They probably have their seats pushed right back against the back wall. Many, many people have their couch or chairs positioned that way. It destroys dialogue intelligibility due to the very strong reflection off of the wall directly behind the listeners' heads.
Pull the seating forward, even just 2 feet or more, and the sound changes dramatically! Add some acoustic treatments to the back wall, and it improves even more
People so often blame poor quality audio on the wrong things. They blame the speakers. They blame the recordings. In reality, it's most often the room acoustics and positioning of the seat and speakers!