Low volume on dialogues with Monitor 70 setero setup

raghublr

Hello Experts !!

I recently got a pair of Monitor 70 to upgrade from a cheap Samsung HT system.
The samsung was good enough for by apartment size but considering my move to a new home .. decided to get the M70

My current setup includes Cable TV/PS3 connected to Onkyo 509. Audio output to pair of monitor 70's.

I went through the whole setup and was ecstatic with the sound o/p with audio CD's.

I then popped in LOTR blu ray to find that the sound was great except for the speech. I really need to bumb up the volume to be able to hear the dialogues and at that level the other sound effects are deafening.

I ran through the audio setup with audyssey 2eq but no improvement. Tried different settings (Movie/TV/Stereo) with no luck !!

Is there something I am missing in the setup. From what I have read, M70 seems to be one of the best... do I really need a central speaker to actually be able to hear the dialogues ?

Or do I need a receiver with more juice (current system has 80W/ch on 2-way).

Thanks!

Dobermann

Not necessarily.

If you are using the stereo mode the left/right speakers will create a "phantom" center. You just need to play around with the speaker placement a little. Try moving them out from the wall and "toeing" them in a little, i.e. angle them toward your listening position.

Once you get them in the right spot it will sound like the dialogue is coming from the center of the two speakers.

raghublr

fastz28 wrote: »

you need a center channel speaker

Damn it... I guess I better get the CS2 then....

Sigh!!... soo much for thinking M70 is all I would need

nwohlford

If you are hesitant to buy a center now, I would play around with the setup as Dobermann suggested first.

Some speakers definitely work better than others. An old pair of RT1000p I had did a great job with dialog and I did not feel like a center added that much. But I have definitely had other speakers where the dialog never sound right without a center.

raghublr

Thanks !!
Will try different placements...
Do I need to change any other settings on the AVR ?

steveinaz

Does your player have a Dynamic Range setting? If it does, try setting it to "Night" or "enable compression"...or what ever your values are. This helped me a lot with my 2-channel HT. During musical events, I enable full dynamic range, but when watching movies, I disable it.

"Despicable Me" is absolutely rediculous with its dialogue vs sound effects ratio. I thought I blew a speaker on that SOB of a movie.

gwh

Do I need to change any other settings on the AVR ?

Have you selected no center in the AVR menu?

raghublr

steveinaz wrote: »

Does your player have a Dynamic Range setting? If it does, try setting it to "Night" or "enable compression"...or what ever your values are. This helped me a lot with my 2-channel HT. During musical events, I enable full dynamic range, but when watching movies, I disable it.

"Despicable Me" is absolutely rediculous with its dialogue vs sound effects ratio. I thought I blew a speaker on that SOB of a movie.

I have the set the dynamic range to low...i will try High

gwh wrote: »

Have you selected no center in the AVR menu?

Yes, Audyssey did it for me..

Thanks again for all the input !

steveinaz

Whichever setting will compress the dynamics a bit.