[spongebob]

Hi Guys,


I have a B&K Ref 20 pre plus 4430 (200w x 3) amp. I have been using Klipsch Heresy's for the front and a Klipsch kg 2.2 center and then a Klipsch SC-1 recently.



I finally got my dream speakers: Nautilus 805's and HTM2 center.


Music sounds fantastic, and so does Directv in Prologic. I finally got around to playing DVD movies and Dolby Digital and DTS sound TERRIBLE!!


Harsh, cold, small, almost distorted. The same movie in Prologic seems fine; mellower but clean and smooth. Tried speakers set to small and large.


Does my B&K have a problem or ?? I can't believe it's the speakers because music & DTV sound great and fill the room.


DVD player and DTV box both output with optical cable and music is played on the same DVD player using only the optical cable.


I'm really bummed because we watch a lot of DVD movies and even my wife said it sounds "awful"


Appreciate any help!



bob

 

[bryan.carlson]

I got B&K 307 and a pair of 804s so its pretty similar. The Ref 20 is a little older than the 307, but I'd say check the setup real carefully. On mine, I can configure each of the input settings and then configure the presets. The following is how setup works on my unit, but I'd bet your Ref 20 is pretty similar as none of this stuff is state of the art anymore.


I may be dead wrong here, but Pro Logic does not have delay and level settings for each of the channels whereas DD and DTS are a true 5.1 format. This means each of the 5 speakers is treated independently; even the surrounds.


Go into the setup menu and there should be a section to set the distance for each speaker from the listening position. Just use a tape measure and get within a half of foot - you won't hear a difference if you're a little off; mesure from the front of the baffle to about where your head is in the viewing position. Next, you'll need an SPL meter (Radio Shack) to set the level for each channel. Basically you'll hear static (white noise) from one speaker at a time, adjust until you get 75dB in the listening position; sit in your favorite spot with the SPL meter in hand. Just go through the speakers one at a time to set this up.


You may have a notch filter on the Ref 20, this basically is used to eliminate the predominant standing wave in your room. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here because you can get good sound without setting this up; you may just notice male voices sound a little "chesty". The Ref 20 may not even have this feature; don't know.


Finally, in the preset settings there is an equalizer setup. I have variable, THX, loudness, and off settings on my 307. Set this to THX. Make sure you save all these settings too, it's a little confusing on the 307.


Finally, make sure you have all the speakers connected to the correct terminals on the amp (you didn't accidentally put center on left front for example). Check polarity too. Did it all work before the speaker switch?

 

[spongebob]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan.carlson /forum/post/0


I got B&K 307 and a pair of 804s so its pretty similar. The Ref 20 is a little older than the 307, but I'd say check the setup real carefully. On mine, I can configure each of the input settings and then configure the presets. The following is how setup works on my unit, but I'd bet your Ref 20 is pretty similar as none of this stuff is state of the art anymore.


I may be dead wrong here, but Pro Logic does not have delay and level settings for each of the channels whereas DD and DTS are a true 5.1 format. This means each of the 5 speakers is treated independently; even the surrounds.


Go into the setup menu and there should be a section to set the distance for each speaker from the listening position.


Nope, just center and rear delay




Just use a tape measure and get within a half of foot - you won't hear a difference if you're a little off; mesure from the front of the baffle to about where your head is in the viewing position. Next, you'll need an SPL meter (Radio Shack) to set the level for each channel. Basically you'll hear static (white noise) from one speaker at a time, adjust until you get 75dB in the listening position; sit in your favorite spot with the SPL meter in hand. Just go through the speakers one at a time to set this up.



Done that.




You may have a notch filter on the Ref 20, this basically is used to eliminate the predominant standing wave in your room. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here because you can get good sound without setting this up; you may just notice male voices sound a little "chesty". The Ref 20 may not even have this feature; don't know.



Nope, no notch filter




Finally, in the preset settings there is an equalizer setup. I have variable, THX, loudness, and off settings on my 307. Set this to THX. Make sure you save all these settings too, it's a little confusing on the 307.



again, no EQ at all on the ref 20!




Finally, make sure you have all the speakers connected to the correct terminals on the amp (you didn't accidentally put center on left front for example). Check polarity too. Did it all work before the speaker switch?

That's all proper. What I have noticed is that a lot of music CD's (most) sound harsh but some sound awesome.


Also noticed that some movies like Jurrassic Park have a lousy dound track (distorted) even in DTS. LOTR 1 sounds fantastic.


I guess the new speakers without any available EQ are at the mercy of the recording. I'm just shocked that some DD and DTS movies could sound so bad!



bob