Very frustrated. At least for now. (1 Viewer)

[Luis M]

I must say from the start that my frustration lies with the DTS-ES and dolby ex sound on my system, I must confess that the placement of my back surround speaker is not the proper one, but here is What I found. I own a Denon 3801 which I love for its exeptional sound. Yesterday I connected a back surround speaker to take advantage of movies with DTS-ES and DOLBY digital EX sound. the speaker is placed in the same wall between my left and right surround speakers slightly higher and facing down, knowing that this is not the proper place but with no space, I had no options. But what I found was a thinner sound when the back surround speaker was engaged, not that it sounded bad, but it was to my ears not as big a sound, In all cases the sound was always fuller and showed more depth with the 5.1 than the 6.1 mode, specially on soundtracks with instruments like the violins which really
soared in 5.1 versus 6.1. Some special effects sounded better on with the 6.1 configuration but always sacrifycing sweetness and separation in the sound.
Could it be that the Denon 3801 is chikening out when more
power is being drained from it or is it the placement of the speaker? Maybe I need to move to a bigger place. My system is calibrated with the Radio Shack meter and movies like Toy Story 2,The Hunting and Gladiator were used. Thank you.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Thanks for relating this. Very interesting.
Where are you sitting, right between the right and left speakers? If so, you may be getting some interesting stereo imaging effects from 5.1 that would be completely negated by the 6.1 setup. Note: you'd not be getting "good accurate imaging", but inaccurate imaging that would tend to make things sound more "open" and "full".
This would make the 5.1 sound better as you are experiencing, just as using no center channel speaker and setting your receiver to "phantom" mode would sound better for a 5.1 system, but only for the person sitting in the sweet spot.
------------------
Philip Hamm
AIM: PhilBiker
[Edited last by Philip Hamm on July 13, 2001 at 09:59 PM]

 

[Luis M]

Philip, I am sitting exactly between left and right, where I always watch and listen to my movies. I should note that my main speakers are ten year old soundwave Soliloquy which sound great with music and I felt gave me a more natural, effortless sound to movies too since they have a huge soundstage, but these speakes are five sided speakers with not one but two sides facing the listener. Each side has a tweeter and woofer and I was wondering if these speakers could be creating the effect. The other speakers I had were also floor speakers (JBL) they sounded great but you could tell te sound was coming from (PINPOINT) them, while the soundwaves create an incredible open sound. Thank you for your time and interest, your information has been very helpfull. Thank you. Luis.