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KEF E305/E301 satellite + sub speaker package thread

73K views 273 replies 34 participants last post by  Cesc 
#1 · (Edited)
I’m about to take delivery of the KEF E305 package. There doesn’t seem to be thread for this so decided to start one. The E305 is targeted for small rooms or life style homes. In these listening rooms, large floor standers and/or book shelves speakers on stands are not practical nor wont pass the Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF). The E301 satellites have the coincident tweeter + mid bass driver arrangement. KEF calls this the Uni-Q array. Interestingly the high end of KEF's reference series range of speakers consisting of the Blade and LS50 incorporate the same technology. This flow down from the high end speakers to more affordable range was a factor in the purchase decision of the E305/E301.

KEF's website for details of the E305 are found here: http://www.kef.com/html/hk_en/showroom/home_theatre_speakers/ESeries/overview/

Available colours are: black or white

Current purchasing options are: E305 package or a pair of E301 satellites

The KEF E305 package consists of:
  • four (4) numbers of model E301 satellites for left front + right front + left surround + right surround speakers;
  • one (1) number of model E301c for the centre speaker; and
  • one (1) number of model E2 sub
Pictures from the internet on what the speakers + sub look like:




Here are the specifications for E301 satellites:
Design: Two-way bass reflex
Drive units: Uni-Q driver array
High Frequency driver: 19mm (0.75in.) vented aluminium dome with the new tangerine wave guide tweeter.
Mid Frequency driver: 115mm (4.25in.) aluminium
Frequency range: (-6dB) 80Hz – 45kHz
Frequency response: (±3dB) 90Hz - 33kHz
Crossover frequency: 2.7kHz
Amplifier requirements: 10 - 100W
Sensitivity: (2.83V/ 1m) 86dB
Harmonic distortion:
 
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#27 ·
I was considering buying these speakers and was planning to wallmount some of them. I know the base is able to pivot, but what I don't understand is the way they're screwed into the wall. As near as I can tell, the metal base doesn't have any screws visible (only on the back) on the front of the metal base, so I must be missing something. I found a picture online that tells me that perhaps I need to buy some additional things to be able to hook them on a wall. Is that correct?

Thanks!
 

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#28 ·
Hi blimpje,

If you look at post #2 , there's a picture of the back of the KEF E301 base plate in black. The base plate is actually hard plastic with the foot in a silver colour metal coat finish. The base plate has got 2 key hole slots that can take standard bolt screws.

I got some standard ball joint wall speaker mounts with a mounting plate. Wanted to have some space between the speaker and the wall to minimise in-direct sound reflections. The brother in-law hardware store came in handy with the screw bolts, washers and nuts to put it all together. He was nice enough to paint the speaker mounts to match the silver finish of the foot base! Had to buy him a nice dinner as a thank you.

If you decide to mount on the wall, it's a lot neater installation. Be aware that there's some but limited movement for pointing the satellites into the listening position.

The speakers are not very efficient, but I'm in a small apartment, don't sit too far away and listen at lower than normal volumes. I would not use the KEF E301 in medium to large rooms.
 
#29 ·
Thank you Steveting. My room isn't that large, about 4 metres to 4 metres in total. Not sure how much that is in America, but I'm reasonably confident the room is somewhere in the middle between small and medium. Plus, I don't wanna piss off the neighbors anyway.
 
#34 ·
blimpje,

The area works out to be a little over 172 sq. ft. and should be okay. How tall is the ceiling? This is to determine the room volume and give a rough approximation on the sub size. Your room has a square footprint and there's going to be issues with standing waves regarding the bass. Good placement (sub and listening position) is an important factor.

Room equalization on your receiver will also have an impact to the sound quality. Choose a good one that can deal with your particular room acoustics. If the results are particularly bad, not sure if you're willing to consider room treatments such as bass traps and broadband absorption panels?

As long as you're about 8' to 10' from the KEF E301 satellite speaker, the low efficiency of the E301 isn't a problem.

See the attached speaker placement setup from the likes of Audyssey/Dolby/DTS:
 

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#30 ·
Steveting, great thread!

I'm considering the speakers and I have a few questions for you.

