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Hey Dick,

I recently bought a VIZIO SV420XVT. Love the picture quality.

I decided to go ahead and get the WSS-1A surround sound upgrade. I really like the 5.1 surround effect and the rich bass from the subwoofer.

But, the addition of the surround system has revealed, to me at least, a rather annoying flaw in the TV itself.

Before I added the upgrade, I was using an audio mode that didn't utilize the center channel speaker. When you switch on the 5.1 surround mode, it overrides the default audio mode and uses all 5 channels, including the center speaker for the dialogue track.

This is where the flaw is revealed. Unlike the left and right side speakers (apparently), the center speaker is very tinny, thin, and boxy sounding. It seems to have the acoustic quality of one of those old aluminum window speakers at the drive-in theater when I was a kid, minus all the distortion.

It sounds clear enough, but makes the center dialogue track sound thin, nasal, and like it is coming from a small, completely disconnected box. This, while the rest of the system sounds rich, full, and integrated.

I find this so annoying at times, that sometimes I just turn the 5.1 system off. There goes the emersion effect and the bass.

I've tried tweaking the equalizer and turning down the trim on the center speaker. If you turn it down far enough, the dialogue track disappears and you can't hear the characters talking.

I guess that it is just a really poor quality speaker or a poorly designed enclosure. Since the whole system is integrated into the TV, and the TV is new and under warranty, I guess there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Ross