sony str dh790 And setup (poor scots man)

[derekwatt5]

OK so firstly hello everyone from sunny Scotland as most of you American cousins will be aware us Scots are known the world over as being as tight as a ducks! eh well, I need some advice cause im poor and can hardly afford my porridge oats let alone AV equipment,,, i digress

OK here is what i have
sony str dh790
Eltax monitor atm dolby atmos speakers
yamaha NSF51 floor standers
q acoustics 3090c centre
q acoustic 3020 rears
KEF1 subwooofer
and soon to be a wharfdale sw150 along with the kef

and i just feel i cant get that boom from the base or decent sound from the dolby atmos. the dolby speakers are setup on top of my yams and just don't seem to give a lot of presence sound (i have low ceilings and have set the amp accordingly to 2m height) the subs i have are single rca in to the left rca in but i feel its the amp thats not producing the boom and i cant find any settings on the amp apart from volume up or down and + or - 10db or set to 0

Any advice on how to set what i have up? cause the wife would divorce me if i say im going to spend anymore cash. thanks

Have all speakers set to small

 

[sterling shoote]

OK, first use SPL meter app on cellphone to match speaker levels at your listening position from tone generated by your receiver. Next, recognize when the subs volume is set from the continuous tone it will not give you boom, it will instead get you low bass at appropriate volume from actual bass being delivered to sub from content to the receiver. Also, set the receiver to crossover to sub from mains at the sub manufacturer's recommendation and set the mains to cut off at the subwoofers crossover point to preclude the mains of having to do low bass duty. Finally, get some UBDs which have sound effects that are managed by Dolby Atmos to better understand need for further channel volume adjustments.

 

[derekwatt5]

I have both my subs hz settings at full is this wrong? and i have my Yamaha mains set at 100hz? the rest are set at 80hz

Should i set my subs at 80and my mains at 80? as a starting point?

cheers

 

[derekwatt5]

Ok looking in to this a wee bit more

eltax dolby speekers 70hz-20,000
q acoustics rears 68hz-22,000
q acoustics center 75hz-22,000
Yamaha 43hz-26,000

So do you go with the mains for setting your hz range? so main set at 60hz and subwoofer set at 60hz on the dial? or do i just st everything at 80hz

OK you can probably tell i don't have a clue as i'm tone deaf with all the moaning my wife does about me buying this stuff.

thanks again for your help

 

[lovinthehd]

Did you use DCAC to setup your speakers/sub initially? Or did you use an spl meter?

The crossovers are just that, a crossover between sub/speaker (i.e. a low pass for the sub with a high pass for your speakers). The low pass filter (LPF) on your sub is generally set to max value (and some subs' LFE input will bypass the LPF automatically). Some avrs have an LPF of LFE setting that affects the LFE channel (the .1 channel content) which is generally set to 120hz, the usual limit of info in that channel (don't know if yours does). Some prefer a setting on the avr that overlaps the sub with the main speakers set to full range (not sure if yours has that, often called double bass or LFE+main).

80 hz is a good starting crossover point I think for your mains, the surrounds maybe a bit higher, 100 or 120 perhaps. As to getting more oomph I found nothing for a Kef 1 sub, but the SW150 looks to be not all that full of oomph, but many do raise sub trim level after setup for a bit more bass. How big is your room?

 

[derekwatt5]

My room ain't that big at all and when I use the auto calibration it always sets the room size up wrong and all the speakers to large.

I will try setting my rears to 100 or 120 and see how that goes and put the mains to 80. As far as the subs go then should I just leave the hz dial at max?

(I will never get the role as scotty)

As far as the atmos speakers go I'm not convinced as they seem to just blend in to what I hear from the mains. Maybe i need to change them so they are mounted on the ceiling, just unfortunate the ones I have cant be wall mounted.

 

[lovinthehd]

My room ain't that big at all and when I use the auto calibration it always sets the room size up wrong and all the speakers to large.

I will try setting my rears to 100 or 120 and see how that goes and put the mains to 80. As far as the subs go then should I just leave the hz dial at max?

(I will never get the role as scotty)

As far as the atmos speakers go I'm not convinced as they seem to just blend in to what I hear from the mains. Maybe i need to change them so they are mounted on the ceiling, just unfortunate the ones I have cant be wall mounted.

Just that subs work off room volume for the most part, speakers are more about the distance between you and them, why I was curious what actual size/seating positions you have.

The auto calibration is detecting a decent bass response (usually an f3 of 40hz is the guideline), and despite you telling the avr you are using subs, the Sony marketing folk don't want to insult the "size" of your package and call them "small" . No problem with most room eq/setup programs to merely change the settings to small (or use bass mangement) and proceed. Yes, I'd leave the sub maxed out on lpf and try the crossovers you mention. What do you mean tho by it gets room size wrong? Different distances between speaker and/or sub than physical measurement? (keep in mind distance is just setting delay, which can be affected by room acoustics, too and subs' own amp processing can add some delay, too).

As far as Atmos, I've not tried but seems by most reports the most satisfying installations are those with speakers in the ceiling as intended rather than try the bouncy approach. Some have had good success with the bouncy speakers, so perhaps just experimenting with positioning. Maybe if you post up a diagram of placement or a pic some can give you some ideas?