1. In the whathifi review that you link they say, "There is one fairly big flaw in the E305, though, and that’s that it needs to be played at quite high volumes to sound its best. Reduce the levels just a bit and you quickly lose dynamism and punch, and that can make everyday listening a slightly flat experience." Do you agree with that assessment?

2. In a review of the competing B&W M-1 speakers, whathifi says, "The good news continues with dialogue. The verbal sparring between Bond and M is projected with superb directness and enough clarity to reveal the nuance in each barbed retort, while echoes and dusty foot-shuffles are impressive.". Do the E301's perform similarly? I've had small speakers in the past that made it hard to follow dialogue so this is one of the main things I am curious about. Also, did you look at the B&W M-1's when you were evaluating speakers? I'd love to know how you think they compare.

3. Lastly, you said that KEF recommends a sub crossover at 90Hz. Do you remember where you saw that? I can't find it on their website. The reason I ask is that I've been told that generally speaking it is good to have the sub crossover at 20Hz above the speakers' bottom frequency, or 110Hz in this case. Have you tested different crossover levels? With your new subwoofer does 90Hz seem to be the sweet spot?

Thanks!
 
#32 · (Edited)
Steveting, great thread!

I'm considering the speakers and I have a few questions for you.

1. In the whathifi review that you link they say, "There is one fairly big flaw in the E305, though, and that’s that it needs to be played at quite high volumes to sound its best. Reduce the levels just a bit and you quickly lose dynamism and punch, and that can make everyday listening a slightly flat experience." Do you agree with that assessment?
I would disagree with whathifi's assessment based on little to no information on whathifi's setup. If you look at post #3 , you'll see my setup in the apartment which includes room dimensions, room volume, speaker + sub placement, Main Listening Position, furniture placement, etc. There is also information on the AVR used (Marantz NR-1504) which has Audyssey MulitEQ room equalization, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume, reference level offset, dialogue level adjustment, etc. Frequency response graphs, waterfalls and spectrogram is also included. Based on my setup and using Audyssey, there was no problem with low level listening. I'm able to listen at night with the Main Volume setting around -40dB to -45dB from reference and could clearly hear the soundtrack. Not sure the basis of whathifi statement in their review? The use of flowery adjectives and lack of measurements is telling. :rolleyes: Most likely whathifi didn't employ any room equalization, which has a significant impact to sound quality and is very audible. If I turn off Audyssey, the volumes are definitely lower. Your mileage may vary (YMMV) as the saying goes around here.

2. In a review of the competing B&W M-1 speakers, whathifi says, "The good news continues with dialogue. The verbal sparring between Bond and M is projected with superb directness and enough clarity to reveal the nuance in each barbed retort, while echoes and dusty foot-shuffles are impressive.". Do the E301's perform similarly? I've had small speakers in the past that made it hard to follow dialogue so this is one of the main things I am curious about. Also, did you look at the B&W M-1's when you were evaluating speakers? I'd love to know how you think they compare.
I did do a comparison between the B&W vs. KEF speakers in the local hifi shop. To be honest, there wasn't that much of sound difference between the two based on a short listening test; using the same AVR and soundtrack. I didn't expect there to be much of a difference. Choosing a set of speakers is a very personal choice and what sound right to me may not sound right to you in the same room and setup. I would choose speakers that I like. There are a number of tricks available on an AVR that can improve dialogue. Increasing the dB of the center channel is one. Yamaha has a neat feature call dialogue lift that apparently shifts the dialogue source (up or down) to the TV/screen, I haven't tried this yet so can't tell you how effective it is. I was able to play around with the setting (center channel width increase) to make the dialogue just right. I also use DTS as the main surround mode.

3. Lastly, you said that KEF recommends a sub crossover at 90Hz. Do you remember where you saw that? I can't find it on their website. The reason I ask is that I've been told that generally speaking it is good to have the sub crossover at 20Hz above the speakers' bottom frequency, or 110Hz in this case. Have you tested different crossover levels? With your new subwoofer does 90Hz seem to be the sweet spot?

