Upgrade 2.0 setup for clearer voices

rwm24

rwm24

rwm24

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3 Apr 2010
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Currently using an Onkyo 507 and 2 Jano A102 speakers for a 2.0 setup and I have trouble hearing voices in movies. I've tried tinkering with all sorts of settings on both the PS3 and with the amp but it doesn't help. If I have the volume loud enough to hear voices it's far too loud for the action/louder scenes.

I'd like to upgrade the speakers to something better, as this should help with the sound quality/voices? I am only assuming it'll help because if you Google anything like 2.0 speakers clear speech/clear vocals there are just too many random results.

My budget is around £100, but I could stretch higher. I am tempted by the Wharfedale Diamond 220 as they seem to be highly regarded, but they look a bit big for where they'd be positioned.

Old pictures of current setup/living room layout:
Taken shortly after we moved in, so things have moved around but the TV and sofa are in the same place.

living-room-1.png

living-room-2.png

best-floorplan-ever.png

Am I going to have issues with the tv/speakers being so close to 2 walls? What speakers do you guys suggest, or is there something else I should do to equalise the volume (e.g. explosions and voices the same volume)?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I'd have thought it would be more to do with you not using a centre speaker which is where voices normally come from than the quality of the 2.0s.
 
Those Jano's are satellite speakers, so if you are using just two in a stereo configuration, they will be rather limited as they are intended to be used as part of a 5.1 setup. Upgrading to bigger speakers will improve the overall sound quality and will help with the speech, but it won't solve the problem completely.

What NexusK says is correct, but using stereo speakers for movies that have 5.1 tracks isn't a problem really. I do, so do many others. The AV receiver should down mix the 8 channels into 2, well enough. In my case, XBMC does. As Begbie said, make sure you have stereo set to output.

If you do already have the output set to stereo, then speaker size aside, the problem is more that in many movies, especially action ones, there tends to be quieter speech tracks in comparison to the rest of the audio. AV receivers usually have options to balance the sound out more, so that the rest of the sound is not so much louder than the speech. If you have already tried these options, then undoubtedly, the size of satellite speaker is not helping with the lack of range.
 
I'd agree with the above, check that your not using PLII or similar and if not I would look at getting a centre speaker to pair with your L/Rs.

Voice will be crystal clear then. The volume increase is a right pain at night, most modern amps will sort it out though.
 
you could try something like this if the other half doesnt want lots of speakers around

Sound base

CAMBRIDGE AUDIOMINX TVBlack Sound base £180

Sound bar

Philips HTL5140B £242:29

Q ACOUSTICS M4 £399

Small lifestyle speakers


TANNOY SFX5.1 £170

Newer model

TANNOY TFX 5.1 £220

Or award winning

TANNOY HTS101 £319

Centre speaker

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO S50 £100

The only problem with adding a non-Jamo speaker will be it wont 'sound ' like the jamos and it might all sound a bit funny. Your better off with a package of all the same speakers.

Im guessing your A102's are part of one of these packages

http://www.jamo.com/search/?sku=A102HCS3

There are some Jamo A102 3.0 setups being sold on a famous auction site that would bring you up to 5.0 just add a sub later.
 
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btw just to chip in, it could be that the stuff you are listening to is not dynamically compressed so that explosions are very loud as they are supposed to be very loud.

see if you onkyo has a nighttime mode or quiet time or something like that. see if tahts the problem your encountering
 
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