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Topic:
Rear Surround Sound Speaker Volume Low
This thread has 18 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Monday August 23, 1999 at 15:35
J.R.
Historic Forum Post
Anyone,
while rewiring my speakers I noticed the volume from the rear pair was very low, compared to the front and center speakers. I played with the receiver setups until the rear speakers worked on "stereo" mode. Is this normal? I would think the rear speaker volume would be noticeable at all times. A friend also noticed the same effect, thinking his receiver is defective. Is there a method to test each speker individually? Comments?
Thanks,
J.R.
OP | Post 2 made on Monday August 23, 1999 at 19:41
Bevan
Historic Forum Post
From what you wrote, it maybe as simple as you getting the + and - wrong when you rewired the speakers, or it may not.

Rear speakers volume do not necessary have to be noticeable at all times. Some movies have a '5.1' soundtrack, but may not have many effects coming from the rear, nor do they necessary have to be loud.

If you're really fussy about this, then get a Sound Level Meter to measure it. Put your receiver into one of the test modes, which sends out white noise through the front and back speakers. You can then measure that all the output volume are the same, or make adjustments to make them the same.

I'm not sure what you mean by "until the rear speakers worked on stereo mode". When your amp is in stereo mode, the rear and centre speakers are not used.
OP | Post 3 made on Tuesday August 24, 1999 at 22:46
Bryan
Historic Forum Post
As the last replier has mentioned the best thing to do is put your reciever in Pro-logic mode and press Test Tone ( white noise), and make sure your levels are balanced though out. As for 5.1 sound track this will only be heard if you are running in Dolby Digital. (IE, a DVD Player)
OP | Post 4 made on Wednesday August 25, 1999 at 00:31
Bevan
Historic Forum Post
J.R.

Get 'Video Essentials' to tune your equipment. I've used it whenever I suspect that my equipment is 'not quite right', to verify that the settings are still the same.

It will let you test and set everything individually, including the subwoofer.
OP | Post 5 made on Wednesday August 25, 1999 at 19:38
Daniel Nguyen
Historic Forum Post
J.R.,

I agreed with a lot of the previous comments here. You need to tune your system. In a lot of instances the rear surround speakers have a lower sensitivity than the front (which means they aren't as loud), so you need to introduce a Test Tone to balance them.

As Bevan mentioned earlier, a number of movies are 5.1, but sometime the surrounds are not that active, so don't be surprise if you don't hear anything...
OP | Post 6 made on Thursday August 26, 1999 at 14:48
J.R.
Historic Forum Post
Guys,
thanks for the info. I suspected the sound levels were not equal front to back. It makes the need for good rear speakers not as critical as the fronts. I spent a lot of money on Polk in wall speakers for the front and rear channels. However, when I'm listening to the stereo (FM) the rears do sound great - it's true that not all modes produce rear speaker sound. Bevan, please clarify "Video Essentials". What is it? Where can I find it? How much?
Thanks,
J.R.
OP | Post 7 made on Thursday August 26, 1999 at 15:10
Daniel Nguyen
Historic Forum Post
J.R.,

Not to dampen your listening preferences, but you did say you're listening to FM (radio) in surround mode, right?. In my opinion, you have to listen to music/movies the way it was originally recorded. For music, that's stereo only, using only the 2 front speakers. For Dolby Digital movies, then all the speakers are being used.

If you listen to music using surround modes, the imaging is somewhat distorted... Just my 2 cents.
OP | Post 8 made on Thursday August 26, 1999 at 17:14
Daniel Tonks
Historic Forum Post
Video Essentials is a home theater system setup/calibration DVD (or LD). It can be purchased from any online DVD retailer. You may also want to consider the new Avia Guide to Home Theater which is, in my opinion, a better product.
OP | Post 9 made on Thursday August 26, 1999 at 20:55
Bevan
Historic Forum Post
JR,
I agree with Daniel (Nguyen). FM radio should only be from the 2 front speakers. Also, I wouldn't use FM radio as a gauge to 'great sound'. A CD/DVD would be a better source. One of the Titanic soundtrack CDs actually comes in Dolby Surround Pro-Logic, which you should listen in the Dolby Surround mode. Other 'normal' CDs should be listened in stereo mode. Some DVDs that have noticeable rear effects (at the beginning of the movie) are: "Batman and Robin", "Daylight", "Tomorrow Never Dies", "The Fifth Element".

I bought Video Essentials long before Avia Guide to Home Theatre came out. Daniel, can you tell me what on this DVD gives it the edge over Video Essentials? Is it worth buying it if I already have Video Essentials?
OP | Post 10 made on Thursday August 26, 1999 at 21:01
Daniel Tonks
Historic Forum Post
Honestly, I can't say if it's worth buying if you have VE. It's better organized, includes more tests (including MANY more Dolby Digital-related tests) and has what is probably a more accurate color test with three colored slides. I'm quite pleased with it.
OP | Post 11 made on Friday August 27, 1999 at 00:21
adrian
Historic Forum Post
also concerning the rear effect speakers, usually the cut off frequency is around 70kHz which means it leaves out a considerable bit of the boom (it's redirected to the sub). The key word here is "effect" in effect speakers.
OP | Post 12 made on Friday August 27, 1999 at 11:40
Eric
Historic Forum Post
Daniel Tonks is avia availible from an online dvd dealer because i checked netflix.com and it didnt show up. or do i have to some hifi shop to pick it up?
OP | Post 13 made on Saturday August 28, 1999 at 00:17
Daniel Tonks
Historic Forum Post
DVD Express, Reel, Ken Crane's, DVD Empire and Amazon all have Avia for $35...
OP | Post 14 made on Saturday August 28, 1999 at 16:34
eric
Historic Forum Post
thanks thats a little more money than i wanted to spend. i actually just recieved video essentials in the mail today from netflex.com i popped it in put found the video section slightly hard to use and when i was finished i was saddened to see that the picture actually looked worse ! than when i began so my question is is avia slightly more user friendly?
OP | Post 15 made on Saturday August 28, 1999 at 17:48
Daniel Tonks
Historic Forum Post
Actually, Video Essentials retails for the same price (it used to be more).

I found on my old TV that a screen calibrated for DVD with Video Essentials looked horrible with cable TV. Yes, DVDs looked better - but on cable all color was off; skin tones were purple. The only solution was to find an intermediate between the two settings, or change the settings manually each time I switched devices (as my TV only had one color profile setting). With the Pronto, I ended up automating the necessary menu steps into two macros.
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