Thanks!
Have a look at post #1 where the F3 of the E301 is mentioned at 90Hz. Any bass frequencies below this needs to be directed to the sub. A modern AVR would measure the in-room response of the speaker and you would check if it's below the F3 rating stated by the manufacturer. If the in room results come in low, go the setting page and manually increase to at least the F3 value. I've set mine currently to 100Hz based on the in room response by Audyssey. Upon further checking using the sub-distance tweak, I was able to get a relatively smooth transition between the center channel and sub at 100Hz. See the previous post on the low frequency response (15Hz to 300Hz) and what it looks like.

I've experimented at 90Hz, 100Hz, 110Hz and 120Hz crossover settings. At 100Hz, I've noticed the sub just disappears into the room and the bass seems to come from the satellite, which is what good sound reproduction is like - yes?:) Note that I've moved the sub to the front left corner which changes the bass response. Don't be afraid to experiment and discover something new/better, but have the goal in mind of improving sound quality.

One of the reasons to increase the crossover frequency higher than the F3 rating speaker is to provide a little more headroom on the AVR. Because the high energy bass frequencies are being directed to an active sub (where it's best reproduced), the amount of power the receiver sends to the satellites is less - hence it's able to take care of the transients better or you can play a bit louder. However, increasing the F3 too high would also make the sub more local - meaning you'll hear both the sub / speaker playing at the same time at certain frequencies. This may not bother you, but does annoy me to some extent. It depends on how fussy one is.
 
#31 ·
1 the def sing at higher volumes but I live in 1000sqft with a 3m and 4y And neighbors. They are great at late night volumes.

2. I have not done a comparison but one of those reviews also talks about the rain I. SSpiderman. Mine have played Frozen more than I care to mention and dialog effects and LFE are great. Stomping feet in the ice palace and all.

3 I think the 90 is in the owner manual. I also think my Sony AVR set up did this on its own anyway with automagic set up.

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk
 
#37 ·
Yes if you look at the guts of the speaker, no because the foot is redesigned for it to stand on its 'side' and the logo is designed to be upright when it is on its side.

So a qualified yes, but...

From an audio quality perspective it is the same speaker, same volume of speaker box and same driver.
 
#38 ·
^^cu_shane,

As SMHarman advised the E301c is the same as the other E301 units, except turned on it's side. I've got one of these as the center channel beneath the TV and pointed up to the listening position. Have a look at post #3 for the room picture and layout.

The driver inside the E301c is the same as the other E301, so the sound signature is the same. Having the E301 as the Left, Center and Right (LCR) for the front sound stage is quite impressive for movies/music. My only problem is that the vertical displacement between the left + right to the center channel isn't less than ideal 2' which would make it a bit more seamless - according to professionals. When playing movies, the panning from the far left of screen to the far right of the screen is okay and didn't notice any gaps. I've also played some concert DVD/blu-ray and the sound stage is impressive.
 
#41 ·
^ Guys,

I'm using 12 to 14 AWG and as small as 18 AWG.

Within a short distance of less than 20', I couldn't here any difference in the sound...:)
 
#82 ·
^ Guys,i 'm using 12 to 14 AWG and as small as 18 AWG. Within a short distance of less than 20', I couldn't here any difference in the sound...:)
Great article! Speaker cables: Measurements Vs Psycho-acoustic data" by Edgar Villchur.
 
#44 ·
So can somebody tell me more about the wall mount because i want to install them on my wall. Is this a two piece system with a mounting plate clicking on the main mount or just to flat head screws in the wall and you "hook" it in?
Did KEF use the infamous sticky rubber surface again from years ago or is this not a soft touch surface?
 
#46 ·
One thing to be aware of is that the mounting arms have very limited movement left and right (maybe 15 degrees). So you pretty much need to mount them in a direct line from the main listening area. The mounting arm twists around behind the speaker for wall mounting.

I'm not sure which surface you are asking about the surface that contacts the wall has a rubber gasket around the parameter.
 
#49 ·
I haven't tried it, but wouldn't this work to increase the side-wards angle?

- Get one longer screw in addition to one standard mounting screw. Use the longer screw on the outside side of the speaker (i.e if this is a left speaker, the long screw should be for the left side of the mount)
- Instead of going straight into the wall, put the screws into the wall at the same angle that you want your speaker to face.
- Leave the longer screw sticking out from the wall a little farther than the standard screw so that their faces are in line.
- Then wedge a shim between the wall and the mounting surface of the speaker so that it would hold securely. You would need something that wouldn't fall out so you would probably need to glue or screw the shim to the wall. You'd also want it to be small enough that it would be concealed.

