How to set speaker levels on AVR ?

[MaSh]

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:

Nice setup. A couple of minor issues though.

1. The center on a plastic table is not a good idea. Will it fit on the shelf above the TV?
2. Spread out your fronts a bit more to be in inline with the surrounds and try to cover up the glass behind them. Glass is Super reflective.

Try running Audyssey with these changes. Do not alter the distances or anything except for changing them to Small and setting crossover at 80Hz. Increase the level of the Center speaker 2dB higher than what Audyssey set it to.

What are you playing to validate the setup? Life of Pie ship in the storm scene, Saving private Ryan landing on the beach scene are some of my test scenes.

Also, your mic positions should be similar to the figure in this post: https://www.avforums.com/threads/wh...ons-worked-best-for-you.1843105/post-25338068.

MaSh

 

[dhruvky94]

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

Hey! Thanks for the reply.

1. Center channel on a stool is just a temporary fix. I have brought it forward though.
2. Will do this soon.
3. Yes, that's the plan, but the TV viewing angle is becoming an issue after wall mount.

I ran the audyssey setup again with these points and it sounds really muffled.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

1)Please do acoustic treatment ( can try mmt acoustics )
2) source volume-input section-set to zero
3) clean power

 

[dhruvky94]

Nice setup. A couple of minor issues though.

1. The center on a plastic table is not a good idea. Will it fit on the shelf above the TV?

Unfortunately no. The future plan is to wall mount the tv and place the center channel on the tv unit.

2. Spread out your fronts a bit more to be in inline with the surrounds and try to cover up the glass behind them. Glass is Super reflective.

I have kept the distance as recommended by some videos I had seen on YouTube (Audioholics). Also, I don't want the display glass to be hidden.

Try running Audyssey with these changes. Do not alter the distances or anything except for changing them to Small and setting crossover at 80Hz. Increase the level of the Center speaker 2dB higher than what Audyssey set it to.

I did this. It's a bit better now, but it still feels like all the gunshots etc are being muffled. Should I just turn off Audyssey and manually calibrate?

What are you playing to validate the setup? Life of Pie ship in the storm scene, Saving private Ryan landing on the beach scene are some of my test scenes.

Used The Dark Knight 4k bluray for reference. The initial scene of bank robbery.

Also, your mic positions should be similar to the figure in this post: https://www.avforums.com/threads/wh...ons-worked-best-for-you.1843105/post-25338068.

 

[dhruvky94]

1)Please do acoustic treatment ( can try mmt acoustics )
2) source volume-input section-set to zero
3) clean power

1. Not sure where to do it.
2. It's a smart tv so it control the volume of AVR.
3. Using belkin surge protector.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Mmt acoustics- google search give them lay out plan they will tell you what to do
Receiver- input- source- check volume it is default set to zero don’t change that
Dedicated power line for home theatre with 20 amp MCB and 4.0 sq wiring

 

[dhruvky94]

Also, I have set the sub phase setting to 180 degrees (Recommended by profx). Not sure if it's correct.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

1)Please describe your audio chain-speakers, avr and others
2) source- blue ray disc / flac / if you are using network streamer like amazon stick then please have good band width- 50-100 mbps speed
3) sub- please set it to zero phase and see whether it changes sound quality you need to do subwoofer crawl and then run audyssey. Integrating sub with other speakers is very much needed to get your sound quality
3) after correcting acoustics then only run audyssey because audyssey will be able to measure the distance correctly and set levels correctly then muddiness will be gone.otherwise audyssey will be measuring only reflections so true sound from source will not be measured so your levels will be wrong and so the muddiness.
4) please do audition of home theatre set up by audiogurus- like Shobith ( mash) and Raghu sir both are in Bangalore. You can go to their place or you can request them to come to your house they will definitely help you come out of this problem . Some minor adjustments like speaker positioning , distance between speakers and listening position toeing, subwoofer positioning will make wonders. Please don’t loose patience. Experimenting is the key to success and you will learn a lot. All the best

 

[sijusid]

Also, I have set the sub phase setting to 180 degrees (Recommended by profx). Not sure if it's correct.

It's always recommended to set phase to 0 and then perform calibration. Later you can change phase to see if it make any difference.

 

[sijusid]

Hey! Thanks for the reply.

1. Center channel on a stool is just a temporary fix. I have brought it forward though.
2. Will do this soon.
3. Yes, that's the plan, but the TV viewing angle is becoming an issue after wall mount.

I ran the audyssey setup again with these points and it sounds really muffled.

Just to ensure there is no resonance between your stool and speaker, why don't you try to place some books between the stool and speaker (total height of books around 2inch and can be multiple books). This will also increase your centre channel height. No need to rerun audyssey. Just see if this makes any difference.
Also first keep dynamic eq and dynamic volume as off. Later, try enabling one at a time to see if it makes a difference to you. Dynamic volume in light settings gives the most loud vocals.

 

[superczar]

Just 1 thought - For many years, I had kept Audyssey off because I felt it causes a lack of punch
Turns out I was used to excessive bass - When Audyssey controlled it, I perceived it as a lack of punch

It's a common problem for many of us who grew up with audio Setups that had equalisers set up in a classic V shape with unnaturally high bass and treble

Can you try 1 thing - run Audyssey and then just make 1 change - note the subwoofer vol level and then bump up the subwoofer volume manually after that.
If you feel dialog is subdued, bump up the centre level from your AVR.
Watch a few movies this way and then dial down the sub vol.
Keep doing it every few weeks till you bring down the sub levels back to the original value it was the time of Audyssey setup.

