Definitive Owners Thread - Page 834

Originally Posted by Bkimberly

Eric,

I'm not sure if your post was a reply to g_bart or both of us but I had a couple questions.

In case you haven't seen what I will(should have the system tomorrow) be setting up below is the list.

Def tech:
8040 towers
8040 center
8040 surrounds
AVR-2112CI

So when using the meter I only adjust the volume level to get 75db on the front left speaker and only the trim level on the rest to get 75db?

You also recommend setting all speakers to small. Would this be the case with my towers as well?

Thx,
Bryan

Originally Posted by Bkimberly

Great explanation! Thank you.

I am hoping I can get by without a sub for awhile. With the subs in the towers I'm wanting them to be enough.

Hopefully it will all be here tomorrow and I can start setting up. Thx again and I'll update my progress.

Originally Posted by g_bartman

Hi, I just bought the SPL meter at radio shack. I never used this before where should i place the microphone? is it where my "sweet spot" would be? and while I'm doing the test tone levels should the meter be facing each of the speakers while measuring or just place it straight forward facing the screen? And what about my in-ceiling should it be facing up the ceiling while measuring?

Point the mike at the screen at ear level for all the channel measurements.

I used audyssey as a tool to see where it set crossovers and the difference in levels between the speakers and made some adjustments. For example if it set my mains at -7, sides at -9 and rears at -6 I would set the mains at 0, sides at -2 and rears at -1 and confirm db's at the listening position with a db meter. It was also a good tool to adjust xovers in my room. Wound up changing a few xovers up or down 5 to 10 hz but it gave me an ideaa of the lf output for each channel in my room.

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

How to use a RS SPL:

First, get a test tone disk (check the audio theory and setup area for free discs)

Sit in the sweet spot. Put the Radio Shack SPL in front of you, with the mic facing up. Turn the volume up until your Front Left Speaker is 75dbl. Now, move the test tone to the center speaker. Adjust the trim until it is 75dbl (the TRIM not the Master Volume). Do this for each speaker, including your Sub (make sure your sub volume is set to about 33% and do the fine tweaking with the Trim adjustment).

You still need to set your speakers to small, adjust crossover, and distance. But this is a good start.

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

Correct. With you RS SPL set to Slow and C Weighting, set the master volume so the Front Left Speaker's tone is at 75dbl. Next, set the test tone for Center and adjust the TRIM (-12 to +12 dbls) so that it too is at 75dbl. Repeat this for all speakers, including Subwoofer.

You may want to set your center speaker for 78dbl and your subwoofer as well at 78dbl as this will make dialog easier to hear and add more bass to the overall sound.

Set your speakers to small. However, since you are using speakers that can handle low frequencies, I would set your Crossover to 60 for your Front Left and Right, 80 for Center and Surrounds.

What is your Sub? I usually set my sub's internal volume at 33% and then use the Trim adjustment to get it perfect.

For example, in my current set up
Mythos 2 Fronts
8040 Center
In Ceiling Monoprice Rear
SVS 10
HSU VTF2.4

I have the fronts at -1.5, the Center at -3, Surrounds at 0, and the Sub at +3. All of the speakers are putting out 75dbls of pink noise, with the center putting out 78dbls and the Subs putting out 78dbls.

Also, use a tape measurer for the distance.

Originally Posted by mac7504

I tried setting my fronts to small's (8040's) and it just didn't sound as full or blend well; am I missing something?

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

What did you set your crossover at? What type of Sub do you have? How far away from the wall do you have your speakers? I believe with the BP Towers (I only have a BP Center and Mythos Mains), you need to have the Towers 24"-36" off the wall.

Originally Posted by mac7504

Cross over at 80hz. HSU VTF 3 Mk3 (3.3). they are a good distance, probably 2 feet or so.

I get conflicting reports, my AVR directions tell me to set em as small, even if they can be set to large. My Def Tech direction state to set them to large.

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

Which BP do you have again? Are you wiring them with speaker wire only or are you also using the LFE/RCA input? I would just use speaker wire, set them to small, and set the crossover to 60.

Are you using Audyssey or any room correction EQ?

Originally Posted by otk

just crank up the surrounds to plus-12 and jack the volume up to max

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

Correct. With you RS SPL set to Slow and C Weighting, set the master volume so the Front Left Speaker's tone is at 75dbl. Next, set the test tone for Center and adjust the TRIM (-12 to +12 dbls) so that it too is at 75dbl. Repeat this for all speakers, including Subwoofer.

You may want to set your center speaker for 78dbl and your subwoofer as well at 78dbl as this will make dialog easier to hear and add more bass to the overall sound.

