Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions calibrating speakers

I am trying to learn how to corectly calibrate speaker for a HT. Is it as difficult as I am making it? Is there a site to help me step by step? I know I need a SPL meter. How loud do iI set the sound when checking spl? The more I learn the more confused I get.

OK! First, In your receiver, there should be a menu which will allow you to set the size of your speakers, and the distance from your listening position (the "sweet spot") to each individual speaker, including the subwoofer.

There should be some master volume setting on your receiver that indicates it is a "reference" setting. My Onkyo has two volume scales. I can select the one I prefer. One is from -82 at the low end to +18 at the hight end. "0" is reference level. The other scale runs from 0 at the bottom to 100 at the top. The scale will read 80, then 81, then "Ref," then 83, 84, etc. Obviously 82, or "Ref," is reference level.

Your receiver should be set at reference level, And the SPL meter should be set to the 70 dB scale, C weighting, and "slow" response. Then your receiver should have some sort of a speaker setup menu that will allow you to set volumes for each individual speaker WITHOUT touching the master volume knob which you have set at reference level. It will send out a signal (pink noise) to each individual speaker, one at a time. Most receivers test signals are at 75 dB. Using the volume settings in the speaker setup menu, you adjust the volume of each individual speaker until the meter reads 75dB.

Here are some tutorials which might explain things better than I have.

A Quick Overview of Home Theater Calibration

Calibrating Your Home Theater System (Credit to BrotherBob for coming up with this one)

You may find these tutorials mention setup discs (Avia, Digital Video Essentials, other wise known as DVE, and Sound & Vision) While the test tones in your receiver will do the job just fine, I recommend picking up one of these discs. They have comprehensive instructions for their use, and include a lot of worthwhile info about video as well as audio. I have both Avia and DVE, and am glad to have both. Here is a tutorial which will introduce you to these discs and explain their differences.

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEST & CALIBRATION DVDS, aka "Why the hell do I need one of these things?"

SirClyde, here's another neat read from Sound & Vision on speaker placement, setup and calibration ...

Speaker Setup

...towards the end it hits on calibrating.

Thanks for the help.
I am trying to learn on my brothers system since mine won't be here for a few weeks. He has a Denon 3805 and I had a couple more questions. What do I set the crossover level? I think the options were 60, 80, 100, 120db? Do I set the sub to 75 on the SPL meter? Where should the volume knob on the sub be set to?

Thanks

Well... as I understand it you set the crossover level to whatever sounds better to your ears. Generally it is 80Hz some choose 60Hz but most choose 80Hz.

Also, set the sub to 75db if you want it matched to the other speakers... assuming that you are calibrating the other speakers to 75db. Some, including myself, like to have the sub set a couple of db above the other speakers calibrated level. The volume knob on the sub should be set at whatever position gives you close to 75db, once you are close you can adjust it from the receiver to whatever you need.

Thanks