denon 2809ci set up help

[metalman]

i'st post....new set up...center channel voices sound dulled or muted when avr set to any dolby settings vs great voice and sound in 5ch. wheter it be cable movie or dvd. 2809ci-klipcsh rc64 center-f3 main-rc 64 surround-12"600w sub. ran audessy set up and tweeked settings as i thought needed. center still sounds "muffled" ??? all comments will be appreciated...except what u think i should of bought sorry if i did'nt post this in the right area

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I would double check the channel level for your center channel....you can always turn it up a few clicks to help it speak more clearly as it is the most active channel in home theater. This is the only thing that comes to mind as I had the same issue and have it turned up a little so that dialogue is more clear...

 

[metalman]

can raise the ch volume but vioces (+sound) are still not as clear or "vivid" as when set avr set to 5ch.....

 

[bandphan]

can raise the ch volume but vioces (+sound) are still not as clear or "vivid" as when set avr set to 5ch.....

5ch stereo is a party mode ie 5 ch mono all speakers playing the same. What does the curve look like above 500hz? What filters are set below 150hz? Did you check the wiring phase?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Well, I am now a big Denon fan and love my 3808 but one issue I am having is clarity with the center when using Audessy. I have tried every tuning secret I know and I just can't get it right. I now watch movies with the audessy turned off and it is back to sounding great.

I have had several Yamahas and never experienced an issue with dialog clarity from the center. I love the Denon in evry other regard.

 

[metalman]

i am learning to understand all the data. need to re-run audessy set up after all the adjustments i've made. probably need to re-set "all" in the avr. read a few posts here and there that suggest setting all speakers to "small" and start at 80hz..??? let the sub handle the deep base,then adjust. not happy to here that i need to turn off audessy to get satisfaction from th rc 64. thought the attraction af all these avr's were that thy had soooo many goodys to enhance the experiance, not to cause need for more therapy with Jose Q. i've read the instructions over and over hoping that i would find the "EASY BUTTON", but no luck yet. i just know on little . _ is out of line and causing all my troubles....i just can't be the operator!!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Yep I am puzzled by the center and audessy. I leave it on for music and it sound great so I dont know what is going on.

There is no need to reset your AVR. Just re-run Audessy, go back in on the manual side and set your speakers to small and adjust your crossover points.

 

[metalman]

thats where i started!!! guessi do it agian. should i set crossovers at 80 hz or ?? thanks for the replies..... alway open for more advice.....

 

[Chopin_Guy]

Ha ha..sorry for your furstrations man. It's interesting to hear others talk about this issue as I wondered if it was just me....I think I will have to mess with the Audyssey on/off to see if this has any effect with my setup....

Edit: But to answer you question metal...I don't see why the cross-over frequency would have any effect on the clarity of audio coming from the center channel....

 

[metalman]

update

whatched lord of the rings last night with audessy set to manual...and low and behold, the klipsch rc 64 center took off!!! gonna spend some of my "absolutly nothing else better to do freetime" on the phone wth denon today asking them why i spend $950.00 for thier 2809ci with all the bells and whistles if i have to turn it off to watch a move?? i'm sure they will have a great answer for me! oh yea, general tv watching was great also. other than having to make adjustments along the way since most all of the broadcasts seem to have different formats

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Has anyone else experienced this "muffled" center with Audessy?

 

[strube]

Absolutely. I watch a lot of movies at my dad's house; he just bought all new stuff. The AVR is a Denon 1909, and the CC sound is muffled with Audyssey MultiEQ on. Additionally, I set up an HT for a colleague's family and they had a 1908 - same issue. I set up a Paradigm CC-390 at my dad's and it's sheer size and number of drivers makes it better than the Cinema Series at the colleague's house, but it is still very noticeable and annoying. We just did a manual setup for speaker distances and leave the Audyssey off.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Are we seeing this with the other AVR companies that use Audessy or just Denon?

Absolutely. I watch a lot of movies at my dad's house; he just bought all new stuff. The AVR is a Denon 1909, and the CC sound is muffled with Audyssey MultiEQ on. Additionally, I set up an HT for a colleague's family and they had a 1908 - same issue. I set up a Paradigm CC-390 at my dad's and it's sheer size and number of drivers makes it better than the Cinema Series at the colleague's house, but it is still very noticeable and annoying. We just did a manual setup for speaker distances and leave the Audyssey off.

 

[jostenmeat]

Has anyone else experienced this "muffled" center with Audessy?

Nope. Mine was improved.

While there obviously are folks who prefer not to use it, I think its important to reiterate proper calibration/mic technique.

Also, interestingly, there are many, many folks who say doing all 8 positions makes for a huge difference from doing anything less. In fact, even if you had one single seated position, people would advise in doing 8 positions in a manner similar to this:

-position, front of position, position, behind position, position, left of position, position, right of position.

A couple of consumer-created Audyssey guides for reference:

From the 705 FAQ:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12162481&postcount=2

A mini-how to created by an 805 owner:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14605816#post14605816

 

[strube]

Are we seeing this with the other AVR companies that use Audessy or just Denon?

Unfortunately I have only worked with Denon's as far as Audyssey is concerned. I would be interested in hearing what the Onkyo guys think. If I recall correctly from other posts, Jostenmeat is a huge fan of Audyssey, so I assume he has had great experience with it.

EDIT: Ha, a bit slow on the draw on that one.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I am pretty certain I know what I'm doing.

I do use all 8 calibration positions.

Music sounds great with Audessy on but for movies, the center is muffled and sounds great with Audessy turned off..

Nope. Mine was improved.

While there obviously are folks who prefer not to use it, I think its important to reiterate proper calibration/mic technique.

Also, interestingly, there are many, many folks who say doing all 8 positions makes for a huge difference from doing anything less. In fact, even if you had one single seated position, people would advise in doing 8 positions in a manner similar to this:

-position, front of position, position, behind position, position, left of position, position, right of position.

A couple of consumer-created Audyssey guides for reference:

From the 705 FAQ:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12162481&postcount=2

A mini-how to created by an 805 owner:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14605816#post14605816

 

[strube]

I say we blame Denon.

I was thinking my problem was Audyssey on the 1909/8 vs. Audyssey XT on the rest, but it seems that is not the case.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

The couch we had built is now done and will be delivered on Thursday so I will need to recalibrate at that time. I will spend more time tweaking and see if I can come up with a better calibration.

 

[metalman]

i only used 6 positions...but i guess 8 wold not of helped the answer must be between here and the end of the internet...some one please find it!!

 

[strube]

i only used 6 positions...but i guess 8 wold not of helped the answer must be between here and the end of the internet...some one please find it!!

I only have 6 positions available on the non-XT Audyssey. ParadigmDawg has 8 on his 3808CI because he has XT. Anyway, we are looking into it. Either it is a Denon issue (which I am beginning to believe, we didn't all calibrate wrong.) or something we are missing, because Onkyos aren't having the issue.

I will recalibrate differently after finals week is over.