GADGET GURU T3's always loud tech know-it-all shouts out more wise advice

Q Why does my soundbar love explosions but hate dialogue?

- ILLUSTRATIONS: STEPHEN KELLY

A Yeah, your soundbar could well be the culprit. Some are built to sell in crowded department store showrooms. There, knock-your-socks-off bass cuts through the environmental noise better than anything else. Sometimes they'll have fewer drivers to hit a certain price point, maybe even eliminating the central channel altogether, forcing voices to share a channel with the stereo mix. If the speakers aren't quite nimble enough to keep up, it's no wonder that dialogue gets lost.

But be careful where you attribute blame, reader. At least some responsibility lies with Hollywood. Guru's done one of his famous lurks in the bushes at Michael Bay's house, and he's heard him shouting things like “MAKE TREMENDOUS BASS” and “APPLY ADDITIONAL EXPLOSION SOUNDS” at his beleaguered, weeping sound mixing team. Down the line, this cinema-ready audio gets mastered for the home, equalised and bass-boosted once again to be piped through crappy TV speakers. A Blu-ray might be more light-handed, but streaming is more likely to be audio sludge.

And then there's whatever you're doing on your end. Is your TV equalised to properly offer your soundbar the best signal? Have you selected a soundbar setting other than the one represented by an icon of a mushroom cloud? There's no shame in opting for (say) the voice mode, or even the night mode, which will tone down the neighbour-baiting booms so you can hear the mumbled dialogue of today's finest content.

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