Jamo C803 vs ELAC DBR 62

[notabenem]

Frankly, I suspected my amp from the beginning, but only in the area of general bad downmixing to phantom stereo which was later proven when I used one of the surrounds as center and the dialogues got clear.

However, the point when I realized that surround processing (and/or Audyssey) was the actual culprit was when I tried to set the AMP to mono (but which mode it does not have, only DSP mono where the rear speakers still work). While searching for a suitable mode I have also played with "Source Direct" and "Pure Direct". In those direct modes I still have a phantom center, but this time without the echo and other processings which clearly messed up the vocals to an extent that was very audible with the JAMOs and much less to not audible at all with the ELACs - those seemed to be immune to this.

The sound from the ELACs sounded overall very pristine, but 'sterile' in the sense that it was not engaging, especially the fact that the sound appeared to precisely originate from the speakers, not from the room. I am still not sure if 'originating from the room' is a positive, or negative thing, overall, for a speaker. What is the general consensus on this? Ppl call this imaging. Can there be something as too much of an imaging?

As for the AMP itself, it looks as if the AMP tried to first add the center to the R and L channels and afterwards applied all the surround effects in general and messing up the speech while at it. Not sure if it's as simple as that, probably not, just an idea. I have nevertheless placed an order for an Onkyo 3700H to see if that does it better.

 

[Bds3151]

I have the Elac DBR speakers and for home theater in my room they did not work. Dialog was not good at low volume and they required a lot of EQ and power to open up. When they are fed a lot of power, they are different animals with resolution, dynamics, and clarity. I have not found anything yet that is great at both HT and music. I have tried Dynaudio (the best), Elac, KEF, and JBL.

 

[notabenem]

Meanwhile I have received a new AMP (Denon X3700) and a new pair of speakers (JBL Stage A130).
Findings:
No matter what I do, the JAMOs add reverb to the sound themselves. There's a clear audible difference when switching between the two sets of speakers (not a blind test though). The reverb is there whether the AMP is in SOURCE/PURE Direct mode or not. However, it's bigger if it's NOT in *Direct mode. So ... the speakers add some reverb and so is the amp's surround signal processing.
As with the ELACs, also the JBL are not that much susceptible to the AMP's settings and they add no (or rather much less) reverb on their own.

The JBLs have more advantages though:
* Lower audible distortion on louder volumes (compared to the JAMOs)
* more enjoyable music than the ELACs - sounds is not particularly coming from the speaker. This is also true in a phantom center setup - dialogs seem to come from the TV and not from the speakers.
* speech is more articulate compared to the JAMOs.

All in all, JBLs seem to be the clear winner.

 

[bravomail]

All in all, JBLs seem to be the clear winner.

I have similar observation with JBL Stage A170 vs ELAC B6. JBL is more sensitive/easier to drive and cleaner.
Congrats on your AVR discovery - ye AVRs have settings, and fiddling with those (in manual mode) can improve your sound, to a degree.