Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Major Receiver Settings

I've adjusted speaker levels, set my speakers to small, bass to sub, crossover @ 80, room size and speaker distances. Are there any other major settings that I need to make from the receiver? I have M60s, VP100, QS4s & an HSU STF-2 sub. System sounds great but I'm always looking for better if it's available...without buying different equipment at this time.

Although I'm no expert in any way...ultimatley I'd say tune it to whatever YOU like to hear. I just about drove myself stupid trying to figure out how all of this was supposed to come together and what was 'pollitically correct' untill I finally figured out that my taste may vary from what others like. I'm a 'let your ears be the judge' kind of person.

i agree with bob.

i have my sub turned up a little higher than it should be.. and i have my center channel up a few db's cause my wife is hard of hearing. so what if its not 'perfectly calibrated'..? it sounds good to me, and so thats how i keep it.

but, to answer your question more directly. i think what you have done is about right on as far as adjustments you can make with your receiver. to search for a better sound, you might wanna move your speakers around a bit. maybe away from the wall more, or try and toe them in toward the listening position. maybe even prop up the back of your center, so the sound waves go directly toward the sweet spot. you might be surprised how much of a difference small movements will make.

bigjohn

I have a similar question along this topic. With my Denon 2805, I decided I don't like the parametric equilizer EQ settings, so I leave them off. So basically, I have my delay(distance) and dB levels all set for each speaker. The sub is at 12 o'clock volume, and I am using the receiver currently at 60hz crossover with my M60's set to small (however I do use 80hz sometimes). Anyway, with the Room EQ turned off, I still have the option to go into Manual EQ, and adjusting various frequency levels, I believe 63HZ and up, by myself.. Do I leave these at 0db's, or is it best to finetune each frequency? Is this where one of those SPL meters come into play?

Randy, as you know, the automatic parametric EQ attempts to pick specific frequencies that need eq. The manual EQ provision on the 2850 has a fixed set of eight frequencies between 63Hz and 8KHz at one octave intervals. As far as room mode compensation goes, it may not be a realistic probability that one or more of the fixed frequencies will happen to be about what's needed, but it certainly can be tried. Calculate your room modes if you haven't already done so to point out problem frequencies and if you have an SPL meter take measurements to see if something near one of the fixed manual frequencies is way out of line.

Regardless of room eq, there're other possible uses for manual EQ. When a couple of years ago I borrowed from the library some of those poorly recorded pop CDs that drove some to complain about the "bright" Axioms, I used one of my receivers that has variable bass and treble turnover frequencies. I found that cuts in the 3-6KHz area made a significant improvement. So, if you have any similar CDs, possibly setting a manual 4-5dB cut at the 4KHz frequency and turning on manual EQ just for them might be helpful.

Another possibility is if there's any problem with hearing movie dialog on the center speaker. A small boost for the center speaker alone at the 2KHz and 4KHz frequencies(which is the key area for speech intelligibility)might help.

Thanks JohnK for your feedback. Back in the 80's I had a pretty nice pioneer equilizer (I think 15 band). Anyway, it was interesting seeing the difference just by adjusting certain frequencies a bit, like the midrange. One of these days I'll make the trip to Radio Shack and get an SPL meter, and a setup disk AV disk.....Randy

A few people have mentioned crossing over the VP100 or QS4 at 100 Hz rather than 80 to avoid a slight dip in the 80-90 Hz region. I might even be running that way myself but the coffee hasn't kicked in so I don't remember a thing

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A few people have mentioned crossing over the VP100 or QS4 at 100 Hz rather than 80 to avoid a slight dip in the 80-90 Hz region

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This was a silly thought brought up some time ago.
The only way someone would notice a loss of a whopping 10 or 15 hz in the whole thousands of frequencies sound range, let alone in that low end, is if they were listening to a frequency sweep. I doubt anyone would be watching Saving Private Ryan and stop to say, "omygosh, that explosion we just heard is clearly missing the 87Hz tone".

I think I cross my QS4s at 100 Hz, and the 50s at either 60 or 80.