need help setting up my sub with my reciever and speakers.

[russelljw76]

I have been looking at all the online stuff on setting up a sub, and I have determined I need someone to walk my through this, my manual for my receiver does not specify some things, and my denon 1803 receiver does not have auto room correction.. do I want auto surround on? I have 2 passive audioengines up front and 2 old school bose 301 in the rear. I want to adjust the levels so that all 4 of those speakers are hitting me at the same time I don't want them receiving less power then the fronts because of surround mode. Can I run this in 2 channel mode and still use all four speakers and sub? whoever has the time to help would be great, this is my first time setting up a real system so ill be a bit of a pain in the ***.
thanks,
russell

 

[tmurnin]

Get one of the HD setup discs (Disney WOW, Spears & Munsi, etc.) that have a set of audio calibration test tones. You will also need a SPL meter which you can get at Radio Shack. The disc and the Denon manual should guide you through making the appropriate level adjustments on your speakers. Are you using this mostly for music or movies? If it's music, you will want to set it to Multichannel Stereo (or something similar) to ensure you have sound from all 4 speakers.

As for your question about 2-channel, by definition, "2-channel" means only the front left & right speakers, so you would not use all 4 speakers and a sub. "2.1 channel" would be your fronts + sub (and is what many people prefer when listening to music through small/bookshelf speakers unless it is a multichannel source disc like SACD/DVD-A). "5.1 channel" would be a front left/right/center + your rear speakers. It doesn't sound like you have a front center channel, so you would have a matrixed front soundstage (where dialogue would be routed through the left/right speakers in a way that blends at the center of the listening area).

 

[russelljw76]

oh and should my front speakers be set to large or small? Also I don't have a center channel and was not going to get one.
its mainly for music.

 

[russelljw76]

I will pick up a meter next time im in town. thanks for the info.

 

[markw]

ALL your speakers should be set to small. Did you read the manual to your receiver?

 

[russelljw76]

Ok thanks. Yes I just read the entire manual. its so much to take in at once.

 

[russelljw76]

i don't know what setting to set the sound for, dolby? stereo? With where it sounds clearest at (the dolby or dts music mode) it does not allow the sub to play). Have any suggestions? and i just set it at small speakers for front and now the sub is working in dolby pl2m mode,,, yay! is this the best setting for clarity of music or should i try something else?
thanks,
sorry for the cheesy questions.

 

[russelljw76]

oh and the manual did not tell me how to adjust the sub volume from the receiver or receiver remote, so i don't have to adjust from the rear of the sub. and phase knob?
thanks

 

[russelljw76]

what do I set the dbs for in the fronts and rear? one more question... when setting up the receiver the last option is ext. in sw and it lets me pick from 15 , 10, or 0, what is this and where do I set it? the manual does not tell me.
thank you,

 

[j_garcia]

Start here

Speaker Placement: Setup Tips for Upgraded Home Theater Systems | Audioholics

 

[markw]

Whatever it takes for the test tones to sound the same volume.

 

[tmurnin]

I would leave the db settings on the speakers alone until you get the test disc (you really should get this) and the spl meter. Subwoofer volume is always controlled on the sub, you won't be able to control it via the remote. Generally you want to set it lower than you initially think and turn it up if needed. I would start with it about 1/3 of the way up. There are good tutorials on this site about setting subwoofer controls as well. I'm not quite sure what the setting you're referring to on the receiver is with the ext. sw ( which stands for external subwoofer), but I would start by setting it to zero and see how it sounds.

All speakers get set to small, because that will route the low bass frequencies to your sub. All Dolby and DTS settings will utilize the sub so long as you've told the receiver you have one during your setup. In fact, most of the audio modes should use the sub (with the exception of anything labeled "Direct" and potentially "Stereo," but you should check your manual as some receivers will use the sub in stereo mode).

one thing to keep in mind, you're just starting out in this world and you have a decent basic receiver that is designed to sound pretty good straight out of the box. I would start out with all the settings at their default levels and just listen to it for a while. It's easy to get obsessed with the technical side of things and forget about listening to music. Once you've listened, you can start fiddling around with the various settings and see how they affect what you hear.

 

[russelljw76]

thank you very much. am looking into the test disc. There is nothing that has it online? and also I was looking at the specs for my audioengines and they claim to handle down to 60hz with their little 4 inch woofers. Does that mean I should set the crossover for the denon the same, or go by ear? During set up that last thing is the( ext.in sw +15 or 10 or 5 or 0) it does not say db or hz, nothing and book does not specify. thanks again for the advice, sorry if some of the questions sound stupid.

 

[j_garcia]

Start by reading the article I linked as nearly all of the questions you are asking are discussed in the article, armed with a little more knowledge, you'll be able to help yourself a bit better. You're asking the right questions, so don't worry about that. You cannot truly calibrate speaker levels by ear though; you need a SPL meter to do it correctly. That depends on how "perfect" you want it though, and the calibration disc doesn't help you without a meter either.

This is likely the least expensive calibration discs out there and it has both audio (5.1 only) and video calibration: Amazon.com: Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up: Sound & Vision: Movies & TV