A lot more effort, but maybe an alternative to using a ball mount.
 

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#50 ·
^cu_shane,

Your idea is novel and provided the screw threads are long enough to bite into the wall to safely hold up the weight, it should work. The shim needs to match the base 'foot' of the satellite so that aesthetics match up.

It's still a fixed point install, so you'll have to aim the satellite in the right direction as there's only minor adjust afterwards.
 
#51 ·
I was considering picking up these KEF speakers as they are on sale currently and should meet the WAF. I was looking at wall mounting them so good to know there is limited directional movement. Is the 15 degrees enough to angle them to the seating position about 10' back?

Does anyone have a link to the user Manuel? I have googled but can't find it.

Can someone measure from the bottom of the mount to the top of the speaker? I am currently running speaker wire and need to put it through the wall but need to ensure it not to heigh as when the speaker is mounted it's not to close to the ceiling.

Thanks for the help.
 
#52 ·
Andy,

My seating is approximately 10' from the speakers and I needed the additional speaker bracket for at least the front right to aim it to the Main Listening Position. See post 3 of room and the layout plan.

I've attached a link of the E305 from KEF here: http://www.kef.com/html/hk_en/showroom/home_theatre_speakers/ESeries/document_download/index.html. Download the product information sheet and it has the speaker dimensions including the bass 'foot'. I'd leave 1.5' to 3' of additional speaker wire around where you plan to place the satellite. Having some extra length of cable gives more flexibility in placement, being short means an ugly cable splice or the worse case of running the cable again.

I do have a hard copy of the owner's manual (it's in multiple languages) and unsure of the copyright issues here on AVS - as KEF may object. AVS also has limits on pdf file size, so it's not going to work. If you have any particular question about the E305/301 system - will try and answer.
 
#56 · (Edited)
^ Guys,

I've emailed KEF (Hong Kong) regarding the directivity index of the E301 satellites as well as the polar plots. KEF hasn't replied for over a week and I'm getting a little frustrated - they were a lot more responsive when I asked them about the timber match with the LS50. Would appreciate if other KEF E301 owners can also ask these questions via email.

The purpose behind these questions is Dolby Atmos. The current thinking is that coaxial (or concentric) design speakers made by manufacturers such as KEF are better, due to their point source nature and the ability to orientate in either the vertical or horizontal direction without interference. This avoids the dreaded lobing that standard speaker designs face as shown below.


For Dolby Atmos, there are two types of speakers under consideration. The ceiling mount as shown below from the new Denon AVR user manual.

A better 3D representation is here:


The above arrangement can be done if the E301 is mounted onto the ceiling at the appropriate locations. The question is related to dispersion of sound waves. My understanding for the ceiling speaker to be effective in Atmos, the sound needs to be wide dispersing to allow the height information to register in the brain - hence the question of a polar plot.

The other type of speaker is the Atmos enabled add on. Example from Onkyo is here: http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=SKH-410&class=Speaker
If the listening room has a flat ceiling (8' to 14' tall) that's fairly reflective, this add on basically sits on top of the front left/right speaker (or rear left/right surrounds) to bounce the sound waves off the ceiling. See picture below from Dolby's Atmos working paper as an example.

A better 3D picture is here:

For the Atmos enabled speaker to work, it needs to comply with Dolby standard for directivity. Hence my question to KEF on the directivity index of the E301.
 
