I have to ask......

wrigley

The dialog on BD movies sounds muffled to me. I have no idea as to why. I have to increase volume during a long "dialog scene" in a movie and then turn the volume down after that. This doesn't seem right to me. (I have the BD player set to Bitstream)

My fronts, surround, and center are set to small. I have the bass set to the sub and the sub is set to mid range volume or slightly below.

I haven't run Yamaha Parametric Acoustic Optimizer (YPAO) yet for a couple reasons. I just got my sub and the biggest reason is that my speakers aren't physically placed in an ideal "surround sound" location. I am quite restricted on speaker placement because of the size/shape of my "great room". My surround speakers are actually right next to my front speakers. I'm very new to the "HT" scene and have learned alot from this forum as well as tinkering on my own. I figured if I ran the AUTO setup for the YPAO I'd get an error simply because of the location of the speakers.

I know I can manually do this setup. Is there, for lack of a better term, a "rule of thumb" I should go by when doing the manual setup....or is all based on my sound preference? Thanks

Mike

packetjones

You need to go ahead and run the calibration and see. You can always reset it if you dont like it. What i would recommend is turning up the level of the center channel. Almost all of the movie sound track is through the center channel. Try turning it up and see if it helps.

BlueFox

Unless you have the tiny HT in a box speakers, try setting all speakers to large, and running the sub off the front pre-amp outputs. You need to experiment and find what sounds best in your environment.

Sherardp

wrigley wrote: »

I haven't run Yamaha Parametric Acoustic Optimizer (YPAO) yet for a couple reasons. I just got my sub and the biggest reason is that my speakers aren't physically placed in an ideal "surround sound" location.
Mike

This is your problem. Until you run the cal setup it's going to sound like a$$.

polkatese

+1 on Sherardp advice.

run YPAO and re-run it after you got placement set. You can run YPAO as many times to your heart content.

SolidSqual

My dialog is crystal clear.

wrigley

Sherardp wrote: »

This is your problem. Until you run the cal setup it's going to sound like a$$.

Run it even though the speaker placements aren't going to change?

Mike

ken brydson

wrigley wrote: »

Run it even though the speaker placements aren't going to change?

Mike

Yep. It will at least set your levels and distances to your listening position. Should be a huge improvement, ideal speaker placement or not.

wrigley

ken brydson wrote: »

Yep. It will at least set your levels and distances to your listening position. Should be a huge improvement, ideal speaker placement or not.

Thanks

Mike

domflane

It would help to know what speakers you are using and the model number of the AVR. I definately say run the auto-calibrate, that should make a huge difference. Depending on how your center stands up to the rest of your speakers, you still might have to manually adjust the level of the center speaker. I had to run my CS10 at about +3 to compete with my RTiA5's.

Willow

SolidSqual wrote: »

My dialog is crystal clear.

As is mine....throw in a couple martinis and it starts to sound muffled

wrigley

domflane wrote: »

It would help to know what speakers you are using and the model number of the AVR. I definately say run the auto-calibrate, that should make a huge difference. Depending on how your center stands up to the rest of your speakers, you still might have to manually adjust the level of the center speaker. I had to run my CS10 at about +3 to compete with my RTiA5's.

Polk Monitor 60 fronts
Polk CS2 center
JBL N24 Northridge surround
Polk PSW10 sub
Yamaha RX-V665 AVR

Thanks
Mike

domflane

The CS2 should have no trouble hanging with your Monitor 60's. The YPAO should solve your problems. Try different surround settings on the AVR, you might get a better mix depending on the format. Or you could still always turn the center up if you have to. Hope this helps . . .

Dominic

wutadumsn23

I agree, with that setup you should be rocking out. The sound quality on Blu Ray's is as good as it gets, and it sounds amazing on my rig. Run the Auto Calibration program and try it again.

-Jeff

grif32

Does this happen with all BD's? What BD player do you have? Running the Auto Cal will help but when I ran mine it wasn't that big of improvement and I tweek it some. Where is the center speark? Above TV, Below, Middle? Placement will make a big difference as well.

Do you have the BD player hooked up via HDMI?

TNRabbit

Is your center tweeter blown, or is it bi-ampable and the connectors removed?

McLoki

Could it be placement or room issues?

Is the center channel angled to aim at your ears or is it shooting straight out above your head or into your knees? (should be aimed - can use a rubber doorstop to prop the front or back if needed)

Is it VERY close (within a foot) of a surface like the floor or ceiling? Is there an obstruction between it and your ears? (i.e. - speaker placed low with a large footstool between it and your ears)

Just a thought - it could be more than just a setting...

Michael

tonyb

Run the calibration as others have said. One more thing to check,and I learned the hard way many moons ago,is to make sure the speaker wire connections on both ends do not have any plastic caseing from the wires in the speaker nuts or the receivers nuts,that will definately muffle the sound.

DollarDave

Would wiring his speakers out-of-phase potentially cause this, too?

wrigley

grif32 wrote: »

Does this happen with all BD's? What BD player do you have? Running the Auto Cal will help but when I ran mine it wasn't that big of improvement and I tweek it some. Where is the center speark? Above TV, Below, Middle? Placement will make a big difference as well.

Do you have the BD player hooked up via HDMI?

Sharp BD-HP22U

Center speaker is below the TV

Mike

Conradicles

wrigley wrote: »

My surround speakers are actually right next to my front speakers.

Mike, you should take the time and effort to put these in the correct loactions as well, or just don't use them at all.
Just my $0.02.
Enjoy!:)

grif32

wrigley wrote: »

Sharp BD-HP22U

Center speaker is below the TV

Mike

I had mine below the TV just about floor level due to the stand I had. Then I was able to move it to the middle and it's night and day difference. Do you have it turned upside down? That might help as well.

I am assuming you have everything hooked up via HDMI as well.

domflane

I'm with conradicles here, if you can't put the surrounds in the proper place, then you shouldn't have them hooked up. Being up front will seriously hamper the imaging in your HT. All of the extra noise coming from the front soundstage could be helping to drown out your center a little, although I don't think this is the root of your problem. Check all your connections and make sure the center is wired in phase, remove those surrounds and see what happens . . . let us know,

Dominic

wrigley

domflane wrote: »

I'm with conradicles here, if you can't put the surrounds in the proper place, then you shouldn't have them hooked up. Being up front will seriously hamper the imaging in your HT. All of the extra noise coming from the front soundstage could be helping to drown out your center a little, although I don't think this is the root of your problem. Check all your connections and make sure the center is wired in phase, remove those surrounds and see what happens . . . let us know,

Dominic

I just ran the YPAO setup. It took about 2 mins. The speakers sound very "scratchy" now with the stereo on. I haven't played a BD as of yet.
All the connections are correct on the speakers.

I realize I don't have "true surround sound" because of the placement of my speakers. It wouldn't hurt to remove the 2 small surround speakers (and possibly help the sound?)

Thanks
Mike