Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions spl meter

i was wondering how many of the people here use spl meters,and also,when you set your system with the meter,do you have to set your levels over for each movie if you change the main volume setting?lets say the main volume knob goes 1-10,one movie you watch with the volume set on 3,then you pop in another movie and crank it up to 7,do you readjust your levels to compensate for the different sensitivity ratings of your speakers?i dont have a meter but it seems to me that unless you have all 5-6-or7 of the same exact speakers using the same amplification, you would have to adjust for each time you changed the main volume....ron

I just purchased an SPL meter yesterday...there is a thread about it in the HT forum.

Even though I am not 100% satisfied with the sound setup yet, the SPL meter made a HUGE difference. I would definitely reccomend getting one if you have not.

I also have the same questions as you. On the video essentials dvd I used as a reference, I had to turn the receiver WAY up to get it to the level the dvd said to tune it too. Quite a bit louder than I watch movies or listen to CD's at.

I am still unhappy with the dialog of the movies even though it is tuned to where it should be.

My Anthem AVM20 automatically starts the pink noise at 85db. which is reference level. Once I get my speakers set with the SPL, I never have to change them. It does not have to be changed for each movie. Twopecker, there is something wrong with your set up if you are having that much trouble hearing the center. I watched LOTR Two Towers and thought it was excellent. My wife even commented on the sound. I have Axiom all around. Keep us posted.
gthomas

I was thinking of getting an SPL meter. Whatever they have at rat shack. which appears to be the 50 dollar digital one. But since i dont use HT I would only use it to see how loud i listen so i am still thinking on getting one.

gthomas:

Like I said, it was just way too low during the dialog only scenes, such as them whispering.

I will switch my left channel w/ my center maybe tomorrow, just to make sure that my amp is putting out the same "umph" to both channels (I believe it should?), if that doesnt work, I dunno, put my ear real close to each of the drivers on the vt150 and see if i hear any noise =)

Marcus, maybe this is what you meant, but if using one of your M22s vertically as a center DOES work, that would tend to indicate that your VP150 has a problem. If so, it wouldn't be the tweeters, since dialogue falls almost entirely in the range covered by the midwoofers.

I have one as well - the rat shack analog model which seems to be the recommended version over the digital. I agree that it makes a huge difference over doing it by ear. I also found the material on calibration disks (AVIA, S&VHTT, VE, etc.) make a bigger difference than just using the speaker tones.

The intent of the exercise is to get all speakers at the same SPL at the sweet spot in your room at a reference level (I use 75db as my reference level, although 85db is recommended if you and the family can take it). The master volume of your amp should then increase/decrease all speakers equally across the range of volume settings.

That being said, I have found that the speaker levels will vary a tad based upon overall volume, and since I don't listen to material at the reference level, there are occasional noticeable changes, but very slight. Also, some material is mastered in a way that accentuates differences from calibration levels. In my room, I notice this in two areas - dialog and bass. In perhaps at most 5% of the cases, I'll tweak the center/sub level by .5db to 1db (you can see we're picking nits here) for the duration, then reset to calibration level when done.

There is also a difference in levels from Dolby Digital and DTS if you've ever run the tests using the different formats. I find the DTS material to be quite a bit "hotter" than the DD equivalent. However the overall speaker balance does not change, just the level.

Perhaps I do this to justify the price of the SPL meter, but if we add wall treatments or move things around in the room a bit, I'll sit down and do a quick level check to see if anything has changed. In some cases, there have been measurable difference in sound levels, especially on the surrounds.

Cheers,

Doug

In reply to:

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Perhaps I do this to justify the price of the SPL meter, but if we add wall treatments or move things around in the room a bit, I'll sit down and do a quick level check to see if anything has changed. In some cases, there have been measurable difference in sound levels, especially on the surrounds.

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Very true, Doug. The effects of the room, furniture, and speaker placements are, as always, potentially huge.

And in my opinion, the cost of the RS meter (worth 3 DVDs?) is already justified the very first time you calibrate the system! It surely makes a MUCH BIGGER sonic difference than an expensive amp (or CABLE! -- now ducking) upgrade.

I borrowed Peter's (pmbuko) and discovered to my amazement that I had the sub way, way too low. Since I only have a 2.1 system, I didn't really figure it would do anything, but there's been a marked improvement since. I used the Ultimate DVD whatever it is.

However, my TV is, well, worse. Hint, guys... If you don't have the eyes for it, don't try to calibrate your TV yourself! I've still got to figure out how to fix the damn thing.

There must be a reset to factory defaults option somewhere in there...