Is this a receiver or speaker problem? (1 Viewer)

[MeghanA]

I THINK I've got this in the right forum, if not hopefully it will be moved by a kindly mod.
I noticed about 6 months ago (and completely by accident) that I was getting not-great quality sound from my HT. Mostly what I noticed was that upon putting a recently watched DVD into my laptop (with it's crappy built in speakers,) the dialog was HEAPS clearer than when I'd watched it on the full stereo system. Now after watching the LOTR trilogy last weekend, I had some nasty static anytime I adjusted the volume with my remote, and ended up turning closed-captioning on twice to figure out what someone was saying because the overall sound (especially dialog) was so indistinct.
So, my question is this-I know it's not the DVD player or audio cable, as I've upgraded those in the last couple months. Which means the fuzzy audio is due to either the reciever (Sony DE835-one of the few remaining that hasn't self-destructed, from what I've heard,) the speakers (5.1 in box Sony VE505-I think,) or possibly just a bad optical port on the receiver. Help, advice, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This equipment is nearing 5 years old, and everything else has been upgraded, so I wouldn't mind replacing either one, I'd just like to know which to replace first. Thanks. Meghan.
Edit-I've also replaced all the speaker wire in the process of moving the system since I first noticed the problem, so it shouldn't be a bad connection at one end of one wire.

 

[Ivan P]

I am not expert, but the 90% of the dialog comes from the center speaker, so start with that.

 

[Johnny_M]

when you adjust the speaker volume and you hear static, thats gotta be your receiver. especially if you hear it from each speaker. is it just the center speaker giving you trouble? if so you may want to swap that speaker temporarily with 1 of your mains to see if its clearer, you maybe just have to replace 1 speaker.


Johnny

 

[MeghanA]

Well, changing the center speaker seems to have helped at least some. I just swapped it with a surround for now. I didn't really think of trying that sooner because all the speakers are the same. Guess it's time to look into a new center speaker for now and replace the front and surrounds over the next few months.
The static seems to mainly come from the center channel, and it's almost unnoticeable since I changed the speakers. Perhaps I haven't gotten the speaker quite far enough from the new TV, since the speakers are all unshielded.
Thanks for your help. Meghan.

 

[Johnny_M]

glad you figured it out, as far as i know having a speaker to close to the tv wont hurt the speaker. the magnet in the speaker can damage your tv tho. more than likely the speaker just blew. probably not the first casualty of the lord of the rings movies.

happy upgrade hunting!


Johnny