Comment by Avamander

> Plus then you had to fiddle with multiple volume controls instead of one to make it work for your space.

Most AVRs come with an automatic calibration option. Though there are cheap 5.1 options on the market that will get results multiple times better than your flatscreen can produce.

> We should make the default work well

Yep, movies should have properly mastered stereo mixes not just dumb downmixes from surround that will be muddy, muffled and with awful variations in loudness.