Any thoughts on the BEST way to calibrate a HT receiver?
I've had an Integra AVR (old DTR 9.9) that I've had for some time and I have been largely disappointed in its automatic calibration (i.e., with the
Integra Audyssey Setup). My main complaint is there seems to be a lot of variance between tests without changing anything. I see the difference in both levels and distances it sets for each speaker between each test and the averages of separate rounds of tests. We've also been disappointed with the results and find that we need to fine tune it afterwards.
I also tried doing it myself with a miniDSP microphone placed at my optimal listening position and using the manual level setting option in the setup menu of the receiver. I do this as follows:
- Place the microphone at the optimal listening position, at ear level
- Use the speaker level adjustment --uses pink noise on each speaker to set the level at 75dB (using Z weighted measurements)
- Measure the distance to each speaker from the microphone
While this is much more labor intensive, it is definitely much more consistent between tests to the point that there is no value in running a series of tests and averaging them as is done when using the factory calibration. Now this might be placebo, but to me, it sounds much better! In one case, we watched the blu-ray of "Birdman" and I was amazed by the results I got from manually calibrating my system. Whether you like the movie itself or not, the audio mix on it is awesome and pays a lot of attention to the direction to the direction a noise is coming from; e.g., a creaking door that is closing behind you turns with the POV of the shot. We recently watched the John Wick series which is all action (and little else) but also has a fantastic audio mix,
Thoughts?
All the best,
Dave