Mastering Home Theater

[bedelk]

Aggressive title I know, but fortune favors the bold.

My name is Keith and I am new to this forum. I had been posting in an very old Pioneer Elite thread, but was instructed to start something new as I was able to resolve my issue there. I'll be posting shortly what I currently have and am always open to advice from more experienced audioholics. I look forward to working with everyone!

 

[bedelk]

So below is a quick excel file of what I have installed in my space. I recently re-ran MCACC and it made some weird updates... such as changing crossover from 80Hz to 100 Hz and setting all but my rear speakers to loud. I'll post a screenshot shortly as I look for assistance in tweaking things.

	Brand	Model #	Input Power	Freq. Response	Ohms
AVR	Pioneer Elite	SC-LX701	760W	N/A	8​
Front Towers	Klipsch	R-820-F	600W (150W cont.)	35Hz-21kHz	8​
Center	Klipsch	R-34-C	400W (100W cont.)	82Hz-21kHz	8​
Rear Surround	SpeakerCraft	LCR3	60W	78Hz-20kHz	8​
Sub 1	Klipsch	R-120SW	200W RMS	29-120Hz
Sub 2	Klipsch	R-120SW	200W RMS	29-120Hz
Atmos Front	Yamaha	NS-IC800	140W (50w nominal)	50Hz-28kHz	8​
Atmos Rear	Yamaha	NS-IC800	140W (50w nominal)	50Hz-28kHz	8​

I have all the components (AVR, Blu-Ray, Monster Power Conditioner, etc.) in a 12u network rack in another well ventilated room which I connect to through a Logitech Harmony HUB and remote.

I run an old but solid Sharp Vision xv-z12000u projector on a 110" screen that I made many years ago. I've surrounded the screen with black velvet and recently installed sound deadening material behind the ceiling tiles (drop ceiling).

 

[everettT]

So below is a quick excel file of what I have installed in my space. I recently re-ran MCACC and it made some weird updates... such as changing crossover from 80Hz to 100 Hz and setting all but my rear speakers to loud. I'll post a screenshot shortly as I look for assistance in tweaking things.

	Brand	Model #	Input Power	Freq. Response	Ohms
AVR	Pioneer Elite	SC-LX701	760W	N/A	8​
Front Towers	Klipsch	R-820-F	600W (150W cont.)	35Hz-21kHz	8​
Center	Klipsch	R-34-C	400W (100W cont.)	82Hz-21kHz	8​
Rear Surround	SpeakerCraft	LCR3	60W	78Hz-20kHz	8​
Sub 1	Klipsch	R-120SW	200W RMS	29-120Hz
Sub 2	Klipsch	R-120SW	200W RMS	29-120Hz
Atmos Front	Yamaha	NS-IC800	140W (50w nominal)	50Hz-28kHz	8​
Atmos Rear	Yamaha	NS-IC800	140W (50w nominal)	50Hz-28kHz	8​

I have all the components (AVR, Blu-Ray, Monster Power Conditioner, etc.) in a 12u network rack in another well ventilated room which I connect to through a Logitech Harmony HUB and remote.


I run an old but solid Sharp Vision xv-z12000u projector on a 110" screen that I made many years ago. I've surrounded the screen with black velvet and recently installed sound deadening material behind the ceiling tiles (drop ceiling).

Have you recently done an update? Some of the 01 series had issues with RC after updates and a unit I have would go all over the place.

 

[j_garcia]

It may do things like set the speakers to 100 because it was easier for it to smooth the curve that way than it was to tame peaks or dips below that.

I've run my system 2-3 times back to back and had slightly different results with no changes on my part, so it isn't a perfect science

 

[bedelk]

Looks like it's up to date...

 

[bedelk]

Speaker size and

crossover. I manually changed it from 100Hz to 80Hz.

 

[bedelk]

Speaker setup... the bass looks off. It's -15db, but says if you run 2 to set them to 4.5db... hmmmm

 

[everettT]

Speaker setup... the bass looks off. It's -15db, but says if you run 2 to set them to 4.5db... hmmmm
View attachment 33378
View attachment 33379

Set those speakers to small regardless of what it says.

 

[ryanosaur]

Set those speakers to small regardless of what it says.

I agree with this wholeheartedly!
Run all your speakers as small, and experiment with the XO point, up and down, starting at 80Hz.

 

[bedelk]

Any thoughts on the -15.0dB for the subs? Does that comment about having 2 and running them at 4.5dB carry any weight?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Any thoughts on the -15.0dB for the subs? Does that comment about having 2 and running them at 4.5dB carry any weight?

Well if the subs end up at -15 that means the gain is too high on the sub/s itself. Macacc can’t go any lower. I can’t figure out why everything else is so far into the plus.

Where does what say the 4.5 thing?

 

[bedelk]

Where does what say the 4.5 thing?

When I move the cursor or whatever over the -15dB on either subwoofer the message on the bottom of the screen changes. Don't have a picture of it.

 

[bedelk]

I read it wrong, here it is...

 

[everettT]

I read it wrong, here it is...
View attachment 33390

What's the sub gain set at? Around 10pm usually does the trick.

 

[bedelk]

What's the sub gain set at? Around 10pm usually does the trick.

I have them both set to 12 O'clock... i'll try to dial them back a bit and see

 

[bedelk]

I adjusted the gain down as suggested and it sounds better.

I had an extra Crown D-75 amp, so I just set that up in the rack and will be powering up 2 Klipsch Synergy S1 surround speakers to bring it to 11 channels. I currently have the back surrounds hooked up to the surrounds so that was a mistake on my part... I'll clean it all up and get everything setup and report back.

 

[bedelk]

Update: After the configuration changes and addition of to 2 extra channels, the staging of the sound is so much better. I can hear the cars drive by me in that race scene in Ready Player One more accurately. I may end up getting a Carver AV 705x to add to the system and give my AVR a break. I"m on the fence, it's $ that I don't necessarily need to spend.

 

[bedelk]

So I have a have a 5 channel carver amp (not the one listed above) on the way that I plan to use to power the fronts, centers and surrounds. My question is 2 parts:

1) What are good cables to buy to connect the AVR to the power amplifier?

2) What settings do I need to adjust to account for the connection? I ask because I saw some setting a while back that gave the option to turn off the amps? inside the receiver... maybe.

 

[ryanosaur]

What model carver amp? And please remind which AVR.

Edit: Was able to switch over to my computer... the pioneer preouts are RCA plugs, so it all depends on what inputs your amp will have. Easiest will be just using RCA interconnects. You don't need anything fancy, especially for short runs. If the Carver inputs are only XLR, for example, you would need to get a cable that is RCA to XLR.
Not able to dig into your user manual for you right now to answer your other question. But c'mon, you should be able to RTFM for yourself!
Cheers

 

[bedelk]

It's all RCA interconnects going from the Pioneer to the Carver AV 450. I'm more looking for a suggestion on which ones to purchase (brand, length, etc.) and where to purchase them from? Both the AVR and Amp will be in my 12u rack.

I've seen some on Monoprice for $21/piece... but i'm open to options.