Audyssey MultEQ XT 32—32 Upgrade for AVR-5308CI and the AVP-A1HDCI, really?

[PENG]

The Audyssey upgrade isn't worth it IMHO. I've got 32xt on my 4311ci and I'm less than impressed with it. Once we added seats to our theater the results from Audyssey have been wildly varied and unpredictable over numerous runs. Most notable issue is a huge bloom of midbass from the center channel that makes some voices "chesty".

As far as I know there are also many happy Audyssey users including the XT32 users who don't have similar experience like yours. I have had run Audyssey (not the 32 though, just the XT) several times in my setup and the results were consistent with negligible variations.

If you haven't yet you could consider emailing Audyssey and see if they could offer help or explanations, before giving up on them.

 

[Seth V]

I think it's great that Denon is supporting this model but $999 is pretty steep.

The HDMI board upgrade would be the only carrot that tempted me here.

The Audyssey upgrade isn't worth it IMHO. I've got 32xt on my 4311ci and I'm less than impressed with it. Once we added seats to our theater the results from Audyssey have been wildly varied and unpredictable over numerous runs. Most notable issue is a huge bloom of midbass from the center channel that makes some voices "chesty".

The center is an Aperion Audio Versus Grand Center that is crystal clear without Audyssey engaged. It's on a stand 18" off the carpeted floor and 2' from the wall behind it. So in our theater Audyssey remains disengaged.

YMMV, I just wanted to share my experience for those who may be on the fence IRT this upgrade based on getting the latest version of Audyssey.

The biggest things for me are the new HDMI board and Audyssey XT32. I am currently using Audyssey MultEQ XT and I love it! The big question is, will XT32 offer a huge difference in sound over what I have right now? And is that alone worth paying $1000 for?

But here's my situation. I was all hyped up and ready to get this upgrade done on my AVP, then I called Panurgy OEM in NJ. This place is considered Denon's premiere service center, and I'm sure it is. The whole problem for me was in getting my AVP to them and back to me. According to the guy I spoke with, the only way they will work on my AVP is if I ship it via freight on a palllet, and that will cost $400 each way! So $800 and that doesn't include any insurance!

That's almost as much as the upgrade cost! So needless to say I will not be shipping it to NJ. Now I'm really re-thinking this whole upgrade thing. I may wait until some AVP owners get theirs upgraded, and see if they have any issues with their units.


Seth

 

[Cruise Missile]

The bass bloom in the center channel is consistant. Also, the trim levels (except subs, which are usually 8-10 DB low) and the distances are always spot on.

I'm well versed in the procedure for running Audyssey, and in my current room it just doesn't work as expected. I've run it with the seats covered with a blanket, without a blanket, seats upright, and seats reclined.

Before the furniture was installed the results were amazing. After adding the seats Audyssey can't get the center channel right. This could be because of the tri-faced vaulted ceiling in our theater, who knows.

I'm not signing off on the tech, just stating in our room, it's detracting from not adding to the listening experience.

 

[Cruise Missile]

I wanted to add, the things Audyssey multeq 32xt does to the bass is awesome.... you'll never hear better bass from your system.

I tried a mic isolation attachment for my boom tonight and re-ran audyssey.... will report back.





The John Mayer concert has been very enjoyable thus far.........

 

[PENG]

I'm well versed in the procedure for running Audyssey

I am sure you are. I read most of your posts so I know you are very up to speed in this field. So in this case I was not suspecting procedure being the issue at all.

Before the furniture was installed the results were amazing. After adding the seats Audyssey can't get the center channel right. This could be because of the tri-faced vaulted ceiling in our theater, who knows.

I'm not signing off on the tech, just stating in our room, it's detracting from not adding to the listening experience.

I can't help but wonder if something went wrong and just happened at around the same time the furniture was installed. Could be the mic, or a bug in the software acting up, like you said, who knows. It just seems really odd to me the latest version of this sophisticated software could not handle your new furniture.

On the other hand, if it sounds fine without Audyssey then that's good news anyway. In my room Audyssey does not make much difference either, the parameters clearly show my room has response similar to that of their bench mark recording studio.

 

[MEGALADON]

Hello Seth. That is the big problem. Shipping, location and poor 90 day warranty on a $1000.00 upgrade. It seems almost like bait -n- switch. Buy our top of the line receiver and this unit will future proof! Yeah right! If they wanted to do that then they would have designed expansion slots and consumer removable and replaceable cards that would allow for easy upgradeability. Clearly they did not have our innterest at heart. This sounds like nickel and diming your customers.. Arrr!!!

 

[gene]

Before the furniture was installed the results were amazing. After adding the seats Audyssey can't get the center channel right. This could be because of the tri-faced vaulted ceiling in our theater, who knows.

Funny when I first built my theater room and had folding chairs in it, I did Audyssey calibration and it was incredible! It measured and sounded beautifully. Then once I installed my theater seats, I achieved terrible results every time. I finally had to track it down to 1 o 2 locations that were really problematic. I now calibrate the important seats using multiple data points and also measure a few points between the front/back row and it seems to work better now. Don't just assume to pick spots exactly where the seats are and I suggest you don't calibrate for the extreme off axis seats either.

 

[Adam]

Before the furniture was installed the results were amazing. After adding the seats Audyssey can't get the center channel right.