#57 ·
Just wanted to throw my 5 cents into the, well, whichever object they're usually thrown in. I have the KEF E305 and Sony STR-DN1050 AVR. First impressions, demoing the Matrix lobby scene on PS3 were, well, not so good. The rears felt like they weren't even there, dialogue was muffled, bass was far too weak and overall I was letdown. Perhaps my rears were too far back? I also knew I hadn't actually tinkered with any settings beyond having done the auto calibration using the round mike thingie which you place in the listener's position. So there was hope. So I manually started to adjust each of the speakers (As well as the sub), increasing their dB levels, but not to their max levels (10dB). Today I watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and HOLY COW!!!! Volume level was at a mere 27%, but the impact during several scenes was frightening. I knew what was coming and yet, I ever so briefly squirmed on the sofa. The moment when Hunt and the secretary's car is struck by firepower was a sonic delight, just bullets ricocheting from every single (5.1) angle. Really impressive, but smaller scenes were now suddenly audible too. There was a real oomph to the action scenes. The wind up in the Kaliffa tower was mesmerizing and the incoming sand storm, well, darn, sounded like I could discern every single sand pellet coming in. Then I'm thinking 27% volumes level! 1/4!! Definitely not a lack of power and thud for me as the reviews seem to be saying. I'm sure the Matrix lobby scene will play differently now too.

And yet I'm thinking what use is the auto-calibration when, from my pov at least, it seems to be so far off the mark?
 
#58 · (Edited)
Just wanted to throw my 5 cents into the, well, whichever object they're usually thrown in. I have the KEF E305 and Sony STR-DN1050 AVR. First impressions, demoing the Matrix lobby scene on PS3 were, well, not so good...
And yet I'm thinking what use is the auto-calibration when, from my pov at least, it seems to be so far off the mark?
Hi blimpje,

Thanks for the feedback on your KEF E305 setup and glad to hear that you're enjoying them.:)

Did you use some test tones on a CD and handheld SPL meter to re-calibrate the dB levels? Or was it done just by ear?

I assume you've got the E2 sub that goes along with the E301 satellites in the E305 package? How does it sound for movies? If you haven't done so already, try the sub crawl method demonstrated by Axiom Audio in their youtube video:

Don't know much about the Sony STR-DN1050 AVR, but it's proprietary room equalization (REQ) isn't popular here in AVS, which kind of says something.

Generally the REQ alogrithmn should get some basic things right. This includes getting the speakers levels balanced to 75dB at the Main Listening Position (MLP). Setting the time delays (in ft./m.) for each speaker. Then allowing bass management in setting the right crossover from the satellites to the sub. Finally performning some form of Parametric Eqaulization (PEQ) to pull down peaks and smooth out the frequency response in the room.

If you want to verify that Sony has done this correctly, I would recommend the step-by-step guide written by AVS member Jerry Austin here: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/91-au...ues-how-interpret-graphs-10.html#post22823228
 
#60 ·
Steveting, what does time delays for each speaker do, why should i care about it, and can this be adjusted manually via the avr menu?

The way i see it, i wouldn't want there to be any delay. I'd want the speakers to produce sound the moment it happens on the screen. :D
 
#61 · (Edited)
The distance between the Main Listening Position (MLP) and each speaker is an approximation of the delay. It can be in milliseconds or equivalent feet or meters based on the speed of sound - approximately 1,126 feet/second around room temperature. The delays are on a per channel basis.

The purpose of the audio delay is to ensure that when the soundtrack is being decoded by the receiver and sent to each channel, the sound arrives at the MLP at the same time. The receiver does the internal calculations for this.

When your Sony receiver asks you to place the microphone at the listening position, it will ping each speaker to set up the delay based on the in room response. It takes into account the overall group delay that the electronics, amp, mic, cabling etc. has and it may be slightly different to the physical measurement between the speaker and MLP.

Edit: All the audio processing may cause a group delay with the video signal. You may notice this on the screen when the actor opens his/her mouth to speak there is a delay in the words. To correct for this, most modern AVR have what is called lip sync delay. You can adjust this timing in milliseconds and see if it improves the video/audio sync.
 
#72 · (Edited)
Currently thinking of various Atmos configurations with the KEF E301 satellites - thanks wse for asking some questions which has prompted some ideas. Been reading up the white papers from Dolby and looking at a future 5.1.4 configuration.

Intend to keep the KEF E301 satellites and re-position them for surround / Atmos duties. Also looking at an up-grade of the AVR since it's going to need to decode the Dolby TrueHD bit stream which contains the meta-data packets. Wont have to change the Oppo blu-ray player. So far only the top of line AVRs this year will incorporate Atmos, maybe that's a good thing as it will mean a better REQ as this is something worthwhile having.:)

For the front sound stage of left, center and right transducers, looking at the KEF LS50. Will still need to purchase an additional pair of E301, but will have a spare center satellite - E301c.

