why is it that in movies you can barely hear the actors speak?

I think it's the way the sound systems are rigged these days,...

They haven't dealt with this phenomenon yet,..

of the dialogue being too low & the background noise being too loud,..like the music & the sound effects.

I can't wait for the day when they finally address this problem.

It's an unfortunate part of how movies are being made - and have been a problem for about 10-15 years. The focus so much has been on soundtracks and sound effects that dialogue is being forgotten. I've complained to friends in the business and they agree.

Some have poor sound recording, particularly low budget independent films. Cinemas tend to turn up the volume too high, distorting the sound, or have cheap poor quality or life expired speakers