Audyssey problems/setup problems

[admin_exported]

I know this subject has been done to death but i couldn't find any ref's to my problems but ill run by you guys any how. I must done 10 Audyssey setups now and I'm starting to get frustrated now.

I'm struggling to get a good bass response from the sub its either too strong (causing the sub to bottom out) or too weak ( you can barley hear/feel it at all) and no amount of level adjustment seems to adjust it either way. Its strange its as if the sub is being eq way past the sweat spot or out of room. It not that i want loads of bass it just seems to be no happy in between

The subs gain is at the 10/11 o'clock position with the level showing at -3 on the amp

The other problem i have is that i get a sort or unbalanced front end giving the effect that its out of phase but the cable are in there corresponding red and black positions on the terminals. All the levels are set 75db using an slp and the distances seem right but the front three don't seem to mesh together

Hope some one can help

Thanks in advance

 

[f1only]

Usually with my setup when doing the sub, the level is set to about 12 o'clock on the volume ( about half way ), & the other setting on the cut off frequency is set on 150Hz fully up to its maximum on my sub.

I'm assuming that the rest of your speakers are of the same make ( the sub doesnt really have to be ) in which case you should'nt have a problem. Setting the cut off to the maximum lets the amp control the sub i believe.

Personally though i dont like mine to have a booming bass, i like it to blend in with the other speakers, but still give a good bass response to explosions & it seems to give a better feel with music IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah thats sort of what i have but bass dosnt seem to go deep when explosion happens or similar, take the opening scene of star trek you should be able to feel the impact of each torpedo hitting the ship but i don't really get that.

I had the gain at half way and the amp gave back a silly minus number -15 or something which i read was bad so i did it again.

In answer to your comment on same make of speakers, they are all the same across the board MA radius 270hd front left and right 250hd centre and the r90hd rears and an rsw12 sub which should give some impact and dose but sometimes too much.

I do have a fairly odd shaped room which docent allow for a lot of setup possibilities and i can hear the Audyseey is trying it best.

Do you have any tips that you came across while setting your system up that you share?

Plus did you manage to get even sound field straight away or did you have to fiddle with it a bit? my front sound filed is not meshing together at all

Sorry to ask you questions im just getting fed up with it all i just want to enjoy the system.

 

[Pittodriered]

Gareth,

As you can see from my signature I have the same speakers as yourself except for the sub. I have my all my speakers set to small with the crossover set at 80hz for the fronts and centre and 100hz for the surrounds. My sub volume is at 12 oclock ish and I'm sure my amp level for the sub is 0db. I'm at work so unable to check.

I too have have adjusted my levels with an SPL meter.

Have you got the crossover set at max on the sub and have you tried changing the phase setting on the sub?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply! I have my xover on the sub set to max i havnt played with the phase switch yet but i was under the impression that it dosnt do alot but ill give anything a go at this point.

My crossover for all the speakers are at 100hz and i have the sub at around -3 with LPF set max 120hz the SPL swings between 72-74 so it should have some sort of impact. My room is pretty small and i have one of those wired rooms that have a stair case in it and the sofa sits against that.

I wish you could go into the setting that Audyssey has done and fiddle with them a little! i think i might just have to do the set up again and see if i can get a better base too work from.

But any if you have any other ideas that would be great! ill give the ones you suggested a go when i get home thanks alot

 

[f1only]

My room is sort of L shaped, has a slight recess along about 2/3rds of one wall, going back around 2 feet, even so i have managed to get my front speakers L & R the same distance apart with just the centre set slightly back from them as the TV sits in the recess, so not ideal. My sub is under a small 20" square coffee table sat up against the wall under my front window about 3 feet from the base of front right speaker & 6 feet or so from my right surround. I think most people have to compromise on their setups because of funny shaped rooms, we cant all afford a purpose built cinema room

I dont know what amp you have but thats a nice setup you have.

I had to move my sub around to get the best out of it for me, i did try it in front just to the right of the TV to start with & it just wasnt doing anything for me, even though it was up against a wall in the corner, i then tried it behind the sofa & found it had too much bass for my liking ( Plus the neibours were'nt over keen ), the bass seemed to reverberate off the back of the sofa & the rear wall & now it seems pretty good where it is, to my ears.

Another thing is it depends how old your speakers are, if new they certainly need time to run in & loosen up. I have re-checked mine twice now since purchase ( around 6-8 months ago ) with audessey & SPL meter readings. There is a marked difference over time to the way they perform volume wise & detail wise.

I would suggest if possible, move your sub around a bit & experiment a little with it to get the best results. I know it means a lot of messing around but it is the only way, as you will have to re-do the settings everytime & then use the SPL meter after you finish with the audessey setup.

