Imporve sound quality, how ?

Hi all,
I have Onkyo HT-SR600.
How can I enhance the output of the center channel ? used for dialogues .
Problem I face :

At low volume the dialogues lack impact.
On increasing the volume , special effects sound too loud for comfort.

Thanks,
Aryan.

Have you tried finding in the manual? Most AVRs have ability to control the volume of individual channels or push them +10/-10 DB. Some even have a dialouge enhancer. Just do a bit of looking.

All failing try to look for the manual online and post the link here. Any of us will find the relevant parts and tell.

Hi Ranjeet,

I have tired the +12\-12 db for center channel, but then that just upsets the whole HT calibration.
The manual provided is of no help.
Online manual ? I will have to look for it, might be able to find one.
Have a good day.

Thanks,
Aryan.

There is a fix for this, at least for movies with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. You need to enable DRC (Digital Range Compression). I am not familiar with your receiver so you may have to look it up in the manual. You can set it to various levels between Off and Full. By default it will be off, you should set it to a higher level or even full. This will keep dialog at a steady volume but make soft sounds louder while making extremely loud sounds softer. This works only for Dolby Digital though.

Increasing the volume level for the center channel may be upsetting the calibration because this has the effect of narrowing the sound field in the front speakers and drawing sound away from front left & right and towards the center. Another solution but not recommended is to modify the EQ setting for the center channel. This is provided to enable timbre matching with other speakers but perhaps it could be used to enhance the center channel audio.

Correction. DRC stands for Dynamic Range Compression

You are right, it was a typo. Funny I did not make that mistake the first time around when we discussed it in another thread.

Your receiver has something called OR-EQ which I thnk is the same as DRC. Try this. It also has Level +/- for each speaker. Does that not work?

If none of this works you don't have much choice but to move the centre speaker closer to you.

Good ideas so far. I am going to make a guess here.

Is your center channel out-of-phase? Try reversing the +ve and -ve (Red and black terminals) at the speaker's end and see if that helps. If changing it at speaker's end is difficult, you can try on amp's end. Any end is fine. Give it a try and see.

Hi guys,

Thanks a ton for all the useful advise that is comming my way, ever so greatful, anything to get this problem straightened up.

Just needed 2 share with u guys , that I keep playing with the center channel setting, increasing it to +7, keeping L & R fronts at +5, surronds at +4 or at +5, subwoofer at max +12, and then the problem of increased center output along with double increase in special effects output, which is annoying and not pleaserable as it should be.

Just to give u guys an idea of how grave the situtions is, My wife now prefers watching movies though the television and irony of the matter, I bought this system to impress her. Failed miserably, hahaha..

Guys this is my center channel config :

SKC - 350 C - Centre Speaker
Speaker Type: 2-Way, Bass Reflex Speaker Type: 2-Way, Bass Reflex
8 cm cone woofer
2 cm ceramic tweeter Magnetically Shielded
Max. Input Power: 120 W
Max. Input Power: 120 W

Impedance: 6 ohms
Frequency Response: 100 Hz–22 kHz
WHD: 101 x 273 x 115 mm
Weight: 1.0 kg

Reciever Config :

5.1 channel A/ V Surround Home Theatre Receiver
120 W/Ch Continuous 6 ohms, 1 kHz, JEITA
Frequency Response: 10 Hz–50 kHz (+1 dB, -3 dB)
DTS®, DTS® Neo:6 5.1, Dolby® Digital, Dolby® Pro Logic® II
192 kHz/24-Bit DACs for All Channels
HDTV-Capable (50 MHz) Component Video Switching (3 Inputs/1 Output)
3 Digital Inputs (2 Optical/1 Coaxial)
4 Composite Video Inputs and 2 Outputs
4 A/V Inputs and 1 Output
2 Audio Inputs and 1 Output
H.C.P.S. (High Current Power Supply) Massive High Power Transformer

Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry
A-Form Listening Mode Memory
Non-Scaling Configuration
OR-EQ™ Equalizer Function
Late Night Mode (High/Low/Off)
CinemaFILTER™
Direct Mode
Speaker A/B Drive
Color-Coded 5.1-Multichannel Inputs (Receive 5.1 Surround Sound from Compatible Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Players)

Color-Coded Speaker Terminals

30 FM/AM Random Presets

“Easy-Set” Speaker Configuration

Crossover Adjustment (40/50/60/80/100/120/150/200 Hz)

Compatible with RI Dock for the iPod

A/V Sync Control Function (Fixed at 0/20/40 ms)

Full-Function RI (Remote Interactive) Remote Control

WHD: 435 x 150 x 369 mm

Weight: 9.6 kg

I will try what you mentioned, Mr. Particleman, and hope it makes the difference.

What I am dreading is that the 8 cm cone is not enough for the kind of clear sound i am wanting.

Cheers,
Aryan.

Sometimes the auto-calibration may cause problems.

You can try for manual calibration of all the speakers. You need a sound level meter. Procedure will be available in your AVR manual. Or you can try reading links like this one:

HTadvice.com: On Setup: Speakers: Calibration

You can use the test tone in your AVR for the adjustment of the levels.