Onkyo Surround Sound Speaker Issues?

Question

I have a issue with my onkyo surround speakers not playing very loudly. I have a onkyo ht-r510 receiver and use the standard onkyo speakers that came with the htib. I use sony tower speakers for my left and right channels. I have the volume and distance info for all my speakers programmed into my receiver. The rear speakers use roughly 25 feet of 16gauge speaker wire, but still seem fairly soft. Any suggestions on how to make my rear speakers more effective?

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2829/hometheaterpn9.jpg

Answer 1

Try balancing all of your speakers until they all sound the same or play at the same level of loudness.
Or just boost the level of your your rear or surround speakers.

Answer 2

That's a decent system for an in-wall/on-wall system. I don't care much for these types of systems however, because there is little room for error correcting or if you want to make future changes. My recommendation is (if exposed runs of wiring is what you are mainly concerned about) to have the wiring done within the walls with the speaker terminals strategically placed around the room for each speaker and the receiver. Not only will you have better flexibility this way, but you have the potential for producing much better sound. For example, if you went this route, you could go beautifully and high end with a pair of Silverline Sonatina IIIs for the mains, a Center Stage for the center, and ideally another pair of Sonatina IIIs for the rears or a pair of stand mounts, such as their SR16 monitors. For the subwoofer, I like the Hsu Research ULS-15 DualDrive pair of wireless subwoofers. Happy listening!

Answer 3

The rear speakers in a surround sound situation aren't designed to be "loud". They are used for the lack of a better word, ambiant sounds... Meaning if a car goes by on the screen they are used to recreate the sound the car makes going by.

The key is to properly set up your surround sound. You will have to look at the manual and it will tell you how to do it.. everything has to be at the right height, distance from the video source.

When listening to music, trust me, two channel is the far better method of listening to the source.

Answer 4

"I have the volume and distance info for all my speakers......" Hey buddy, trust your ears and get a good original dvd action movie for surround demo. upped the volume of the rear surrounds from your dvd if it has its built in dolby or dts decoder. or to be sure do it by increrasing the receiver's surround volume. Do the test tone option when adjusting the volume.

Answer 5

I can't work out your speaker arrangement from the image.