[kingdeezie]

I apologize in advance if this is not the proper forum, but since it deals with imaging and room response, I figured I would ask.

Recently after upgrading my crossovers substantially, and getting a much much better amplifier, my mains completely crushed my center channel.

For music I only do 2 channel so it didn't matter for a while, but for movies the difference was now grossly apparent.

When sitting in the center two chairs the sound is amazing. Dynamic, natural, and just honestly awesome. 4.2 for the win!

However, when sitting in the end chairs, the effects remain the same except for imaging. As you would expect the sound moves to the side that you are on. I figured for those rare times when I have company, I would sacrifice imaging in exchange for much better overall reproduction.

My question is, is there anything I can do to maximize the enjoyment of those people on the ends involving speaker placement, toe-in, toe-out, treatment, etc, etc, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[Ethan Winer]

is there anything I can do to maximize the enjoyment of those people on the ends involving speaker placement, toe-in, toe-out, treatment, etc, etc, etc.

The only solution is to have a capable center speaker.

--Ethan

[TomW16]

Although not a solution, I have heard of people toeing in their speakers so that they cross infront of the main listening position.  The theory is that as you move off center, you are more on-axis with the further speaker and less on-axis with the closer speaker.

I've not tried this myself but the theory makes sense.

I am in the same situation as you where I went from no center speaker, which sounded great when sitting in the sweet spot to having a matched center, which improved the dialog not only off-axis but also in the sweet spot, which was a surprise.  Potentially less processing of 5.1 sound had something to do with the sound improvement in the sweet spot.

Tom