 Improvements that work
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 8
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OP
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 8 |
Whenever someone comes onto these forums trying to resolve issues I see many gems of information that come out as people give suggestions based on their experiences.
How about a thread of changes that you have made to your systems big or small, whether it is equipment, placements, room dressing, etc. that has made a real difference in the improvement of the sound.
An example is the advice that was recently given to Cam by Zimm to place the center speaker a little past the edge of the shelf that he was going to have built to eliminate reflections. This resolves muddiness and hard to understand dialog.
-Graeme
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786 |
The biggest change in my system was when I put in EQ for the sub and ran REW. It seemed like a subtle change at the time, but now when I turn off the EQ I really notice it.
Fred
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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 198
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 198 |
While I am still moving stuff around and adjusting things here and there, these things helped to improve the experience in my room:
1) Moving the sub around until I found a good position. Did the crawl, moved some furniture, and ended up with a good spot right next to the couch. While the sound is only marginally better with a tad less boominess in music, the impact from having the sub so close to the couch adds to my movie watching experience.
2) Tweaking the toe-in on my LR channels. They are not directly facing me, but would intersect behind me somewhere. Stereo maging is better defined. I'm still playing with this one.
3) Getting a more level soundstage by keeping the LCR speakers around the same height. I used to have the LR speakers below ear level firing up, and the center above ear level firing down. Now all are above ear level firing down. This evened out sound effects that sweep across the front. I'm less aware of where the speakers are.
4) After every set of tweaks (aside from toe-in tweaks) I run Audyssey (MultEq). Until I can learn how to calibrate my system using an SPL meter and other EQ software, Audyssey just plain works for my room. Noticeable diffrence with it on vs. off. I'll lump in DynamicEQ and DynamicVol in here as well. Not perfect, but works pretty damn good!
Next up, I'm going to try and decouple my speakers in the entertainment center from the shelves they sit on. I'm sure at higher volumes, the contents on the shelves are adding some noise.
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 57
buff
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buff
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 57 |
I am a new owner of M80s, VP150,QS8s and an EP500. I set the sub up per the instructions that came with it that said if you have m80's to set the crossover on the sub at 40 HZ. I then ran the Audyssey setup routine, but was not satisified with the results. It was weak on the low end.
After taking advice from another member here (thanks sirquack!) I turned the crossover switch on the sub all the way up and re-ran the Audyssey setup to let the receiver do all of the base management. Wow what a difference.
I am like you BigHonu, Maybe someday I will learn to tweek my system manually to perfection, but in the meantime Audyssey, DynamicEQ and DynamicVol offer the quick fix thats hard to beat!
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,488 Likes: 9
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,488 Likes: 9 |
I set the sub up per the instructions that came with it that said if you have m80's to set the crossover on the sub at 40 HZ. For future reference, that comment in the manual applies only when using the speaker terminals and you connect with your mains in paralel (and thus do not have an external cross-over to separate the bass). I wish they would update the manual as it is a very frequent question.
See Mojo's signature
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,745 Likes: 17
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,745 Likes: 17 |
For echo filled large rooms with many hard surfaces, add soft couches, area rugs, books in shelves, heavy drapes or even a 'decorated' ceiling feature to cut down the sound reflections.
Last edited by chesseroo; 10/03/09 02:01 PM.
"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,928 |
Source material is very important, of course. You can't improve a poor recording too much.
Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 8
regular
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OP
regular
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 8 |
-Graeme
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,955
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,955 |
Removing the stuffed bear from the sub woofer port.
With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
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Re: Improvements that work
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,361
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,361 |
While I am still moving stuff around and adjusting things here and there, these things helped to improve the experience in my room:
1) Moving the sub around until I found a good position. Did the crawl, moved some furniture, and ended up with a good spot right next to the couch. While the sound is only marginally better with a tad less boominess in music, the impact from having the sub so close to the couch adds to my movie watching experience.
2) Tweaking the toe-in on my LR channels. They are not directly facing me, but would intersect behind me somewhere. Stereo maging is better defined. I'm still playing with this one.
3) Getting a more level soundstage by keeping the LCR speakers around the same height. I used to have the LR speakers below ear level firing up, and the center above ear level firing down. Now all are above ear level firing down. This evened out sound effects that sweep across the front. I'm less aware of where the speakers are.
4) After every set of tweaks (aside from toe-in tweaks) I run Audyssey (MultEq). Until I can learn how to calibrate my system using an SPL meter and other EQ software, Audyssey just plain works for my room. Noticeable diffrence with it on vs. off. I'll lump in DynamicEQ and DynamicVol in here as well. Not perfect, but works pretty damn good!
Next up, I'm going to try and decouple my speakers in the entertainment center from the shelves they sit on. I'm sure at higher volumes, the contents on the shelves are adding some noise. +1 on all those, except Audy as I don't have it, and lean towards the 'direct' paths when possible. Moving the speakers out "far" into the room helped a bunch; even in my small room it was worth the layout pains. I think Alan has said too much is made of first reflections, but in my small room reducing the first reflections really cleared up the detail and ease of the sound.
Panny 3000 PJ, 118" Carada, Denon 3300, PS3, Axiom QS8, PSB 5T, B&W sub, levitating speaker wire
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