This past week, I purchased my very first surround sound set up. I picked up the Aiwa HT-D780. I wanted something basic and simple to start with. I set everything up, and whenever it seems i try to watch a dvd in 5.1 surround or dts, the back speakers are barely audible. I haven't really had that much time to tinker with it, but as I am new to surround sound, I am not sure exactly how it should sound. Should all four speakers lpay at a similiar volume? Anybody who can help with this, your help is appreciated. Thanks

No, your surround speakers should be at a lower volume. I'm not sure if this is the same with your system or not, but alot of systems out there assume that the surround speakers are significantly closer to your ears then the front speakers; that is why the volume is so low. My system has an option where you can tell it how far away you are from the speakers, and it will adjust the volume to fit accordingly. You might want to check and see if you can adjust the volume of the surround speakers to fit your listening needs. If you can't, try moving them closer to your listening area.

Don't forget that the surround speakers are just there to put you in an "environment". The only thing you should hear out of them is background noices and echos (for the most part).

This is flat out wrong and misleading. Your speakers should be volume matched with white noise from all 6 speakers. They should all be set at 75 or 85 dB depending on which set up you use. My advice is go and buy the sound and vision DVD from BB and a SPL meter from Rat shack and follow the instructions. I personally use the Avia disk but it is 40 dollars in it's self. So the Sound and Vision disk should do just fine at 1/2 the price. You will then set each speaker to the SAME volume, the only thing the distance will do for you on your reciever is get the Delay correct so the sound reaches your ears at the correct time.

I believe this post is referring to a movie, in which case, yes, the volume of the sound coming out of the rear speakers would be lower. True, that if you had the same signal coming out of all four speakers, they should be the same volume, but a surround speaker does not project the same sounds as the front speakers. If the background noices were the same volume as the speach in a movie, you would not beable to hear the voices clearly.

You should adjust all speakers to the same level when you are at your listening position. I use 85dB to make sure no background noise from my house is being heard over my speakers.

You could get a THX Optimode enhanced disc to level the speakers. I know Terminator 2 Ultimate has this feature, maybe Toy Story 2?

This way you get a movie with it too

If you do get a meter from the Shack get the cheaper analog one!

But if you don't want to spend $50 on equipment you will use once a year, you can probably get to within a dB or two all the way around, which is close enough for alot of people, using your ears and the internal test tones on your receiver.

Not the best way, but it will work

Wow OK, it doesn't matter what you are playing. In DPL it was true that the rear speakers were just for surround effects, and the recievers were built that way usually 1/2 to a 1/4 of the wattage in the rear. In DD it is used to surround and immerse you, and in some cases the sound comes strictly from the rear speakers and is as loud or louder than the front speakers. And there are 6 speakers in a DD system not just 4

Just to be clear, the "same level" advice is referring to test tones playing in either a setup disc (e.g., Avia and Video Essentials) or through the receiver's setup area.

Sorry Stevevt I guess I wasn't quite clear in my post I assumed some things that I should not have. Thank you for the clarification of my post, I just assumed people knew what white noise was.

Also it is at the "listening position" and not at the speakers!

Yea it is a bit hard to descibe how to set levels, but AVIA or Video Essentials will walk you through it step by step.

There is also speaker distance and delay time which affects overall sound, but I will let somone else take care of that portion

Those discs also provide video calibration, which I think is a must for home theater! If the contrast on you TV is above 1/2 it is probably way too high!

I tried to touch on that portion. That is what the distance in your recievers set up accounts for, not volume. It adds delay to each speaker to make sure the sound reaches the listeners ear at the correct time. But again in most HT this is only for the sweet spot ie the reference position and anyone sitting anywhere else will have the sounds reach them slightly out of time depending on their listening position. So much to explain so little time lol

This may be a bit obvious, but it also depends on the DVD you're watching. Try watching something like Saving Private Ryan or Gladiator. Listening to one of those will give you a clearer idea for whether or not your system is set at the optimum level. Though some here say turn the rear speakers down lower than front, I actually have mine set 1 notch higher because I like the increased rear channel sound. Also see if your receiver has a "test" function. Mine does, and it will produce sound from each of the 6 speakers, one at a time, to let you know if they're working properly and at what sound level. Good luck--it will probably just take a little tinkering.

I have use the test tones and when i use them, the back surrounds seem noticably lower then the front speakers. It seems when I'm watching a movie, I can barely hear the surrounds at all. Thanks for all the help from everyone i'm starting to get a clue i think. But keep the advice coming

When using test tones, the volume coming out of each speaker should be the same when you are an equal distance from all speakers. If this is not true, there is something you need to adjust on your system. I do not know about this model, or any Aiwa's for that matter, so I am at a loss.

There are several reasons for this

1) The speakers are not the same quality as the front channels
2) The rear channel amplification is not adequate
3) The audio track of the DVD is not done properly
4) The rear channels are out of phase.

You need to balance with the front channels low enough to allow you to balance with the rear. If you are able to get them balanced, then there may be other problems.

Again some misinformation. The sound level at your primary listening position should be the same no matter the distance from your speakers. It doesn't matter if your fronts and center a 10 ft away and your rears are only 3. The sound level should be the same when listening to the test tones.

Now as far as the speakers being louder, Are they all at ear level or are the rear way above your head. A good bet would be to lower your rear speakers to at or just above ear level. that will help alot. then if it still doesn't match there should be a way to adjust the sound level of each speaker individually. bring the surrounds up and the front three down until it sounds correct. if it is too soft just crank the volume a bit when you are watching a movie

Thanks for the advice everyone, after quite a bit of tinkering with them after work today, everything is sounding more balance. They're not perfect but i plan on running out to radio shack in the next week or so to get what i need to more acurately calibrate them.