I just picked up a Toshiba 36 HD set and when I put my center channel speaker on top above it (aprox 6 in.), the color on top of the screen gets weird. The speaker was cheap (KLH I believe), but it is magneticly sheilded. I used it on top of my old set and had no problems. Is there an easy fix (I don't have space under my tv)? Are HD sets more sensitive, or is this speaker just not sheilded enough.
Almost all speaker manufacturers will warn you with words such as these:
"You want to position your center channel speaker above your TV, so dialog seems to come from the screen as in a movie theater. This may mean the most convenient location is directly on top of your television, or at least in very close proximity. With this in mind, this speaker is magnetically shielded to prevent magnetic fields within the speaker from interfering with the picture on the screen. Operating a non-shielded speaker too close to your TV and other sensitive components can actually cause damage (much like these same magnetic fields can damage the magnetic strips on credit cards). Be kind to your components, make sure your speakers are shielded."
With this wording in mind, and knowing from your own admission that the "cheap KLH speaker" is causing this distortion,...get rid of the speaker! You've invested a substantial amount of money in the set. Why damage it with a cheap speaker that, at most, is suspect at this point. It will only cause you more trouble. A true center channel speaker is optimized to prevent this trouble, don't expect to just hook up any speaker to fill this capacity. It will not perform well, and since the speaker is usually placed directly on top of the television set, it must me a "shielded" speaker. Center channel speakers are magnetically shielded and thus their internal magnets do not distort or disrupt the television picture as all other unshielded speakers will.
It would appear as if the speaker you've got is either NOT shielded or is sub-par in this respect. I wouldn't trust it any closer than the same room as your new TV.
Timba
Big Bob
Posted on
Thanks Timba. I was thinking the same thing, I was just hoping I was missing somthing. I had to streach my budget for the TV and was looking to avoid having to purchase a new speaker too. Luckily x-mas is coming soon. ;)