Hi, is there an MP3 track or something that you can load up in your various components to test if your home theatre is outputing 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound?
You could get hold of either Cars, The Incredibles, Toy Story or other Pixar DVD's to use the THX Optimiser that comes with the DVD's. I think Star Wars DVD's also come with one. Alternatively your amp should have a manual setup which will send a sound signal to each speaker - this works well if you can get your hands on an SPL Sound Meter (from Dick Smith for not too much). Or you could get something like DVD Essentials or AVIA setup DVD's. If you can get hold of a SACD player try the Dark Side of eth Moon (Pink Floyd) SACD to give hte set up a decent burst.
you could also download some movie trailers from apple, a lot of them have surround sound, thats if a PC is hooked up to the system that is, if not a DVD player would do the job?
I would suggest that the "dolby" clip found at the beginning of most DVD movies would be as good a resource as any. These clips are designed to overemphasize and show off the N.1 surround sound. If you can't tell that one of these clips is in N.1 surround then there is something wrong with your setup, as there is usually a sound that bounces around each speaker channel (eg. synth bells is a common one).
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