Set your speakers to small. However, since you are using speakers that can handle low frequencies, I would set your Crossover to 60 for your Front Left and Right, 80 for Center and Surrounds.

What is your Sub? I usually set my sub's internal volume at 33% and then use the Trim adjustment to get it perfect.

For example, in my current set up
Mythos 2 Fronts
8040 Center
In Ceiling Monoprice Rear
SVS 10
HSU VTF2.4

I have the fronts at -1.5, the Center at -3, Surrounds at 0, and the Sub at +3. All of the speakers are putting out 75dbls of pink noise, with the center putting out 78dbls and the Subs putting out 78dbls.

Also, use a tape measurer for the distance.

Originally Posted by elfather


ok, what should the trim level be set at for the fronts when i adjust the master volume to get to 75dbs

Originally Posted by JAMES MCHUGHES

Mine sets to -2.5db fr
-1.0 cen db
-4.5 sur db
-15db sub

So do you also turn off audessey in receiver setting it to manual ?
OTK/Afudeftechguy
You do calibrate than go back and turn audessey off and change decibal settings etc...

Originally Posted by Elfather

I just took the measurements. the first and last is sub and it's very hard to set it at 75db as the needle goes crazy, and the funny thing is that i can barely hear the bass LOL. I'm i doing something wrong? the results were worst than audyssey! i ended up setting the sub to -4.0. Here is the video of the measurements http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga71M...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by Elfather

I just took the measurements. the first and last is sub and it's very hard to set it at 75db as the needle goes crazy, and the funny thing is that i can barely hear the bass LOL. I'm i doing something wrong? the results were worst than audyssey! i ended up setting the sub to -4.0. Here is the video of the measurements http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga71M...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

Turn the meter dial to 80 or 90! Are you using a sub or the bass coming from just the speakers? Either way, turn down the sub volume on the speakers/sub! Then adjust the trim.

Originally Posted by Elfather

I just took the measurements. the first and last is sub and it's very hard to set it at 75db as the needle goes crazy, and the funny thing is that i can barely hear the bass LOL. I'm i doing something wrong? the results were worst than audyssey! i ended up setting the sub to -4.0. Here is the video of the measurements http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga71M...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by Elfather

I will try all the setting suggested here and report back. on the EQ note, i have the dynamic EQ set to "ON" and dynamic volume set to "Day" and those setting its where everything sounded better and louder, i turned both off and lost volume level and bass.

Originally Posted by KJSmitty

Turn the "response" switch on your meter to slow. The 75db number is irrelevant. Just set the master volume to where the tone is not too loud and the needle is steady on a line/number etc that's easy to trim to.

You may need to get into your receiver setup to ensure your LFE/sub is set to 0.0 too.

Also, I hold my meter vertical with the mic straight up - at the seated position where my head would be. Adjust your trims so the needle falls on the same position/line on your meter. If any of the adjustments fall below 0.0 just bump the lowest up to 0.0 then change the rest equally. IE, if the lowest results in a -1.0, raise it to 0.0 then raise all others by 1.0 etc.

Originally Posted by Ericthemidget

Turn the meter dial to 80 or 90! Are you using a sub or the bass coming from just the speakers? Either way, turn down the sub volume on the speakers/sub! Then adjust the trim.

Originally Posted by truwarrior22

As others said, set the meter to slow and turn it to 80db. That room looks like it has a lot of hard reflective surfaces. It's probably going to be hard to get any type of speakers to sound good in that room. You might not hear the bass because your head is in a null and the meter is in a peak. Stand next to a side wall and walk back and worth the wall. You'll notice that some areas are louder then others.

On a side note, I think room correction features only sound good at low volume levels, at least with my bipolar towers.

Originally Posted by koicraft

Sorry to hear the 8060s aren't sounding as expected - while I do not have the same speakers, I have been through the whole Audyssey / tuning / endless tweaking drill to get the current great sound I have out of my BP2000s.

What is the audio source that you are using to test with? My Denon treated stereo and other outputs separatley - make sure you make your changes to both.

My main AVR is now an Onkyo 709, but I do have a Denon 1611 in another room that used to be main. I have found that my Audyssey approval depends on the room - in the main room with my DT speakers it sounds hollow and too flat - in the other room it actually works ok with the hard surfaces, other brand of speakers, and 20' ceilings. I'm still not a huge fan though.

