Level Calibration Question

[ougrad02]

Ok so I went over to my father's house with my spl meter to dial in his home theater setup. He is using an onkyo 606 with aperion 532 lr's, 532 c, and 422 lr's. When I go into the level calibration menu I max it out to +12db and it still only registers 65db. I read a couple of places to aim for 75db or so. Either way 65db when it is maxed out to +12db seems pretty quiet. I checked the polarity of the speaker wires and everything seems to be hooked up properly. Any thoughts?

 

[Adam]

Some questions:

1. Did you run the Onkyo's auto set-up first?

2. Were you running the internal test tones, or did you have a calibration disc?

3. What settings did you use on the SPL meter?

 

[Alex2507]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious or Onkyo doesn't work like my rec'r so bear with me when I ask what you had the receiver's volume set at.

 

[ougrad02]

No I don't believe he ran the auto setup first. I was using the internal test tones. On the spl meter it is set for fast response and c weighting.

As far as volume I had it turned up to 35 which was a good amount of volume when watching a movie.

The test tones just seem quiet to me compared to my experience with my own system at home which is an onkyo 705.

 

[ougrad02]

I did the auto setup and it still is doing the same thing.

 

[Adam]

I believe that the Onkyo is set up so that 0 dB on the volume setting will be equal to some reference level. What I don't know is if the auto set-up resets the output level associated with 0 dB so that is still equals that reference level in your father's house.

I highly recommend that you or your dad run the auto set-up routine. That should do a fine job of setting the speaker levels. A number of people have reported that their auto set-up sets their front speakers to "large" (or the Onkyo equivalent), and you'll likely want to manually set them to "small" (or set a cross-over frequency) if your dad has a subwoofer. You can then fine tune, as necessary, the speaker levels with the SPL meter.

When you say that the volume was at 35, do you mean "-35 dB"?

EDIT: I see that you ran the auto set-up while I was typing.

 

[Adam]

Something to consider is that the Aperions are relatively insensitive (the specs that I can find for their models like the ones that your dad has have a sensitivity of 86 dB). If your speakers, which I can't remember what they are, are more sensitive - like Klipsch - then your speakers would sound louder than his given the same power input.

 

[ougrad02]

I actually had the aperions first and sold them to him so my experience was based on when they were in my house. Anyway, I guess to me it seems low and weird that it can't get to 75 db even when maxed out. But the whole point of the spl meter is to balance the speakers out so does it matter what db level you balance them at whether it be 60db, 70db, or 75db? I'm not really sure it just struck me as odd that the calibration tones were so much quieter then when I had them hooked up to my 705.

 

[Adam]

...does it matter what db level you balance them at whether it be 60db, 70db, or 75db?

I sure don't think that it does. I tend to balance mine at 70 dB, but I don't think it matters.

Test tones aside, can the 606 play those Aperions to satisfactory levels when you watch a movie?

 

[ougrad02]

Yes when we put in a movie and turn it up it sounds fine and has very good output. I guess it was more just a surprise to me that the test tones were so much quieter. Also, when I read things about using the spl meter it seems the recommendations are for trying to balance them at some point between 70-80 so I thought maybe those were "magic" numbers so to speak.

 

[mtrycrafts]

No I don't believe he ran the auto setup first. I was using the internal test tones. On the spl meter it is set for fast response and c weighting.

As far as volume I had it turned up to 35 which was a good amount of volume when watching a movie.

The test tones just seem quiet to me compared to my experience with my own system at home which is an onkyo 705.

That is the problem, the master volume control level.
You need to use the 'slow' setting on the spl meter, by the way.
you need to find out how high the master volume goes though. You should mute the system, or, disconnect all the speakers and carefully advance the master volume to see the max setting.
If it is at 0, then you should calibrate it with the volume at 10. Also, reset all channel trims to 0 first. Then, redo your test and see what happens. Yes, the meter should be reading 75 dB at the listening position.
Once all channels are matched, then you listen at whatever level feels comfortable.

 

[moreira85]

when you say that you cant understand why you cant reach 75 dbs because it is maxed out at 12db trim are you just trying to increase the receivers speaker level to get 75? try setting the left front to 0db then play the test tone and increase the reveivers VOLUME until the spl gets to 75 then move to the next speaker and leave the receivers volume as is and ajust that speaker by the recievers speaker level trim.
IS THAT HOW YOU ORIGINALLY TRIED IT?

 

[ougrad02]

I think I figured out the problem. When I purchased the spl meter I first used it to calibrate my system which was run by an onkyo 705. It is thx certified, which from what I've read while trying to understand this situation, means that when running the test tones it automatically runs them at a volume of "0". On the onkyo 606 that I was trying to calibrate at my father's house I have to manually turn the master volume up when I run the test tones. I think its max volume setting is somewhere near 80. So I'm assuming I should turn the master up to about 60 or 70 to do the test tones.

 

[moreira85]

Bingo

I think I figured out the problem. When I purchased the spl meter I first used it to calibrate my system which was run by an onkyo 705. It is thx certified, which from what I've read while trying to understand this situation, means that when running the test tones it automatically runs them at a volume of "0". On the onkyo 606 that I was trying to calibrate at my father's house I have to manually turn the master volume up when I run the test tones. I think its max volume setting is somewhere near 80. So I'm assuming I should turn the master up to about 60 or 70 to do the test tones.

BINGO, THATS HOW MY YAMMY WORKS, PLAYS THE TEST TONE THEN I HAVE TO TURN THE VOLUME UP TILL THE METER READS 75 THEN KEEP AT THE VOLUME FOR ALL THE OTHER SPEAKERS. GOOD LUCK.

 

[ougrad02]

Ok pretty sure I've got it now. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[browninggold]

I believe you want to set the spl meter to the slow response

that should help

 

[mtrycrafts]

... I think its max volume setting is somewhere near 80. So I'm assuming I should turn the master up to about 60 or 70 to do the test tones.

Try to find out for sure what the max is, if it reads in the increasing numbers as it gets louder. Then dial it back 10 units. But, reset all the trim pots to 0 before the actual calibration or you will have a loud awakening

And, yes, THX receivers tend to advance the master volume know automatically to the correct setting, then it sends to test tones of the appropriate level to calibrate for 75dB.