Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater RX-V1400. Help tuning speakers.

Hi everyone. In need of some technical help here.

First of all, here is my setup:

M60 mains
Generic center and surrounds
HSU VTF-2 MKII Sub
Yamaha RX-V1400
Room aprox 17x14x9 (LxWxH)

My Rx-V1400 arrived and I have everything connencted. I ran the automatic speaker setup and it sounded ok but not enough bass from either the mains or the sub. So I went into the manual setup menu and started changes things around. I have a Radio shack digital SPL meter so I placed it on a tripod right at the seating position. Then I went through each speaker and ajusted all of them to 75db on the meter. I also set the LFE to go to both mains and sub and set the mains to large. I'm not sure if this the correct way of doing it but it sounds way better now.
Now if someone here who owns an RX-V1400 could chime in that would be great. Somehow, the optimizer light is still on in the panel. The manual says that if the light is on it's because the automatic settings are still in effect. How could that be if I changed a few settings. Another question I have is: If I want to turn the sub off for music, do I have to go into the setup again and turn it off or is there a quick way to do this?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Also, the sub only plays when the DVD/CD is connected to the receiver via analog cables. When I connect it through coaxial the sub doesn't play.

I know, I'm a newbie!

I also have a 1400 and this what I've done; set your mains to small and LFE to sub. You can listen to music without the sub by switching the receiver to direct stereo. Hope this helps.

Mac60, I have an RX-V1400, M60/VP150/QS8/VTF-3R and have encountered almost everything you mention. Don't worry -- you have a great system, but it may take a little tweaking. Here are my comments:

Low bass after YPAO setup: this is often reported. I experienced it. One possible answer is just turn up the bass output a little, on either sub or receiver sub level. YPAO will try to calibrate for flat response, which may be technically right but not to your taste. I usually use the Radio Shack meter and increase sub output about 3 to 4 db above the calibrated flat level.

LFE to both mains and sub: this also sounded better to me, *initially*. However I'm now convinced you don't want that. Bass levels are probably too low for your taste, and it likely sounds better due to bass doubling (redundant LFE to both mains and sub) artificially increasing bass output. You don't want this for several reasons. Set all speakers to "small", bass output to "SWFR", and increase bass output on the sub or receiver level control to your preference. Use the RS meter and receiver test tones and set sub output to about +4db above the other speakers. That's what I often use. Better yet use test tones from a DVD or calibration CD.

Optimizer light stays on after manually changing settings: mine does also; I have no idea why.

Turning sub off for music: personally I think a sub for music is great. I don't agree with "subs are just for HT". If your sub is properly calibrated (which includes reasonable adjustments for your personal taste), it should enhance music without being boomy or artificial.

How to turn off sub for music: I never do this, but go into manual setup, and set sub to "none". Once you get use to the admittedly non-intuitive Yamaha menu system, you can just use the front panel display. You won't need the monitor output on your TV.

No bass if using coax input: Verify you're receiving 5.1 data from the player. A separate indicator for each speaker should lite up on the bottom right corner of the Yamaha display. You can also press the "straight" button on the Yamaha remote, then press the up arrow several times to check the input data characteristics. See the Yamaha manual for details.

Often older CD/DVD players have a menu for enabling "digital output" for both Digital Dolby and DTS. For some odd reason they default to off. Verify your player is sending 5.1 data to the receiver.

Note there's an entirely separate "low bass level" problem if using multichannel analog input, such as SACD or DVD-A. Due to an apparent standardization issue, multichannel SACD/DVD-A can have abnormally weak bass levels. The solution is turn up LFE level +10db on either player output or receiver input.

Thank you for the thorough explanation. I will try these tips and let you know how it goes.

I haven't been able to do anyhting yet because I haven't been home but this weekend I'll be able to set them up.

Thanks!

Mac, I'll add some comments to the good replies above. Your language hints that you may be expecting a heavier bass than is really natural. Most of the setups I've heard have the bass level set too high because they want to "hear" the sub that they paid good money for. The impression should actually be that the sub isn't working but that the other speakers are putting out more bass. Of course it's your money and your choice.

On setting up the 1400, I'd suggest that you follow what the manual prescribes for THX speakers, i.e. set YPAO to skip the speaker size and crossover settings and instead manually set all speakers "small" with an 80Hz crossover. This will result in the lowest frequencies going to SWFR alone, not "both".

On the YPAO equalization settings, I'd suggest that you at least try setting the emphasis to "low" rather than "flat". In assisting a colleague with his new 2400, the additional frequency correction this gave to the upper bass area seemed to be of benefit. This might not be the case in your room, but it wouldn't be unusual for the upper bass/lower midrange area to need more equalization than higher frequencies.

i have the m60, vp150, 4 qs4s, and i built a tempest connected to my 1400 and for my tastes i like the fronts set to large and then for ypao i set the eq to do front. It makes the rest of ur speakers sound like the front ones. Thats what i thought sounded the best to me. I tried all the rest of the settings and i wasnt a big fan. Its all preference though.

I would like to thank you guys for the setup advice. Everything sounds so good now! I've been listening to music for hours these last couple of days.
After changing the settings around so many times now I'm pretty comfortable with this receiver. It's very easy to navigate the menus and changes can be done very quickly.

I finally setup the sub properly (I think). It does sound less boomy when I have the sub crossover set to "in" so I'm keeping it there for now.

One thing I haven't been able to accomplish is to have the mains sound as crisp when playing music in 2 channel stereo mode. They sound better when I switch to direct stereo with no sub. Anyone have advice on how to setup them up to sound just as crisp when in 2 channel stereo mode? I have to say the M60's have pretty good bass for everything but very bass demanding tracks.

I still have a stupid grin on my face because of how good the M60's, VTF-2 and RX-V1400 combo sounds

I have the same experience. When I listen to music in stereo mode with the sub, the music sounds thin, or somehow veiled. When I change to my receiver's (Onkyo TX-SR 800) "pure mode" (a mode which removes all processing of the raw analog signal, and shuts off the display and video circuitry) the sound is much better...more spacious and accurate by far. For some reason, the Dolby II and DTS Neo:6 sound better than stereo mode, and they include the sub. Basically, when I listen to music, I listen with just my M60's and I don't really miss my sub, because the sound is so good, but if I just must have my sub, I use one of the multichannel modes.

Mark

Mark

I really don't find any difference in sub levels between the "stereo", "direct" or "pure direct" modes on my Denon 3805. There is an increase in general audio quality as I switch in that order, but bass is not affected.

I have my SVS PB2-isd calibrated flat with my M60s and they sound great, I don't even boost it for movies.

Have you tried adjusting the phase on your sub? This may be one explanation for it sounding thin, depending on where it is located relative to your mains.

Dave