Axiom Home Page Forums Thread Like Summary - Audio Advice - My Dad used to post here a ton

My dad passed away in august, and although I'm quite the audio lady myself (21), im kinda at a loss. We just had the floors redone & I rewired everything myself and got all the remaining wires routed through the walls and in individual tests all the speakers are live working well. However it seems as some of the settings for the surround aren't right anymore the surround speakers and rear sub seem quiet? Im not getting the same immersive experience that my dad had set up previously & looking for some guidance. (This could also just be me not watching the movies loud enough too but my mom agrees, sounds different)

Ive listed the current channel levels from the Denon beside the corresponding speaker, I understand this is really dependent on space, position & personal preference but any guidance would be very appreciated.
All speakers are between 10-11ft from seated position. Floors were swapped from carpet to a textured vinyl faux wood thing i'm thinking this may also be the culprit for the sound change.

Denon AVS-3312CI

Left/Right: M80Ti (bi wire) | -6.0db
Centre:VP150 | +12 db
Rear Sub EP600 | -12db
Surround: QS4 ? (they're mounted so can't check the label) | 0.0db

Thanks for any advice/knowledge!!


* Edit* My dad was known on here as Real80sMan.

You sound like you know what you're doing (way to go Dad!) but have to ask since you didn't say - did you re-run the receiver's speaker calibration after the room was redone? If not, that might help; but I also think you're on target that the vinyl/carpet swap is the driver here.

If recalibration isn't the problem, then then only other thing I can think of is that the M80ti (all the *ti's) were thought to be a little more harsh than what came after (the ti's are a few generations back). That may not have mattered when you had carpet dampening the sound, but may be exacerbated now that you have reflective tile. So you might consider trying out a new v4 version of the M60/M80s.

I didn't know your Dad, but it's always nice to see generations stopping by.

Sorry to hear. Your dad was a long time member and a very nice guy.

Right off the bat I can say the center channel speaker level seems very high. The new hard floor sound reflection is also going to magnify that. Your listening volume in room is going to be heavily biased to the center channel’s direction and the other channels are going to seem far too quiet.

If you have an ipad I suggest downloading an spl measuring app. For basic system setup it doesnt have to be anything fancy (like audiotools by studio six digital). You are just looking to balance the net spl between each channel using the test tones in the receiver.

In the setup menu select manual speaker setup. Enter each channelsdjstance from the center viewing position and the speaker size. Select small for all with a sub crossover point of 80hz. Select “none” for rear channels if it is a 7.1 receiver.

Using the app, set measurement weighting to ‘C’ (dBC) . Beginning with the center channel, set the output trim level in the menu so your spl reading in room is 75db. If you have to go past +5-8 db or so use a setting of 65db instead. Repeat for all channels except subwoofer.

Turn the crossover/low pass dial on your subwoofer to full clockwise open (the crossover is set in the receiver menu). Turn the volume dial to 1/2 to start. Using the test tone in the menu, set the sub level +3 db hotter than your largest speaker. ie. If your fron left channel was set to 65db, set the sub to 68db.

Put on music you are familiar with and listen. If you are able to hear all the details in the music like guitar strings or breath on the singers voice you are good. If they are masked by too much bass turn the sub dial down a hair on the back of the sub. Test again. If too lean in the bass turn up a hair. Sub settings are extremely room and preference dependant so there really is no one size fits all answer. Placing the sub inside either the front left or right channel up front is a great idea if possible.

Popular setup tracks I use often are

Toto- Rosanna
Level 42- Something About You
Barenaked Ladies- Brian Wilson
Crash Test Dummies- God Shuffled his feet

Expect lots of great help. Welcome to the boards.