The **OFFICIAL** DENON AVR-4520CI thread - Page 60

While it's true that the NHT's are of below average sensitivity (only 86dB for the front towers), I think you will be OK in terms of amp power given the size of your space. With the speakers, the open floor plan is less of an issue, it's more about the absolute distance to the listener. It does seem like the couch is pretty far back in that diagram, if you could pull it forward a bit it would help in that respect.

That said, it depends how loud you want to play. If you are looking for full on movie theater ass kicking volume, then the cheapest route is more efficient speakers, not a more expensive receiver. The important thing to understand is that the dB scale is logarithmic -- 10dB increase requires TEN TIMES as much power. That works out to approximately double the power for a 3dB increase. So switching from 86dB speakers to 89dB sensitivity speakers is like doubling your amplifier's power.

The open plan and the subsequent huge volume is much more relevant for the SUBWOOFER which has to pressurize the space. I would make sure to budget for a really nice sub (or two) in your plans. $1K on subwoofer(s) would be the minimum IMHO to match the size of the space and the quality of the speakers/receiver you are looking at.

If it helps clear the budget, I would recommend going with the 4311CI instead of the 4520CI, as it should offer the same sound quality but at a pretty hefty discount. You lose a couple of newer features but unless you care about 4K or the matrix HDMI switch for another zone it's nothing of consequence.

sounds like something a man would buy "Honey, we need more poufs!"


That said, a couple of things you should consider:

1. as SoM mentioned, remember that the "surrounds" in a 5.1 setup are at the SIDES, not in the rear. If you could add another pair of those Absolute Wall Speakers and mount them on the walls to either side of the couch, facing in, then you would have a nice 7ch setup. They will be slightly in front of the couch (although again scooting the couch forward, even a foot, will be beneficial all around) but that's not a huge deal. You will get a much more immersive "wrap around" surround effect without having a gaping hole to either side in terms of sound coverage.

2. the sub that's included with that setup is definitely going to be underpowered for the size of the space. It's only rated to 29Hz at the -3dB point which means it starts rolling off under 35Hz or so. The peak output ratings are decent enough but if you are going for "full ass kicking theater volume" it will undoubtedly be the weak link in your system. It's really meant to be a stylish and compact complement to the Absolute speakers, but a 12.6" cube with a 10" woofer just isn't going to cut it for the big LFE effects. Modern action movies put a lot of strain on subwoofers and to reach near reference volumes you need a lot of output.

Is there any way you could return just the sub and keep the rest of the 5ch setup? It seems a shame to pop $2k on a receiver and then not be able to crank the system to the levels you desire because that little sub is holding you back. For the $499 msrp of that sub you can get a lot more output, for example this Outlaw LFM-1 Plus or the SVS PB-1000.

I think the poufs can survive but I would still go for another pair of Absolute Walls for 7ch

You could use the sub in another room with Zone 2/3 since it does have speaker wire inputs + outputs. For a 2ch setup you'd probably run the Zone 2 speaker wire straight to the sub and then run speaker wire from the outputs on the sub to the two speakers.

The ports are standard, mono "mini jack" sized (1/8" or 3.5mm) connectors. I have heard though that a stereo mini-jack cable will still work, but a mono cable will be the safest bet.

You should definitely read Keith's links above, but to answer a couple of points:

- the "direct" mode does NOT refer to the AVR settings -- all these settings are ignored anyway during calibration. It refers to the setting that some subs have which bypasses all internal filtering (sometimes also designated with a "crossover bypass" switch, or a "direct LFE input" on the back). Your sub doesn't appear to have this, so you can ignore this part.

- the point of this setting is that, when used with a modern digital processor, you want to avoid all of those manual controls on the sub so they don't interfere with what the processor is doing.

- most of the settings DO match what is described in the links above... e.g. phase, level, auto on/off, etc.

Anyway, what you want to do with your sub is:

1. Set power to "ON" during calibration (not auto) to make sure the sub is "awake". After calibration you can set it back to "Auto".

2. Set Phase to 0

3. Turn the "cut off frequency" knob all the way up (to the max 150Hz)

4. For the sub level control, you are going to fine tune it to a volume that is fairly close to 75dB with the internal test tones so it can calibrate properly. The 4520 has a subwoofer leveling feature as the first step of Audyssey so you don't need a separate meter.

5. The "Bass Contour" switch is the only one which isn't covered in the standard recommendations. You definitely want to leave this FLAT during calibration, because the Audyssey MultEQ program is going to try to equalize your sub as flat as possible. The Contour dial introduces a "hump" centered at 60Hz to deliver a bit more mid-bass impact during movies, but if you put this "hump" in place before calibration then MultEQ is going to waste its processing resources trying to flatten it back out again. So calibrate "FLAT" and then you can adjust this dial to taste post-calibration if you want a little more "slam" for movie effects. Although I recommend you first take a couple of weeks to listen to it calibrated flat to get used to what "reference" bass sounds like, and then you can tweak to taste.