Dialogue with Polk RMS 6700 is muffled.. any ideas? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Chomicz]

I have the H/K 330 with the polk audio rms 6700 sats and velodyne subwoofer. I used the H/K auto set up to sync and balance the speakers. I have receiver x-over at 140 on all and sometimes I push the x-over to 200 on the center. Size is small.

The sound is great but regardless of the crossover the dialogue in DVD's is difficult to understand.

I have resorted to turning subtitles on to understand the dialogue.

Any suggestions on what I can do to improve the dialogue?

Be seeing you,

-steve

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Steve,

You could try a different (or better) center channel speaker. However, keep in mind, this could throw things off in regards to timbre. But, if the dialogue is not good now, it can only get better.

Do you have a friend that would let you borrow their center channel speaker for a few movies? You could then see if things improve with your system. If it does, then you could go forward with purchasing a new center channel speaker that handles movies a bit better.

Another thing you could look into with your current setup - is to ensure the positive/negative wires are connected properly for this channel (at the receiver end & speaker end).

Finally, you mentioned that you "balanced" the speakers. I'm assuming that the center level was adjusted the same as the front L&R speakers. If this is the case, you could boost the level of the center channel speaker to determine if this clears up the dialogue a bit.

Best of luck!

 

[Alex F.]

Steve:

I assume that the receiver's setup menu was not set accidentally to "off," "none," or "phantom mode." If all is OK in this regard, as Wayne suggested manually increase the receiver's center-channel volume level. Set the receiver's crossover to 140 Hz to start (200 Hz may be too high, as that could remove a noticeable part of the vocal range, but let your ears be the judge).

Physically tilt the center speaker up or down so it is aimed directly at ear height when sitting. If it is located on top of a television, align it with the front edge of the TV or so it hangs a bit over the front edge of the TV (to minimize reflections from the television cabinet, which can muddy the sound).

Happy listening!

 

[Steve Chomicz]

Thanks Wayne and Alex for the advice.

I moved the center speaker forward more and increased the volume on it vs the L/R sats. Apparently, the H/K easysetup set the center channel volume lower than the volume for the L/R sats

I also changed the x-over from 200 to 100hz on C/L/R.

The end result is that the dialogue sounds clearer and the surround sound effect from L/R has more depth.

I am going to experiment with trying a different x-over for the L/R than the Center to see if it sounds any cleaner.

Be seeing you

-steve

 

[Alex F.]

Good news.

Be aware that if you utilize too low a crossover frequency you could induce driver overload on loud passages. The "woofers" in the satellites and center speaker are rather small and will reveal audible volume limits if asked to reproduce too much upper bass at louder levels. When it begins to distort, you'll know it--and quickly reduce the volume to avoid speaker damage!

I'm glad the primary problem has been solved.

Enjoy!