Auto or Manual speaker calibration

[sharptailhunter]

I hope this is the right forum to post this in. My SVS speakers are showing up tomorrow. The sub showed up today. With it I got a free Radio Shack SPL meter. My avr is a Marantz 5004. So, I can use the Audyssey auto calibration program or do it manually. Any recommendations? If I use the SPL meter, which direction should I point it, i.e to the front of the room? What angle should it be inclined at? One manual says to set at a 45 degree angle, another says to point the mic directly up to the ceiling.

 

[Adam]

My advice is to run the auto calibration routine, and then double check it with the SPL meter. On my two Pioneer receivers, the MCACC system has nailed the speaker levels every time.

One thing to note is that those auto setup routines often set speakers to "Large" (or "Full Band" for Onkyo) when you'd actually want them to be set to "Small" so that the bass goes to the sub. So, be sure to go back in and reset that as appropriate.

In terms of how to use the SPL meter, you want it set to "C" weighting and "Slow." I place the microphone where my head would be and incline it about 45 degrees, but I've also seen the recommendation to point it at the ceiling like you mentioned.

 

[JerryLove]

Then after all that, feel free to adjust so they sound the way you want them to. Auto-calibration is a good start.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I also got Audyssey on my TX-SR805 and beside the usual small-large speakers confusion, it had both speakers distances AND levels way off.
I still trust Audyssey for Auto EQ, but mark my works - I'll manually dial in EQ as well sooner or later.
According to makers of Room EQ they suggest to point spl meter directly at the direction of speakers - preferably spl meter should be set on tripod at the ear level.

 

[sharptailhunter]

Thanks for the help. So, I'm gonna try the Auto first. Like many people have mentioned, Audyssey will most likely try to say the speakers are large. SVS recommends setting them to small. Do I have the chance to do that step come beore it does the auto calibration? If not, and it calibrates the system and lists the speakers as large and I then change them to small, do I have to recalibrate the system?

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for the help. So, I'm gonna try the Auto first. Like many people have mentioned, Audyssey will most likely try to say the speakers are large. SVS recommends setting them to small. Do I have the chance to do that step come beore it does the auto calibration? If not, and it calibrates the system and lists the speakers as large and I then change them to small, do I have to recalibrate the system?

No, just apply xover afterwards. It's not Audyssey's fault, it's the receiver manufacturers' implementation to blame. Onkyo for instance will assign large if the F3 is found to be below 80hz. Audyssey has lobbied for such manufacturers to change this, but I guess to no avail.

As for distances, it is extremely accurate; I believe the CTO said it was closer than 0.5" in accuracy, but that the exact figure was confidential.

If you happen to see that the distance is very off from the physical distance of the subwoofer, it is because the sub's filters and/or DSP cause electrical delay. So in fact this Audyssey "distance" measurement is both physical distance + electrical delay combined.

EDIT: Jogging my memory, I think he actually might have said finer than 0.1 ft, and not 0.5".

 

[ParadigmDawg]

How do you remove your head to place the microphone there?

Does it hurt?

How do you put it back on?

Do you feel it affects your brain during the time of no blood flow?

I place the microphone where my head would be and incline it about 45 degrees, but I've also seen the recommendation to point it at the ceiling like you mentioned.

 

[3db]

I have a Yamaha and therefore YPAO, not Audessy. However, they both do the same thing. What I do is to set my speakers manually first setting them to small all around. When I run the auto calibrate, I get YPAO to skip the speaker size and do teh rest of the calibration auotmaticlally. I'm very happy with the results.

 

[Adam]

How do you remove your head to place the microphone there?

Does it hurt?

How do you put it back on?

Do you feel it affects your brain during the time of no blood flow?

Ahhh, my new software seems to be living up to what they promised - to allow me to seem more human. I think it's all those innuendo jokes, although I must say that I don't actually understand any of it.