why use an SPL meter?

[gcmarshall]

i've read several places that a radio shack SPL meter is helpful in configuring a system. however, i am not clear what it does for me. my receiver (Yam RX-V2500) has an autosetup feature, which i have used. i think it sounds good. times when it does not sound as good, i have no way of knowing if it's the setup that was done poorly or if the source material (eg, a DVD movie or CD) is just not good.

does a SPL meter add something well above and beyond my receiver's autosetup feature or is the SPL meter only useful for those who want to do a complete manual setup? since there are so many variables in good acoustics (receiver decoding, source material quality, speakers, room layout, wall placement, etc., etc.), what does the SPL meter bring to the table that my receiver does not account for automatically?

thanks for helping me understand this.

 

[shokhead]

Are you sure it does the auto right or the way you want it. I've redone mine with the SPL and its more the way I want it,not the way the receiver wants it. 99 out of 100 on here has one,think there's something to that? 35 bucks,go for it.

 

[jaxvon]

An SPL meter allows you to get good, fairly exact measurments on your speakers to fine tune and level-match them. It will also help you find peaks and dips in your room's bass response so you can EQ your subwoofer (if you can) accordingly.

 

[j_garcia]

If you are happy with what the auto setup did, then an SPL meter probably won't be a big help. If you want to check it yourself and see what is going on in your room or tweak your sub, and SPL is indispensible.