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Voices Too Quiet? Change This AV Receiver Setting

CalebRated

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🔊 Why are voices in movies and TV shows sometimes so quiet, while explosions and sound effects are way too loud? In this episode of Just Ask Caleb, we break down one of the most common home theater frustrations and talk about the AV receiver setting that can make movie night a lot easier to live with.

We also cover what to do with good used AV gear when you no longer need it, why a hard reset can still fix some of the weirdest streaming and HDMI problems, and what might be causing audio dropouts in a Sony receiver setup using eARC and CEC.

📩 Have a question for Caleb? Send it to askcaleb@calebrated.com for a chance to be featured in a future episode.

VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:50 Best Way to Sell A/V Tech
03:03 The Connection Reset That Works Every Time
04:41 Why You Can't Hear Dialogue Well
06:47 Dialogue Normalization Explained
07:50 How to Improve Center Channel Dialogue Clarity
10:12 The Receiver Setting to Turn ON
10:47 Does Sony Have an Audio Issue?

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Publication date: July 4, 2026

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20 Comments

@CalebRated Creator 3 months ago Pinned

Hey everyone! Love all the alternative ideas for center channel clarity or dialog clarity in movies. Just remember, if you alter the EQ, you are altering a LOT of the other sound, not just the dialog. I love the placement and angle ideas, and also, those of you with ported center channels placed in a cabinet, try blocking the port with a washcloth or something similar and see if that reduces the chesty bass and makes things a bit more clear. More ideas I and members of this awesome community thought of after the video came out!

@dalef3583 2 months ago

It's amazing how low the dialog is compared to the special effect sounds, but whenever there's a commercial the dialog becomes crystal clear.

@ChadCourtneyTAZ427 2 months ago

Yep, constant frustration. I have no issues cranking up the volume and then letting the action scenes roar, but it pisses the wife off to hear it across the house. So, while I've played with the DRC settings, and it does help to a degree, I tend to ramp the volume up and down when my wife complains. Hopefully with the new home being built, which has a dedicated HT room, with insulation in the walls, and solid core doors, this will enable me to enjoy it the way it's supposed to be enjoyed.

@Slickman2006 3 months ago

Also scary movies do that on purpose, then you have to turn it up, then all the sudden.....BOOM! 😂

@brettster3331 3 months ago

Great advice Calib, my receiver a now 16 year old Pioneer 7.2 channel has a speaker balance system that puts out a white noise sound and cycles through each speaker and alows you to adjust the volume for each individual speaker, this is so easy to use and get the sound right, I do boost the center channel a little.

@atomicpunk2025 3 months ago

To Dave and Mrs Dave . I too, suffered horribly from low dialog for many MANY years.
I got rid of my older Yamaha AVR and bought the most current Yamaha out there. It , for the most part solved my low dialog issues . Now, I used the included mic and did the fancy setup like recommended, didn't touch any other settings. Dialog is now a happy thing Dave. Not sure what black magic this new receiver uses but life is so much better now.
Good luck to you and one more thing , I'm still using my trusty dual speaker Cerwin Vega center from decades? ago. Works awesome.
Happy 4th !

@fonkenful 3 months ago (edited)

Only addition I’d make to the centre channel is most important speaker comment is that the entire front row should be as close to possible in terms of timbre matching. Pick your own adventure in terms of strategy, but it’s worth mentioning that there are mainstream and lesser known specialty manufacturers offering MTM types with crossover and driver layout configurations designed to reduce lobing concerns that enables them to be used across the front row, with the centres layer horizontally, and the L&R vertically. Since more granular control of bass management can be achieved by setting all speakers to small and experimenting with their individual crossovers to the sub/LFE channel, start at THX recommended 80Hz *, the heavy lifting of any loss of bottom end from the front will easily be handled by the sub(s).

*Caleb, if you’ve not already done so, a deep dive into that subject could be very illuminating.

