3805 Settings

[Hannahman]

What settings are you using for the 3805 that produce the best sound? I want to get a concensus on what users find works best.

Large or Small speakers? I have heard that choosing small is the way to go but I have tower speakers that are bi-amped.

Large or Small center? I have used both settings and I am trying to improve dialogue during movies. I have the center set at Large and have it at 12DB and still find that it is not always load enough without cranking the amp to
-10 Db or so....

EQ Setting- Normal, Flat or Custom. If Custom, what have you found works
best?

LFE or LFE / Main?

What setting are you using for Direct TV or Cable? Pro Logic 2 Cinema Or???

Any input or settings suggestions / combinations would be helpful

Auto Surround mode?

 

[mitch57]

I set my speaker settings based on the frequency response they can handle. I have Def Techs which go down to 15 Hz so I set them to large (Front Towers). My center speaker goes down to 20 Hz so I also set it to Large.

My surrounds only go down to 40 Hz so I set them to small.

I only use the Auto setup feature to set the distance and delay of the speakers. I then turn room EQ to off. If I do use it, I set it to flat.

I use LFE/Main.

I use Pro Logice II Cinema when watching sat TV (Dish Network). I also use Auto surround mode. I believe the manual states that all this does remember your last settings based on the device you are listening to (i.e, SAT, DVD, VCR, Tuner, etc.).

My center speaker is set to 0 or -1db and all others are set to 0, left/right are set to 0 and surround left is set +2.5, and surround right is set to -2. These settings are based on my listening position. I am a few feet closer to the right surround then I am to the left surround.

When listening to DVD Audio the surrounds are set to the same settings as above. My Left/Right are set to -6db to tone down the bass somewhat. My center is set to -1db.

There's no right or wrong setting really. Your ears tell you what you should set things to. However, I too sometimes wish it would set things to the way I like it automatically without all the tweaking.

I change settings, every now and then, to see if things sound better or worse. I also set my crossover to 60 Hz as my speakers can handle bass down to that level.

 

[nova]

I have my mains set to Large, cneter and surrounds as small.
I don't use the EQ.
LFE
I have Dishnetwork and use Neo6 Cinema, the Dolby modes seem to have some scratchy, distorted, not quite tuned in, noises that come out of the surrounds in a lot of programs.
No suggestions other than for you to try it and see what you and your speakers like best.
I also have my crossover at 60Hz, and use auto surround mode.

Where is your center placed? When mine was below the TV I had a bit of a hard time hearing dialog clearly, now that it is above and angled slightly down I've had to decrease the center db.

 

[Hannahman]

Thanks!... Anyone else have other feedback on their settings?

 

[Unregistered]

I used the 3805 Auto Setup Feature to let the receiver decide the speaker size based on the Crossover frequency.

After that I changed the Spaker levels for the front speakers because the FR was way out. The distance were OK.

Since I wanted a little more bass, I increased the level for SW by 2 dB.

For movies I left the sorround speaker levels set up by the 3805.

For TV:
Since in Lima, Peru where I live there there is no Dish, only cable, I use DSP Game mode since i creates a more "sorround" enviroment from stereo sources. For some channels with Dolby Sorround I use "Widescreen" mode.

For both Widescreen and Game DSP, I increase the sorrund levels by 2dB to enhance the sorround experience..

To evercome the fact that the 3805 does not have a trim level for each source, i increase or decrease all the channell levels for the mode normally use for an specific source. For instance, since I use Game DSP mode for TV, and the level from TV is about 8db higher than the DVD source levels, I decreased all channell levels by 8db. Not and elegnt way to do it but it works.

For Music listening I use Widescreen or 5/7 Stereo.

RommEQ:
For Movies I use Flat
For Music I use Normal, even when it make the sound brigther becuase that's the way I like. However if it is too bright, I use flat or Off.

Sorround A, B:
Mor Movies only A, since the speakers are located above ear level .

For Music listening I have setup the 3805 to A+B. That fills the room better in my case.

Subwoofer:
I use LFE+Main for both movies and Music listening
For movies (Dolby/DTS mode)I increased the SW level by 2db.
For TV or music (Widescreen and DSP) I had to increase the SW by 8dB to really "feel" the bass. This was my case and might not be yours.

At the end, it all comes to what you like...

Hope this helps

 

[mitch57]

It does have trim levels for each source. I can have different settings on each speaker which is independant for each source. For example:

Ext In I have my left and right front speakers set to -6db and my subwoofer set to -10db.

DVD (which is optical 1) the left and right front speakers are set to 0db and the subwoofer is set 0db.

However, what you CAN'T do on the 3805 is set independant levels for Dolby Digital DBS and Doldby Digital FM Radio.

I will be doing some more experimenting later on when I get my new DVD changer. I hope to be able to use both Coax and TOSLink connections coming from the DVD player to the receiver. I will then assign each as seperate components. I will make one of them DVD and one CD on the Denon and see if it lets me adjust speaker levels independant of each other.