Ok, this surprised me, JBL 520C [emoji44]

Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
So you guys think when I used the SPL meter to set the center at +6 it was just because of Audyssey was used to set the A125C? I'm gonna check the levels in a bit with my SPL meter. Set A weight, slow and 70 db, then plus 5 over 70db correct? 75 db is the target right?

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I use 80 when I use an spl but your fine with 75 .
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Most of the avrs are setup so pink noise at 75dB would then tranlate to appropriate settings for 85dB average levels/20dB peaks for movies when run at reference level ("0" on the reference volume scale). Screwing around with levels vs using Audyssey I have not found to be particularly productive myself.
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
Most of the avrs are setup so pink noise at 75dB would then tranlate to appropriate settings for 85dB average levels/20dB peaks for movies when run at reference level ("0" on the reference volume scale). Screwing around with levels vs using Audyssey I have not found to be particularly productive myself.
But even Gene suggests checking speaker levels every so often even after Audyssey was run?

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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
But even Gene suggests checking speaker levels every so often even after Audyssey was run?

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Yes I check now and then but have run it so many times I think I just have a pretty good idea of where things would be from a simple one speaker change at a time type thing....a whole new setup I might play with for a while.
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
I remember back in the days of the first surround capable avrs I had one that you had to set the distance or delays buy a tape measure and then set the levels I think I had two Yamaha’s like that a RX-V 3000 for sure it was the first 6 channel setup I had it took a lot longer then to get it setup right . It still runs the garage setup still .
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I remember back in the days of the first surround capable avrs I had one that you had to set the distance or delays buy a tape measure and then set the levels I think I had two Yamaha’s like that a RX-V 3000 for sure it was the first 6 channel setup I had it took a lot longer then to get it setup right . It still runs the garage setup still .
Man when I first got into HT I didn't have the first clue what I was doing. I turned every channel all the way up. I didn't have a clue about SPL or decibels or anything. Learn as I went and here I am still learning.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Man when I first got into HT I didn't have the first clue what I was doing. I turned every channel all the way up. I didn't have a clue about SPL or decibels or anything. Learn as I went and here I am still learning.
It wouldn't surprise me that this happens to a lot of people who don't dig into the tech before even buying....which is tends to be a requirement for me even before I go shopping :)
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
It wouldn't surprise me that this happens to a lot of people who don't dig into the tech before even buying....which is tends to be a requirement for me even before I go shopping :)
I had garbage equipment at first. I started with 2 speakers I already had and a CRT TV. Then I had some really awful towers for a 5 channel system, I forget what center I had but it was truly awful. Then I got serious and got into Def Tech back when you had to buy them in a store, a Hifi store. I still has no idea what I was doing though. I also got into Yamaha receivers there and remember I had a really, really good one, just under the flagship, I want to say it cost my close 2 grand. I wish I could remember the model number. With Def Tech I just kept spending more and more. I was a rabbit hold guy. Took a wife, kid and mortgage to change all that. Now I look for the best deals and ya know what, this way is much better. Throwing money at every turn gets you nowhere in my opinion.

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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I had garbage equipment at first. I started with 2 speakers I already had and a CRT TV. Then I had some really awful towers for a 5 channel system, I forget what center I had but it was truly awful. Then I got serious and got into Def Tech back when you had to buy them in a store, a Hifi store. I still has no idea what I was doing though. I also got into Yamaha receivers there and remember I had a really, really good one, just under the flagship, I want to say it cost my close 2 grand. I wish I could remember the model number. With Def Tech I just kept spending more and more. I was a rabbit hold guy. Took a wife, kid and mortgage to change all that. Now I look for the best deals and ya know what, this way is much better. Throwing money at every turn gets you nowhere in my opinion.

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Yeah not a good way to go about "consuming". I've always loved to be able to research something before buying and the internet has just made that so much better since when I first got into all this (but then the mags were more fact based than fantasy like now, too).
 
G

Genchic

Audioholic
I'm glad you got your system to your liking point. I went through the same trouble less than a month ago, and I made my suggestion about narrowing Audyssey microphone placement to no more than 2 feet away from the center point based on my experience. It worked for me.. You still have to do all 8 positions to properly calibrate your speakers with Audyssey. You don't have to follow my advice, as long as you're satisfied with the sound of your system. But, if there is something seems still not right, it never hurts to try something different. You never know what you might get out of it.
All numbers to me are reference points. Bottom line, you have to like what you hear.
My numbers were set by Audyssey Left - (-5.5) Right - (-5.5) Center - (-7.0) and both subs (-10) I don't run sutraund speakers due to space constraint. I evenned out my Center speaker with Left and Right to (-5.5) and I got good speach level for movies. When I listen to music, the Center channel is off.

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H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I'm glad you got your system to your liking point. I went through the same trouble less than a month ago, and I made my suggestion about narrowing Audyssey microphone placement to no more than 2 feet away from the center point based on my experience. It worked for me.. You still have to do all 8 positions to properly calibrate your speakers with Audyssey. You don't have to follow my advice, as long as you're satisfied with the sound of your system. But, if there is something seems still not right, it never hurts to try something different. You never know what you might get out of it.
All numbers to me are reference points. Bottom line, you have to like what you hear.
My numbers were set by Audyssey Left - (-5.5) Right - (-5.5) Center - (-7.0) and both subs (-10) I don't run sutraund speakers due to space constraint. I evenned out my Center speaker with Left and Right to (-5.5) and I got good speach level for movies. When I listen to music, the Center channel is off.

