That's great news! Things look to be coming together nicely
We'll get that sub sorted yet! Ed and the rest of the folks over at SVS definitely know their subs, so I'm really pleased you gave them a call and received some help and tips from Ed. They're sure to put you on the right path.
I think that one of the most common problems in home theater today is the attempt to simplify setup, placement and calibration. It's a noble effort and I totally understand why everyone would want the process to be simpler. But honestly, my own experience has taught me that there's really no substitute for just the good ol' basics. The problem with the basics is that they can be time consuming and they can involve a lot of trial and error. But once they're done, the experience is almost always better than any "auto setup" or "quick start guide" can muster.
I think my praise of Audyssey MultEQ XT32 might have led you a little bit astray, Rob. So I apologize for that. I should have done a better job of explaining that MultEQ XT32 best serves as the "cherry on top", rather than making it sound like some sort of "wonder" program. I mean, it IS a very powerful EQ program, but I personally still don't trust it to do the actual set up of the basics. Unfortunately, it's easier for manufacturers to suggest using the "auto setup" right at the start of the instruction manual, making the basic, manual setup of the speakers seem like something that is more advanced or only for people who like to tweak and adjust things.
In truth, there's no substitute for first addressing your room's acoustic issues with passive treatments, then focusing on proper placement and basic setup (levels, delays/distances, cross-overs) of your speakers, and making sure everything is as optimized as possible with no additional processing or EQ involved at first. THEN, after all of that, a great program like MultEQ XT32 can smooth out those few trouble spots that no passive room treatment or adjustment to speaker positioning or setup can fix.
So if you sort of think of MultEQ XT32 as the "last resort", personally, I think that's the better way to look at it.
But no one would guess that from the way such "auto setup" programs are described in product manuals or feature sheets, and I did a poor job myself of explaining that
So anywho, looking toward the future, I'm excited for you to hang those acoustic treatments. Can't wait to get a look at them in some pictures actually! I know they're more than just the plain, basic, one color panels that I have
With those in place, you can focus on getting the bass working to perfection first. Then you'll want to carefully blend in the speakers, paying close attention to the cross-over to the sub. When that's done, you can get your front soundstage imaging perfected with careful toe-in of the towers and tilt of the center. And when all of that is done, you can run MultEQ XT32 to smooth out any remaining trouble spots, which ought to be relatively few
After THAT, there are all the many, many listening mode options to play with in the Denon 4311! But those are purely a matter of preference. I pretty much always just use the native sound mode: Dolby Digital for DD soundtracks; DTS for DTS soundtracks; TrueHD or DTS-HD MA for those formats; or Multi-channel PCM if your Blu-ray player is handling the audio decoding. Just basic Stereo for CDs, or Dolby Pro Logic II if I want to expand stereo music to surround sound. I don't tend to use much else. None of the "DSP Modes" that basically just add echo. And since you're just running 5.1 speakers, there's no need to worry about "expansion" modes that go to 7 or 9 or 11 speakers!
So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing this all really come together for you. I am sorry that you've had some headaches along the way, but I want to commend you for sticking with it, being willing to ask questions, and not giving up or panicking when things don't work perfectly right away. That is exactly the attitude I sincerely hope anyone would adopt. And if you're willing to think of it all as a learning experience rather than just a giant pain in the rear, you can wind up with an even greater appreciation for this hobby! It's pretty much the way most of us here on the message boards got started. We've all cursed, pulled our hair out and screamed, "why can't it just work the way it's supposed to?!" on multiple occasions! lol So just know that you're not alone
It can and will be sorted out, and it'll be absolutely AWESOME when it's finally all done!
So honestly, I do want to say thank you to you, Rob, because you've really taken it all in stride, been patient, and I'm really hoping you've had some fun during this whole process as well! One of the best feelings in this hobby is when we manage to solve an issue that's been bugging us for a while, or when we manage to eek out an improvement from the gear we already have, rather than just spending a pile of money on something new
You're getting to experience that in a rather condensed and stressful timeframe! But if you're able to think of it in terms of each problem solved and each improvement heard as almost like hearing your system anew each time - that's really one of the most fun parts of this hobby and you'll find yourself in very good company when you (hopefully) decide to keep visiting boards like this one and sharing your experiences and growing knowledge with other folks who are just getting into home theater for the first time
Best of luck! And I'm definitely looking forward to some pics and even moreso to the day - hopefully soon - when this whole new room and system really all "clicks" perfectly into place and you can kick back, relax, and completely lose yourself in a weekend of movies the way you deserve to!
