Help! AV AMP Advice

[admin_exported]

Hi,

Recently purchased Denon 1909 and found the dialogue to be weak with movies and wasn't getting on with remote. I was unhappy so I took it back to the shop and they happily exchanged it for me. Brought home Onkyo 606 and find myself in the same position with dialogue. Carried auto speaker calibration and played about with all the setting on both amps and settled on ramping up the centre channel with both. Also tried night setting. At this point I,ve only been able to use the amp with SKY HD connected with opitical for DD. Don't know if this is the weak link? Vaio Blue Ray is on the blink at the moment.

I have seen other posts with the same problem, not the same kit. Turning the volume up high helps but doesn't go down well with the other members of the house. Anyway I don't believe I should have to rampit up that much to solve the problem.

I,ve been back to the shop and told them I;m still unhappy with the sound and unbelievably they have agreed that I could exchange the Onkyo for somethings else, Yamaha 863. Is this machine that more dynamic with sound and importantly for me with dialogue.

Speakers are Monitor Audio R45s Fr/Sur, R225 Centre and R360 Sub which were recommend by the shop.

To sum up. I'm involed in the movies as far as surround effects and base, but feel like I,m detached with dialogue and end up playing with the remote instead of enjoying the movies. Is Yamaha 863 the one to sort this problem?

Your thoughts would be appreciated as I,m to make a decision in a weeks time!

 

[Messiah]

Do all of the speakers sound at the same level when the calibration is done??

 

[Anonymous]

Yes. I,ve ramped up the centre now outside of the calibration to make things better. Its frustrating as every else seem to be spot on. Any comments on the Yamaha?

 

[Big Aura]

it must be the audio link (I have a 1909 using freesat and it's fine). Is the tos-link a cheapy or perhaps its damaged?

 

[Messiah]

I can't see a change in Amp making a difference if it has happened with 2 others. What cables are being used?? Are they connected correctly (sorry I know this might be obvious)??

 

[Anonymous]

Must be honest the optical was given to me and it appears to be unbranded. If there was a problem with this connection surely it just wouldn't work. HDMI's are Chord1.3 silver plus but not carrying the audio for Sky HD.

Not many people get the chance to change thier amp twice. Guy's in the shop seem to think the Yamaha will raise the bar and there is also the dialogue lift feature with the inclusion of presence speakers. Offered me a good price at £500 but am I throwing money at something unecessarily.

 

[Big Aura]

if the tos is a freebie, buy or borrow another one to check it, that's the obvious missing link. For some reason Sky HD doesn't output over HDMI...

 

[professorhat]

Have you checked the connection to the centre speaker?

 

[Anonymous]

Double checked everything. The delivery of other sounds through the centre appears good. In terms of position the speaker it is wall mounted at 625mm centre from the floor under TV. Could the speaker be to low??

 

[Big Aura]

that's about the same height as mine... but I have angled it up on a speshul shelf.

it's either a dud optical, a dud speaker, or the speaker is wired the wrong way round, or you've been VERY unlucky with the different amps you've bought!

 

[d4v3pum4]

I can't see how it would be the amp, after all you've tried 2. It sounds like settings or the speaker. What amp did you use with your Radius before the 1909/606? It won't be the optical cable, it's digital so any problems would manifest themselves more obviously i.e. complete lack of audio. When you run the speaker test tones does it sound okay on all channels? To isolate the speaker from the equation, you should try the centre speaker on another output.