I’ve been running home theater in stereo for years and the solution I’ve found is a combination of phantom center channel level control, and adjusting the compr

I’ve been running home theater in stereo for years and the solution I’ve found is a combination of phantom center channel level control, and adjusting the compression settings to reduce dynamics. What works for me is a passive hardware mixer in front of my 2 channel power amp. I take the line level center (mono) and main (L/R) pre-out signals from my hdmi receiver, and mix them on the passive mixer. This gives full control over the center level mix without actually having a center speaker (I have just a pair of stereo speakers) I also set dynamics to minimum to keep dialog and special fx at roughly the same volume level (instead of constantly riding the volume control during action scenes) Took some time to tune it, but I’m really happy with the setup now!