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I'm finding rear speakers don't add that much

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Hey,
I set setup rear speakers for dolby digital and found that they only seem to provide ambient sounds like bullets flying buy and soft background noises plus they didn't seem very loud. I decided to just go with front and a center.
Just curious what others think.

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Re: I'm finding rear speakers don't add that much Greg 19:38:02 01/04/00 (0)
I dont know what your using for rears, but that may be part of the problem. Actually I find movies in good stereo to be much better than in surround with cc/bb type surrounds. I use full range surrounds and the best I've ever heard my system i think is in 4-channel, R-L Front and R-L surround, no center, no sub. I got lucky and found my "dream spkrs" for the fronts and used my old ones for the surrounds, and it actually makes me sad that they're being used for such a menial task, and if i find another use for them I will do so. I guess what I'm trying to say is that on well done DVD's you will apprecite the surrounds, for a lot of movies, just like cd's, are not done to full potentential and surrounds are a waste. So just enjoy and trust your judgement.
They are worthwhile John C.-Aussie 13:01:23 12/20/99 (0)
Hi Brad
Lee & Ray give good advice. I have not moved to DD & still run pro logic but the comment that not all sound tracks have much data to encode is very true. However it is overdone with some movies so a volume control on the rear channels is essential, with the magic set up spot clearly marked. It is so domineering on some soundtracks the speech is difficult to understand.
But rear sound is worthwhile, even with music. I have been an advocate of surround sound for years and agree with the latest writings by Gordon Holt (see the latest issue of "The Absolute Sound") on the topic. If SACD takes off & they record multichannel, then this could become a lot more common.
So I suggest you reinstall your speakers and cut the volume back if the sound annoys you, but do not expect it moire than about 10% of the time. The most common mistake for inmates is to run the rear sound too loud. Incidentally we find many TV broadcasts have ambient dolby sound in them - makes many documentaries (and even soapies if you can bear to watch them) more enjoyable.

John
My experience... Lee Metcalfe 08:52:35 12/20/99 (0)
It took me awhile to develop an appreciation for my surrounds (see my system at Inmate Systems, link below). The two most important factors, IMHO, are set-up and source material. Because all the factors affecting two-channel speaker set-up also apply to surrounds, set-up is critical. Room acoustics, speaker positioning versus sitting position, speaker type (mono/bi/di-pole), timbre-matching, etc. all are important. I found that the pre-sets on my receiver had the surrounds down by about 10db. I think some receiver makers presume we are sitting closer to the surrounds than the mains. In my case, the opposite is true. I used Video Essentials audio set-up and a sound meter to properly set the volume for all speakers. At first the surrounds sounded too loud, but once I got used to it, the 3D sound field was amazing. Source material is the ruling factor once you've got a good set-up. Some movies just don't have a lot going on sound-wise in the background, especially those that were not originally mastered for DD. Others have so much going on it is distracting.
I encourage you to get the Video Essentials set-up DVD and a sound meter and really fine-tune your speaker set-up.
Regards,
Lee
- Lee's system...
Re: I'm finding rear speakers don't add that much Ray 05:55:15 12/20/99 (0)
I expected a lot more from DD too, but I don't think it's the technology. I think it has more to do with the movie industry. It seems that sound is kind of an after thought for movies. You only ever see a few if any scenes where the actors respond to a sound that is off the screen. Most of the time the camera is fixed right on all the action. Maybe someday my rear speakers will play more than just a few sound effects in critical scenes and mood music.
As for your decision to go with just fronts and center, if you adjusted all the speaker levels correctly and you still don't think the rears are adding much, turn them up. It's your system.

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