Question about Levels

[Isosevodes]

Good day All! I’m a novice 61 year old budding audiophile with a question. I have a newly acquired Onkyo NR7100 receiver and Polk R700 speakers. Additionally, I purchased a Klipsch RP504C-II center channel and a Klipsch R-SW12 subwoofer. Within the settings menu of the receiver lies a Levels submenu for Fronts, Center and Subwoofer. There are decibels options for each that range from -12 to +12. Default was set to 0 for each. I increased each to +12. Why did I choose +12? Who knows? Please educate me!

 

[Trebdp83]

Yikes, turn those back down to 0. The 7100 features Onkyo’s AccuEQ or the better Dirac Live room correction to set levels and such. You can also set things up manually if you wish to do so. In no case should the levels be at +12.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Agreed. No reason to go to 12. Basically you can be adding distortion. But even if you didn’t, the only thing you might notice is that for any given volume level, you’ll reach it 12 notches lower on the master volume knob.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Also. Did you increase the subwoofer to +12 as well?

 

[Isosevodes]

Yes to all 3 at +12. Although the Low Pass on the Sub I set to the lowest level which is 40 hz. With the R700’s I really don’t even need a sub and I should disconnect it. The R700 speakers have enough inherent BASS that IMO having a sub is pointless.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yes to all 3 at +12. Although the Low Pass on the Sub I set to the lowest level which is 40 hz. With the R700’s I really don’t even need a sub and I should disconnect it.

Well definitely move the trims back to 0, or wherever they were calibrated to. At +12, that sub channel is likely being overdriven and clipped. Not good.
Not needing a sub? Well there’s a couple layers here. Respectfully, the Klipsch sub is very entry level. Its listed low end response is 30hz. The r700’s is 38hz. So if this is a mainly music system, and depending on the music style, you may not need one. But Ime, subwoofers just add something that speakers cannot. True full range speakers can be an exception, but are very expensive, and imo even most of them can benefit from subwoofers. That would largely be because normally the best place acoustically for subs, is not the best place for speakers. So, it kind of depends. Investing in power to drive them properly is also expensive.
If this is a movie system, imo, a subwoofer upgrade is absolutely in order.

 

[Isosevodes]

You’re right about the current sub that I own. I realize that it is pretty entry. I didn’t realize it at the time that I bought it though. The same can be said of the receiver. I think that I did a good job choosing the speakers though.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

You’re right about the current sub that I own. I realize that it is pretty entry. I didn’t realize it at the time that I bought it though. The same can be said of the receiver. I think that I did a good job choosing the speakers though.

I agree on the mains for sure. For the sub? Well, we don’t know what we don’t know. But that’s what friends are for! lol.

 

[Trebdp83]

Even an entry level Sub can be useful. The LPF for LFE setting in the Onkyo should be set to 120Hz. This is the ceiling for LFE signals in multichannel tracks.

The GAIN knob on the Sub should be set around 35%. The LOW PASS(Hz) knob should be set at maximum as the receiver will handle it.

Try the Front crossover at 80Hz. If you want the Fronts to dig a little deeper and the Sub lightened up a bit, set Front crossover to 60Hz.

 

[Isosevodes]

Even an entry level Sub can be useful. The LPF for LFE setting in the Onkyo should be set to 120Hz. This is the ceiling for LFE signals in multichannel tracks. The GAIN knob on the Sub should be set around 35%. The LOW PASS(Hz) knob should be set at maximum as the receiver will handle it. Try the Front crossover at 80Hz. If you want the Fronts to dig a little deeper and the Sub lightened up a bit, set Front crossover to 60Hz.

Ok. Thank you. The crossovers are already set as you described. I just now set Low Pass to Maximum and GAIN to 35% as you instructed. I’ll see what happens.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Are you using accueq?

 

[Isosevodes]

I used Dirac. Did the setup the first week of December. This is how the Levels all arrived at the 0 position. Knowing me, I did the measurements wrong. Does it make sense to you that all of the Levels after Dirac measurements would be 0?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I used Dirac. Did the setup the first week of December. This is how the Levels all arrived at the 0 position. Knowing me, I did the measurements wrong. Does it make sense to you that all of the Levels after Dirac measurements would be 0?

I would be amazed if they all came back at 0. I would rerun and see what you get.

 

[Isosevodes]

What is Accueq? Is that the same as Dirac?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

What is Accueq? Is that the same as Dirac?

No. It’s onkyos proprietary room eq.
Confession: I was too lazy to see which one you had lol.

 

[Wardog555]

Use a spl meter and adjust for the speaker levels to be the same for 75dB.

This is how to do it right. It's about calibration to have the speakers send the audio so it'd balanced to the listening position instead of one speaker being louder than the other etc.

 

[Isosevodes]

Ok Folks! Believe it or not, I made great progress! I figured out how to run the Dirac Calibration. I ran it TWICE. Transferred the following Levels to my system. Fronts; - 5.50. Center; - 4.50. Subwoofer; +12.0. Everything sounds GREAT! I guess my arbitrary settings of + 12.0 for everything was not so smart. Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ok Folks! Believe it or not, I made great progress! I figured out how to run the Dirac Calibration. I ran it TWICE. Transferred the following Levels to my system. Fronts; - 5.50. Center; - 4.50. Subwoofer; +12.0. Everything sounds GREAT! I guess my arbitrary settings of + 12.0 for everything was not so smart. Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction!

Hey! That’s great. Those numbers make a lot more sense. Only one thing I would do. I would raise the gain on the sub before calibration just a bit. That way, the AVR will set the trim at say, -9(arbitrary number). Then you can raise the trim to taste and still have headroom available in the signal. Most people bump up like 3-6db. It’s not exactly a house curve, but kinda.
Good work.

 

[Isosevodes]

Hey! That’s great. Those numbers make a lot more sense. Only one thing I would do. I would raise the gain on the sub before calibration just a bit. That way, the AVR will set the trim at say, -9(arbitrary number). Then you can raise the trim to taste and still have headroom available in the signal. Most people bump up like 3-6db. It’s not exactly a house curve, but kinda.
Good work.

Silly question. What is the trim that you are referring to ? Also, how far should I raise the GAIN?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Silly question. What is the trim that you are referring to ? Also, how far should I raise the GAIN?

Good question. When I say trim, i mean the level in the speaker settings. So if the AVR sets the sub level to -9, to can bump it by say, 4db. That would have it at -5. This usually gives a more satisfactory experience than the flat calibration you’d normally get.
On the sub? Gonna have to experiment a little. If you have an spl meter, you can use that to raise the volume in the sub. Otherwise try just a bit. Whatever that is lol.