Home Theater Enclosure Problem?

I have an Arcam AVR 250 with an Arcam DV78. The speakers are JM Lab 716S Chorus Line(mains) w/ a JM Lab 700S Chorus Line (center) and JM Lab 716S (rears). The front 3 spkrs have Rega cables. The problem is understanding the dialogue from the center channel when watching movies. We think we have everything hooked up correctly and every setting set proberly. We have adjusted and readjusted every setting many times with little or no improvement. I have been running the mains on 0-5 with the center at 6 and the rears around 2-4. I purchased a sound level meter and set the levels correctly. No help. The voices coming from the center sound thick at times especially the British accents. We have tried the center at 5' and 2' with no improvement. The odd part is that I can understand every word coming from my TV during a broadcast when it is coming out of the center. Thank you for your time.

KYpride,

Are you saying that you are only having problems when watching/listening to a DVD, not when watching TV?

If that is the case, I think it is a setup problem, not some type of a resonance issue. How do you have your TV sound and DVD sound connected to the receiver? Are you using L&R analog RCA interconnect cables or are you using a coax or optical digital cable?

TIC

How is the ARCAM AVR receiving the 5.1 movie data - TOSLINK or digital coax?

What about TV - Toslink also?

Or are you using analog cabling?

I hope you aren't using any Y connectors to jumper two analog line level outputs together from different sources ???

I can hear the TV perfectly when it is played through the Arcam. I never miss a word. It's only on DVDs that I miss words occasionally.The digital signal is sent to the AVR 250 via a Transparent Premium TVC 2 meter digital cable. The viewing room is 20'X 30' with a 17' ceining. There is a staircase coming down into this room on one side. Sometimes it appears thar the audio is plainer when at the top of those stairs. There is thick carpet on the floors and stairs with a cloth sofa and loveseat. There is nothing between the center channel and the listening position.

{quote] It's only on DVDs that I miss words occasionally [/quote]

In that case it may be normal. Movies are often mixed so that they can be played at louder volume levels than a radio or TV program. They want those sound effects to really envelope you. Simply turn up the volume. What concerned me was you menioned muddiness in the sound....that is not normal.

Pride and Prejudice is an example of a movie where the vocals were mixed too low, IMHO.