Ok so I have a home theater problem, Ive been playing around with my settings and calibrating my system....?

Question

My question is, my dynamic control on the receiver is set to low, this seems to sound pretty good, in fact the best out of any calibration settings ive ever done. Should I leave the settings there and if so, I lose a little detail, so should i boost up the treble also? Does anyone have tips on setting up a big system in a small room?

My system consist of..

My fronts...Definitive Technology Speakers
My center....Definitive Technology
My subwoofer....Velodyne
My Receiver...Pioneer elite
My DVD player...Denon
My Surrounds...Definitive speakers
Cabling...all audioquest

I am pretty sure its not a cable thing, and all my connections are solid.

Its been very frustrating setting all numbers and calibrationing this system for a while now can anyone help???

Ok so my room 12 ft from front to back and 18 ft side to side, the problem I find that when I use the microphone calibration with my pioneer the calibrations leave everything fine except for my bass and my center channel, the dialogue from the center is very low and i have to boost it up like 5db!!! and it gets too sometimes, and i try using my spl meter and thats kind of the same result. So my fronts are def techs bp8's...my center is C/L/R 2002....my subwoofer....velodyne DPS 12. My receiver is pioneer elite VSX 56tx. the DVD player is a denon 2910. the cabling is audioquest...and i do have a line conditioner, monster power. it cost like 400 bucks.

Ok so my room 12 ft from front to back and 18 ft side to side, the problem I find that when I use the microphone calibration with my pioneer the calibrations leave everything fine except for my bass and my center channel, the dialogue from the center is very low and i have to boost it up like 5db!!! and it gets too loud sometimes, and i try using my spl meter and thats kind of the same result. So my fronts are def techs bp8's...my center is C/L/R 2002....my subwoofer....velodyne DPS 12. My receiver is pioneer elite VSX 56tx. the DVD player is a denon 2910. the cabling is audioquest...and i do have a line conditioner, monster power. it cost like 400 bucks.

Ok so my room 12 ft from front to back and 18 ft side to side and my ceiling is 7ft high, the problem I find that when I use the microphone calibration with my pioneer the calibrations leave everything fine except for my bass and my center channel, the dialogue from the center is very low and i have to boost it up like 5db!!! and it gets too loud sometimes, and i try using my spl meter and thats kind of the same result. So my fronts are def techs bp8's...my center is C/L/R 2002....my subwoofer....velodyne DPS 12. My receiver is pioneer elite VSX 56tx. the DVD player is a denon 2910. the cabling is audioquest...and i do have a line conditioner, monster power. it cost like 400 bucks.

Answer 1

Some more detail would be in order. Specifically what layout, what models, etc.. will help as well as what you are using to "calibrate" as you call it. Reason being a calibration leaves nothing to interpretation. Whereas I feel you are doing it by ear, and that does. Again more detail on just what you have. Also a room size include height, would be helpful.

EDIT:
It seems that you want to trust the room calibration results empirically. You can't always do that.

Def Techs have always been just a little heavy for bass, and the high end is not a bright and crisp as I personally like it, but everybody is different. I doubt that you have a Discrete DSP for each channel, which in reproduction is best ( but who has $300 for each channel?).

Without that kind of equipment I have found that just looking at each speakers overall frequency response will help to give you an idea of just what to attenuate. def tech will provide this information, it used to be on the site but I think you can request for it now. That will give you a good starting point.

Treble will have the most excitation in a loud speaker so any gain should be in as small increments as possible with no sharp rises in response, (meaning a smooth response curve).

If all else fails you can always have the system calibrated by an installer. If you really want accurate reproduction I am afraid it is the only way to go. Cost is not too bad usually right around $200 to cal a system (usually includes the video as well!).

Answer 2

Well you have some really good equipment there. The CLR2002 is a outstanding center speaker.

I want you to re-calibrate a bit, but let's work with speaker angles a bit.

Get a laser pointer. Use it on your L/R speakers to toe them in/out. Try angling them so the sound intersects 1-2 feet BEHIND the central seating position.

This way the L/R speakers are not pointing straight at you and they are less likely to over-power the center.

Then use the laser pointer to get the center speaker to point right at your head in the central seat. Try and get the speaker up off a shelf by using rubber door-wedges, pink-rubber errasers or even paperback books. These also help to give a bit of angle to help the speaker point at your head. Disconnecting the center from contacting a shelf keeps the shelf from muffling the sound.

Now re-calibrate and see if things are more balanced.

Note: Despite the calibration - some DVD's have the center a bit weak. Make note of the setting where the center is calibrated then dont be afraid to bump it up a bit if needed.

Answer 3

You have some setup to do. First - go into the TV audio setup menu. You often have to turn ON the optical output on the TV which will also disable the speakers. There are 2 types signals an optical output can carry: * PCM - This is stereo * Bitstream/DD/Dollby/etc - This is 5.1 <- Choose this one Now - your Marantz receiver might auto-detect what type of signal is coming in but you may have to set this up on your receiver. Try this next if you still do not get sound. PROBLEM: You said you have 2 Klipsch towers? What about the center channel? What about the left and right rear channels? Surround Sound is 5 speakers worth of sound and an optional subwoofer track. That means 6 speakers. You have 2 speakers. Do the math. Do you see any problem?

Answer 4

Depending on what model Elite you have, the auto calibration does a pretty fine job. What are your sources and how do you have them connected?