How to set speaker levels on AVR ?

[dhruvky94]

Hi,

I recently purchased the following setup:

Denon X1400H with Polk RTi A1 speakers.

My dealer has asked me not to use Audessy as it’s for home theatre rooms and instead set it up manually. Now I was reading some articles about setting the levels and all of them recommend to use a spl meter. I got one and started setting up the levels when I realised I am not able to achieve 75db on my setup without cranking up the volume a lot. I am afraid that might ruin my speaker. Any guides on this ? Also, how to set the sub level ?

 

[sijusid]

Looks like your dealer has no experience on audyssey or there has been some miscommunication.

Please go ahead and run audyssey. You can always disable it if you don't like, what it is
doing.

But having said that, even after running audyssey calibration, it is always recommended to recheck all the values like speaker type, distances etc.

Checking level is also recommended, even if you have done audyssey calibration.

And don't worry about the speaker level being high during level matching. It's common.

I suggest, first perform the audyssey calibration and then check/set levels.

For setting levels, set your avr master volume to 0 on reference scale or 80 on number scale. Then check level on your spl meter and increase/decrease trim level on your avr for each speaker to get 75db across all speakers. Ideally subwoofer also should be set at 75db but can be set 2 to 3 db higher as per your liking. Similarly centre speaker can be set 1 or 2db higher.

What kind of spl meter are you using. If you are using spl meter on mobile, please note, it will not give correct reading for subwoofer. Your subwoofer trim level would be set too high.

 

[Love4sound]

Run audyssey. Some cases audyssey sets the speakers to large and crossovers to 40 or full range. You need to change those settings alone to small and experiment crossovers. The distance and levels audyssey gets it right and if you feel any channel is weak you can increase the volume.The distance may be long or less but note that audyssey calculates the distance as per the reflection points in your room and not the actual physical distance of the seating position. Without Audessey you won’t get dynamic eq which may sound better for some. I keep it off but that’s my liking. Please run audyssey to get the best of ur avr

 

[spirovious]

There must be some sense when manufacturer adds room correction software in their avr.Why would company do that when manual settings are superior and add addition cost to avr?
Room correction will certainly help in HT.
For music ,use pure direct option.
Manual method is well explained by other FMs.Finally trust your ears.

Cheers.

 

[MaSh]

Hi,

I recently purchased the following setup:

Denon X1400H with Polk RTi A1 speakers.

My dealer has asked me not to use Audessy as it’s for home theatre rooms and instead set it up manually. Now I was reading some articles about setting the levels and all of them recommend to use a spl meter. I got one and started setting up the levels when I realised I am not able to achieve 75db on my setup without cranking up the volume a lot. I am afraid that might ruin my speaker. Any guides on this ? Also, how to set the sub level ?

Lol maybe he wants you to get frustrated and call him to set it up.

Please run audyssey, set speakers to Small if set to large and set the crossover to 80hz. That should be a good place to start.

Do read this for good results: https://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/1930881-guide-how-audyssey-disappointed-usually-try.html

MaSh

 

[dhruvky94]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I finally ran Audyssey and turned on the Dynamic EQs. I corrected the crossovers and made small correction to distance of FL and FR (Audyssey thought C and FR were at same distances LOL).
However, now my movies sound really bad. The dialogue is totally muddled and all the effects are lost (as if AVR is suppressing it). Bullets are no longer impacting. I turned of the Dynamics EQs and still the same effect!
I also tried increasing the trim of the center channel by 1db, but that didn't have much effect. I don't know what am I doing wrong?
Without Audyssey during certain parts of the movie the volume was getting too loud and I was fearing damage to the speakers. Now I don't even have the basic effects.

 

[Nitin K]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I finally ran Audyssey and turned on the Dynamic EQs. I corrected the crossovers and made small correction to distance of FL and FR (Audyssey thought C and FR were at same distances LOL).
However, now my movies sound really bad. The dialogue is totally muddled and all the effects are lost (as if AVR is suppressing it). Bullets are no longer impacting. I turned of the Dynamics EQs and still the same effect!
I also tried increasing the trim of the center channel by 1db, but that didn't have much effect. I don't know what am I doing wrong?
Without Audyssey during certain parts of the movie the volume was getting too loud and I was fearing damage to the speakers. Now I don't even have the basic effects.

