Need someone to take a look at my set-up

Hey,

First off, I would like to say I am not an audiophile, but love to watch DVD's and listen to music. Here is the main room set-up:

Denon AVR-3805 Cinema Amplifier
Atlantic Technology IWTS-20LCR THX in-wall speakers were used for FL C FR.
Atlantic Technology ICTS-8.3 in-ceiling trimode speakers were selected for CL CR RL RR
REL Stampede subwoofer
QED cables

Basically, I have a great set-up but I don't get that "Dolby Surround" experience. A worrying note is that I use the Pioneer DV-575A DVD Player and on the screen is says "2.1/0 sound" when I know that the DVD is encoded in 5.1. I always tend to use the "7ch Stereo" on the amp because it sounds best, which is disappointing because it is not true surround sound.

I feel that the amps were not set up correctly. I was wondering if anyone knows of a company in the U.K. that could come and correctly calibrate my set-up. I don't want any modification of my rooms, just someone with a great ear to spend the day tweaking it to its best potential.


Help greatly appreciated!

Switch the soundfield on your remote to Standard or Cinema. How is your DVD player connected to your 3805? You need a coax or toslink connection. You also need to select 5.1 in the language area of the dvd setup screen before you start watching the movie.

Sharp,
You'll also need to go into your DVD player setup menu(with no disc in the tray) and manually activate Dolby Digital and DTS on your player with your initial setup. Otherwise, it will only output 2-channel audio regardless of the source. It sounds like you have not completed the initial DVD player configuration yet. You'll also want to select 16:9 as your DVD player default aspect ratio, etc...etc... and all that stuff.

And like Buckeyefan noted, you'll want to make sure your connecting the player via an optica cable or digcoax. Once all that is complete, I make it a habit to always go to each dvd audio setup/language menu before starting the movie to make sure I selected the best sountrack possible. Some older DVDs will use 2.0 as the default, and you'll need to manually choose the 5.1 soundtrack. In the case of DTS movies, DD is usually the default soundtrack, and you'll need to manually opt for the DTS track for that specific DVD.