Dali Zensor 5 5.1, what settings please?

[Oldboy]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday my Dali Zensor 5 5.1 package arrived and i'm extremely happy with it after upgrading from my old Q Acoustics 7.1 system, it was well worth replacing them.

I have the speakers set out in the best positions i can get and have mounted the surrounds on the wall and centre under the tv on brackets but i have a couple of questions regarding set up if anyone can help please?

I've redone the audyssey auto calibration from my Onkyo 609 amp and adjusted the speaker distances and calibrated the levels with my digital sound meter but the amp has still set the floorstanding Zensor 5 speakers as 'small' ie not set them to 'full band' and it's set the crossover to 40hz, is this the correct setting for these speakers??

The amp has also set the Zensor 1 surrounds as small which is right, i think, and set the crossover at the same level (40hz) so could you tell me if this is the correct level?

I can't find any info about the recommended crossover settings in either the manuals or on the Dali web site so any help would be much appreciated.

My final question regards the E-12 F sub, it has a phase switch on the back that has two settings 0 or 180 yet again there is little in the way of an explanation as to what this is for or indeed where it should be set. I currently have it set to 0 but i can't really hear much difference between the two settings so i'm wondering just what it is for and where it should be set?

Although at present the new speakers sound much better than my previous ones i want to be sure it's all set to the ideal levels so i can maximise their performance so if you could help i would be grateful.

Thanks.

 

[dtugarte]

Most speakers should be set to small. Large or full band should only be used when there is no subwoofer present or for speakers with subwoofers built in. The specs for your speakers are 47hz for Zensor Vokal, 53hz for Zensor 1's and 43hz for Zensor 5's. I would say 40hz is a bit low, the standard THX setting is 80hz and 80hz should work fine in your setup although the lowest I would go would be 60hz. The subwoofer is meant to handle the low frequency's and can do it a lot better than the speakers as far as I am aware the only reason not to have the crossover too high is that above about 120hz the subwoofer will become directional. The phase switch when set correctly will allow a smoother bass at the crossover point and make sure the the speakers and the subwoofers drive will move in and out at the same time so to renforce the sound rather than cancel each other out. For most rooms and systems 0 should be fine but to check play some bassy music which you are familiar with where the bass will hit the crossover point and if you flick between 0 and 180 one setting should give a higher level of bass thats the correct setting.

 

[Oldboy]

Thank you very much!

Crossover is just one of those things i can't seem to work out for some reason. I've changed the settings to 80hz for all the speakers and indeed when this is selected my amp even displays THX in brackets next to the 80hz setting which i never noticed before as i hadn't really dabbled with it when i had my Q Acoustics, it sounded better pretty much straight away which was great.

My only concern is that when playing music with my cd player i won't get good stereo sound unless i'm using the sub, is this correct? My amp has both pure and direct modes for music but i don't have any idea if either function over rides the crossover settings made in the speaker settings menu, i don't expect miracles as i'm using an AV amplifier for music but if i can make any gains for music it would be nice plus i would like to get the best i can from my speakers without having to buy a stereo amp.

It may well be the case that i'm better off using the sub with music but i thought i would get a better sound with a genuine stereo signal with the quality of speaker i now have as fronts but perhaps that's just wishful thinking?

Many thanks again.

 

[dtugarte]

The best modes to use for stereo music is either direct or pure audio. Both will pypass the speaker config settings and turn off surround sound processing, it's up to you which you use but pure audio is probably slightly better as this turns off the display and video circuitry to reduce interference and electical noise in the audio.

 

[Oldboy]

Thank you very much for all the advice it's very much appreciated.

It's close between pure audio and direct but you are right pure audio is slightly better as it seems to have a bit more bass, timing and detail and is a clear step up from my previous speakers with music.

Now i can't help thinking if i can integrate a stereo amp into my set up to get even greater gains with music, if i can find some shelf space and put up with swapping cables over everytime i want to use it i might just go for it but in the meantime i'm content with things as they are.

Many thanks again.