Pls try Audyssey all over again. Try to make the room as silent as possible & let the furniture & room setting be the way you would normally be listening to movies/music. Define the number of speakers you have eg 5.1 or 7.1 etc. Keep the mic at ear level pointing towards the ceiling at the positions Audyssey instructs you to do. The mic needs to be at least around 2 feet away from the wall behind the listening position to avoid reflections. The subsequent positions should not be more than 2 to 2.5 feet from the MLP. The subwoofer level needs to be at around 75 db.

After the sound callibration is done, set the speakers to small & LFE + mains. The crossover is generally set at 80 to 90 hz depending on the speakers for the fronts to allow the subwoofer to take over from there for the frequencies below. After Audyssey callibration, you can later tweak the distance or the levels by going inside the receiver's manual setup/speakers/Levels menu & set the volume level of each speaker/subwoofer as per your preference.
Pls keep the movie setting on the receiver to Dolby Digital or DTS depending on the audio source. or set the receiver to Auto so the sound format can be chosen automatically . If it is a downloaded mp4 then you can try DTS Neural which does a fantastic job of upscaling sound.
If you are happy with your settings with Audyssey then save it on a pen drive so you can reload if anything goes wrong in the future.
Hope this helps.

 

[sijusid]

Hi bro...if you don't mind, please share photo of your setup with your listening position.

What about the bass...do you feel less bass or more bass.

 

[elangoas]

My dealer has asked me not to use Audessy as it’s for home theatre rooms and instead set it up manually.

Bets to use Audyssey.. Like other have mentioned, tweak the crossover settings only..

I turned of the Dynamics EQs and still the same effect! I also tried increasing the trim of the center channel by 1db, but that didn't have much effect. I don't know what am I doing wrong? Without Audyssey during certain parts of the movie the volume was getting too loud and I was fearing damage to the speakers. Now I don't even have the basic effects.

There are few other Audyssey presets aval on the AVR.. Under Audio / Audyssey Multi EQ XT, set it to" Flat" if you has set it to the default "Reference", DEQ- "off", D.Vol - "off".. Try these and see if you like them..

If you don't like any of these settings, simply use the calibrations levels and turn the Audyssey functions off..

 

[MaSh]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I finally ran Audyssey and turned on the Dynamic EQs. I corrected the crossovers and made small correction to distance of FL and FR (Audyssey thought C and FR were at same distances LOL).
However, now my movies sound really bad. The dialogue is totally muddled and all the effects are lost (as if AVR is suppressing it). Bullets are no longer impacting. I turned of the Dynamics EQs and still the same effect!
I also tried increasing the trim of the center channel by 1db, but that didn't have much effect. I don't know what am I doing wrong?
Without Audyssey during certain parts of the movie the volume was getting too loud and I was fearing damage to the speakers. Now I don't even have the basic effects.

Could you please post an image of the mic positions used?

Also, do not adjust the distance of speakers. It's measured keeping in mind the reflections in the room too, not just speaker to mic literal distance. Filters are set based on that. If you change it, then you mess the filters. As a first step only set speakers to small and set crossover to 80hz. Let us know hoe it sounds doing just these 2 actions.

Do post pics of the distance and levels set by audyssey. These will actually tell you about the issues in your room. No auto setup can resolve all room issues. Some research and homework is needed by user too.

MaSh

 

[ravindrads]

IF AVR is Denon, u definitely have the spkr level setting button direct on the remote for easier setup

 

[dhruvky94]

Hi All,

I tried Audyssey again and got the same result. I will be sharing the pics of my setup shortly. I have always done Audyssey setup in as close silence as I could obtain (No fans on, even my TV was connected to direct plug rather than an online UPS). Only the fridge was left on in the kitchen. I am getting way better sound from manual setup, with the only issue being it gets too loud during some action scenes.

 

[sijusid]

Hi All,

I tried Audyssey again and got the same result. I will be sharing the pics of my setup shortly. I have always done Audyssey setup in as close silence as I could obtain (No fans on, even my TV was connected to direct plug rather than an online UPS). Only the fridge was left on in the kitchen. I am getting way better sound from manual setup, with the only issue being it gets too loud during some action scenes.

