Calibration

**fernalfers** · **02-15-08, 09:10 AM**

Ok i am confused. I have a Yamaha RX-V1700 Receiver, RS250 MKii's for fronts, Bigfoot Center and HTD level 3's for rears. And a SVS PCi 20-39 Cylinder Sub.

Now i used to have xl-s's for fronts and X-CS center. When i use the Yamaha's YAPAO setup it set the x-series as. All speakers to SMALL. Front left -6.5 Center -7.0 Front right -6.5 Rear right -4.0 and Left -3.5 and sub -3.0 with a crossover of 80Hz.

Now with the Rockets it was Front left -6.5, Center 4.0, Front right 6.5, Both rears 4.0 and sub -6.5 with a crossover of 200Hz and it set the fronts as SMALL and the Center as Large and the 2 rears as Large.

Why such a difference of setup? Everything was done in the same location. Why is the Center now set as LARGE along with the rears.

To me 200Hz Crossover does not sound as good as 80Hz does. Am i doing something wrong or is there that much of a difference between the X-series line and the Rocket line?

Any suggestions that i could do to know i am getting the best sound out of my speakers.

**brucek** · **02-15-08, 09:21 AM**

Are you able to over-ride the system and set everything manually?

If so, why not start with a tried and true small setting for every speaker with a crossover at 80Hz and see how it sounds. I think your sub would be very localized with a cross of 200Hz.

**OvalNut** · **02-15-08, 09:22 AM**

For starters, check your polarity. I would guess that either the left front, or the center and right front are wired out of phase. The clue here is the wide variance in calibrated level. This could also be why the crossover got set so high. If it's out of phase, the perceived low end response of the fronts would be minimized since they're cancelling each other out. Without that low end support, the YAPAO went with a high crossover.

The Bigfoot center is a VERY capable speaker, and it's convincing the YAPAO that it should be large. You'll probably need to set that to Small manually..

Other than the above, you should expect variability of a db or so in calibrated levels with different speakers, due to different speaker sensitivity.

Tim

**fernalfers** · **02-15-08, 09:54 AM**

I will check the polarity again, but the setup has a polarity check as well and it passed. I will set everything manually to small and 80Hz and see what it sounds like.

I just want to make sure my system is setup correctly. I know everyone raves about getting an SPL meter but i am unsure what to do with it after i get it home. The whole SPL meter thing confuses me. I will mess with the settings more.

Hopefully i can get it right, but then again i am unsure to what the right settings are.

**brucek** · **02-15-08, 10:05 AM**

It's fairly hard to get the levels correct without a meter. Using an SPL meter is an easy task.

The meter basically measures the level of sound in the room. The receiver will have a calibration routine built in where it outputs a sound from each speaker, one at a time.

You simply start that routine, and sit in your listening position with your SPL meter turned on.

Then you use the meters reading, and balance the level of each speaker with your receivers remote, while the calibration routine moves the sound to each speaker. The goal is to balance the level of the speakers. That's difficult to do using your ears only - a meter makes it easy.

brucek

**fernalfers** · **02-15-08, 10:17 AM**

Ok i did the auto setup again and i get a Warning and the warning says PHASE. What do i do to correct this?

**brucek** · **02-15-08, 11:02 AM**

Check your wires going to the speakers. The (+) positive on the receiver must go to the positive on the speaker, and the (-) negative on the receiver must go to the negative on the speaker. It's very easy to make a mistake.

brucek

**fernalfers** · **02-15-08, 11:46 AM**

Ok this is weird i hooked them up wrong on purpose on my Center channel and now i don't get the PHASE warning anymore. Whats the deal. The Center seems like it sounds the same hooking wires correctly as hooking them incorrectly.

Any suggestions.

**brucek** · **02-15-08, 01:32 PM**

Quote:

Any suggestions.

Yep, hook them up properly and forget about it. You know you've done it correct.

brucek

**JohnM** · **02-15-08, 03:48 PM**

It is not that unusual to find a speaker with the drive units wired out of phase, might be the case here. You won't notice any difference in the sound of the speaker itself either way, but it will affect how it blends with the sub. Try playing a test tone at the crossover frequency and see how it compares in level with tones above the crossover.

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