Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Going insane w/Bass Mgmt and SPL issues. Need help

Hello all- As always, I'm going crazy trying to get my system to sound as good as it can WITHOUT HAVING TO TWEAK RECEIVER/SPEAKER SETTING ANYMORE!! Okay, now that that is out of my system, on to the basics:

I have M60/VP150/2xQS8/EP500
I have a Yamaha RX V2400
My room is 20x20x10 (Half cube- Yes I know.....)
My EP500 is set on "flat" and at about 1/3 volume w/the crossover bypassed on the sub.

Now to the issues. If I use auot setup on Yamaha, I consistently get the Fronts, Center, and Rears at nearly max channel trim (+10) and the sub at minimum channel trim (-10), I get Fronts as "large", and the crossover is different every time.

With all this said, I had chosen to bypass Yamaha's auto setup and do it myself. For movies I set everything to small and 80hz crossover, Bass out to sub. For music, I use only the M/60's and EP500 set crossover at 60hz and Bass out to BOTH (this sounds better to me).

Here are my questions:

Based on above information, am I doing anything inaccurately?

When I manually try to set level w/SPL, where do I start the overall receiver volume?

Seems like if I use my personal listening level, I get similar result to auto setup which is all channels maxed out and sub near bottom. That just doesn't seem right for there to be a 20 db difference.

Should I calibrate all channels INCLUDING THE SUB to 75 db? Or just the non sub channels?

W/M60's should I use 80 hz or 60hz? I can only pick one xover for all my speakers (Damn 2400- Where's my HK?)

I know this is quite a bit, but I'm ready to set it and stop stressing about the receiver settings and start thinking about a television upgrade........

Thanks as always for each of your help. You guys are great.

Try a 80hz crossover. Set the volume knob so you are at 75db at the left main speaker and calibrate clockwise(L/C/R/RS/LS etc.). It's possible due to equipment placement, sensitivity and room effects that you may end up with those trim levels being as far apart from each other as they are.

In the end, if it sounds good, don't worry about trim levels. They're there to give you that adjustment.

Should the sub also be only 75 db? Thanks again.

Yes, like the rest of the speakers, the sub should be set to 75 dB...................................at first. Once you've got all the speakers (sub included) matched at 75 dB, adjust to your personal taste. I run my sub hotter, and my center a couple of dB hotter.

Regarding where to set the receiver's volume knob when calibrating: There should be some indication of your receiver's reference point. My Onkyo allows me to select one of two scales for my volume readout. One scale ranges from 0 (no volume) to 100. As I go up the scale it reads 80, 81, REF, 83 84, etc. So, obviously 82 is the reference point, and where I set my receiver when I calibrate to 75.

The other scale runs from -82dB to +18dB, 0 being the reference point. While it is not necessary to set your receiver at it's reference point when calibrating, I think it's a good idea.

If I can use only 1 crossover for all speakers/all inputs, is 60 too low for the VP150 and QS8's? When I listen to 2 channel, I go to 60, but that seems low for the mid and rears for 5.1 or PLII.

I run everything at 80 Hz. I think that would be better than everything at 60Hz. Just my opinion.

I have played around with different crossover/small/large settings. Lately I've just left everything set to small, with an 80hz crossover on the receiver. On the sub you should have the crossover know turned all the way clockwise, to get it out of the way. I have found my Denon autosetup to be pretty close. Like Jack, I have my center bumped up a few notches as movie dialog sometimes seems quiet, depending on the movie.

Many have stated that music is better at 60hz crossover. I've tried it both ways. I think I like 80hz a little better, as the sub seems to do better reproducing the LFE to me. Also, 80hz is pretty low anyway, and it is not like it just cuts off at 80hz, there is a slope where it blends.

There is always the Outlaw Icbm that will let ya set each speakers crossover.

man the more you guys talk about Outlaw options, the more I get upgradeitis. I like my setup, but always wonder what a few mono's would do for me, or now the ICBM's

denon 2805
axiom 60's 150 350 4-Qs8's
sanyo z2 projector
panasonic S97 HDMI DVD

I'm not familar with their amps,but the Icbm was a must for me for my 2.1 set up.The Rotel preamp has no bass management.If I were to have a receiver that would only do one crossover setting for all speakers I would seriously consider an Icbm for bm duties.There you could select a specific setting for each speaker based on it's specs.