vondy Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I've always been pretty underwelmed with my HT system. The voices are always so low so I have to turn up the volume, then something on the movie blows up and it burst our ear drums sending my wife into a fit. I have Forte II up front with an Academy and Forte I for the surround. 5.1, minus the sub at this point. I have a post going on right now about changing the rears to something smaller but that doesn't really apply here. My AVR is a pretty low end Denon, about a $400 unit I guess. The HDMI is passive so I have the blue ray hooked up via the analog mulit channel and the Blu-Ray doing the decoding. Any hints on getting a more balanced sound? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 post your denon model and we might be able to point you to some menu options to tweak your system. Sounds like you just need to balance out the channel levels, especially the center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted March 18, 2012 Moderators Share Posted March 18, 2012 Does your receiver have a calibration software (Audessey etc)? Have you checked the levels of each speaker with a db meter? If not, your Academy is rated at 3db less sensitive than the Forte II's. That means by default, they will play louder than the Academy provided the same amplification. Even after auto calibration, I tend to bump my center up two or three notches on the level (personal taste). Might just be an easy fix to increase the level of your center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think a good sub capable of really enhancing that sweet open sound of your Fortes/Forte II's will help balance out your system the most. It will also relieve some of the strain your Denon receiver is probably experiencing with four tower speakers on those amps. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJCarney Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Does your receiver have a calibration software (Audessey etc)? Have you checked the levels of each speaker with a db meter? If not, your Academy is rated at 3db less sensitive than the Forte II's. That means by default, they will play louder than the Academy provided the same amplification. Even after auto calibration, I tend to bump my center up two or three notches on the level (personal taste). Might just be an easy fix to increase the level of your center. I do the exact same thing. I need my center channel bumped up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Denon AVR-588 I've bumped the levels up before and never seemed to get it just right. Guess I'll mess with it some more. Thanks for all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Get an SPL meter and check your levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Apparently there is an app for that.... http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spl-meter/id309206756?mt=8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajoker2c Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Apparently there is an app for that....http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spl-meter/id309206756?mt=8 That is the App I use and it works well enough to level out channels. It made a big difference in my set up after auto calibration matching up my rc64 with rf35 towers.....best 99 cents Ive invested in HT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Cool, I'll give it a try tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornfedksboy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 The simplist thing to do is to just increase the level of your center channel. You can do it by ear and get reasonably close as it is basically a volume control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 ., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondy Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 I messed with it the other night with my SPL app and got the Sat sounding pretty good. The Blu-Ray is a bit harder since I have to make the adjustments on the BR itself since the analog seperates are passive on the AVR. I might try going back to optical instead of the analog to see if I hear much of a difference. At least I can control the decoding with the AVR then. I have the analog hooked up so I can take advantage of the "HD" audio. As mentioned before, my AVR is passive on the HDMI. I probably need to break down and get a new/better one. I also sent off for a Titanium Tweeter Diaphragm and new crossover for the Academy from Crites. The Forte II's are updated so now the Academy will match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Have you tried aiming your center slightly upward, directed at your face? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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