Another Calibration Question

[timn99]

My speakers are the following:

Fronts: B&W DM604, 39Hz-22kHz
Center: LCR6 S2, 60Hz-22kHz
Surrounds: DM602 S2, 49Hz-22kHz
Sub: SVS PB12+ on order, backordered till end of March 06

I just hooked everything (except SVS sub) up to my Pioneer VSX-74TXVi last night and tried the Auto MCAAC calibration, but will redo using a Radio Shack analog SPL meter. I will redo later on when the sub arrives.

Since I don't have the sub yet, based on the above specs for fronts, center, and surrounds, what is the recommended speaker settings for now (Large or Small) without using a sub? Using AVIA, can the speaker level setting be changed on the Pioneer without enabling the internal pink noise test tones?

 

[MDS]

If you don't have a sub, then you have no choice but to set the fronts to Large. Your receiver may not even let you set the fronts to Small if you set subwoofer=no. If you set other channels to Small, the bass will be redirected to the Large fronts.

Of course you can always lie to the receiver and tell it you do have a sub and set all speakers to small. Doing so will redirect all bass below the xover to the nonexistent sub which effectively removes all low bass. I used to do that when I lived in an apartment so the bass wouldn't be overwhelming, but I wouldn't recommend it.

If you use AVIA for calibration you won't be using the internal test tones of the receiver.

 

[timn99]

MDS...thanks for the reply. Thats what I figured for the fronts without using the sub for now. Just wasn't sure what to set the center and surrouds to for best performance.

Understand about the AVIA test tones, but I thought in order to adjust the speaker channel levels, I have to go into the receiver's menu and by doing this, it will sound the internal test tones either manually (choose speaker) or automatically (rotate intermittently among each speaker). Maybe I'm missing something, but just trying to understand how's it to be done. Thanks.

 

[MDS]

On my receiver (Onkyo) there are two ways of adjusting the levels: in test/setup mode and on-the-fly.

When you use the internal test tones and adjust the channel levels, they are saved when you exit the test mode.

On the fly adjustments are when you are not in the test mode. You would use that if you want to adjust the levels up or down temporarily. The levels start at whatever they were set to when in test mode but once you put the receiver in standby, they revert back to the previously saved levels.

If your receiver is the same, you will have to write down the levels you got when using AVIA and then go into test mode and set each channel to the level you wrote down so they will be saved. Some receivers though have an additional menu option to save settings and that wouldn't be necessary - have to check your manual.