Hi,

I have a HTPC hooked up to a Onkyo 505E Receiver. The HTPC is not modifying the audio, it is sending it straight via SPDIF/Optical.

I am finding with a lot of DVDs and TV etc that I watch the speech is difficult to understand unless the volume is quite high. It seems to get droned out by other sounds.

I used the provided microphone to setup the Onkyo, and i'm sure it sounds as it should, however if possible I would like to change a setting so that the speech/voices are clearer/easier to make out.

I'm not an audio person, so any advice is greatly apreciated - i assume i may need to change the equalizer or similar?

Thanks in advance,

rhysevans

1) where is your center speaker located and aimed?

2) have you tried re-running the setup? sometimes extraneous noise, etc. can cause some problems.

Centre speaker is just under the TV and aimed directly at the sofa (2m away)

If it makes any difference, the speakers are KEF 2005.1v2

I guess I could re-run the setup and see if that helps. However the setup is probably fine, it is liekly it sounds exactly as the director intended, but for me, without having the volume quite high, i find speech can be drowned out sometimes by the other ambient sounds in the film/tv show. I have tried increasing the volume/level of the centre speaker, whcih seems to help a bit.

Centre speaker is just under the TV and aimed directly at the sofa (2m away)

If it makes any difference, the speakers are KEF 2005.1v2

I guess I could re-run the setup and see if that helps. However the setup is probably fine, it is liekly it sounds exactly as the director intended, but for me, without having the volume quite high, i find speech can be drowned out sometimes by the other ambient sounds in the film/tv show. I have tried increasing the volume/level of the centre speaker, whcih seems to help a bit.

There are quite a few reasons why this might be. First, don't assume that since you ran the auto setup its probably fine. Fact is, these auto EQ systems frequently get things wrong. I am not alone in having it happen to me on several occasions. The first thing I would do is to rerun the setup. Also, check to see if it set your speakers correctly. Again, auto EQ frequently will set up speakers as large when in reality they should be set to small and will also set the crossover incorrectly. You may need to change these things manually, even if the EQ is OK. You have a sub so your speakers should be set to small with crossovers usually set to 80Hz. Check and see. Also, the room plays a large part. If you have hardwood floors, no room treatments, bare walls, lots of windows and/or glass doors, openings, etc. this could well cause your issue. Put some rugs down, place heavy curtains over windows and glass doors, better yet place some room treatments if you can. You can also turn down the gain on the surround speakers if you must. Get a laser pointer and place in on top of your center channel speaker and make sure that it is aimed at where your ears will be when seated on the couch, not just at the couch. You need to do some trial and error and see if you can get around your issue. Again, first thing you should do is rerun the auto EQ and make sure that the house is dead quiet and that you place the mic in as many locations as you can. And it always could be that home theater systems in a box are notorious for having issues. Good luck.

Thanks! I'll makes some changes - i think trial and error is required!

Also,get a small mirror and slide it on the back wall until you see one of the front left,front right and center.this will help to fine a reflection point.mark a dot on that spot were you see the speaker in the mirror.I'll give a link that tells you how to fix reflections in your room.http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_4/feature-article-acoustic-treatment-methods-and-materials-12-2004-part-1.html
reflections also cause bad dialog/sound from your speakers.


good luck :)