Please do share pics of your setup.
For now, to help with sound getting too loud, you can reduce the lfe effects value (available under surround paramter under audio setting). This will reduce the dynamics but will help in controlling sudden increase in volume.
I suspect, your centre channel needs adjustment.
As an experiment, i can suggest one thing...try to get hold of dts sound unbound 5.1 call-out. This has sound coming from each speaker sequentially. Perform this with your sub off. Sit in your mlp and try to listen the call-out from each speaker and try to set level in each speaker. Play it repeatitively till you find the sound coming from each speaker has same level. First set the front 3 speakers and then 2 surrounds.
For subwoofer, try increasing the trim level in your AVR by 4-5db (from what was set by default by audyssey) plus or minus the level you adjusted for your nearest front speaker (assuming you have placed your subwoofer in front) while adjusting for callouts.

Cheers
Siju

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Please do share pics of your setup.
For now, to help with sound getting too loud, you can reduce the lfe effects value (available under surround paramter under audio setting). This will reduce the dynamics but will help in controlling sudden increase in volume.
I suspect, your centre channel needs adjustment.
As an experiment, i can suggest one thing...try to get hold of dts sound unbound 5.1 call-out. This has sound coming from each speaker sequentially. Perform this with your sub off. Sit in your mlp and try to listen the call-out from each speaker and try to set level in each speaker. Play it repeatitively till you find the sound coming from each speaker has same level. First set the front 3 speakers and then 2 surrounds.
For subwoofer, try increasing the trim level in your AVR by 4-5db (from what was set by default by audyssey) plus or minus the level you adjusted for your nearest front speaker (assuming you have placed your subwoofer in front) while adjusting for callouts.

Cheers
Siju

Good evening
I had also same problem
Even if you get beat speakers and av receiver but you still need to work with your room.
My suggestions
1) room layout
2) study room reflections
3) do clap test
4) Mirror test
5) cover the areas of primary reflections
6) tame bass- usually 4 corners
7) then run audyssey after putting the speakers in proper position as advised by Dolby lab then all your questions will be answered
8) all the above are suggested by my gurus- MR. Shobith ( mash) and raghu . Efernanad, Kalyan, htuser . They really helped me from these basic problems . Many thanks for them any day any time. Om Sri gurubyo namah.
All the best for your seek towards audio nirvana

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Room Reflections & Human Adaptation for Small Room Acoustics

Dealing with acoustics in small rooms is no trivial matter. This article focuses on how to treat early reflections based on listening habits, your loudspeaker choice. Absorb, diffuse, reflect; decide.

www.audioholics.com

https://resonics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Home-Cinema-infographic-V182.jpg

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

What Is The First Reflection Point?

In this article we will explain what the first reflection point is and why it is so important. We will also help you find your first reflection points. Finally, we'll identify products you can use to solve the problem. Read on to learn more. What Is The First Reflection Point? The first...

www.advancedacoustics-uk.com

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Fill room
1) cupboard
2) chairs
3) thick carpet
4) sofa
5) acoustic panels in the first reflections point
6) bass trap for corners
Then run audyssey as prescribed audyssey zen website
Then you will hear what you want. You can’t imagine are these same speakers and avr.
Run audyssey many times till you get correct values.
Key- experimenting and learn and sync with your room

 

[dhruvky94]

I have my room filled out at much as I can. I don’t think it’s an issue with reflections as it’s working fine without Audyssey. Here is my setup:

 

[dhruvky94]

 

[sijusid]

Hello,
Looking at your setup, few suggestions.
1. Bring your centre channel forward on your stool, so that the front of center speaker is flush with the edge of stool.
2. Place a small wedge under your center speaker, so that the center speaker is at an slight angle facing up the listener. (You can also use a door stopper)
3. Ideally, you should wall mount your TV and place the centre speaker on the unit, keeping in mind points 1 and 2 above.

Also, while running audyssey calibration, place the mic at the middle of sofa seat and at the edge of sofa seat. Do atleast 6 locations

Cheers
Siju