Use ERA 100 for surround sound - Impact on vocal clarity

4 replies
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I have an ARC and Sub 3 in my living room. My wife and I purchased it to maximize vocal clarity for TV and movie viewing. Plus, I purchased it to enhance action movie viewing. If I purchased 2 ERA 100s and used as back surround speakers, will these speakers improve or retard vocal clarity? I can’t afford the expense of ERA 300s at this point.

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N

nik9669aAnswer

Senior Virtuoso

Typically, dialogue will mainly play through the centre channel of a soundbar (or the centre of a 3 separate speakers home theatre setup), though some for “effect” may come from left or right front or surround speakers. So as @jgatie says, surrounds will make no real difference.

some folk have posted that they set up a stereo pair of speakers to either side of the screen and grouped them with their soundbar and had resulting improvement. But, there will be a slight delay on sound to the additional speakers in such a setup, so I personally don’t think it will help you.

jgatie

Surrounds should have no impact on the main dialog coming from the front speakers.

N

nik9669aAnswer

Senior Virtuoso

Typically, dialogue will mainly play through the centre channel of a soundbar (or the centre of a 3 separate speakers home theatre setup), though some for “effect” may come from left or right front or surround speakers. So as @jgatie says, surrounds will make no real difference.

some folk have posted that they set up a stereo pair of speakers to either side of the screen and grouped them with their soundbar and had resulting improvement. But, there will be a slight delay on sound to the additional speakers in such a setup, so I personally don’t think it will help you.

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

I have used my Arc Ultra without surrounds, and with both Era-300s and Era-100s and there is no impact on voices that we have been able to detect. It is easy to toggle the surrounds on and off to compare it yourself.

I really liked the 300s and highly recommend them if they can be placed where they sound decent, that is much more flexible a location than the location where they will sound perfect. I couldn't do that here, the 100s did fit and even though very poorly placed still provide a very nice improvement to surround sources.

You won't be disappointed in the 100s unless directly comparing them to the 300s and with Atmos content that exercises the additional drivers the 300s bring.

jgatie

As a note, the very best Atmos mix around right now is Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. Anytime The Entity speaks, or the entire scene in the submarine is loaded with Atmos. The movie itself is ridiculous, but the sound is top notch.

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