Ask S&V

Q I plan to buy a KEF R300 surround speaker system and an Anthem MRX 310 AV receiver and use the system almost exclusively for watching movies. I’m getting older, and movie dialogue sometimes gets lost. (My wife says I don’t listen sometimes, but that is another subject.) What are your thoughts and recommendations here? —Michael Wood / via e-mail

A I think you’re on the right track in buying a KEF R300 speaker system, which Sound & Vision granted Top Pick status when we reviewed it back in 2012. Pretty much any speaker system—even a soundbar—will be an upgrade over your TV’s built-in speakers, but the KEFs should take your movie-watching experience to a whole new level.

Hearing dialogue isn’t likely to be an issue when your new system is up and running, but if it continues to get lost, there are two features found on Anthem receivers that can help out. Anthem Room Correction can be used to set output levels, crossover frequencies, and room correction EQ for each individual speaker in your system. The benefits of ARC can be readily heard at the low end, but it also helps to clean up and tighten sound from the center channel and surround speakers. And the MRX 310’s Level Trim adjustment is an on-the-fly tweak you can make via remote control for each speaker (front, center, surrounds, sub) during playback. This will come in handy during movies where dialogue is getting lost in the mix and requires a quick boost to enhance intelligibility.