OP: ATV X - had no idea this existed, just assumed you were referring to ATV. Within Audyssey do you have Dynamic EQ enabled? Any offset? Experimenting with this setting helped after my last calibration.
Optimized Center Channel
Many years ago, I bought a seven channel AV receiver and speakers and voila! home theatre. No matter that my room layout is far from optimal or the equipment was more mainstream than high end. Pop in a Blu-Ray and the system came to life. My system is now 7.2.4 with very good electronics, and despite technology improvements and investment in better equipment, my home theatre experience leaves me wanting just a bit. Don’t get me wrong, my system is very, very good, and I can hear Atmos at work much of the time, albeit limited by the audio track and ability of my processor to enhance it. However, it’s not like sitting in an IMAX theatre and having your visual and auditory senses titillated. But hey—my space isn’t the best and can’t change, my screen does not go from wall to wall, and I don’t have megawatts going into mega speakers and subwoofers placed all around the listening space to bombard me.
As DVDs have effectively disappeared, my HT entertainment is brought into my home via streaming. I attempted to maximize the process with ethernet to fiber converters, a high-end network switch, a highly modified Apple TV-X streaming box, and quality electronics and cables. Not the best money can buy (that’s not me or my budget) but pretty darned good.
HT constitutes 85% of my entertainment time, the remainder is audio. The audio side of my house has dramatically improved since I first dipped my toe into those waters. My latest and hopefully one of the last improvements on the audio side is a new amplifier, a Coda 16, which replaced a McIntosh MC152. I really enjoyed the Mac, but the Coda is another level altogether (at triple the price, it better be). The clarity, soundstage and power of the Coda puts a smile on my face every time I sit down for a listen. It has also added considerable weight, punch and presence to my HT experience driving the front L/R speakers. The dramatic improvement on the audio side made me wonder…
My hearing is nowhere near what it used to be, actors don’t enunciate, I watch too many shows from the UK (I suspect the problem is reversed when they watch American shows) and the dialog is not optimally recorded. As a result, I have subtitles on all the time. Surely there is a better way. Thus, and finally, my question to you in the Audigon HT community: how to overcome the dialog dilemma. Is a dedicated high-end/ audio quality amplifier to drive the all-important center channel the answer? My Marantz AV10 processor is by no means shabby, but do the Storms, Trinnovs or Lyngdorfs of the world smooth dialog’s rough edges? My center speaker is a Focal Kanta 2 connected to one of the three 300-watt outputs on an Emotiva XPA-11 Gen 3 amplifier.
I appreciate learning how others live with, or have overcome, the dialog issue. Thanks for your time and input,
Robert
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I had the same problem with muddy dialog when streaming. (I have Focal Aria926 mains and the matching Aria center channel.) These three changes helped a lot: 1. I purchased an EtherRegen to reclock the digital signal going to the Apple TV. There are other switch boxes on the market that do the same. 2. If you can, use Dirac to do EQ and impulse response correction. Even better, check the speaker responses with REW and if your AVR alllows it, adjust the speaker distances to time align the IRs. 3. Maybe not relevant to you, but I purchased a McIntosh MX200 AV processor and the SQ from this device is excellent. Good luck! |
@toro3 , the ATVX is amazing in many ways. It is an ATV on steroids at a premium price. I thought myself nuts for getting it, and was unhappy early on. It took a while to come into its own (4 weeks) and I've come to accept it as a welcome enhancement rather than transformative. Night and day better? No; more like afternoon to evening, but better. Worth the price of admission? That answer is subjective and in the eyes and ears of the beholder. There are many users that say yes. My response is, "Yes, I suppose so." I've had Marantz products for over 10 years, and am fairly familiar with Audyssey. Yes, Dynamic EQ is enabled, Cinema EQ is not. I played considerably with offset, have it set at zero now, as I found that sounded best. For a pittance I downloaded Secrets of Audyssey, which I find to be a good resource. @drkenl , only with this iteration of the Marantz has Dirac become available. I had it on an Arcam AVR that I owned for a short while and found it cumbersome. It has improved since, so I await their Black Friday sale to save 25% on the purchase, as the cost of the software has increased considerably. It also requires an omnidirectional microphone, and that price has increased 50% thanks to tariffs. Ugh. As to the digital signal, I have fiber converters from ethernet on my router to my Network Acoustics Tempus switch, with an NA Eno2 filter between it and the ATVX. I invested in that switch to get more bang for my network buck, and I felt the system sound improved in both home theatre and audio when it was added. Could my network setup be better? No doubt, but here I am. When I looked at upgrading this last time, I considered the McIntosh M170 and M180, which include desirable Lyngdorf aspects, but even buying used, the price stopped me in my tracks. The new Marantz is no slouch and will have to do for now. |
@gkelly , I was similarly shocked when I put my front speakers on Isoacoustics feet; I could not believe the improvement. A separate stand just won't cut it in my space, and my AV rack is from years gone by. Convincing my wife that we need a new one to better place the equipment she already despises is a hard sell on a good day. Now if she were to go away for a few days and I got a suitable replacement in the same color, maybe she wouldn't notice... |
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