@dougrobinson8602 3 months ago

A lot of receivers and processors allow you to select "Small" as a speaker size for any speaker. You could set your center speaker to "Small", which would limit bass signal to it. This can help with loud effects coming through the center speaker. It's worth a try. It also helps to aim your center speaker directly at the listening position. I had to angle my floor mounted center speaker upward. It helped considerably. Your center speaker might have better off-axis response than mine. I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

@jt-xr8hc 3 months ago

I have been watching you even before the beef with it. Im actually poor and would love that. I look up to you guys and look forward to buying a economical system

@virtualpilgrim8645 3 months ago

I used to have a Bose Soundbar 700, and even with the dialogue mode enabled through the iPhone app, I could never get the clarity I wanted. I just upgraded to the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, and the improvement is dramatic. Dialogue is much clearer, and I can raise the center channel far more than I actually need, which gives me plenty of headroom.

@chriskelly1740 3 months ago (edited)

Acknowledging the nonenthusiasts was so human of you. Although I do try to do the same. Everyone at my older sister Mag's house complains when the dialog is low and the action is loud. I've been telling them for years to find a setting in their TVs' menus related to auto volume, auto leveling, night mode, etc., but they still haven't done it and keep complaining. But I'm close with them. So that doesn't really bother me. As for me, I watch a lot of Horror and Sci-Fi, and PREFER the huge contrast between dialog and action and appreciate the impact. So being blown out of my seat to hear the dialog doesn't bother me. If anything, it's part of the experience, just like reserving brightness for HDR video. I LOVE it!

@jakef1987 3 months ago

I've just been using two Sony Tower 9s in stereo in my living room. A little bass heavy but I can hear everything. Everywhere on my acre property haha.

@Soldierblue211 3 months ago

Voice clarity can also be helped by room treatment.. diffusion or sound panels can help with reflections interfering with certain frequencies!

@sTEALtooth 3 months ago (edited)

I have a Yamaha 5.1 receiver and for any source that's NOT mixed in surround, I use the "5 Channel Stereo" setting. it works great for tv, sports, music, etc. and it pulls dialogue forward, away from the screen a little (if that makes sense).

anything that is mixed in 5.1, I set the AVR to it's "standard" setting, which is the neutral setting with no extra EQ/processing.

@khmr33 2 months ago

I route all of my sources through the LG CX and send one eARC cable from the TV to my DN1080 and have few issues. The only exception is the dedicated audio hdmi from the UB800

@lja6420 3 months ago

I had ok dialogue volume during regular scenes then the action scenes blowing up my living room, I played with speaker levels forever as well as dynamic range settings. JMAB FOCAL so decent ... Finally solved the dialogue VS. action sound balance by tweaking up the treble and tweaking down the bass on my Yamaha receiver per a vlog I watched... Possibly one of yours ?? It solved the problem when all the speaker level tweaking could not... Just my experience, your mileage may vary..😆😆

@jarathen1625 3 months ago (edited)

Looooove that first question. I was able to move a woofer on FB Marketplace, but I tried to get rid of a ZVOX Mini - super neat but niche - and it was awful. I'll try some of your suggestions.

@iavon6899 3 months ago

For the sound dropping out problem, your correspondent could try connecting the optical-out of the tv to the optical-in of the receiver instead of using eArc. I've tried both connection methods on my Denon/LG TV setup and the sound quality was the same. My LG TV also has a sound mode called 'Clear Voice Pro' which enhances speech in movies, shows etc. cheers.

@cyrusjalali1571 3 months ago

On my Denon X3800h I maxed out the all input source levels and set all my speakers to 5dB+. There is also a setting to increase dialog level which I have set to the highest. My speaker setup is 1 center, 2 front, 2 ceiling, and 2 back surround. My xbox and apple tv are connected to the x3800h. The eARC from my LG G3 65" connects to my x3800h. So far it's pretty good with all the streaming content and youtubetv

@DjCarlos17cuzn 3 months ago

Now that goes beyond normalisation. In streaming now the rule that maybe need a whole video by itself is Dialogue Gating at the time of measuring loudness and for the major services it's required to be -27LUFS which is pretty quiet in comparison with the other elements of the mix that go by themselves on their full dynamic range. This fits well when you listen to the mix at reference level and have a dedicated room but meanwhile you're not. Then you listen to a blu-ray that doesn't have to comply to loudness targets and it works fine on most systems. I've personally tested mixes from my Blu-Rays of Star Wars, Mamma Mia, Wicked, Madagascar 2, Surf's Up, Dune... both in Spanish and English (there's also the difference between the TrueHD and DD+ packages but not really noticeable in this matter for most people) and streaming it's clearly worse because of loudness levels.