Good point. For me, I have noticed on big action movies, that the dialog is hard to understand with my 5.1 A/V system - all separates.... For some reason, I have to dial up the db level on the center speaker vs the other speakers. Note: my two channel music system is in a separate room from my A/V system, and for music there is no comparison.
Re-Appreciating Good Audio
Recently I retired a lower-end AV receiver in favor of an older, but still wonderful, Luxman 505u integrated amplifier I had. The problem with the AV receiver: it's good enough for movie or TV audio and handles 5.1 surround-type sound, but for audio proper it's just plain terrible.
By replacing it with the Luxman the entire sound system in the room improved by some orders of magnitude. Even if I lost the back channels and center channel -- I've never liked either all that much anyway -- the return to audiophile-grade 2.1 audio has been downright liberating. And I should mention that movies and TV actually sound much, much better on this 2.1 system than they ever did with the AV receiver. (It wasn't a bad product by any means, just a lower-end Marantz with distinctly mediocre audio-only performance.)
Just a reminder that, even if audiophilia can get kind of weird sometimes, there's an inner core of truth to it. Good gear, tuned for musical reproduction of audio, beats the jack-of-all-trades aspect of so many AV receivers with their plethora of gizmos and features.
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Streaming Video: YouTube Music Videos; The Voice; American Idol, Award Shows ,,,,,,,Try AVR ’Direct’, or force 2 Channel Stereo Mode. There is a lot of Pseudo Surround, I don’t know who is doing what. My small home theater, Sony Dolby 5,1 AVR, I often change the settings to 2 channel stereo and the imaging slams to the front, and the AVR sounds better. True 5.1 Sources, DVDs, Blu-Rays, Jurassic Park, Black Hawk Down, Movies, 5.1 can be awesome. Your main Front L and R need to be decent size full range, mine have 10" woofers, if you rely on subs with small fronts, 2 channel stereo might be easier to understand the dialog, but not great sound. These are specifically designed so you can sit off-center and still experience L/C/R Imaging. https://www.hifi-classic.net/review/dbx-soundfield-100-135.html |
I use a "Jack-of-all-trades" high-end Marantz AV8802 Pre-Processor for almost all my listening and home viewing. I have a much cheaper Marantz NR1510 in my motorhome, and my partner has gone slightly up with a Marantz NR1720. We deliberately do not use a centre speaker because our main speakers have very good imaging (KEF) and we want to avoid the multiple comb-filter effects of too many front drivers. As @elliottbnewcombjr says, switch the sound to Pure Direct if you have that option. You will have to recalibrate after removing the centre channel, but that is supported on all our Marantz units. I use the same set-up for 2-channel analogue and CD playback, as well as multi-channel SACD and Pure Audio Blu-ray (including Dolby Atmos). |
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