I've got a bit of a problem with surround sound... Since I usually watch stuff with my wife, I don't sit in the sweet spot; we sit on opposite ends of the couch. I noticed in watching CSI:NY (which is extremely agressive in using surround and atmosphere sounds) that I was mostly hearing the right channel stuff, and I'm sure my wife was mostly hearing the left channel stuff. The dialog was plenty clear, but things seemed very unbalanced. When I sit in the middle of the couch, everything sounds right. Let me do a little ASCII diagram...
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|.................................................|
|......LF.........TV/C.........RF......|
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|.................................................|
|.................................................|
|LS......................................RS|
|...............W...........M..........sub|
|.................................................|
|..................................................
|..................................................
|................______________|

(W is her, M is me!)

So, I can move the fronts out a little bit. I could also move the couch back. However, the surrounds are kind of screwed into the wall, and couldn't really be moved back anyway, since there's a heater next to the sub, and then the doorway. Would having a real center help? I could see it helping with dialog intelligibility, but not with this particular problem.

Oh yeah, and selling the wife is not an option! (btw, the reason we sit on either end of the couch is a function of the couch cushions and the fact that we both like to sprawl...)

(stupid proportional or nonproportional fonts... anyway, you get the idea...)

No need to sell the wife, just adjust the speaker settings so that the left one is enough louder then the right that you hear them equally from your seat. She'll hear just the left, but you'll be back in the sweet spot

It's either that or suck it up and snuggle together in the middle of the couch.

You're using the TV speakers as "center", right ? If so, I guess the question is whether you have them turned up to the same sound level that you would use with a dedicated center channel speaker.

The center is primarily intended to "anchor" dialog on the screen when you sit off center, so I imagine that as you reduced the sound level of the center (like I get tempted to turn down my crappy surrounds ) you would get progressively less anchoring and would hear more of the sound from whatever side you happened to be sitting on.

Are your TV speakers getting a center channel feed or just a blend of all channels ? Either way, I guess turning up the TV speaker sound level would be the first step.

Good luck...

What surround mode are you using? I'm also not a fan of side surrounds. Any chance you can move them behind you?

kcarlile,

Bridgman is correct in his theory that if you used a dedicated center speaker rather than the TV's speakers, the center would better anchor the soundstage and avoid the off-axis shift of the center material to the left or right.

Something else that will help is an old trick from the early days of stereo. Toe in the left speaker so that it almost faces you at the right end of the couch (and the right speaker so that it almost faces W at the left end of couch). Thus, as you move to the right end of the couch, you shift increasingly off-axis to the right speaker and on-axis to the left. It's like an automatic balance control for either party sitting at opposite ends of the couch.

When you get a dedicated center speaker, its front panel should be the back of a gentle arc described by the fronts of the three speakers.

The combination of these techniques should eliminate the unbalanced nature of your situation (not you and W, by the way!).

Regards,

Zarak-she'd find out. And then I'd be in a world of pain. Besides, we change sides every once in awhile

Bridgman-No, I've actually calibrated the system with the TV speakers, using the sound meter. They're a direct center feed. I bumped it up a few db, which helped with dialog (along with setting the crossovers properly). However, I'm sure that the crapola center plays into it.

NeverHappy-I'm using DTS Neo:6 in this case. Unfortunately, moving the speakers isn't going to work; there's no way to hang them behind, as there's a big gap opening into the kitchen, and to move them back further on the sides is also impractical due to the construction of the house. In addition, it's a rental, so I'd like to minimize the holes in the wall! I agree that they need to be back further, though.

Alan-hadn't even thought of that! I'll give it a shot. They're toed in a little bit right now, and actually reducing the toe in helped with music listening for both of us, but I'll try the extreme method.

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! I know it's nowhere near ideal, but it's better than the old 2.1 system with Cambridge Soundworks speakers!