best sound system for hearing movie dialogue

The key thing you need is a center channel. That speaker usually sits directly under your television, and all of the dialog is generally routed through it. For the rear speakers, you could leave your couch flush against the wall if you were willing to mount them on the wall. That'll depend on the size and shape of the speakers though. For rear speakers that look like tiny bookshelf speakers, you'll probably need to buy stands to put next to the couch on each side.

There are long answers and short answers to this question. One shortish answer is that most of your problems could be solved by boosting the center channel (most of the dialogue gets routed to that channel) relative to the other channels. So: forget the rear speakers (you don't need them for good sound--although they're nice for the "OMG he's BEHIND me!" effect if your room allows it). Get a nice high-quality center speaker, and two nice high-quality front speakers of the same brand. Add a subwoofer if desired. Then do the proper set-up with your amp (if it comes with one of those remote microphone doodads for automatic tuning, use it--it's very easy). If you still don't like what you're getting (with the center channel just underneath or just above the TV screen and the fronts either side) then you can go into your audio settings and boost the center relative to the fronts. That really should fix your problem. You will find that there are just some films that are badly mixed (or mixed deliberately to drown the audio). I tend to find--for what reason I cannot tell--that audio tends to be a little buried in the mix in BBC TV productions. Oh, and by the way, you can do all this without the center speaker, too. Just use the two fronts (and the optional sub) and tell your amp that you're using a "phantom center" (or that you just have "no center"--whatever term it uses). It'll route the center channel info via the fronts. Again, though, the same principle applies: adjust the volume of the center channel signal until you're happy with it relative to the rest.

if you don't have a center speaker, it'll end up being very muffled. This, by the way, is only true if the receiver is unaware that there is no center speaker. If it's merrily sending a signal to the center speaker speaker-posts and there's no speaker plugged in there then, sure, you'll have muffled dialogue. But if the amp/receiver knows there's no center and is sending that channel to the Front L&R the dialogue should sound fine.

Your DVD player probably has some sort of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression that is currently turned off. Turn it on, you'll have to look in the manual to figure out how.

You could find a sound bar that has dynamic range control/compression (DRC). This evens out the dialogue/effects balance. In fact, it looks like your current sound bar has DRC. http://www.docs.sony.com/release/HTCT100_EN_ES_FR.pdf. You also have the option of increasing the level of the center speaker.

A while ago, i lived in a house with some friends where we had a decent surround sound system. the problem was solved so well there i never really knew how annoying it could be, but it's bothered me everywhere else since then. The solution is to get a semi-decent surround sound receiver(craigslist is your friend!) that allows you to tweak the volume of the center channel. Many of these have settings to disable channels you're not using, or just mix them in to other channels. the one we had there, and several i've played around with did. We had the center channel boosted, and the bass rolled off below a specific range. We'd also often turn down the sub during certain movies, or quickly crank up the center or even front left and right channels. Some movies are just mixed poorly, but rarely did i encounter anything there you couldn't make sound fine without having to crank it just to hear the dialog. Being able to boost the center channel instantly solved the problem. And after a while we had found pretty much a "sweet spot" where the settings never even really got touched I'd craigslist the sound bar, and then use the cash to buy a surround sound receiver on there and either some speakers too, or just get some on monoprice. I also think dynamic range compression might not help that much. It's worth a try, but i've had several sony TVs and other gear that had it, and it would be hard to even tell in a blind "taste test" whether it was engaged or not. The instances in which it noticeably works are usually on commercial equipment, I.E. sound systems in restaurants.

I suspect that what's happening is that now you're hearing movies the way they're actually mixed -- with less compression. In the pre-DVD era, I think movie soundtracks tended to be more compressed for TV and VHS release... so there was less of a range between the quietest and loudest sounds. Digital media allow for a wider dynamic range, giving you an experience more like what you'd get in a movie theater. But sometimes a little compression helps, when you're watching a movie in your living room. Turning on the compression in your system should help.

Yeah, good point about the center channel. A http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003R7KMS8/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ will let you adjust its volume bias if you like. However, with really good speakers, the problem disappears, at least for me. Check out http://www.emotivapro.com/collections/all.

Actually for surround sound you probably want different speakers. I have no recommendation there.