I've got a weak link somewhere...

[micro9mm]

I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem that I have with my HT, and I have a few ideas but I just watned to get some input from people who really know what they're talking about, as while I enjoy great sound, I'm no expert.

Here's my equipment:
Receaver: Pioneer VSX-D412 (aprox 5 year old 5.1 ch)
Front: Athena Tech AS-F2-1
Center: Polk CSi30
Surround: Athena AS-R1s
Sub: Athena (don't recall model)

So on to my problem: when I play movies, dialogue is sometimes hard to understand or just sounds generally bad. The first thing that came to mind is that the center channel isn't the same brand as my other speakers so it doesn't "match"? But all of this equipment is like 5 years old and isn't "cheep", at least around $200 per piece, and in the past I do not remember having this problem. I suppose it could be that I've grown to be more sensitive to poor sounding audio.

Another option that I came up with is that the receiver is doing a poor job of sound mixing? Or maybe it's dieing? I don't know if that even makes sense so hopefully you guys who know what your talking about will straighten me out if that sounds silly. The reason I was thinking this is sometimes when I run into a particularly bad sounding movie, I switch the receiver "modes" or whatever they call them, from like DD 5.1 the receiver's own "advanced surround" which has presets like "movie", "music" and so forth, and these sound a little better. Sometimes I even switch it to stereo to get it to sound a little better.

The last Idea I came up with is that my speakers are arranged poorly?
Looks like I can't post pics b/c of low post count, so I'll have to describe. I pretty much have to have the TV in the corner b/c of air vent placements on the floor on one side and the other wall isn't big enough for my couch. This results in the TV on a stand, and the front speakers not really able to point straight out like they would if it were all on 1 wall. also there's no place to put the center channel except under the TV, so it's very low to the ground. Could this be a problem?

I'd be thrilled if you guys point me in the right direction, if its a bad receiver or potentially a new/better center channel speaker, some tips on make/models would be greatly appreciated!

 

[GlocksRock]

Have you level matched all your speakers? If not, I would start by doing that, get a sound level meter from radioshack and calibrate your speakers.

 

[selden]

I can think of a couple of possibilities.

1. The speaker is damaged: either the tweeter is blown or there's something physically wrong with it.

Try listening to the speaker up close (with the volume turned down!) to make sure sound actually is coming from it's tweeter. Also, inspect it visually to see if the surface of the drivers might be cracked or otherwise damaged. (You'll need to remove the external cloth cover, if there is one. Some people like to leave it off entirely.)

2. The speaker isn't pointed up toward the listening position.

High frequencies tend to sound best if the tweeter is pointed toward the listener. Since the speaker is near the floor, it needs to be tilted slightly up so it points to the listener's ears.

 

[AVRat]

Sounds like a combination of things; center mismatch, center placement/positioning, speakers' sound balance, room issues.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I would want the matching center speaker but many people have mismatched systems that perform very well so...


First, make sure all your speakers are in good working order.

Second, Read up at http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines and make sure everything is placed and set properly.

Third, Come back here and let us know how you made out.


Oh, If you find your center is the problem you could always go without it. ("phantom center") Just disable it in your receiver.

Good Luck,
Doug

 

[sasay1980]

hope you can find the problem soon.