As for your sound field you could set up just a 5.0 without the sub to get that right 1st & then add the sub to compliment. You may find towing in the speakers would improve it, or even make it worse. It is in a lot of cases, trail & error, dependant on flooring, walls, room shape, decor & furniture.

Hope that is some assistance. Regards..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi F1

thanks for that details description that all helps!

Sorry i forgot to mention the amp Im an Onk boy with an 807 very bassy i know but tameable but difficult as im finding

Moving the sub is very limited in my room the missus has so much furniture

There is a stair case behind the sofa and the room is 4.5m by 3m at its widest about 2.5 at narrowest with a double door to the right leading into the kitchen and a rad on the left under a window. My setup is in the narrowest point 2.5 part (crap i know) and at the moment the sub is to the left on the out side of the front left speaker not ideal but not much room for manuvor.

My system is around 4 mouths out of the box had for a lot longer had to wait to set it up as i was moving house and thought it would be easier to leave it all in the boxes, so what you mentioned about wearing in could very true and is what is happening i never thought of that.

sorry to keep picking your brain but if you have any other point soot them over it all helps

best G

 

[ric71]

Gareth,

Have you tried switching Audyssey off and doing an A B comparison?

Does it sound better switched off?

Are you using dynamic eq?

Have you taken 6 listening position measurements?

THe Radius are excellent speakers so they will not be the issue.

I always set my sub by ear, never by the Auddysey setting as it will set it too low.I find an spl meter to inacurate when measuring a subs db. Play a cd with a good bass line that you are familiar with and set the level by ear. If you are getting boom or loss of impact you may have room acoustics issues. Auddysey is not particularly accurate at room eq for the sub with its multi eq. You can try an Antimode 8033 sub eq which is excellent. £214 BK electronics on ebay.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ric

Thanks for the reply

I have turned Audyssey off and everything seems to go a little flat on the speaker front and sub seems to disapear completly so Audyssey seems to be doing a good job to a point.

I dont use dynamic EQ its a very funny sounding tech to me and just makes problems worse especaily when you have seperation issues

Ive done a auto setup using 3 postions and 6 i did it agan last night and It started to sound better but it was a bit late at night to give it a proper test. I still think from what heard last night the sub needs a little more welly but we will see.

I will defo look into one of those antimodes if i still get no joy over the next days, On the up side i manged to get all the mains working together last and they no longer sound seperate from one another. I THOUGHT THIS AUDYSSEY STUFF WAS SUPOSED TO MAKE THINGS EASIER!

This is turning out to a real head ach.

But other than all the problems im having the system is really nice sounding and the best herd for a long time in my price range.

Ill let you all know how i get on

thanks again

best

g

 

[Dermondo]

Parameter Check) and verify that the subwoofer volume is not "maxed" out at +/- 12dB, which means that the receiver ran out of room attempting to balance the subwoofer volume. If this has happened, you need to re-adjust the sub's volume knob and re-run Audyssey until you get a subwoofer volume reading that isn't maxed out.

 

[geraldjd]

I get a similar problem with ours when running Audyssey, I found the best way was to let Audyssey do its thing, then manually change the sub setting to LFE+main, front speakers to large with 100mhz crossover, centre to large with 80mhz crossover, surround to small with 80 mhz crossover and the sub to 120mhz.

This would make the sub output everything below 120Mhz on its own channel

Sub output everything below 100Mhz on front channel with front speakers running the full range

Sub output everything below 80Mhz on centre channel with centre running the full range

Sub output everything below 80Mhz and surround output everything above 80Mhz on surround channel

This seems to give the best overall sound, plenty of base when you need it and much better low to mid range sound with the sub complimenting the front speakers when the sub would normally not be doing anything.

Oh and for some reason Audyssey sets my centre to around -3, I have to turn it up to about +4 or 5 otherwise I can't hear what people are saying as the front speakers are overpowering the centre.

Gerald.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the comments, I had another go last night and after taking on some of your top points i have seemed to have gottern a fairly good result. The sub is tiny little bit weak still but hopefully a little bit more fiddling and i might start to get better respone from it.

I ve been looking at the anti-mode but i was wondering if you guys could tell me if it made much of a difference was it night and day or was it very subtle?

so thanks again!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the comments, I had another go last night and after taking on some of your top points i have seemed to have gottern a fairly good result. The sub is tiny little bit weak still but hopefully a little bit more fiddling and i might start to get better respone from it.

I ve been looking at the anti-mode but i was wondering if you guys could tell me if it made much of a difference was it night and day or was it very subtle?

so thanks again!

 

[ric71]

Gareth,
The Antimode transformed my sub.I believe dandycobalt also was very pleased with the Antimodes eq performance. It really is night and day difference for my sub.An incredible bit of kit.
Try increasing the db a bit at a time. See how that goes but seriously consider the Antimode.