Hi, I've hooked up a home theatre system but am having trouble with the sound - hopefully someone will be able to help out. The various cables have been plugged in as per the user manual, but when I play a dvd the sounds seems to be split voices to center speaker, background noise/music to the front and rear right and left speakers. If I have the channel setting on 5.1 (as the manual says I should), the center speaker overpowers the front and rear speakers, ie it's really loud, and we can't hear the background noises/music. If I change the channel setting to 2.1, the background noises/music comes through clearly on the front and rear speakers, but then we lose the voices totally and we have a silent movie with a pleasant soundtrack!

Any advice much appreciated!
Thanks

Try and Lower the Channel Levels.

Your receiver or surround processor should have a test tone (white noise) feature that you turn on then adjust the volume of each channel so that they are all at equal level. Check your owner's manual.

Without knowing more information about what components you have in your HT, ie: receiver make & model, how you have connected your components, ie: DVD player audio to receiver via optical I don't think anyone can really say what's going on. I'll take a guess and would say that the speaker settings on your HT receiver need to be set-up properly to balance the sound between center channel, R & L fts and your rear surronds. Additionally how do you have your receiver setup for sound fields or simulated surround.

Ditto.

You need to tell us the brand and model, at least of the A/V receiver, for any help beyond a hopeful nod. Also the way things are connected.

At first glance, though, it sounds like your center channel is just way too loud. As Glen B says. This could be just the amp, although if the center speaker is way more efficient than the others, that would make things worse. So...what speakers are you using, too?

Amps don't come out of the box with the center channel turned up too high, so someone has done something to this. Get out the manual and follow it RIGHT NOW regarding channel balancing.

Thanks for the comments guys. The system is a ... wait for it ... SpectronIQ PHT-300X 5.1 CH 300W HT. Extremely tight budget but hey it should still work!:) It's a DVD player and subwoofer that's just connected to a tv (cable to come next week, but that'll be installed by a professional!).

Connection details as follows:

(Part 1) On back of DVD player/receiver : back of subwoofer

FL(white):FL(w)
FR(red):FR(r)

CEN(w):CEN(w)
SW(r):SUB(r)

SL(w):SL(w)
SR(r):SR(r)

(Part 2) From DVD player to TV

Back of tv : back of DVD

Input-video(yellow): video (y)
Input-Audio L (white):Audio L(w)
Input-Audio R (red): Audio R(r)

(Part 3) Speaker cables

All wired as per manual.

Also, on the back of the subwoofer there are two empty slots: input L (for a white) and input R (for a red). On the back of the DVD player the empty slots are "S-Video", "coaxial" (black), and in a section called "component": "Y", "Pb/Cb" and "Pr/Cr". On the back of the tv the empty slots are S-Video, and Output: video and audio L & R.

Also
- The manual contains no info on setting different volumes for different channels.
- The test tone function only allows you to hear the tone out of each speaker. Cycling through them they all appear correctly hooked up and the test tone plays through each one clearly and at what sounds like the same volume level. You can't adjust any particular channel's volume while using the test tone funtion.
- Tried calling the customer support line a couple of times today but no joy in getting through.

Any hints based on the above info?
Thanks again - much appreciated!!
A.

HTIB = how tight is budget

There is no excuse for this being on the market if it can't be adjusted. Your best bet is with their customer service because maybe you can return the thing if you can point out that you have consulted with hundreds of professionals (us) who say it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

BIVT = budget is very tight: $69.95+tax!:) Nevertheless, it should still work! I wasn't expecting the world from the system, but this seems to be a pretty basic issue ...
Tried calling customer service again, but still no luck in getting through, so have emailed them.

Did it come from the grocery store??? I'd love to give you some help on the matter, my only guess is that you are trying to run the system as a surround sound system and have only hooked it up using analog audio cables, and thus your system is doing its best to give you prologic surround (so 1990). My other other recommendation in that budget line would be buy some computer speakers, and wait until you can spend for at least an entry level system 500-1000 for receiver and speakers. The other fun thing you can try with it is to create your own youtube video of you shooting it with a shot gun, and see who will pay for your replacement unit. Saw it done with an Apple G4 a while ago, because someone wanted donations to help them buy a G5.

heyandy,
I think the manufacturer of this item did two things at once:
redefined "piece of crap" and
stole $69.95 from you.

If it seems to good to be true, it is.

Don't be overly disappointed by this unit. You might have paid $300 and gotten a total piece of crap, too. You got away cheap.

Since you bought this unit, I apologize for making assumptions but must warn you:
Don't ever buy speakers from guys in a van in a parking lot. They wouldn't even be an upgrade to what you have.

I came to this forum in search of help with codes for my universal remote.

Now I have to post this in defence of this home theater system.

I bought the same one a couple of weeks ago at SEARS because my parents got me a gift card to the place. It was inexpensive, and I needed surround sound for a small lounge area.

I have to say that it looks good, it's thin and doesn't take up a lot of room. It also has great sound quality. I was really not expecting much, but it plays in clear dolby digital 5.1 and the subwoofer packs a punch.

I'm sorry yours sounds crappy, and all I can tell you is that you should use the menu button on the remote and go to the setup screen and optimize the sound there. Mine came fully functional, so perhaps your dvd plays with a sound preset that is a little funky. I know you can select how you want your dvd to play in the home menu of most movies. Other than that, you can use your system's test sounds (the white noises described earlier in the post) to make sure every speaker is plugged in correctly.

My only problem is that it's manufactured by an obscure brand, so I can't find the setup codes for my universal remote, yet.

Good luck,
Cale

No digital audio output = no true 5.1 dolby digital surround. The best you can get as was said earlier is dolby prologic, which is just a simulated surround.

Actually, you did get the world. It's just a smaller world than most people envision.

There was a recent survey of customer service departments that was categorized by the cost of products that each manufacturer sells.

For manufacturers of products at the $69.95 price point, the average number of people in the customer service department was 0.08. That's why your response is a little slow.

Ok Tom that explains the terrible service I got on a call to Diamond Multimedia about a graphics card I bought last week. The guys didn't even have a decent script, and didn't have basic understanding enough to even email me a link to the drivers (which I had already tried before calling them.) The card is now back in the box and an RMA number is printed out waiting return on Monday. :)