Surround Sound question

[Ken11861]

We have a new L46 Samsung TV (9/08) & a Panasonic BD30 Bluray (11/08) but our receiver is a few years old and just stereo. Explosions, machine guns, crashes are clear, loud and impressive but normal voice is hard to hear or unclear. When we turn the stereo up to the point where we can hear the voice clearly the "explosions, machine guns, crashes, etc" sounds blow us out of the living room.

Is this a case of too much digital sound info from a Bluray HDMI input into a stereo only amplifier ?
Would a new 5.1, 5-6 channel system get the voice and other background sounds into balance ?

Thanks - Ken

 

[jayn_j]

We have a new L46 Samsung TV (9/08) & a Panasonic BD30 Bluray (11/08) but our receiver is a few years old and just stereo. Explosions, machine guns, crashes are clear, loud and impressive but normal voice is hard to hear or unclear. When we turn the stereo up to the point where we can hear the voice clearly the "explosions, machine guns, crashes, etc" sounds blow us out of the living room.

Is this a case of too much digital sound info from a Bluray HDMI input into a stereo only amplifier ?
Would a new 5.1, 5-6 channel system get the voice and other background sounds into balance ?

Thanks - Ken

Pretty much. Most films are mixed for theatrical release and direct sound to three front channels. Most of us find that the home releases tend to have the center set too low and have boosted the center channel volume to compensate.

Besides, those booms sound much better with 5 channels