Rca Rt 2911 5.1 Home Theater 1000 W Rms

The first thing to check: Is the DVD, TV program, or other programming source in surround sound? Next, check all speaker connections and make sure they are correct, according to the channel and polarity.

The next thing to check is how you have the Blu-ray Disc/DVD player, Cable, or Satellite box connected to your Home Theater Receiver. To access Dolby Digital/DTSsurround sound, you need to have either HDMI, Digital Optical, Digital Coaxial, or 5.1 channel analog connection going from the source component to the Home Theater Receiver. Only these connections are able to transfer a Dolby Digital or DTS-encoded soundtrack.

It is also important to point out that the Dolby TrueHD/Atmos, and DTS-HD Master Audio/DTS:X surround sound formats, which are available on many Blu-ray Disc movies, can only be transferred via HDMI connection.

If you have RCA analog stereo cables connected from a DVD player, or other source component, connected to a Home Theater Receiver, the only way to access surround sound is with Dolby Prologic II, IIx, or DTS Neo:6 settings, if available.

These processing schemes extract surround sound from any two-channel audio source, including CDs, Cassette Tape, and Vinyl Records. When using this method with Blu-ray Discs/DVDs, it isn't the same as a true Dolby Digital/DTS signal you would get from digital or 5.1 channel analog audio connections, but it is more immersive than a two-channel result.

Another thing to remember is that even with true surround sound material, surround sound is not present at all times. During periods of mainly dialog, most sound comes from the center speaker only, with ambient sounds coming from the rest of the speakers. As the action on the screen gets more complicated, such as explosions, crowds, etc... or when the music soundtrack becomes more a part of the film, you will notice more sound coming from the side and/or rear speakers.

Also, most Home Theater Receivers offer automatic speaker setup programs to balance the sound coming from your speakers. Some of the systems include: MCACC (Pioneer), YPAO (Yamaha), Audyssey (Used by several brands), AccuEQ Room Calibration (Onkyo)), Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (Sony), Anthem Room Correction (Anthem AV).

Although there are some variations how these systems operate, they all make use of a special provided microphone that is placed in the listening position and also plugs into the receiver. The receiver then generates test tones that are sent to each speaker that are, in turn, sent back to the receiver through the microphone. The receiver analyzes the test tones and can can set speaker distance, speaker size, and speaker channel level in relation to the listening position.

In addition to the above automatic speaker setup systems, you can always opt using the receivers manual speaker setup menu. Also, here are some reference articles that can aid in manually setting up correct speaker balance: How Do I Position My Loudspeakers and Subwoofer For My Home Theater System? and Correcting Low Center Channel Dialog. Also, if something still doesn't sound right, you may even have a bad loudspeaker that could be causing the problem, check out How to Determine If You Have a Bad Loudspeaker

For a resource on how to get better sound for TV viewing, check out: How To Connect Your TV To An External Audio System.

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