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Please help an HT Newbe with center channel question

Posted by BrianC (A) on January 26, 2002 at 17:38:57

I'm brand new to Home Theater having just purchased a DVD player to use with a fairly high quality stereo system from the mid 80s.

My problem is that during loud passages on some movies I'm having a very hard time following the dialouge, and it doesn't seem to matter what volume I set my preamp at, the voices still get drowned out. For example, I rented "The Perfect Storm," and I still have no idea what they were saying on the boat while the storm and waves were crashing all around.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with the sound quality of my system (especially my vintage Acoustic Research loudspeakers) and I have no desire to spend thousands on new "surround sound" equipment.

I've researched all the previous posts on this site and I'm wondering if a "phantom" center channel might help my situation.

QUESTIONS: If I bought a modern HT preamp only, could I use the Dolby Pro Logic or DTS 5.1 mode with my existing 2 channel system and take advantage of the phantom center channel feature? Would this improve my ability to discern dialog? Is there a way to do this without loosing the information that would normally be directed to the rear channels?

Thanks for your help,
Brian

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