sunprairie Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 I'm running 89' LaScala's as mains and a Heresy Center. I'm having problem with clear dialog in certain movies. Used for movies 90% of the time vs. music; although watch a lot of concert DVD's. That being said, I'm wondering if repositioning the Heresy may help with dialog. My Heresy is laying horizontal and was wondering if anyone is positioning their Heresy vertically, and if so would it be better upside down? (Woofer to the top) It seems that it would make sense to attempt to get the squawker and tweeter more in a line with my LaScala squawkers and tweeters. Also, I'm thinking that it would possibly give better overall dispersion as this was the way they were built to run in the first place?? Anyone mess around with this repositioning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 It really depends on a few things. The k-700 should have a horizontal dispersion of 90 degrees , and a vertical of 30 degrees. When you put a heresy on it's side, you change the horizontal beamwidth to a narrow 30 degree angle, rather than the 90 degree angle if it were sitting upright. If you have a narrow room that is fairly long, and a listening position that is near the rear of the room, the difference may be moot, IE: no appreciable difference. However, you may have disturbing reflections off of the ceiling and floor in this configuration. In other words, you might find it better upright, you might not. Some experiment is needed here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunprairie Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 I switched it around and vertically placed the Heresy with the horns on the bottom. Pretty big difference, especially in dispersion. Still a little muddled on the dialog, but much better. I'm going to play with the speaker setup a bit more and see if I can tweak the dialog a little more. Any others?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 How have you balanced the channel levels in the receiver? Was it using test tones and a sound pressure level meter? The Heresy is less sensitive than the Lascala, requiring more gain. ( or attenuation of the Lascala in relation )For starters, I would set the main left and right channels to - 4 db and try boosting the center + 2 db, rather than try and boost the center 6 db instead. This will ensure that the receiver amp for the center does not clip on loud passages. Hopefully this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 I have also found that some movies have very weak center channel mixes, and others are fine. I believe this is more of a software issue, and the person in control of the audio coding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunprairie Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 I've set the speaker levels with a RS analog meter. Just to make sure I'm doing this properly, I set my receiver to 0 then run the pink noise in the receiver to an even 85 db on all speakers. I do need to recheck my speaker distances though. The receiver has an external microphone for auto calibration, but I don't think it's as accurate as a sound meter. I'm running a McIntosh MHT 200 receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennyboy Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Sunprairie, I know you have a RC-7 center. Have you ever used this center ? Bennyboy I think i have said this before ? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 I have messed quite a bit with trying to get a heresy center to sound good to no avail. I think the better option would be to replace the heresy with an academy or if funds are slim a KLF-C7. You might also consider damping the cabinet and rope caulking the squaker (perhaps even a crossover upgrade if they're old)...the stock heresy has a lot of annoying cabinet/horn vibrations that when dealt with really clean up the sound and improve the clarity (which is of utmost important for dialogue). Colterphoto just got done redoing a pair of heresies with these mods and I can tell you without an AB that they made a huge improvement in the sound...so if you're not looking to experiment with new speakers then this is definetly something to consider. Cost-wise I think selling the heresy and getting an academy/KLF-C7 will be cheaper and have the same impact on the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunprairie Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 Too big a mismatch on timbre with the RC-7. I've tried it a number of times and I just can't get by the mismatched sound on a pan especially. I suppose I'm going to have to sell the Heresy and RC-7 and go to an Academy. I really like the timbre match of the Heresy; too bad for the dialog weakness. It does sound a lot better repositioned and recalibrated, but just a little lacking yet in dialog. Music, it's pretty great. Would I have the same issues with a cornwall that I have with the Heresy? I know if I wait I can come accross a single, or split a pair of cornwalls with someone on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eq_shadimar Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Is the Heresy sitting flat on the TV or angled down towards the listening position? I have used a Heresy center and I really liked it. Remember that from your sitting postion you should be looking down the lense of the tweeter and midrange. As you found out the tweeter towards the tv with the woofer up in the air works best. Take a look at the older system shots on my web site and you can see my Heresy center. Laters, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunprairie Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 I messed around quite a bit today with repositioning and resetting levels. The biggest help was to set it up vertically with the tweeter to the bottom, tilted so the tweeter is aimed right at the center listening position. Seems a whole lot better. Man, it seems like HT has so many little things that make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 It all adds up. :-) The Academy would be a step backward IMHO. You're on the right track with positioning changes and levels. When I ran Heresys in stereo I never found any problem with dialog intelligibility, so I wonder if there is something particular to your speaker. Do you know how old it is? Have you recapped the crossover? Putting Kimbers in my '82s really cleaned up their sound. There is also a crossover mod to bring the tweeter down 3 db, and some have said that the Heresy works better with the La Scala this way. Sorry I can't remember the source, but it was on this forum. If none of those things get you where you want to be, you might have to consider doing a custom and getting a bigger horn -- like a K600 or K400 -- in your center. You may be spoiled by the La Scalas' big mid horn. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunprairie Posted October 31, 2005 Author Share Posted October 31, 2005 Updating the Heresy crossovers may be the next step. Bought the single on eBay for $140 and it's in nice cosmetic condition, but know nothing about the guts. All drivers work, but that doesn't mean we're crossing over where we need to for a center. I bought AA/A crossovers from Bob C. about a month ago to replace the AL's in my LaScalas and it opened a whole new world on my LaScalas. I mentioned the heresy and he said he'd upgrade the crossover for me. This is probably my next best step. I love the timbre match of the Heresy and I'm not giving up on it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 I bought a pair of Heresy 1s that sometime in their life had been ported, the speakers were changed to a front mount, cabinet stiffened, insulation added and a new xover installed. They sounded like CR@P! The price was right however and I replaced the back board (removed the port), removed some of the insulation and made a new xover to stock spec with high quality parts and they sounded great again. I am using one of these as a center between my Fort'e 1 mains and I love it. I have no problem with clairity or timber match. Perhaps I have tin ears but it sounds darn good to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Yes, having Mr. Bob redo your crossovers will help a lot in terms of definition and detail. Also have you considered a third La Scala for your center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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