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November 24, 2005 - 11:05pm
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nyctc7
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Playing DVD's on a 2-channel stereo

I have a nice, high end, two channel stereo. I have neither the space nor the inclination to expand into home theater at this time. My TV sits in between my speakers (like I said....not much space). I note that DVD's can offer a choice of audio formats. For example, my latest Grateful Dead DVD, Dead Ahead, offers "Dolby Stereo" and "Dolby Digital 5.1." Other DVD's, whether music videos or just plain old movies, offer similiar choices, if named slightly different. I always prefer the 5.1, even though I am playing it through a two channel system with no decoding. What exactly am I listening too? What format is preferred when listening to a DVD through a two-channel system?

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November 27, 2005 - 8:34pm
Yiangos
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Re: Playing DVD's on a 2-channel stereo

Hiya

We can't answer your question unless you tell us what player you are using.is it a dvd player or cd player and what brand/model ?

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November 29, 2005 - 10:23pm
Yiangos
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Re: Playing DVD's on a 2-channel stereo

Hi again

Okay,i know what you mean,actually,the same thing puzzles me.Anyway,as far as i know,it doesn't matter if the dvd (software) has 2 or 5.1 channels.What matters is the hardware,in your case the marantz dv4500 player which normally should "downmix" all channels,be it 4 , 5.1 or whatever,into stereo. Why don't you try it the easy way to be 100% sure ? Get a demonstration or set-up and give it a listen.These dvds let you hear individual tones or music played through each channel at a time,usually together with comments from human voice.if you can hear everything,well , it works ! lol The commentator usually talks you through channels,ie "now you are listening to the surround channel" etc , you will know when you are not hearing a channel.

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March 13, 2006 - 2:02pm
topmounter
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Re: Playing DVD's on a 2-channel stereo

If your DVD player has multi-channel analog outputs, it should have a setting to downmix everything to 2.0 through the main right and left analog outputs. I did that for a while, but wasn't very happy with it. It always seemed that I had to turn the volume up abnormally high to hear the dialog clearly.

I ended up buying a center channel speaker and a used processor that I use just for television and DVD viewing. This resolved the dialog problem, since I could adjust the centre channel levels to my liking. However, it created a rather complicated mess of pre-amps, amps, source devices and speaker cables.

I'm now in the process of putting together a stand-alone 2-channel system so I can get away from the compromise ridden 2ch / HT hybrid behemoth I created... which of course requires more square footage... which has me thinking screw the HT stuff and just run the video related audio straight into my serviceable LCD TV's speakers and be done with it

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