Adding up the costs, preliminary estimates indicate the possibility of having to sell one of my kidneys to pay for the best Atmos solution. :eek:
 
#73 ·
Currently thinking of various Atmos configurations with the KEF E301 satellites - thanks wse for asking some questions which has prompted some ideas. Been reading up the white papers from Dolby and looking at a future 5.1.4 configuration.

Intend to keep the KEF E301 satellites and re-position them for surround / Atmos duties. Also looking at an up-grade of the AVR since it's going to need to decode the Dolby TrueHD bit stream which contains the meta-data packets. Wont have to change the Oppo blu-ray player. So far only the top of line AVRs this year will incorporate Atmos, maybe that's a good thing as it will mean a better REQ as this is something worthwhile having.:)

For the front sound stage of left, center and right transducers, looking at the KEF LS50. Will still need to purchase an additional pair of E301, but will have a spare center satellite - E301c.

Adding up the costs, preliminary estimates indicate the possibility of having to sell one of my kidneys to pay for the best Atmos solution. :eek:
AVR - Cost TBD
3 x LS50 $2200
2 E301 $350
Not so bad.

Now would a missing kidney mean that you get better bass feel from the HT system?
 
#77 ·
Some more random thoughts about the E305 in combination with my Sony STR-DN1050. I'm certainly satisfied and a reference Blu-Ray such as Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol seems to really show off my speakers and AVR. BUT, there's a caveat and that has to do with the auto calibration option. See the screenshot please which I is an auto cali I've done a few days ago. As you know from my pictures earlier, my room is fairly symmetrical as is the speaker setup with the only detail that the rears are not to my side as in the screenshot but behind me as you can see from the circles I've added.

I'm trying to understand how the auto-calibration function does its thing so some bullets for easy reading:

  1. For nearly every speaker, the dB level is 0.0 with the exception of the rear left speaker. Considering there's a range of 0.0 to 10.0 why would it settle for 0.0?
  2. Why does the rear left speaker get a 1.0 even though it is virtually the same distance from me (The Microphone) as the rear right speaker?
  3. Somehow the Sub gets a whopping 4.0 which to my ears sounds a bit too overbearing, and yet there it is: 4.0! Is something trying to compensate for something else?
  4. Before watching MI: Ghost Protocol I manually adjusted all the dB levels of each satelite, fearing that 0.0 might be too puny (Indeed, the lobby scene from The Matrix lacked major punch, espech from the rears), and my experience of watching the Tom Cruise actioner was tremendous with generous, frightening activity from the rears during the major scenes and nice bass punch during mano a mano fights and the clang whenever Ethan Hunt struck a window of the Burj Kaliffa) BUT, and here it comes, am I gonna damage my speakers by increasing the dB levels to 5.0 or even 7.0? I know these speakers are supposed to sound truly great at high volumes according to the reviews so perhaps I should keep the dB levels way down and the master volume higher than normal? It was at 27% for MI 4 and seemed plenty enough for my small living room, but again, dB levels were at around 5-7 dB for all the speakers, which seemed to make a big difference, but am I taking risks here?
  5. I sometimes get the feeling that rear activity is muted for smaller scenes where there's a lot of people. The hustle and bustle of crowds during, indeed crowd scenes just doesn't seem to create a truly enveloping sound field. I saw this happen in Casino Royale a few times (The Poker scenes, Venice and The Airport) Of course, this can depend on the Blu-Ray itself or perhaps I'm asking too much from my speakers as the activity is certainly there, just only truly satisfactory during major action scenes. Is it because my rears are too far behind me and their dB levels need to be at a high enough level? Reviews of major blu-rays frequently seem to say that there's a lot of surround activity during "smaller" scenes, but it doesn't always seems to come through. Are there any tips here in order to improve things? Would it help to place the microphone about a meter behind my seating position and running the auto calibration again?
  6. How much stock are you all putting in such an auto calibration function? Can we trust it to be reasonably correct, 4.0dB for the sub be damned? If no, do you tweak subtly afterward of throw it all overboard and crank it the heck up? :)
  7. At what Volume level do you have these speakers Steve when watching a blu-ray and you'd wanna be really immersed?


