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Speaker placement behind the screen

We are a small independent movie theater with 100 seats. Our speakers are located behind the screen.  We often get complaints that the dialogue is too low.  Two questions: 1)  What is the optimal height for the speakers?   We've been told that they are too low (currently about 3 ft off the floor).  2)  Can we change the mix so that dialogue is louder without making music, sound effects, etc. louder?  Our head projectionist says no.

Any suggestions for references I can go to?  Thank you!

128x128carolm7
carolm7's avatar
carolm7 OP
2 posts
 
Thanks for responding so quickly. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the specs of our sound system.  We do have a porous screen though, so the sound comes through the screen.  We run DCP mostly with an occasional blue ray.  I will contact the group you mentioned and talk to one of their techs. 

erik_squires
16,021 posts
 
Hi OP, I'll send you a message so we can chat direclty.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
If your theater floor slopes upward to the rear, a speaker 3' off the floor will be well below the ears of many of the viewers, which could cause a decrease in volume unless the speaker had an unusually wide vertical dispersion. 
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
Please give us more info on the room: screen size, seating configuration, source material (blu-ray vs DVD), sound system especially amplification, decoding of sound tracks (Dolby, HD, DTS, etc), height of the seating (front to back), and the exact screen material. Lots of variables. I just had a custom screen made for my room. Expertly done. Acoustically transparent. Gain 1.1  All these things are important. Best of luck. 
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
additional center channel amp for dialogues may fix problem.
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