Center Channel Dialogue

@hillbilly559  I agree with @ghdprentice  here. There is something very wrong here. You don't have to do any of these extra stuff to balance left, center, and right speakers. Marantz should have three options for the center channel: phantom, normal, and full range. I would first use phantom option. This will allow the left and right speakers reproduce the center channel. Use the built-in test tone generator and see if you get same sound from left-center(phantom)-right channels. I suspect your receiver may not be decoding the center channel at correct level. If that step works, then take the center per-out and connect it to a separate amp and connect your center speaker to that. If that works, then your Marantz amp driving the center channel is the culprit.

I have use Yamaha receivers in 7 speakers + 2 subwoofer arrangement and never had this problem. There is something fundamentally wrong here.

Have you tried eliminating the center channel all together and allowing the processor to ghost it back in?  I know my home theater setup is anything but idea, but I run a 4.1 setup and certainly have never had any issues with understanding dialogue (at least nothing that subtitles wouldn't resolve...LOL).

I know that a center channel should be superior to not having one, but it might be worth at least seeing how the sound changes.  It might help diagnose the issue.

Reason is you have set it to dialogue. Fix is very simple, just set it to monologue.

btw, your AVR probably has a 2 channel mode. I often find changing to 2 channel sounds better.

That will reassign the dedicated center sounds to both sides equally so that center content’s imaging is still center (but phantom center created by L/R), and still coming from the front.

And no ’other sounds’ from the surround/rear speakers which may be affecting what you hear (your cupped hands are blocking side/rear/reflected sounds).

Sometimes, in a noisy space i.e. restaurant, theater lobby, ... I hear sounds from a distance better than those right in front of me, seems like the other sounds are a precedent, fill my ears so to say..

I agree with mceljo. Ever since I eliminated the center channel speaker and turned my 5.4.4 system into a 4.4.4 system, using the two front channels to create the phantom center channel image where my tv is, my center channel image has been superior to anything I’ve ever had before. My center channel now has the exact same image as my two front Goldenear Triton Ones. When I used a Goldenear Reference speaker for my center channel speaker, though the sound quality was great, the image was much smaller than my Triton Ones.

Hope this helps.