Newbie speaker set-up questions

[turbochad]

Ok guys I bought the Bostin Acoustics speakers that Sonnie had for sale along with a Yamaha VRX 661 and 10" Klipsch bass speaker. I have everything set-up and it sounds pretty amazing, but I know there is more in it. The only testing I have done is with the mic that comes with the Yamaha. What meters/programs do I need to tweak it the rest of the way. I especially need help with the bass speaker. We are having family over this weekend and I am looking to impress some people, lol! Also, anyone who would be willing to walk me through the procedure, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[Sonnie]

Hi Chad... hope you are enjoying all your new toys.

The first thing I would do in get into that Yamaha setup menu and make sure it setup everything as it was supposed to. Go to the Speaker Configuration or Setup (not sure what it is called on the Yamaha) and look at the distances that is set. Are they accurate? Particularly the sub... which will sometimes not be correct. Then check if the speakers are all set to Small with the crossover at 80Hz. If you have an SPL meter you can check the levels with the built-in test tones to make sure they are all correct as well. These are basically all just confirming the setup went well.

The next step will be time consuming and hard for anyone to walk you through it, but worthy of your time and patience. Download REW (Room EQ Wizard) from the Downloads Page here at the Shack. Then open up the REW Online Help Files. These Help Files will do everything but hold your hand. Start at the top and work your way through each step one by one. Again, it's time consuming, but worth it. When you are done, you will be able to take response measurements of your sub and it will tell you if you need to equalize it to make it sound better.

I'm not sure you'll be able to master all of this before your company arrives, but you can at least get started and get the basics accomplished. If you need equalization of your sub, it will require a BFD.

[turbochad]

The local pro audio shop has a digital SPL meter that he recommended. Would this be better then the radio shack version?

[Sonnie]

Not really. All SPL meters need correction values added to the measured response at certain frequencies. We have those correction values available on our Downloads Page for the Radio Shack meters, Galaxy CM-140 meter and Behringer ECM8000 mic. We do not have them for any other meter, so measuring with a different meter will be a crap shoot. Look at the model of the RS meter you have and download the appropriate RS calibration file from the Downloads Page. You can load it into REW before you measure your response... the .cal file will automatically adjust the response to compensate for the RS meter inaccuracies.

[turbochad]

OK Sonnie, I am going to download the program and buy a meter tomorrow. I might have to give you a call for some help until I get the hang of this. I LOVE the speakers btw. You were awesome to deal with too.

[Sonnie]

Thanks Chad... glad you like those speakers!

The key to learning this is the REW Online Help Files. Step by step. You need to look at those help files and make sure you have all the right cables to connect the SPL meter up to your computer. I would read through the Help Files and then go buy what you need.

[turbochad]

Where can I go to buy all this stuff? It looks a little complicated. Can someone give me an idea of where to buy and what prices will be? Thanks again!