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Home Cinema · Explainer ·

Why you can't hear the dialogue on your TV

The critic

Dialogue gets lost in three places: thin TV speakers that face a wall, a surround mix folded down to stereo, and the mix itself, built for a cinema rather than a living room.

Only the first two are fixable at home. The symptom picker below points to the settings that help, and a soundbar with a real centre channel is the lasting fix. Subtitles cover the rest.

Explainer · 4 min read

Int. the prop room · continuous

Take it home

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Splurge€999

Sonos Arc Ultra Zwart

Speech Enhancement uses AI to pick out voices, with four adjustable levels in the app. Atmos content needs a compatible TV; some formats need eARC.

9.1.4 Dolby Atmos · Speech Enhancement · HDMI eARC · Sound Motion woofer

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