They are actually not worse than a horizontal MTM. This is a decent 2-way on its side:Yes. It will provide uneven dispersion off the central axis. 2-way horizontal arrays are problematic and asymmetric 2-ways are worse.
You shouldn't have to rotate it unless it's a rectangular horn.Presumably the tweeter should also be rotated if not a dome?
An MTM is not a compromise, it’s simply the wrong design for the job a centre speaker. It’s shocking and a great shame that the entire industry is fooling the market. It’s not different to dieselgate scandal of the German car manufacturers.An MTM is a worse compromise than a sideways 2-way.
No you don’t!If you had a 2-way MTM bookshelf speaker, you could turn that on its side and get fairly decent imaging.
Ok. You got me but I don't believe that the OP had anything like this in mind.They are actually not worse than a horizontal MTM. This is a decent 2-way on its side:
vs an MTM Center
Yes, the symmetry is better with the MTM, but the general outlook is definitely not.
An MTM is a worse compromise than a sideways 2-way.
An MTM is not a compromise, it’s simply the wrong design for the job a centre speaker. It’s shocking and a great shame that the entire industry is fooling the market. It’s not different to dieselgate scandal of the German car manufacturers.
The precedence effect is about the localisation of sound in a reverberant environment. We are talking about frequency response versus angles away from the perpendicular to the speaker front baffle.With two speakers next to each other in the horizontal plane at azimut 0 will be perceived as one sound source provided that the speaker elements are less than 25 cm apart according to "the summing location principle".
‘‘Summing localization’’ refers to a delay ~0–1 ms! when the sounds from the lead and lag sources are perceptually fused and when both the lead and lag contribute to the per-ceived direction of the fused image
(2) (PDF) The precedence effect. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12770632_The_precedence_effect [accessed Jul 18 2022].
What about a ribbon tweeter? Would you rotate that?You shouldn't have to rotate it unless it's a rectangular horn.
...I don't remember the brand* but there is a 3-way monitor where the midrange and tweeter are mounted on a circular plate that can be rotated. The woofer doesn't get adjusted but presumably the longer wavelength is not a problem.
The problem with the woofer & tweeter being side-by-side is that at the crossover frequency both drivers are putting-out the same soundwaves. That's OK straight-ahead but as you move to the side the distance between the drivers creates a time-difference (one driver is closer to your ears than the other) and the waves can be out-of-phase at your ears and cancel.
The same thing would happen with the speaker oriented normally and you climb up a ladder... It can happen to some extent when you stand-up or sit-down.
It's usually not terrible, especially if it's only the center, and you probably won't notice anything unless you move across the room. Even then you probably won't notice anything with 5 or more speakers putting-out sound at the same time.
* P.S. Found it!
If a person directly on axis are there still problems for that person with an MTM design?An MTM is not a compromise, it’s simply the wrong design for the job a centre speaker. It’s shocking and a great shame that the entire industry is fooling the market. It’s not different to dieselgate scandal of the German car manufacturers.
Most likely know but I have never heard of a one person theatre.If a person directly on axis are there still problems for that person with an MTM design?
I know. But some people might have a small family and/or only a spouse who either doesn't care about the audio or basically sits on axis anyway. I just wanted to know if there were tertiary issues with mtm other than off axis. Some people might even live alone and not care about other seats, but still have surround sound. For them the on axis response might be basically all that matters...Most likely know but I have never heard of a one person theatre.