Ok folks, it seems every time I have a question, you guys come through for me with flying colors and I want to say thanks again. Now here goes another, I finally have the QS8s up along with the M80s and the VP150 all being powered by the Denon 3805 and no sub. What are the apropriate levels to get that great surround sound that every one talks about form the QS8s? I have the QS8s connected using regular wire, a connector, then flat wire and the connections appear to be fine. Is it something I am not doing right to get the "umph" out of the surrounds, or should I just play around with the Denon some more?

If you have not already done so, you need to get a radio shack SPL meter, and an Avia disk and calibrate your speakers. Either the analog meter, or the digital meter will suffice.

FYI: The Denon AVR-3805 has a beautiful function called Auto Setup. This does everything mentioned above in Ajax's post, except automatically . You need to get the Denon Mic though, it's about $65 US though, I got one for mine without question, haven't tried it personally but I've talked to many who have and they love it.

Cheers.

- D

K, if you're expecting to constantly be getting "umph" out of your QS8s(or any other surrounds)you may be disappointed. When I listen to classical CDs on my surround setup using DPLII the surround speakers reproduce relatively subtle ambience effects extracted from the stereo channels. This helps create a more realistic sense of the concert hall reverberation, but definitely no umph. Movies at times put specific sounds into the surround channels and so do some multi-channel DVD-As/SACDs with pop music, but often there's little or nothing going on there, so again, don't be expecting to be constantly hearing heavy effects.

Hopefully you got the microphone with your 3805. It'll do a fine job of automatically calibrating your speaker levels and delays and equalizing some of the room problems.

I agree with JohnK. The surrounds aren't supposed to call attention to themselves. To test the QS8s and make sure that they are capable of "umph" -- which they are -- put your receiver in all-channel stereo mode and crank it up.

Also, one movie that sticks out as a great surround "umph" tester is the first Matrix film, particularly the lobby shooting spree scene. You should hear bullet casings rattling all over the place and bullets whizzing by constantly.

Agreed - the QS8s are there for the ambient sound (and do they ever deliver!). Also, Alan has opined a few times that the Auto EQ fetures on receivers tend to come up a bit short. I'd save the money on the microphone and grab an SPL meter.

I went home yesterday and played around with my reciever and got that "umph" that I was looking for.Ive just got to adjust the levels. Im going to purchase that SPL meter today. Because of what you stated about Alan saying that the Auto EQ comes a bit short, I'll hold out on that mic. Do I need anything else besides the SPL meter?

I went home yesterday and played around with my reciever and got that "umph" that I was looking for.Ive just got to adjust the levels. Im going to purchase that SPL meter today. Because of what you stated about Alan saying that the Auto EQ comes a bit short, I'll hold out on that mic. Do I need anything else besides the SPL meter? How does this work exactly? And with my setup, what setting should I have my speakers set to? Again I have the M80s for fronts, VP150 center, 2 QS8s surrounds, and no sub? What about the others, large or small?

You will also want to pick up the Avia disk to help you with the calibration.

K, my view would be that if you fail to take advantage of the automatic setup and equalization on the 3805 you've wasted money by ignoring its major advancement over previous models available at lower cost. Additionally you've committed to the hassle of doing manually(and of course parametric equalization can't be done at all) what you've paid for to be done automatically.

That is very true JohnK. I already placed an order with Crutchfield for the Denon mic. I should have it here sometome this week. I just hope all goes well. But then again, it probably wont, and I'll be right back here bugging you guys with some more questions about the mic.


:-)