5.1 sound system only plays 2.1 on optical cable

[chucky9]

so ive set up my 5.1 system n connected everything together but i feel like all the sound is coming from the front 2 speakers but i cant find anywhere to change the sound levels of the speakers

 

[boosted1g]

What equipment are you using:
What is the reciever model number?
What speakers?
What source devices are providing sound?

Cant help you figure out where to change the settings when you gave us no model numbers, no brands, dont even know what equipment you are using besides the fact that it is 5.1

When you say it "feel like all the sound is coming out of the front 2 spearkers" did you walk up to the speakers and listen for the sound? Do you have the speakers spread out in a 5.1 arangment, please tell me they are not all setting right beside each other. Did you test multiple sources?? If you have it in direct 5.1 mode and the sound is only stereo, you will only get 2.1.

 

[chucky9]

srry its a panasonic sc-btt460 and yes there is sound coming from all the speakers and yes they are set up with the sub under my desk the center under my monitors the front pair just of to the side behind my monitors and the smaller 2 behind me on the other side of the room. and what i mean is the majority of the sound is coming from infront of my n i cant find anyway to turn down the speakers infront of me n turn up the ones behind me

 

[boosted1g]

Is the source your computer or what device is providing the sound to the system, and are you playing music, games, movies, what??
If it is your computer, have you set it to 5.1 mode?

Most theater systems have a spot where you can set the individual speaker to + or - dBm. Depending on the source and content, it might just be that the background noise is minimal and so you dont hear much. In a 5.1 setup the center is for voices, left/right for foreground sounds, and the rears are for background, and obvioulsy the sub is for low frequency.

 

[chucky9]

ahhh ok that would explain all the gunshots behind me when i was watching saving private ryan, dont worry about it then thanks for all the advice and help though