Meadowlark Heron vs. Petrel relative volume

[davelee98]

I recently picked up a Denon-4806 receiver to replace a now defunct Nakamichi AV-10, and my current setup includes 2x Meadowlark Herons for the front channels, 1x Meadowlark Petrel for the Center channel and 2x Meadowlark Kestrels for the rears.

For those who aren't familiar with these, the Herons are a 3 way bi-ampable, and the Petrel / Kestrels are both two-ways.

The listed sensitivities are:
Heron: 90 db 1W/1M
Petrel: 92 db 1W/1M
Kestrel: 89 db 1W/1M

When I do the auto setup, I notice that at equal distances, the Petrel is 8 db louder than the Heron + Kestrel. The Heron and Kestrel appear to be balanced with each other.

Do the sensitivities "lie"? Should I be concerned? Or fine with the correction?

- David

 

[mtrycrafts]

I recently picked up a Denon-4806 receiver to replace a now defunct Nakamichi AV-10, and my current setup includes 2x Meadowlark Herons for the front channels, 1x Meadowlark Petrel for the Center channel and 2x Meadowlark Kestrels for the rears.

For those who aren't familiar with these, the Herons are a 3 way bi-ampable, and the Petrel / Kestrels are both two-ways.

The listed sensitivities are:
Heron: 90 db 1W/1M
Petrel: 92 db 1W/1M
Kestrel: 89 db 1W/1M

When I do the auto setup, I notice that at equal distances, the Petrel is 8 db louder than the Heron + Kestrel. The Heron and Kestrel appear to be balanced with each other.

Do the sensitivities "lie"? Should I be concerned? Or fine with the correction?

- David

The sensitivity is accounted for when you level matching.
Are you also using an SPL meter to check levels for each channel?
Maybe you want to try a manual level matching for all channels?

 

[davelee98]

Sensitivity vs. Volume

Actually, I just was wondering:

From the Petrel to the Heron, there should be a 2 dB difference in SPL (92 - 90 dB = 2 dB SPL), at the same distance. However, when you actually measure it for level-matching, at the listening position, the Petrel is +8 dB louder, thus getting dialed down by -8 dB. This means that there is an unexplained 6 dB relative gain on the center channel.

I'm trying to decide if:
1) the sensitivity spec may be incorrect
2) Something is "broken"
3) This is a room effect
4) This is a radiation pattern effect, with the Petrels beaming energy in a straight line while the Heron's spread it out more.

- David

 

[MDS]

From the Petrel to the Heron, there should be a 2 dB difference in SPL (92 - 90 dB = 2 dB SPL), at the same distance. However, when you actually measure it for level-matching, at the listening position, the Petrel is +8 dB louder, thus getting dialed down by -8 dB. This means that there is an unexplained 6 dB relative gain on the center channel.

I'm trying to decide if:
1) the sensitivity spec may be incorrect
2) Something is "broken"
3) This is a room effect
4) This is a radiation pattern effect, with the Petrels beaming energy in a straight line while the Heron's spread it out more.

- David

I vote for number 3. Number 4 contributes to the effect of number 3.

The sensitivity specs are calculated in an anechoic chamber at 1 meter from the speaker. Your room is not anechoic and you are measuring SPL at the listening position - not 1 meter from each speaker. The room affects the sound that reaches the microphone of the SPL meter.

Calibration is meant to overcome those issues by adjusting the levels so that the SPL at the listening position is the same from every speaker.