View Full Version : Rear Speakers - how loud?!?!
Hi, i've had my rears for about a year but they have never really been tested to their full capacity - they are pioneers that I bought from richer sounds - the thing is, they don't seem that loud compared to the fronts - are they meant to be like this?
Also should the "surround" be there all the time or does it only kick in on certain events, (like gunshots ricosheying, cars driving past) and also do some films have a more scenes with surround sound than others!
Sometimes I can hardly notice the sound coming from the rears and have to move my ears to them because the fronts are too loud?!?! My amp doesn't allow me to adjust the volume of the rears just the Decibels!
Should they be boomng noticebly or should they be discreet and just make themselves known when something special happens on screen?!?!
My fronts are about 2 metres away from me MAX when sitting and rears are about the same maybe 2 and a half!
This is generally pretty normal. The rears were never designed to act like front speakers. They are usually used for specific sound information when its needed/appropriate which the fronts and the center take care of dialog and frontal information. Do you have the Star Wars Episode 1 DVD ?? If so listen to that because in terms of having alot of rear speaker involvement, thats the best I've heard. I almost had to turn down my rears at one point which is unheard of. Give it a listen. The point is different DVD's are encoded with different volume levels of rear/front/center/sub. I guess higher spec rear speakers with more frequency level would give a little more sound though.
I would maybe experiment in placing your rears closer to your seating postion. As you have found... the rears are sometimes faint and to get the most from mine they are virtually to the sides of my sofa firing at each other.
As I said experiment with the position and you should get a sound you prefer.
The last good sound I remember getting from the rears was when I fired on the wedding singer - the music came through the rears and it sounded bloody good! Its just i can tell it varies from DVD to DVD!
Cranberry
20-02-2002, 14:19
It might be worthing trying out Titan AE - has a lot of rear speaker sounds in the first 6 minutes or so
soberion
20-02-2002, 14:43
Don't forget to try your test tone. If all the speakers sound about the same level when sat at the normal listening position, then your set up correctly.
Also, sources such as Video and Sky are only Pro-logic which has a much lower volume/frequency range for the rears.
My amp doesn't allow me to adjust the volume of the rears just the Decibels
Decibels *is* the volume ;)
Bapapapa
20-02-2002, 14:58
If you actually notice the rear speakers when they kick in, they're either set up in the wrong position or too loud -You shouldn't be able to localise the effects.
Decibels *is* the volume ;)
Yeah, sorry, I knew that, what I meant was, the overall volume (2 fronts centres and rears) can be adjusted from 0 - 99Db using the main volume knob (ooeerrr)
The separate volumes for each go from -10db to 10db - anyone got any recommendations on what to put the fronts the centres and the rears to???
Fronts/center - 2 metres away
Rears - 2.5 Metres away (attached to wall)
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Bapapapa - My problem really is Im getting more noise coming from in front of me, rather than all around me, i'll play around a bit tonight when I get home! cheers!
Bapapapa
20-02-2002, 15:55
There are no recommended settings for rear speakers, there's too many variables - Distance, height, sensitivity of speakers, personal preferance etc..
If you're not getting a 'surround effect' then the rears are more likely positioned poorly rather than not loud enough.
But, as has already been mentioned, a lot of films are not that active in the rears anyway - you just might be expecting too much.
Radiohead
20-02-2002, 16:21
Originally posted by were_not_scaremongering
The separate volumes for each go from -10db to 10db - anyone got any recommendations on what to put the fronts the centres and the rears to???
Shouldn't the test tone on your amp help you here?...
:)
<center><b>My amp doesn't allow me to adjust the volume of the rears just the Decibels!</b></center>
What amp do you have? Is this ProLogic, which is noticeably reduced in surround levels?
Hi, its not that im expecting to much, its just that I want to see if my system is normal and that im getting the most out of it, and from the advice given here, im confident that I am doing things properly!
Thanks everyone!
I totally understand where you are coming from and I think that the best advice, as above, is to experiment with their position during a film with a lot of rear effects (am trying to think of one now :) ). Try the ones suggested listening intently as you appear to do and when you are familiar with the track start platying with the position and then the voluem. I bet you find them uncomfortable if they are too apparent because as Bapapapa suggested they are not meant to be obvious but more to add subtle ambience to the whole thing.
Was playing about last night and they are subtle and do add a lot of ambience, had to turn my center up a bit as the front L&Rs were drowning out the speech from a lot of DVDs! But the rears are definitely Audible!
Lagerlout
22-02-2002, 11:29
It's a shame, but some films just don't make good use of the surround capabilities. One good use was in Lock Stock, the golf ball bouncing round the room. With a properly set up system you can have hours of fun watching friends heads turn to look where the ball bounces. It's like having your own team of trained monkeys :D
I seem to remember the outdoor scenes in the rain from se7en being pretty immersive, but dunno if that was just the DTS version? I've got a few concerts on DVD now as well, some of them have been done really well (others not so good).
Squirtle
22-02-2002, 11:41
Try the THX thing on ep 1 to see if they are set up correctly.
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