Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Bad sound from Center on all DVDs

I don't own one so I can't say for sure, but the fact that the 3803 is saying 'Dolby Digital' is probably a good sign.

Does the 3803 have any sort of graphical display of the speakers? On my Pioneer Elite, for instance, on the front panel it has a speaker diagram. It lights up according to the type of source it's receiving. So a 5.1 source lights up all 5 speakers and the sub. A 2.0 source just lights up the 2 mains, etc. Something like that would at least prove to you that the DVD player was outputting the data correctly.

Double check that you haven't got the 3803 set to some strange processing mode (like 'Hall' or 'Jazz'). Though I'm sure that's pretty unlikely.

I still say that you need to figure out how to make your 3803 generate test tones and do some detective-work that way. That way you can actually hear what it is producing. If the white noise sounds strange, quieter, or just plain different on that center channel, then the problem has to be in the 3803 or the speaker. You could ignore the DVD player as a source of the problem. You've got to narrow down the potential sources of trouble.

You could also try swapping the VP100 with an M60. See if you can move the 'dead' channel. If the 'silence' moves, then it's a problem with the speaker. In that case, I'm sure Axiom will be happy to assist you. If it doesn't move, and the center stays quiet even with an M60, then it's a problem with the 3803 or the wiring.

If all of the speakers sound fine & equal when testing, then I bet that the problem lies in some setting somewhere on the DVD player or the 3803.

Edit: Interesting you bring up Master & Commander. Which audio track are you listening to? The Dolby Digital 5.1 or the DTS track? Try them both, see if you get a difference in sound quality. This would also be a good test to make sure that the DVD player is set to output correctly, as the 3803 should read 'Dolby Digital' vs. 'DTS' as you switch.