Hey, Audyssey is for audiophiles...not comfortphiles. Just learn to stand.

 

[Warpdrv]

Agreed Gene.... I've never tried to stretch it with measurements beyond the most important 2-4 seats in my room.... concentrating on what the 2 major seats in the room will truly yield the best results, and ultimately - at this level of concentration to details even the odd seats really get pretty much a superior experience over at any theater I have ever been at....


Anthems ARC was pretty good, but I truly noticed a big improvement with XT32 when I went with the 80.3.

My room is above average in the fact the my front 3 is corner loaded and the side walls both fade away - with no reflection points for the LP, as well as the super high angled ceiling from 8' up to 20' above the LP area provides the same lack of reflection points, basically no angle of incidence for me, regardless - XT32 was still quite an improvement for me as well as other scrutinizing area listeners over ARC... especially in the lowest octaves

YMMV per room obviously...

 

[Cruise Missile]

Finally got it right.

Audyssey Multeq 32xt is fussy. The shock mount I used resulted in worse bloom around 150-300hz.

This got me to thinking about how a shock isolation mount could make things worse?
The conclusion I'm going with is the mic itself may have been resonating given it's springy mounting surface.

I tested this line of thought.

I securely mounted the mic to a fixed attachment for the boom stand, and the results were much better. The mid-bass bloom vanished.

And I think I've narrowed down the "good" measurement points now. My results are much more consistant now.

Audyssey really needs to try and address the "ease of use" aspect of their product. A new user would surely get ho-hum/bad results without extensive online searches and hours of trial and error in their rooms.

If they (Audyssey) could make this plug and play easy and consistant, they'd have the market by the family jewels.

 

[Cruise Missile]

Returning to the op's topic:

If Denon's history is any indicator, this upgrade will drop to $499 after it's offered at the original $999 for a while. This could be huge considering the cost of shipping these beasts to the repair center is not included.

At $499 this would be a no-brainer.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Aren't you guys worried your AVP will get dropped and damaged somehow in transit?

I'm not taking any chances.

I think Denon should make the firmware free and just charge for the hardware.

As much as the AVP cost, Denon can kiss my a$$ with the $1,000 fee.

I guess the question is, will there be any benefits to just getting the firmware without the hardware upgrade?

 

[GranteedEV]

Aren't you guys worried your AVP will get dropped and damaged somehow in transit?

I'm not taking any chances.

I think Denon should make the firmware free and just charge for the hardware.

As much as the AVP cost, Denon can kiss my a$$ with the $1,000 fee.

I guess the question is, will there be any benefits to just getting the firmware without the hardware upgrade?

I doubt the older hardware can hang with the new processing demands.

IMO replacing the hardware yourself sounds like the best route.

 

[Matt34]

Hey Warp, I'm interested on how you went about using XT32 with your three subs. I've wondered what people with more than two subs are doing with this software that is designed for two subs.

Agreed Gene.... I've never tried to stretch it with measurements beyond the most important 2-4 seats in my room.... concentrating on what the 2 major seats in the room will truly yield the best results, and ultimately - at this level of concentration to details even the odd seats really get pretty much a superior experience over at any theater I have ever been at....


Anthems ARC was pretty good, but I truly noticed a big improvement with XT32 when I went with the 80.3.

My room is above average in the fact the my front 3 is corner loaded and the side walls both fade away - with no reflection points for the LP, as well as the super high angled ceiling from 8' up to 20' above the LP area provides the same lack of reflection points, basically no angle of incidence for me, regardless - XT32 was still quite an improvement for me as well as other scrutinizing area listeners over ARC... especially in the lowest octaves

YMMV per room obviously...

 

[MEGALADON]

Anyone have the denon avp-a1hdci upgrade????

Just following up to my earlier post concerning the upgrade. Asking those who have gone through the upgrade process to weigh in. Happy New Year All!!

 

[ratso]

Just following up to my earlier post concerning the upgrade. Asking those who have gone through the upgrade process to weigh in. Happy New Year All!!

if it was me, i would save a lot of coin and get the SVS xt32 box (preferably used).

 

[deputy dog]

Deputy Dog

It has been awhile since I have been on, however I like everyone else am wondering if anyone got the upgrade and if so, was it worth the $1,000? Also is there any other repair facilities that can do the upgrade?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It has been awhile since I have been on, however I like everyone else am wondering if anyone got the upgrade and if so, was it worth the $1,000? Also is there any other repair facilities that can do the upgrade?

I wouldn't trust any other facility except the main one. We're talking about a $7500 + $1000 component here.

 

[gene]

AVP Update

Guys;

I just confirmed with Denon that the AVP/5308 upgrade does NOT allow you to apply a simultaneous calibration curve to all subs It still calibrates each sub individually which is a bummer since their newer lower end receivers actually provision for the simultaneous calibration. Oh well, I will still have to assign all 3 subwoofer channels to "CH 1" and level match them myself and find the best overall delay average for all 4 subs.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Guys;

I just confirmed with Denon that the AVP/5308 upgrade does NOT allow you to apply a simultaneous calibration curve to all subs It still calibrates each sub individually which is a bummer since their newer lower end receivers actually provision for the simultaneous calibration. Oh well, I will still have to assign all 3 subwoofer channels to "CH 1" and level match them myself and find the best overall delay average for all 4 subs.

I think the $1K charge is ridiculous.