 

[Pogre]

My room ain't that big at all and when I use the auto calibration it always sets the room size up wrong and all the speakers to large.

I will try setting my rears to 100 or 120 and see how that goes and put the mains to 80. As far as the subs go then should I just leave the hz dial at max?

(I will never get the role as scotty)

As far as the atmos speakers go I'm not convinced as they seem to just blend in to what I hear from the mains. Maybe i need to change them so they are mounted on the ceiling, just unfortunate the ones I have cant be wall mounted.

The distance setting in your AVR won't always match real world measurement with a tape measure. Especially subwoofers. My RC pushes my subs back 5 feet further than they really are. The reason is for timing, so that all frequencies arrive at your seat ~the same time. I say run setup again and don't mess with the distance settings and try a starting point of 80 hz and experiment a little. My guess is the higher settings will sound better than going below 80 hz.

 

[derekwatt5]

My room ain't that big at all and when I use the auto calibration it always sets the room size up wrong and all the speakers to large.

I will try setting my rears to 100 or 120 and see how that goes and put the mains to 80. As far as the subs go then should I just leave the hz dial at max?

(I will never get the role as scotty)

As far as the atmos speakers go I'm not convinced as they seem to just blend in to what I hear from the mains. Maybe i need to change them so they are mounted on the ceiling, just unfortunate the ones I have cant be wall mounted.

 

[derekwatt5]

Yeah when I try to do the auto cal it sets the speakers up as if they where in France and I'm in my room in Scotland.

One good thing I love my centre speaker its fantastic and the rears not convinced with the mains but I am no guru on AV stuff.

I'm away from home working just now so when I get back I will have my new subwoofer so will put in place of my Yamaha sub (it's as old as me nearly 70s and like me still works flawlessly mm) and see if it makes a difference.

Then will have to spirt money away from the one who must be abide and get a new amp

Will report back if anyone cares lol

 

[sterling shoote]

I'd set all speakers to crossover at 80 Hz. Set the sub to 80Hz. Play a test tone. Match speaker levels from receiver volume initially set for the average level you listen to your favorite stereo music delivered from mains. Use a SPL meter app to measure SPL from where you sit to listen to music or watch movies. Now, remember that when your sub is properly adjusted, you are not going to have the impression of hearing it in isolation from higher frequencies and that's the idea. BTW, here's some music for you with some pretty low bass, which when played out from your computer to receiver should blow you away when speaker are adjusted as I suggested:

 

[derekwatt5]

Many thanks I'm home at the weekend so going to have a bash at setting it up properly

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd set all speakers to crossover at 80 Hz. Set the sub to 80Hz. Play a test tone. Match speaker levels from receiver volume initially set for the average level you listen to your favorite stereo music delivered from mains. Use a SPL meter app to measure SPL from where you sit to listen to music or watch movies. Now, remember that when your sub is properly adjusted, you are not going to have the impression of hearing it in isolation from higher frequencies and that's the idea. BTW, here's some music for you with some pretty low bass, which when played out from your computer to receiver should blow you away when speaker are adjusted as I suggested:

Why wouldn't you set the sub's filter to highest level rather than cascade it with the avr's?

 

[derekwatt5]

I'm confused.com now 80? Or full up to the max

 

[Gmoney]

Many thanks I'm home at the weekend so going to have a bash at setting it up properly

Hey Bro! Welcome to AH! Umm your in England?
Lower? Scotland? My roots, Ancestors are from Anglo Saxon clan! Walkers my last name, 1st ancestor to come over was 1788, so William Wallace may be my Great great great great great great uncle!

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm confused.com now 80? Or full up to the max

I'd set the the sub to max, but you can always try both ways, its just not generally suggested to combine the two filters at the same time (i.e. the filter the avr is providing as well as the one the sub has).

 

[derekwatt5]

Oi lol I'm in Scotland and you better hope old willy Wallace wasn't your great great great great grand daddy he was Australian,,, oh and if that's not bad enough in the real world he was a common criminal who betrayed the king and clans! Freeeeeeedom

Anyway back to my sub problem lol

 

[lovinthehd]

Don't know if you saw this

Subwoofer Set Up and Configuration for Bass Performance

This basic subwoofer setup guide and YouTube video will teach you how to place and configure your subwoofer and A/V receiver in layman's terms to ensure you achieve optimal bass performance.

www.audioholics.com

 

[derekwatt5]

Oh thanks, it's no wonder people by soundbars lol it's not easy this av stuff

Do you guys over the pond use parts Express? I was looking at there subs and was impressed with the prices, problem being for me to buy a $130 product by the time I pay shipping and taxes it ends up being over £200. That's why we buy Chinese lol, we just get ripped off in the uk for AV equipment

 

[lovinthehd]

Oh thanks, it's no wonder people by soundbars lol it's not easy this av stuff

Do you guys over the pond use parts Express? I was looking at there subs and was impressed with the prices, problem being for me to buy a $130 product by the time I pay shipping and taxes it ends up being over £200. That's why we buy Chinese lol, we just get ripped off in the uk for AV equipment

Once you get the basics down it's not so hard

I use parts-express for some electronic supplies, and built one of their speaker kits (the BR-1) but no experience with their subs, altho the reviews have been favorable particularly considering the price. On your side of the pond you don't have the subwoofer resources we in the states do.....but in your area I'd look at BK Elec or XTZ subs....