (and 63Hz at 0 db)  but i didn't do as  it will tax the mains.
3) Speaker levels for all speakers set at same level (no bumping for center).
4) AVR played with Audyssey OFF, Dynamic Eq ON, Manual Eq ON, Dynamic volume on LIGHT.
5) While watching, remove the grill as these are very thick, lay carpet on the front.
6) Last but not least, have put rubber mat (yoga mat cut to size, thick enough which touches the bottom surface of speaker after placing the speaker) at the bottom. This, I feel has very good dampening for the entire surface than four rubber feet.

 

All these are for my room responses and configurations, but find the above may be useful for others.


With the above changes, I find the vocals have improved dramatically (very intelligent now) and also no more sounding boxy and harsh / sibilance at highs. Sound stage is a bit wider too. Further tweaking may or may not make it better, but decided that it’s enough.

 

May be you can with above as starting point, maneuver, and also decrease the crossover to get bigger (cinematic) sound from mains until the tin can sound does not repeat.

 

Eventually, I changed the crossover as 60Hz for center, and 80Hz (Fronts being bigger in size, is now timber matching with this setting for seamless front stage) for Fronts and Surrounds which I found even better.


Good Luck.

Edited by Balas
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On 5/13/2021 at 10:51 AM, smallsmx3 said:

I have the 504c hooked up to a denon 4400.
 

I would try a different receiver , to compare --could be the center is underpowered or seeing the wrong impedance 

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Hi,

 

I remember similar for me. For speaker level, after running Audyssey (75 db for sub), I adjusted the individual speaker to same level by manual hearing (didn't even use mobile app which is also fairly ok) sitting at main listening position. However, adjustments were minor by few dbs up and down.  Since you have db meter, it will be more precise.

 

Good luck.

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Just bought the 504c center channel, it’s gorgeous and sounds great with music, my only issue with the speaker is that the dialogue often sounds boxy or airy or thin especially at higher pitches of voices or when people are talking softly it sounds like an over exaggerated whisper on top of their voice, or even like the talker is wearing a surgical mask while talking it is not what I would call crisp. I upgraded from the JBL studio 520c which imaged great and dialogue was crisp. My L/R is a pair of RB 61 IIs that also sound fantastic. 
 
im disappointed spending the money on a speaker and it not sounding better or even up to par from what it’s replacing. My entry level sound bar sounds better with dialogue than this speaker and I’m convinced something is wrong. I have it hooked up to a Sony 1080 receiver and have tried several settings, has anyone else experienced this or found just the right settings to make this speaker shine? I don’t want to have to return such a beautiful speaker 
The last thing I did was add diffusers on the wall behind the speaker. Is it too close to the wall?

Sent from my KB2007 using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/19/2021 at 6:37 PM, Paducah Home Theater said:
On 5/3/2021 at 9:41 PM, Shanery said:

Even like the talker is wearing a surgical mask while talking it is not what I would call crisp.

 

Pretty much every time I have seen this is was due to poor room acoustics

Ha! Most of the time I see something like this the jumper between the terminals have been removed. 😎

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  • 3 weeks later...

Room acoustics, especially behind your front stage, will address a lot of problems. Majority of the time, it's a room problem, not a speaker problem. Also check the crossover settings, but I'm sure you've already done that.

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Room acoustics, especially behind your front stage, will address a lot of problems. Majority of the time, it's a room problem, not a speaker problem. Also check the crossover settings, but I'm sure you've already done that.
Also source material. I notice similar issues on my polk s30 with the same material as in my room with my Klipsch set up. It's not as pronounced. I think that's because the 504 is more articulate.

Sent from my KB2007 using Tapatalk

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