[O.G. Killa]

what SPL did you calibrate to? 1027 cubic feet is considered "small". Keep in mind most hollywood dub stages are anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 cubic feet. A lot of the dub stage calibration specs are written for these size rooms. When the speakers get closer and closer to you, their apparent loudness goes up, meaning a speaker 20ft away calibrated to 85dB SPL will feel quieter than a speaker 5 ft away calibrated to the same 85dB SPL. Depending on how close you are to the speakers, you might have to calibrate to a lower level for it to "feel" and/or "sound" correct in your room.

The experience you are describing with the ATSC dialogue sounds like you are encountering the acoustic anomaly I'm describing above.

I think dolby (anyone, please correct me if I'm mistaken) specifies that you need to be at least 13 ft 4 inches away from your front speakers in order to use the 85dB SPL ref level. But to me even that seems pretty close and might need to be calibrated to 82dB or something instead of 85.

In the end, use your ears. 99% of the time they are correct.