Crossover & Equalizer Settings for Improved Movie Dialog

[Jimt1000]

Ok, many thanks for the detailed input. I arrived at my ranch this evening and took a few pics of the great room where the system is installed. What these pictures shows is the 80" Curved Samsung TV with the B&W Center speaker above it and the left and right speakers accordingly mounted, left and right, of the TV. I do have the center speaker mounted to the wall, but angled down to point directly to the listening area. The left and right speakers are also mounted to the wall, angled down, but not as much as the center speaker. I hope these pictures illustrate the conditions. The fact of the matter is that the entire space was designed from an architectural standpoint, not an acoustic or Home AV standpoint. So, for music when we have big parties with 20+ people, it sounds great in All Channel Stereo (recall that I have a 7.2 system). I'm hoping that I can improve the movie dialog for evening movie watching by adjusting the equalizer and, perhaps, the crossover as I've described herein this post. Many thanks again for the guidance and input. Regards, jft

 

[Jimt1000]

Oh, and BTW, as a PS, I can't move things around in terms of the position of the speakers. They are where they are. Again, for architectural reasons. That's why I'm hoping I can improve the movie dialog sound via the manipulation of the equalizer settings and perhaps the crossover too. Thanks, jft

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd stick to the eq settings. That's a big room and not very good acoustically it appears. Still doubt the crossover is an issue. Could simply be the soundtracks' mixing, too in comparison to your volume settings....some dialog isn't as forthright as some expect.

 

[ellisr63]

Have you thought of or tried room treatments.... I the past my experience was that it improved intelligibility.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Jimt1000]

Good suggestions. Thanks. I’m going to start off with the equalizer settings on the Center speaker and see what happens. I realize it will never be an ideal acoustic situation. I’d just like it to be clear and intelligible. Regards, jft

 

[lovinthehd]

Good suggestions. Thanks. I’m going to start off with the equalizer settings on the Center speaker and see what happens. I realize it will never be an ideal acoustic situation. I’d just like it to be clear and intelligible. Regards, jft

Not just eq, but experiment with level on the center, too

 

[Jimt1000]

Agreed. Got it. Jft

 

[TLS Guy]

Agreed. Got it. Jft

I doubt you will improve that with Eq, and may well make it a lot worse.

There are just too many rules broken.

It is an above fireplace installation which is very bad. The system to too high, and all the speakers are against a hard stone wall. In addition the speakers are all far too close together, causing massive comb filtering issues.

One thing you could try is to move the right and left speakers 7 to 8 ft or more apart.

If you can't do that, then I would get rid of the center speaker. I think it would sound a lot better without it given the current layout.

I can't let you down more gently, but that is a system that should NEVER have seen the light of day. That is a pity as it is pretty good gear.

I'm in the middle of a new house build as we just sold out lake home.

My wife wants "her system" as discreet as possible in the min level great room. This will be a secondary system. These type of systems are not as easy as they look.

This is the system so far.

Note that the system is not above the fireplace, but to one side of it.

The tweeters are optimal at 36" above the floor, and the tweeters of the right and left speakers just over 7' apart. I have designed the speakers as in walls from the ground up. Even so, I fully anticipate that the computer modelling will not be perfect and that the speakers will need additional voicing after completion based on measurements and listening.

The bottom line is that these type of system look simple and straightforward, but in reality they are anything but.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

How can you hear anything with all those animals staring at you?

Maybe the issue is psychological.

But SERIOUSLY, just increase the Center Channel Level to a volume that SUITS your preference. Don’t worry about “right and wrong” here. Don’t be shy. Just increase the Center Speaker Channel Level.