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Problem with speakers....

I have the following setup:

Mitsubishi M-VR400 Receiver
Bose AM-5 Series 2 2 sattelites and passive sub (sub doesnt get much power from the receiver)
Sony SA-WM40 active sub
Polk Monitor CS-100 center channel

My problem:

I cannot get a good equilization of center channel and satellites, it seems I can either get one or the other. Even if I turn the center channel all the way down when it is on It still kills the bose. Depending on what stereo mode I have the receiver in will determine what speakers get the power. I cannot get both speakers to match up good. Now I am new to home audio. Is the center channel supposed to be very weak? If not what do you think my problem could be, do I have an impedence problem between the center and the front speakers? Is my receiver just that bad? What suggestions do you have. My receiver can do the following modes:

Center channel modes:
Phantom quiet center channel
Normal and Wideband bose are real quiet

Surround Mode
Bypass (all bose, no center mode settings allowed)
Pro Logic (Center Mode
3 stereo (No phantom mode)
Hall (all bose, no center mode settings allowed)

I had a heck of a time trying to get that bose sub to produce anything, I ended up using an ancient Pioneer SA-7500 II amp to power it, That got old trying to match volumes so I gave up and bought the Sony sub. I am hoping there is something that can be done for cheap or free to fix this, but I think I am going to have to buy something, arent I? If so what are your suggestions on a budget? Now I know most of you will say "Ditch those bose, they are teribble...." Yeah I know they arent the best, but I got them and the polk center channel for free, so to me they are awesome!
commissar
4 responses Add your response
phild
603 posts
 
I don't know enough about HT to tell you what's up with your sub, but I'd guess that you're having issues with the sat/center speakers because they're two different brands, two different designs, and probably two different efficiency levels. You should normally try to match speakers in such a set up.
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
If you can't ditch the bose then move them to the rear and get two more polks for the front.
eldulcesol
197 posts
 
You have to match the speaker effiency up front. Bose cube speakers are only good with Bose. If you like the Bose, get the Bose vt center, another cube or try the single driver speaker. Look for a Bose outlet center or a Circuit City. While at CC, check out the Polks, you might find an open box there for under a $100 a pair. This would probably match up better with your Sony sub and center speaker. If this does not work out for you, take advatage of the 30 day return policy.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
For what it's worth..killing the Bose is a good thing.

Except for some discrete multichannel recordings, the center channel is far and away the most important, and having it flanked by lesser speakers is not unreasonable.
If you analyse the typical stereo recording you will find that the signals are mostly "common mode" (the same in both channels). This L + R signal is located in the center of the sound field whether you have a center channel speaker or just stereo speakers with good imaging.
If your receiver won't cut the center channel volume or boost the L and R channels enough to satisfy you, you can cut the center channel more by using a speaker volume "L-Pad" that you can pick up at Radio Shack for a few dollars. After determining where the L-pad needs to be set (with your receiver's level adjustments near center) you might want to replace the L-pad with a couple of fixed value resistors.
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