Quite a mouthful, but I really want to understand the basics a bit better.
 

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#87 · (Edited)
...
Quite a mouthful, but I really want to understand the basics a bit better.
blimpje,

Did you post over at the Sony receiver forum and get an answer to your questions? If you intend to manually calibrate the speakers to your Main Listening Position (MLP) the reference target is 75dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL). The method to do this is as follows.

Use a calibration disc (such as the LPCM test tracks on AIX Audio Calibration, Blu-ray, available here: http://aixrecords.com/catalog/bd/oppo_sampler_bd.html) and a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) meter set to "Slow" response and "C" weighting -- grab an inexpensive meter sold by Radio Shack -- and calibrate everything including the Sub to the same level of 75dB.

When calibrating, hold the meter pointing straight up to the ceiling. Hold it at arm's length, at seated ear height, at your Main Listening Position. If you have high seat backs or your seating is flush to a wall, raise the tip of the meter a few inches or shift it forward a foot closer to the screen to get it away from those blocking/reflective surfaces. All speakers, and the Sub, are measured the same way.

Set all volume trims in the blu-ray player to 0dB or if there is any volume control, increase to full output. Raise the Master Volume in your AVR until the Left Front speaker test tone produces 75dB SPL. Take note of this setting. Using that same Master Volume setting, adjust the volume trims for all the other speakers -- Left Front will of course remain at 75dB. When you get to the Sub, leave it's volume trim at 0dB as well, and make the adjustment using the volume knob on the Sub itself. Again take note the Master Volume setting you have used for this, as that is now your "calibrated" Master Volume setting should you ever care about setting playback to that level.

If you find you have any large, positive volume trims assigned in the Sony receiver, you may want to take an additional step, which is to lower ALL the volume trims (including Left Front and the Sub) by the same amount so that the largest trim is 0dB. This again is to provide a margin of safety so that you don't clip the inputs of your Sony receiver pre-amp in the loudest passages. Most pre-amps will have enough headroom (ability to accept higher input voltages) that this won't be necessary. But if you notice "harshness" in loud passages, the odds are you are clipping the inputs of the Sony pre-amp, and you can confirm that by lowering the output volume of the blu-ray player to see if it goes away. Simply raise Master Volume in your Sony receiver to compensate and get back to the listening level you want.

If you have a normal sized listening room that has not been extensively treated to trim bass, you will likely find that it produces a modest bass boost known as "Room Gain". This is actually a desirable room response characteristic -- part of what leaves you feeling you are in a good listening room rather than an anechoic chamber. To keep it simple, all this means is that you may prefer to set the Sub level a few dB hotter than the main speaker channels -- say +2 to +4dB hotter. That's because movie mixers assume a small amount of Room Gain will be present in home theaters. If you listen primarily to music, aim towards the low end of that. Trust your ears, but MEASURE what you are doing with the AIX calibration disc and SPL meter so that you can stay grounded in reality -- close to "calibrated" levels. Bass response is a complicated topic. If your room has not been bass treated, and you've not used the built in Room Correction audio processing in the Sony receiver, it is not uncommon to see swings of as much as +/-15dB between different bass frequencies at any given listening position. Depending on which frequencies have the peaks and dips you may perceive this as low bass or bloated bass when listening to real content. This is why people put such effort into trying to tame their room's bass response characteristics.

I assume you are using crossover processing (highly recommend, even if you have full range speakers), you can get a feel for how well your setup is working for bass by using the crossover test track on the AIX disc. It sends a test tone to the front speakers (only) which sweeps back and forth in frequency either side of the crossover range. At the high frequency end, all the sound will be coming from the front speakers. At the low frequency end all the sound will be coming from the Sub (due to the crossover). In between, you will get a mix of sound from both the fronts and the Sub. If everything is set up right, and if you have no nasty bass issues in your room, that test tone will maintain constant volume from end to end of the frequency sweep (except for the very lowest bass which is more felt than heard). This is a pretty sensitive test, and trying to "fix" any problems you hear can be a challenge without room testing software. But it will alert you if things are way off, or give you confidence if things sound close to "right".
 
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