Beam2: inconsistent output and thin dialog

With those EQ settings I would expect some inconsistent sound.  Try setting all at 0 and turn OFF Loudness and Speech Enhancement.  Speech Enhancement particularly makes dialogue a bit aggressive.  News dialogue should only be in the center.  If you want BOOM add a Sub Mini.

TruePlay worked well on my two Beam 2 bars.  If you can borrow an iPhone from someone run TruePlay on it.

Thanks! The reason I have those settings is basically to get any bass at all in dialogues. When changing to those default settings you mention the voices are even more hollow and thin.

Also, the right mid-woofer next to the tweeter in center is almost dead-silent. I can clearly hear that the left one is more active with a much clearer sound. Shouln’t at least those two be equal? Tried many different sources and content and it is the exact same issue. Strangely enough, when playing voices through airplay, the issue is not there. Both center woofers play equally loud and clear.

I am not looking for boom. As I mentioned, the bass in movies and effects is MASSIVE. I miss the natural deep warmth resonance and “timbre” in human voices. Now they just sound like from a laptop speaker or something. Clear, sure but very sterile. My fathers RAY has a much fuller sound in dialogues. And his settings are:

No Trueplay
No sub
Bass +1
Treble: +4
Speech Enhancement: On

It’s actually night and day so I believe there must be a hardware issue with the HDMI port on the unit and/or crossover problems in my Beam.

I am not getting a sub. A $500 stand-alone unit should manage this simple task. My $99 bookshelf speakers sound better in the mids/voices.

What about music played from within the Sonos app ( Not Airplay )??  It’s sounding more like the Frame TV source.

My wife uses Speech Enhancement on our Arc soundbar.  I find it irritating.

The small speakers in the Beam can’t reproduce bass frequencies as it seems like you expect.  What’s good about adding a sub is the fact I takes the low frequency duties away from the Beam allowing the frequency curve to be better balanced.

Try that borrow iPhone suggestion also.  TruePlay can work well to tame difficult rooms.

Playing music from the app sounds great. Same thing with Spotify using Spotify connect. Both center speakers perform equally and I find the bass fuller. The central left/right issue seems to be with HDMI only. I have tested connecting it to my old TV as well and same thing so it’s not our new Frame TV. My guess is that something is wrong with center-right woofer not getting a proper signal when source is via HDMI. And since I’ve tried many different cables I would guess it’s in the Beam unit itself. Speakers all seem fine but the internal crossover is faulty. 

I am not talking about the deep bass from a sub, this is normal bass in the mids that any normal 2 or 3-way speaker should be able to produce without a sub. And also an issue with left/right center speakers not being balanced.

And again, the bass itself in the unit is perfectly fine when it plays. As I said, explosions in movies are produced with such as massive bass it almost makes me wonder if there is a sub in the room. BUT! It’s not there during conversations. No bass at all, they are dead-flat. Like they were produced only by a cheap computer speaker. 

What is the source material and device? If it’s an Apple TV, check to see if Continuous Audio Connection is turned on (the default in the current tvOS). If it is, try turning it off. 

All sources using HDMI. TV unit itself and Apple TV. Same sound/issue with center left and center right elements where the right one is less active, more closed.

 

Have you tried to use another HDMI cable? It can be damaged

And with Continuous Audio Connection turned off on your Apple TV, while playing something from the Apple TV box, what type of audio is playing on the Beam 2 as indicated on the controller now playing screen. Or in Settings → General Settings → About Your System. Scroll down to your Beam 2 and check “Audio In”.