As for Dynamic Vol - I would strongly recommend leaving it on especially if you watch movies at a lower than reference level volume setting

 

[MaSh]

Could you check if your dynamic EQ and dynamic volume are on or off? I remember when i had a ht set-up, i used to keep both off.

MaSh

 

[spirovious]

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 ?

Coming to original issue-
Is that you are worried of volume level on AVR or sound quality ?

 

[RajithKumar]

Well if you feel that sound was good without Audyssey then go for Manual settings ...Nothing wrong in that.(For Manual settings u may require a SPL meter to do it for best settings ,In case if the manual settings which u have said was good to hear then leave it as it is,finally your are the one going to enjoy it).

Audyssey is good ,but some times it may give improper result because of many reasons. It may give best result if u place the speakers at the appropriate locations recommended for surround setups spec and the room has good acoustics . Audyssey also have +ve & -ve.
Still if u prefer to use Audyssey ,try the below..

• Place the Audyssey Mic at Ear level ,(Take measurements for Only for ur seating position -Middle ,Right & center couch position ,skip the rest of the locations.)
• Keep Dynamic .EQ on and Dynamic Volume in OFF.
• Check the results of each speakers ..If audyssey make the speakers as Large -set it to small.
• The crossover settings for all speakers shall be 80hz - U can toggle it and keep the best.
• The subwoofer -LFE settings shall be kept to 120 Hz.

From the photo ,U r center channel can be raised little bit higher ,or else slightly tilt it above so that it will match your earlevel.
Also try sub crawl for optimum placment of subwoofer.
Best of luck.

 

[mpasanthosh]

Well if you feel that sound was good without Audyssey then go for Manual settings ...Nothing wrong in that.(For Manual settings u may require a SPL meter to do it for best settings ,In case if the manual settings which u have said was good to hear then leave it as it is,finally your are the one going to enjoy it).

Audyssey is good ,but some times it may give improper result because of many reasons. It may give best result if u place the speakers at the appropriate locations recommended for surround setups spec and the room has good acoustics . Audyssey also have +ve & -ve.
Still if u prefer to use Audyssey ,try the below..

• Place the Audyssey Mic at Ear level ,(Take measurements for Only for ur seating position -Middle ,Right & center couch position ,skip the rest of the locations.)
• Keep Dynamic .EQ on and Dynamic Volume in OFF.
• Check the results of each speakers ..If audyssey make the speakers as Large -set it to small.
• The crossover settings for all speakers shall be 80hz - U can toggle it and keep the best.
• The subwoofer -LFE settings shall be kept to 120 Hz.

From the photo ,U r center channel can be raised little bit higher ,or else slightly tilt it above so that it will match your earlevel.
Also try sub crawl for optimum placment of subwoofer.
Best of luck.

Nicely said, the hints provided helped me as well .
It takes some time and patience to get this properly setup and working.
Treatment would aid avoid reflections and once treated re-run Audyssey again.

 

[dhruvky94]

Just to ensure there is no resonance between your stool and speaker, why don't you try to place some books between the stool and speaker (total height of books around 2inch and can be multiple books). This will also increase your centre channel height. No need to rerun audyssey. Just see if this makes any difference.
Also first keep dynamic eq and dynamic volume as off. Later, try enabling one at a time to see if it makes a difference to you. Dynamic volume in light settings gives the most loud vocals.

I will try to prop up the center channel on the stool. Only thing is I am scared of the stability.

 

[dhruvky94]

Just 1 thought - For many years, I had kept Audyssey off because I felt it causes a lack of punch
Turns out I was used to excessive bass - When Audyssey controlled it, I perceived it as a lack of punch

It's a common problem for many of us who grew up with audio Setups that had equalisers set up in a classic V shape with unnaturally high bass and treble

Can you try 1 thing - run Audyssey and then just make 1 change - note the subwoofer vol level and then bump up the subwoofer volume manually after that.
If you feel dialog is subdued, bump up the centre level from your AVR.
Watch a few movies this way and then dial down the sub vol.
Keep doing it every few weeks till you bring down the sub levels back to the original value it was the time of Audyssey setup.

As for Dynamic Vol - I would strongly recommend leaving it on especially if you watch movies at a lower than reference level volume setting

No, it's not about excessive bass. It's more about the audio effects lacking in dynamic. For example, if a glass breaks in the movie... instead of getting the shattering sound... it sounds like the system is trying to suppress the audio and as a result I am getting less dynamic effects. I noticed this a lot in Jack Ryan.

 

[dhruvky94]

Could you check if your dynamic EQ and dynamic volume are on or off? I remember when i had a ht set-up, i used to keep both off.

MaSh

I have turned them off for now.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

I will try to prop up the center channel on the stool. Only thing is I am scared of the stability.

You can buy mmt acoustics- monitor isolation pads on which you can safely mount your centre channel. You can adjust height also.

 

[dhruvky94]

Coming to original issue-
Is that you are worried of volume level on AVR or sound quality ?

When I am turning on Audyssey, the sound quality is lacking dynamics and effects. With Audyssey off, during certain scenes, the sound is getting too loud and I am afraid it may damage the speakers.