It is not you, the sound really is getting worse

Dialogues in movies soundtracks on discs have issues. It’s a well known fact. Most people setting up their home theater systems raise the center channel by 4 to 6 dB. Even regular channels like CNN etc have to be raised accordingly. Added to the problem is the design of a lot of center channel speakers. The two midrange drivers with the tweeter in the middle is not a good design in terms of dialogue clarity. If you are into movies, you need to up the budget for the center channel speaker. I used three identical speakers for left, right and center to good effect in addition to raising the level of the center by 4 dB. 

I rarely go to see a movie.  But last year I had a few hours to kill so I went to one.  I remember thinking to myself, At least one sound system in Kona is worst then mine.  Part of the napkin for my popcorn went into my ears.  Which just lowered the level of the ugly.  

I think all cinemas should install Kenjit speakers. Sound will then be perfect ....

My wife and son are WAY into the Marvel superhero movies.  So, I got roped into going to one of the latest ones, thank god I put yellow squishy
ear plugs in my pocket.  Didn't even last one minute into the coming attractions!  OMG the sheer volume shot lightning through head. Thought maybe they would be more conservative with the main attraction, but it actually got worse.  Those 3M yellow ear plugs have a 29db noise reduction rating by OSHA.  Never again.

Added to the problem is the design of a lot of center channel speakers. The two midrange drivers with the tweeter in the middle is not a good design in terms of dialogue clarity.

@spenav

What? It’s a fine design on-axis. Off-axis depends a little on the crossover slopes. Look up D’Appolito alignment.

Besides the off-axis response, the other issue is their physical location tends to be in a cabinet or on top of a shelf, requiring some EQ compared to their free standing counter-parts.


Everyone knows that modern processors have both automatic room correction and volume compression built-in, right??

Best,

E