Looking for feedback/advice on a preamp/processor/receiver choice.

[PENG]

@PENG I didn't see a device list. I just got the general page for tat app, and I did not see a compatibility list?

Did you click on the right place?

Same link I attached earlier, but you need to click on the "READ MORE" link:
Anyway, below is the copy/paste info for you:

Compatible Android devices:
•Android Smartphones with Android OS ver.4.1 (or higher)
•Screen resolution: 800x480, 854x480, 960x540, 1280x720, 1280x800, 1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2048x1536
* This application does not support smartphones in QVGA (320x240) and HVGA (480x320) resolution.
* This application does not support smartphones of less than 2GB RAM capacity.

Confirmed Android devices:
Samsung Galaxy S5 (OS 6.0.1), Samsung Galaxy S6 (OS 7.0), Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (OS 7.0), Samsung Galaxy S8+ (OS 8.0.0), Google (ASUS) Nexus 7 (2013) (OS 6.0.1), Google (HTC) Nexus 9 (OS 7.1.1), Google Pixel 2 (OS 9), Google Pixel 3 (OS 11)

Caution:
We do not guarantee that this application works with all Android devices.

 

[PENG]

After I do that what should I do if anything to manually tweak it? I do own a laser distance meter, a decibel meter, a smart phone with decibel meter and also frequency waterfall.

I would suggest that you don't waste time checking with a distance laser and/or SPL meter.
As far as tweaking goes, if you run Audyssey following instructions to the letter, you should get some decent results for the 20-300 Hz range. If you have two subwoofers, when it does its first step to time align and check the level, it would be a good idea to get the level meter (onscreen) to go over to the green zone slightly. If you get it within the green its okay but if you do, Audyssey would likely end up setting the trim level setting near 0. I, like many other experienced users would prefer it to end up in something like -5 to even -9 dB in order to have more headroom.

Other than that, you probably should try disabling the MRC, limit the EQ range to say below 1,000 Hz, but you need to App to do that. If you like playing around then you may want to customize the target curve to something similar to the so called Harman curve.

If not, you may want to just bump up the sub level (s) by 3 to 5 dB unless you like "flat bass response". Most users seem to think Audyssey would take the live out of their set up, that's mainly because Audyssey typically would take away the bass boosts in probably most smaller (relatively speaking) rooms.

Lastly, unless you listen to very loud levels such as at or close to reference level, you should enable Dynamic EQ and disable Dynamic volume. Enjoy!

 

[Pogre]

a) Trust Audyssey on the subwoofer distance, instead of your measuring tape. There could be exceptions due to some special situations but I have never experienced any reason to go with the measuring tape method.

I think this bears repeating. There are reasons why the distance settings may not match up with a tape measure that have nothing to do with measured distance, such as timing. Especially with subwoofers.

Also, the Audyssey mic is specifically calibrated for your version of MultEQ so I wouldn't try something else. If you want to play with a different mic I suggest the Umik Peng mentioned and get familiar with REW. A Umik and REW can do a lot for you, especially if you're considering the app, which I mentioned earlier also, and recommend getting if you wanna make some real changes. It's a pretty powerful tool and knowing where to apply it is where REW comes in.

 

[Zero Snake Oil]

Did you click on the right place?

Same link I attached earlier, but you need to click on the "READ MORE" link

Yep I sure did click the right link. I did it when I was on my phone though and it opened the Play Store app. The information was not as obvious to get to as it is opening the link on the desktop. Good news, my Pixel 2XL should work.

 

[Zero Snake Oil]

Hey all, I'm still kickin'. I've just been very busy lately. Soon I'll be back to diving into the audio gear and should have findings to report and/or questions to ask. Stay tuned.

 

[Zero Snake Oil]

Okay. I have made an RCA to XLR cable wired the way shown in that PDF @PENG posted. It's the method for the almost balanced result. Basically: cold and shield connected on RCA side, with RCA hot going to pin 2 on XLR, RCA cold to pin 3 on XLR, and drain/shield going to pin 1 on XLR. I tried it between my AVR and CE-1000. I could not detect any ground loop hum! So that seems promising. I've ordered more XLR ends and will assemble more cables like this.

 

[lovinthehd]

Okay. I have made an RCA to XLR cable wired the way shown in that PDF @PENG posted. It's the method for the almost balanced result. Basically: cold and shield connected on RCA side, with RCA hot going to pin 2 on XLR, RCA cold to pin 3 on XLR, and drain/shield going to pin 1 on XLR. I tried it between my AVR and CE-1000. I could not detect any ground loop hum! So that seems promising. I've ordered more XLR ends and will assemble more cables like this.

Yep just doing basic good connections goes a long ways

 

[Zero Snake Oil]

Where am I going... and why am I in this handbasket..?

So it's you in the basket?

 

[Pogre]

So it's you in the basket?

Well he's going to hell in a handbasket...

 

[Zero Snake Oil]

Well he's going to hell in a handbasket...

Yes I got the reference. But, did you get mine (click the link)?

 

[Pogre]

Yes I got the reference. But, did you get mine (click the link)?

Yeah I watched the clip. I think I'm actually familiar with it. It looks like one of those so bad it's good movies and I watch those sometimes.