Others have given you great advise as to using the RS meter for SPL adjustment. If your sound still isn't cutting it, I'd advise going back to basics and try the following:

1) Speaker/sub positioning - how far out from the wall are the 8060's? Try increasing the distance if possible. Sub - try moving it to different locations if the bass isn't adequate. For my huge room, I found corner loading works well. Do the subwoofer crawl if possible (when nobody is watching).
2) Run speaker wire only to the 8060s. Set the sub volume to 10-12 o'clock on each tower. Also, make sure they are turned on
3) Enable subwoofer in the AVR and connect just the real sub to the LFE/sub output on the AVR. Turn off double-bass.
4) On your sub - if it has a crossover dial - set it to max. Also set phase to 0 and volume to 10-12 o'clock.
5) Plug in the mic and re-run Audyssey setup. Ensure the mic is at ear height and test all 6-8 positions. I tend to have all positions within 3' of my main listening position.
6) When Audyssey is complete, set your 8060's to Full size if they are not already, set all of your other speakers to small, and try an 80Hz crossover. Note - only set to 80Hz if Audyssey has set to something lower - if set to 100Hz or higher, leave as-is. When I had the Denon in the main room, I had the best results setting Audyssey to Bypass L/R, Dynamic EQ on, Dynamic volume at Day.

Now test your audio at this point with a blu-ray and a good stereo source if possible. Try different listening modes - I am a huge fan of Dolby PLII on the Onkyo for music (now PLIIz height since I added my additional speakers).

Now, if necessary, use the RS SPL meter and adjust to get 75db at the main listening position if not already there from each speaker by adjusting the trim. As other have mentioned - increasing the center and sub levels above what is set are common. I like to run my center and sub about 3-5db higher.

Good luck - hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Elfather

Hi,
Thanks for your great reply. So far i have been testing with the the incredible Hulk blu-ray in that park battle scene. Lots of gun shots and smashing stuff.
I have not tested with music, but i did notice and i mentioned here that the speakers sound better and louder with music i played in pandora.

The speakers are 18" from the wall. i just ordered more sub cable so i can move it to other locations so i have to wait and do that next till next week. Unfortunately i ran in-wall sub woofer cable with a RCA wall plate and i do not want to go up the attic and pull all 50 feet of cable to move the sub around.

I'm only running 12awg speaker wire with banana plugs to the speakers and they are certainly on.

I'm running the sub cable from the SW output on the avr directly to the sub left input. All crossovers and parameter eq have been disable and phase set to 0, letting the AVR manage the sub. I'm not sure what "double bass" is? and last the gain of the sub is at 12 o'clock

I will re-run Audyssey later on this week and see if i get different results. Audyssey has set my fronts L/R to "Large" (full band) but based on people's advice here, i set them to small and let the big sub take over the low frequencies. I have set them to 40hz,60 and 80. and to be frank i can not tell the difference of the sound My center Audyssey had set it to 150hz but i set it to 60hz-80hz and also couldn't tell a difference in sound. The Surrounds were set to 80hz and i just left them at that.

What exactly does the audyssey "Bypass L/R" means/Do?

What is good source for stereo? will pandora be consider good or airplay from my iPhone? I Don't really own any Music CD's.

THANKS!

Originally Posted by Elfather

Hey Guys Just ran audyssey last night and these are the channel levels i got.
Are they normal?





The speakers don't seem to get too loud during movies i have to turn it up all the way to 0db to get somewhat close to that movie theater volume. I'm not feeling that life-like in-your-face crystal clear sound i was hoping for. Also i can barely hear my Surrounds whenever they come into play. The speakers seem to sounds better and louder when i play music on pandora but still didn't hit me with that wow factor :-/


I hope i'm doing something wrong, If not I'm going to be pretty disappointed.
BTW system:
F/L/R 8060ST
Center 8060HD
Surround IN-ceilling RSS II
SVS PB13 ULTRA
Denon AVR 3311CI

I have the fronts and center set to 40hz and surrounds set to 60hz, all set as Small.

Originally Posted by Elfather

I'm not sure what "double bass" is?
...
What exactly does the audyssey "Bypass L/R" means/Do?

Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy

Sean Olive did a double-blinded study on a variety of room corrections. The conclusion was that some people thought room correction improved the sound, and some people thought room corrections worsened the sound quality

Originally Posted by bodosom

This is a complete misrepresentation of Dr. Olive's research. In their studies trained listeners prefer more "accurate" sound supplemented by a falling "house" curve. For everyone without a purpose built room that means room correction.

E.g. my room has a +20dB boost at ~49Hz at my main listening position from a room mode. The only way to remove that boom is with correction. It can be mechanical or electronic but it needs to be done.