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Oh I don't move the mic much. I move it less than a foot to the right and left. In front it's maybe a foot. So I guess I do follow that way of doing things. I just thought someone suggested not doing so 8 mic positions, that's not a good idea I don't think.

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Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Oh I don't move the mic much. I move it less than a foot to the right and left. In front it's maybe a foot. So I guess I do follow that way of doing things. I just thought someone suggested not doing so 8 mic positions, that's not a good idea I don't think.

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That all depends. If you're the only person listening, you don't need as many listening positions. For someone who lives alone and with the infrequent visitor, three positions would be sufficient IMO.
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
Do most manufacturers print a desired recommendation on setting up say how far apart the mic each time you move it in say an 8 point calibration. After searching I did find some info on Yamaha’s that I’ve used . But it always seemed room size dependent if I go but there diagrams , my outside positions are about 8 feet apart which I assume gives a wider soundstage . I’ve tried useing just one position and the results sounded less immersive. I basically wondering if Audyssey works the same as Yamaha’s setup configurations .
 
G

Genchic

Audioholic
Yamaha may be different than Denon. And, if you setting up your system for a wide listening aria and move microphone to a greater distance, the sound will be optimized for the designated area, but it will be worse than when you run a set up like for one listener. Again, this is how it was in my case.
So, moving microphone less than a foot, you did the right thing. In addition to this, you can try different Audyssey settings, ie, Reference, L - R bypass, Flat. Sometimes they give you different affects with different movies.

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William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
That all depends. If you're the only person listening, you don't need as many listening positions. For someone who lives alone and with the infrequent visitor, three positions would be sufficient IMO.
I agree. Especially if you’re supposed to keep a tighter grouping with the mic. I’ve even left mine in the same spot for all three measurements just to see what happened lol.
I also tried this before.

Worked pretty good.
For me it doesn’t matter much on top end, since I use LR bypass anyway, and have experimented with limiting the correction also. I mostly care about what Audyssey does with my subwoofers, and it works well with my minidsp. But a couple others like @Pogre and @PENG are advocates for Audyssey alone, but I think pogre still has his mini in play.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
For me it doesn’t matter much on top end, since I use LR bypass anyway, and have experimented with limiting the correction also. I mostly care about what Audyssey does with my subwoofers, and it works well with my minidsp. But a couple others like @Pogre and @PENG are advocates for Audyssey alone, but I think pogre still has his mini in play.
Yup, I still have my mini in play. I already owned it and it's easier (faster) to use. I do think you can achieve very similar results with Audyssey and the app editor alone tho, and likely wouldn't have gotten the mini if it were available at the time. I really do like the mini for its ease of use tho. Generating filters with REW and applying them to the mini is a breeze compared to slogging through the app editor, but if budget is a concern I do think you can achieve virtually the same results with the app editor alone.
 
G

Genchic

Audioholic
I miss those old days, when we had 3 nubs on receivers: bass, treble and balance... LOL! And if you want to make more adjustments, get an eq with 5 sliders. You could adjust sound instantly at any given time, for different genre of music.
When I got my new Denon, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, with Audyssey. But, than more I play with it, than more I Iike it. I have different settings saved into my phone, I named them differently, it takes 30 seconds to customize AVR to different conditions aka, movies, music. Down side of it is, I'm playing with it for 3 months already, and still do minor adjustments now and then.

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H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
Ok what do you guys make of this and I really don't want to keep boring people with this stuff. Audyssey set the speakers like this, JBL 570 mains at +1.5, JBL 520C center channel of course at +1 and SM55 surrounds at -2.5. but when I got out the old RadioShack SPL meter those numbers were all low. The 570 were 3 or so low, the 520C was 4db low, the SM55 went from -2.5 to +5. That's calibrating them to 75db which is recommended.
What do you think is causing this discrepancy? Should I look into a little room treatment? I'm not going nuts on that and spending a lot of money on it either but should I look into it?

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Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
75 dB with reference to what? A random position on the dial?

There are too many things to try and account for to easily explain a discrepancy. The room, speaker placement, how you held the meter, where you held the meter, did you put it on a stand or hold it in your hand? Was it in the exact same position and height as your your calibration mic? What tones are you using? What spl meter are you using? For instance, I'd trust Audyssey way more than any phone app.

I just never bothered with double checking ALL of my speakers because everything sounds right to me. This seems like one of those fruitless rabbit holes that lead to nowhere.
 
G

Genchic

Audioholic
Your SPL meter shows you actual readings of the sound, the Audyssey is showing you corrections of your speakesr to your room. You should be using either one or the other. Whichever makes it easier for you.
I would avoid any room treatments unless it is a home theater room for audio and video only. This is why we have EQ and the Audyssey in the AVRs. If it is nessessery to dampen a sound at certain spots the most I would do may be a book shelf, curtains on windows, but nothing expensive. And, the room treatment should come as a very last resort after you sort out all the basics.

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