Speakers only playing effects, no dialogue

[Prevtzer]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and I already have a problem
At home we have about 10-15 years old Sony hi-fi device and some B&W speakers. Speakers are wired to the hi-fi in next order: 2 as Central A speakers, 2 as rear surround speakers and one as center surround speaker. Now the problem is that the central A speakers never play anything else but just effects (if a person is speaking I can't hear it I can only hear the surroundings). This is particularly annoying because I also have a TV and a DVD player wired into Hi-fi, so if I watch a movie on DVD B&W speakers provide the sound and speakers that are closest to me (thus most important) only play effects/surroundings.

I know that this post is lacking information for you guys to actually give me a solution here, so please tell me: what info do you need.

Thanks a lot,
Urban

 

[yepimonfire]

this is probably due to you not having the center channel hooked up correctly, for the most part, your not going to hear dialouge from the L-R channels, mostly the center the L-R SL-SR are designed for ambiance mostly. i would say check that the center channel is hooked in properly, if the dialogue is too quiet, check and see if the gain of the center channel is set the same as the rest of the speakers, if so, reduce the gain of the left, right and surrounds or increase the gain of the center channel.

and no, you are not supposed to hear the dialouge through the left, right or surrounds unless their is alot of movement on the screen.

 

[Prevtzer]

Hi,

I think I understand what you are saying, it's how it's supposed to be.
But why does the center speaker play everything, dialogue and surroundings? If I set gain of the center speaker too high it is ok when people are just talking, but when "the action is happening" and people are talking their dialogue is not heard well (no matter what gain of other speakers is set to) because it's simply overtaken by the surroundings.

Any idea how to tweak that?

 

[markw]

I think you should re-evaluate how your speaker are connected to the receiver.

You should have five "main" speakers and perhaps a subwoofer. When connected in the correct method for movies, they are:

One center (front) speaker. This generally is where dialog comes from. It should be under/over the television.

Two front right/left speakers. These should be to equidistant to either side of the television and, working in conjunction with the center speaker, produce a coherent front sound-stage. When playing music in stereo, these are the only speakers that work.

Two rear/surround speakers. Like yep said, these generally produce only ambient noise and various positional cues, and sound effects.

The subwoofer rumbles.

If your receiver offers "A" and "B" speaker outputs on the back, my description applis to only the "A" speakers. The "B" speakers are generally only one stereo pair.

You may want to carefully recheck your wiring. The rear of the receiver should be fairly clearly marked but some may not be quite as clear as others.

 

[Prevtzer]

Hi,

we do have 5 speakers (no subwoofer) and they are connected as you say and I now understand how this system is supposed to work because I found complete PDF manual (Type Sony STR DE425 in Google, I can't post links yet) of the Hi-fi. It is nicely pictured in there but the thing is our setup is stupid (that's my opinion) because we have center speaker above the TV as it should be and rear speakers behind the sofa where they should be but the front two speakers are placed in dining room so their sound is pretty much blocked if you are watching TV.
Luckily though this Hi-fi has some sleek options, so if I select Studio C or Pro logic option in surround mode I can then choose between few setting and among them is 3 Ch mode which is meant for a system with only rear and a center speaker and that is pretty much what I am using when watching TV.
I will set it to 3 Channel mode as soon as possible and I will then report the results to you people.

Thanks for answers,
Urban

 

[markw]

The five speakers (and sub, if any) of the "A" set should be in the same room in the configuration stated. Without that, all bets are off.

If you want a pair of stereo speakers in another room, get hold another pair and connect them to the "B" speaker connections.

 

[lsiberian]

Sounds like your center isn't working. You can phantom it if necessary.

 

[markw]

Maybe...

Sounds like your center isn't working. You can phantom it if necessary.

But, from his explanation of his speaker layout, his mains are in a different room. That just might hobble the effectiveness of a phantom mode. Plus, he has a center speaker.

 

[yepimonfire]

the front two speakers are placed in dining room so their sound is pretty much blocked if you are watching TV.
Luckily though this Hi-fi has some sleek options, so if I select Studio C or Pro logic option in surround mode I can then choose between few setting and among them is 3 Ch mode which is meant for a system with only rear and a center speaker and that is pretty much what I am using when watching TV.

that is not going to work like you think it is, but thanks for making me laugh jk sounds like you need a lesson in audio equip. haha. your at the right place.

pro logic creates 4 channels, two fronts, a center, and one rear that is mixed into both the rear speakers, there is no possible way you can use it without the front speakers, also pro logic was originally created for VHS tapes to decode the embedded surround matrix off of them, it doesent work to well for tv, it just makes the BG music go all over the place and it is very center heavy with the rest of it. Pro LogicII works great for TV though, but that would require a new receiver

 

[Prevtzer]

Hey,

so yeah, the speakers are wrongly connected in the first place, if we have them placed like we do Rear should be wired to where Front now is and vice versa.
Can't wait to have my own house where I will be in charge.

 

[yepimonfire]

NO, connect all the speakers to the CORRECT outputs. place them like this or forget using a sound system.

 

[zhimbo]

NO, connect all the speakers to the CORRECT outputs. place them like this or forget using a sound system.

I have to say I can't make heads or tails of how the system is actually laid out - the front speakers, the most important speakers, are in a different room from the TV? If so, there's no mystery why there's some difficulty getting the sound right. You might as well turn the TV upside down and wonder why it's hard to tell what's going on.

Prevtzer: If you can't get something roughly approximating that layout pictured, forget about making a surround system work. Get a good pair of headphones, switch to a simple stereo layout, etc.

I think you're trying to get your surround speakers to do the job of your front speakers AND your center channel as well. If so, you should just admit you're running a 2 channel setup, and arrange things for a 2 channel stereo setup.

 

[Prevtzer]

I understand the concept of surround sound but in this case it just can't be done, I will have to watch TV with TV's own speakers
I don't watch a lot of TV anyway and I am also not home much, but I still wanted to get the most of our system because I think it is not used to its potential at all.

For most of the time I listen to music with my AKG K181 DJ headphones amplified by iBasso D2+ Boa headphone AMP/DAC which is a great combo.
Also, I am planning on buying Sennheiser IE8 headphones, Alo Rx amp and some ultra high quality music player with Wi-fi (something like S:flo2 but with Wi-fi, perhaps still-to-come CoWon J3...).

Thanks for your answers.

 

[njedpx3]

Some Ideas

Prevtzer,

Sorry you are having problems, i know how frustrating that can be. I looked up you manual http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=STRDE425 and you should be able to play dailogue through the center speaker.

On page15, on the Pro-Logic or C Studio setup fro center channel there are several options : I would select "Normal" since you have a center channel connected. You can send a test tone from you remote that willl give you and idea of the SPL (Sound Pressure Level = loudness) of the center channel.

However, to verify that you center channel amp is not bad try the "Phantom" setting. It redirects the center "dialog" to the front L /R speakers. If this provides good dialog sound, then your center channel amp is not working properly.

I know you are not considering replacing, but it might be a prudent move to have your Sony AVR have a tune-up checkup to make sure everything is working as it is supposed too.

Good Luck and welcome to Audioholics.

Peace and Good Sound!

Forest Man

 

[Prevtzer]

Hey,
I think I mentioned that center speaker actually plays everything, the thing is that dialogue gets lost when there is a lot going on around.

Thank you all for your answers,
this thread is complete

 

[yepimonfire]

You might as well turn the TV upside down and wonder why it's hard to tell what's going on.

HAHAHAHAHA! that made my day. im sure you can get plenty out of your sound system if you want to use it for music, place the whole system in another room where you will have the space to set all of it up, and hook an ipod or something up to it.