Do you mean like peaks and nulls? or something different
Correct. In my experience, they’ll look something like a saw tooth – sharp, narrow peaks and valleys, often back to back. Typically you’ll find them in the range of about an octave above and below the crossover frequency.
Is the distance setting the same as the phase control on the sub?
Essentially, yes. A variable phase control functions like an analog delay, as I understand it.
I think Wayne answered this on the AVS forum.
Denon's have a 4th order crossover? So sub should sound best with phase at 180?
If you’re referring to the phase figures for various crossover slopes, that is correct, for subs at the front of the room with the mains. However...
As far as speaker/sub distance settings, should I let the receiver auto setup the distances or put them in manually? For some reason I get the best response with the sub distance set to 1m when it's really about 2-2.5m.
Yes, I’d let the receiver do it (although you could double check it by doing it manually and taking readings both ways). The receiver’s distance setting pretty much replaces a sub’s phase control – I’m confident the automatic ones are much more accurate, as they adjust for both crossover phase and distance.
Regards,
Wayne