TV voices muffled

[tlfmd]

I have been through a lot.
Currently using a Sharp HDTV feeding a McIntosh MX 130 that splits sound in Bose surround fashion to Infinity Kappa 9's and Golden Ear center channel (pair). The Center channel is fed by an AMP ONE (100W) the Infinitys are fed by a MC2600 600w/channel and acoustic research cobalt wires. Dolby on or not, the same.
I have changed TV's (Panasonic before)
I have similar problem with a Samsung UHD series 8 feeding a Parasound amp with optic cable
I cannot for the life of me fix the female voices. Lucy Liu is the worst, but other voices are muffled.
I put a sound equalizer in the center channel to some benefit.
I do not hear this distortion in commercials, DVD, and most streaming. It is most aggravating when the voices of the commercial are crystal clear, but the show's audio is not.

 

[americanaudiophile]

1. You did balance the speakers with pink noise from the surround processor?
2. Is the center above or below your ear level? The planar tweeter doesn't have any vertical dispersion so that affects the sound quite a bit.
2. If you run the system set for a phantom center does it sound better?
If it does then try running the center with one channel of the 2600 instead of the Audiosource amp. That will tell you if the amp or Golden Ear center is the problem.
3. Your processor is not digital so the surround sound is way under par. You should replace it with a new one. Even a Marantz SR5012 receiver which has full preouts would sound much better than the Mac (even in analog).

 

[tlfmd]

Yes balanced
Yes at ear level
i have replaced the amp
I am most annoyed by the persistent muffling of broadcast entertainment, not the ads (ever), not the news (except on NBC Sunday last, but not the commercials).
DVD are clear.
Most streaming is clear.'
Commercials are always clear

 

[tlfmd]

Oh, and using a Parasound non surround hooked up to Samsung series 8 via optical cable has same problem

 

[americanaudiophile]

Since the problem is not consistent you may be hearing the difference in the sound of the programming.
Try to determine if the problem occurs with Dolby Digital programs or not. Your processor won't decode those as well.
You might also try changing the audio settings on the Cable box.

 

[tlfmd]

Since the problem is not consistent you may be hearing the difference in the sound of the programming.
Try to determine if the problem occurs with Dolby Digital programs or not. Your processor won't decode those as well.
You might also try changing the audio settings on the Cable box.

 

[tlfmd]

My suspicion exactly. Has anyone addressed this with the networks?