Have tried toe-in or toe out? Try tilting the speakers back slightly so they are firing higher.
Bass traps or acoustic panels behind speakers or in corners can absorb low frequencies.
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Same here!
most all movies, the speech is low in the movie, we. Have to turn up the tv volume to hear what they are saying, yet car chases, or explosions, window breaking noise is so loud, we turn it down, then back up to hear speech.
On ALL our Netflix, Disney, the tv cable company extras, etc is like this.
Using our DVD player, it is much better.
wish there were speaker jacks on the tv, but there is not.
Our speakers are nice and warm tone also, but don’t use my 2 ch. for movies often, only for good movies.
Good luck! |
That is called dynamic range. THX set the standard 105dB and since almost all movies are mastered to be played back like this and since nobody wants to hear dialog at 105dB it winds up being way down in the mix. You can hear it just fine with a fine rig, but pretty much everyone else is gonna be turning the volume up and down.
Probably your speakers are back against a wall, that is both huge bass reinforcement as well as midrange muddling. Pull them out, toe them in, and soon as you are able please, please, please look into replacing the AVR. That one thing right there will muddle your dialog like you won't believe.
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Dynamic range has nothing to do with it. Judging by what you are saying you have too much in the 200 to 300 Hz area and not enough between 3000 and 8000 Hz. The only accurate way to see what is going on is to measure the system with a calibrated microphone and matching computer program. But, you have to have some way to EQ the system,
like a DEQX unit. Bass is accentuated with speakers in corners and against the wall. Pulling them away from corners and the walls may help. Also check to make sure your tweeters are working. They blow easily.
I have never watched a movie or TV show and had problems understanding the speech. Perhaps someone in your area has a calibrated mic? Where do you live? |
Without having enough info of your speakers positioning i would suggest to move them a bit forward in the room and try to get them a bit closer together. From there you can listen if you want more toe in or not.
As you do not have a sub and you receiver has basic eq features you can only play with speaker placement for getting a more enjoyable sound for both music and theatre. |
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see if I can move them further from the wall, and closer to each other.
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The Totems are really warm and have surprising bass depth, but when watching movies, dialogue never sounds as sharp as it should. You’ve just got fat lower mids, which takes away from the diction of the speech. Use the audio or bass/treble adjustment on the Onkyo and take the audio off movie and onto music/speech if it has it, or drop the bass a little with the EQ and this will bring up the "sharpness" of the speech. Or bring the speakers well out from any walls, this also will fatten up the lower mids with excess bass Cheers George |
Try tilting them up so the mid-woofer is firing at your head.
If that's hard to do, as an experiment, put them on their side and try the same thing. if that works for you then you know you need to put them on stands that tilt them.
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In 5.1 get a better center where the dialogue is at. A simple compander helps like a dBx 117 or 119.
It's easier to optimize with seperate systems for A & V. |
Can't understand the words? You're just getting old |
Post a pic of your set up. |
Can't understand the words? You're just getting old I resemble that remark! |
Try speaker placement options 1st. Then might try a Schiit Loki. It is a 4 band equalizer. Can help with taming the lower bass and boost mid frequencies. If you have record in/out jacks can be switch in and out of signal path using monitor button. |
@mijostyn: I'm in Spain. If you're in the neighborhood and you've got a calibrated mic, let me know!
@millercarbon: how do you feel about the Marantz NR1200? |
I ran into something similar to this a couple years ago. A friend said he had trouble hearing the dialogue of his movies. When he turned up the volume, everything got louder. The voices were still lower.
Went to his home and took a listened. CD, AUX/ipod In and FM worked okay. After I got the speaker connections in phase, better. Popped in a DVD and yes, dialogue was softer muffled mush. He had set the DVD Audio to 7.1. "I want the best...." ?Best? I set the audio to 2 channel stereo. Wallah. I drew him a picture of what 3,5 and 7.1 meant. Most of the dialogue goes to the center channel. "You don't have one of them".
I don't know about your bottom end problem. I wasn't focusing on that. But I could imagine turning up the volume make it atrocious. |
jmk2, I live across the pond. Calibrated mics are very common. People who set up systems and theaters use them all the time. Some audio stores might have them. They are not all that expensive. You can get a USB mic for $75 US with a basic program for a PC and get an accurate picture.
It may be your room causing problems or combination of speaker and room. But, the higher frequencies delineate speech (2 to 8 kHz) and the lower midrange frequencies muddy it (200-300 Hz). Make sure your tweeters are working. Trial and error is not the greatest way to go about things. It can be very frustrating. Another option is to get an inexpensive equalizer. 12 bands will do. |
