I received my factory outlet order on Monday. DHL really did a job on the boxes but all speakers arrived without a scratch.

Thanks to everyone who helped me in choosing my first HT system. I will now be pestering you to help get it performing to the best of its ability as I am very much a novice in this area.

I have everything hooked up now and I am trying to calibrate. I used the Denon auto set-up with the mic., but did not like the results. It automatically set my fronts to large and I can barely hear/feel my sub. and rarely do I hear anything from the surrounds. From what I have been reading here, most were recommending setting all the speakers to small and letting the sub handle the LFE’s. I know that the surrounds are supposed to be subtle but mine are almost non existent.

I have an SPL meter (never have used it) and started going thru the Avia audio calibrations but ran into a problem. The pink noise for the surrounds came from the mains. Not sure why since the pink noise from the Denon auto set-up came from the correct surrounds. It was getting too late and I gave up for the night.

Has anyone used the Denon mic with favorable results? Am I doing something wrong? Anyone want to come over for a few beers and play?

I will post pictures after I clear out all the boxes.

M80’s
VP150
QS8’s
SVS 20-39 PC-Plus
Sony 60” SXRD
Denon 3805

I use the Denon mic. and feel it works great. It does set the fronts to large, but I just change them back to small. Most of us leave the room equalizer off and set the reciever at a crossover of 80 and the sub at bypass.

Congrats, David. You'll get it set up correctly eventually, though it may take a little time. Be patient, and hang in there.

If you're having trouble with the AVIA test tones, try using the tones (pink noise) from your Denon receiver and the SPL meter.

If I've already provided you with the following information, please excuse the redundancy. I can't remember who I've posted this for.

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEST & CALIBRATION DVDS aka "Why the hell do I need one of these things?" (To learn about DVE and AVIA, scroll down far enough to read "THE DIFFERENT DISCS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES")

Essential Accessories: The Radio Shack Sound Pressure Level Meter

A Quick Overview of Home Theater Calibration

Calibrating Your Home Theater System

How To Set Up a Subwoofer (or Subwoofers) for Home Theater

Subwoofer Setup Guide by Bossobass

Common Subwoofer Set-Up Errors by Edward J M

It's important that you set the meter to "C" weighting and "slow" response time.

Also, what comes out of your surrounds is source dependent. Often there is little coming out of them, but that's by design. What you need to do is find something (movie or music) that is known to have a lot of surround information. Then you'll be able to better judge their performance.

>>> It automatically set my fronts to large and I can barely hear/feel my sub.

>>> I know that the surrounds are supposed to be subtle but mine are almost non existent.

Keend0, you get that system calibrated correctly and these statements will definitely change. It takes a little while but with all of the links that Jack provided and the folks here on the board you'll have it sounding mighty darn awesome in due time. Congrats on the new additions!

I echo homedads response. My denon 2805 is pretty darn accurate. Like him, I don't turn on the RoomEQ stuff. In regards to delay(distance) and dB levels, it does a very good job. I usually check the levels with the RS meter from the same location, to fine tune a few things. I also change the mains to Small, and usually bump up my center channel dB's a little higher than my mains.

Did you put the mic in the primary listening location, about ear height, and have nothing else running in the room, you need it quiet..?

Thanks Jack, The articles were a big help. They made a big improvement in the sound stage. I was watching King Kong last night. How cool!

I still have a few tweeks, but I get the feeling that will never change and I will always be playing with one setting or another.

EXCELLENT!

Yes, tweaking is a never ending activity. But, to paraphrase JohnK's signature, "listen to the music, not your equipment." The purpose of this great equipment is to allow you to better immerse yourself (lose yourself) in the music/movie. Be sure to enjoy that experience, cuz that's why we spend all this money.