Best settings for 5.1 surround sound for gaming/movies?

[Rebel Monkey]

I have just installed a 5.1 surround sound system in my home office, which I will use for gaming and movies. In the ceiling I have 3 Polk VT60 for the left center and right speaker, 2 Polk MC60 for the rear surround and a Polk PSW-108 sub all hooked up to a Sony STR-DE985 Receiver. I got the receiver for free from someone and it is fully functional. The receiver does not auto set up the speakers like the receiver in the main room of my house. So I am manually setting them up. This is where I get lost in the EQ setting it ask for the following

Under the EQ I have these options:

Front Bass -10dB through +10dB
Front Bass 99 Hz through 1.0kHz
Front Mid -10dB through +10dB
Front Mid 198Hz through 10kHz
Front Treble -10dB through +10dB
Front Treble 1kHz through 10kHz
Center Bass -10dB through +10dB
Center Bass 99 Hz through 1.0kHz
Center Mid -10dB through +10dB
Center Mid 198Hz through 10kHz
Center Treble -10dB through +10dB
Center Treble 1kHz through 10kHz
Surround Bass -10dB through +10dB
Surround Bass 99Hz through 1.0kHz
Surround Treble -10dB through +10dB
Surround Treble 1kHz-10kHz

Under level I have these options:

Center Level -10dB through +10dB
Surr L Level -10dB through +10dB
Surr R Level -10dB through +10dB
S. Woofer Level -10dB through +10dB
LFE Mix Level off or -20db through 0dB
D. Range Comp .1 through .9, STD, Max or off

the polk audio MC60 specs are 100 watts, 91dB, 8ohm, 60-20,000Hz

The polk audio VT60 specs are 100 watts, 89dB, 8 ohm 33-27,000Hz

The Polk Audio Psw-108 specs are 100 watts, 8 ohm, 35-200Hz

What do all these settings mean, and what should I have them set at? This is like looking at a foreign language. I tried to look this up but all I get is car audio.

 

[shadyJ]

Lol, that EQ system is a disaster! I would just set everything to 0 dB. Unless you know how to measure the speaker's frequency response against the room's response, there is no way to know whether you are making things better or worse. Turn any 'special' functions off. I am sorry to say this, but your ears are basically at the mercy of a older and low end system.

 

[Jay aLBERS]

Here is a link to the owners manual
https://docs.sony.com/release/STRDE985.pdf
Read through and follow the instructions on set up. You shouldn't need to change much.
It's a pretty simple system. Just get it working and enjoy it.

 

[BERNARD JUAN]

It all depends on the source DTH,DVD or Smart box and means such - HDMI,Optical PCM etc, nowdays receivers like Pioneer Denon etc have made life easy by doing a lot of presets.. suggest that you change the receiver instead of going for manual settings as you will have a tough time setting it for each and every source

 

[tyhjaarpa]

It all depends on the source DTH,DVD or Smart box and means such - HDMI,Optical PCM etc, nowdays receivers like Pioneer Denon etc have made life easy by doing a lot of presets.. suggest that you change the receiver instead of going for manual settings as you will have a tough time setting it for each and every source

Once he has done the EQ settings to hes liking he is just fine using that receiver tbh and no point to waste money for new unit if he doesn't need new features that new receivers can offer.

 

[BERNARD JUAN]

True ..we are only suggesting. Decision is his ..not all have budget restrictions.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

True ..we are only suggesting. Decision is his ..not all have budget restrictions.

If he is asking for help on hes current receiver I believe he was not planning to upgrade it at the given point.

 

[Rebel Monkey]

Correct at this given time I am not looking to upgrade. Just wondering what all these settings mean, so I could adjust these for the best performance of the speakers.