Hey guys

Got a VP100 for Christmas, set it up and rand the calibration (Denon AVR-1910) and when I checked the settings after it was done, it had crossed the new Centre at 200hz.

Now, IIRC bass becomes non-directional below 120hz so I tried adjusting the angle of the VP100 so it aims more at the mic and re-running a few times. Same results.

I came online here and checked the Stats and the 100s graph looks just about flat down to 100hz so I manually adjusted the centre to cross at 120.

My concerns are as follows:
- I understand I'm losing the Audyssey correction between 120-200. I can live with that.
- If Aud feels the VP100 is too weak in that range, am I losing "flatness" by taking that duty away from the Sub? IR will I be weak in the Centre Channel 120-200 range?

I don't think I can tell Audyssey to "phantom centre" the 60-200 range out to my M22s can I? Nah, that would be way to powerful for consumer gear... Or if you could tell Audyssey to use the Mains to supplement that range only as much as needed, that would be extra awesomeness.

Short of Trading up to a VP150 is there anything I can do?
"Advice from Axiom Owners?"

Thanks
snazzed

I think you'll be ok with setting the X-over at 100 or 120 Hz for the VP. Try running some test tone sweeps and note if you can hear a dip in the volume at that 100-200 Hz range (or use an SPL of course).

Alternatively, do you have room for an M2 or M22 as a center? That could save you some cash and possibly improve your SQ as well. Just a thought instead of contemplating the VP150 upgrade.

If you lower the crossover, you are bypassing the Aud filters. Not a good idea. I'm wondering why it set it so high. Something seams off to me. You might want to check all the VP's drivers.

Yeah, I agree with Michael. The readings can certainly be off due to placement issues, but I would make sure that the woofers are working before doing anything else!

Just another reason why Ian and the guys at Axiom despise these room correction set-ups. Sometimes the final result can just make no sense at all.

If done properly, the results will make sense. One might not like the results done by Audyssey and such (myself included) but it's another issue.
Check your drivers and make sure all woofers are working. Last Thursday I received my QS8s and the same thing happened, the receiver set the crossover at 200Hz and the distance it detected one speaker was 4ft off. It turned out that one of the woofers on this speaker was not working.

I'll check the drivers again, but they seemed ok with a feel test... they were both vibrating. I'll assume that if one of them was not connected, the vibration from cabinet resonance would be noticably weak? Did that make sense?

snazzed

UPDATE:

Haven't done SPL tests yet, no time... Set my Denon to:
- Front - Large (couldn't set it to None)
- Centre - Large
- Sub - None
- Surrounds - None

I put my forehead 2" from the tweeter in the center and put my hands around the drivers to help shade out some of the sound from the Mains (glad my wife didn't walk in on me), ran the THX intro on The Incredibles several times.

Both drivers happily vibrate away, my ears are no SPL meters but they *sound* fine... could it be Audyssey is just a little 'whack'?

I'll do the SPLing tomorrow.

Thanks all
snazzed

Earlier versions of Audyssey did have issues but the mroe recent versions appear to play much better. I suspect your room has something odd going on with it, acoustically speaking.

Make sure you don't have anything in the way between the center and the mic that could cause reflections (table, chair). Also is the mic at ear level?

For my setup I have 2 rows of theater seating. When running the rear row sweeps I place the front row seats flat and full reclined not to block any reflections. I think my 150 was set to around 80hz if memory recals.

This sort of difficulty is a reason one might prefer Pioneer's MCACC to Audyssey. The MCACC auto calibration sets crossover, volume, distance, and equalization values which you have direct access to and can later adjust as you see fit.

Hey Greg

Yeah, Audyssey Calibration sets the same values and does allow you to adjust your settings afterwards. Part of my initial post included that I had manually adjusted the Crossover to 120Hz and was curious as to the impacts that would have on my sound.

Anyway... Frequency sweeps coming today!

snazzed

Well I just ran a Frequency Analyzer and test tones from 100hz to 200hz. Nothing wrong with the speaker at all. Granted it differs from the readings off my M22s but the response is, indeed, near flat down to 100hz. Same thing with Pink Noise tests.

My only conlusion is that Audyssey is
So... now to manually calibrate my system. Argh. Does this mean I'll lose Dynamic Volume?

Snazzed

Do you have the latest Denon Firmware?

Nevermind I see you have the 1900 series, IIRC it is not updateable, at least not without a trip to a Denon service center.

UPDATE: My seating area is so small that, until this point I was only calibrating for 1 seating position... mine. Re-Ran Audyssey for 4 locations and it came up MUCH better:

Speakers:
Front: M22
Centre: M100
Surround: QS8

1 Location X-Over settings:
Front: 40hz
Centre: 200hz
Surround: 110hz

4 Location X-Over settings
Front: 60hz
Centre: 80hz
Surround: 90hz

That is the thing with Audyssey, you have to use at lest 4 locations for it to work properly; sorry we never mentioned it before.

Snazzed, have you seen this article on Audyssey calibration? Part V gives a detailed step-by-step (with a diagram) method for proper microphone placement.

Hey Wheelz

No, I hadn't seen that, it would have been very helpful. Funny, when looking at the diagram for 8 mic placements when measuring a single location, locations 1-4 are exactly what I did. Now... do I do it again with all 8?

Perhaps if I'm board one day.

Thanks all

snazzed

My room is pretty small too. I have space for four people. When I have actually ran Aud and used all 8 spots, the results were much, much better. It seamed ridiculous to me to move the damn mic two feet to left, then two feet to the right, then a couple feet back, etc....but in the end, the results were worth the agony of the set up. It takes a good thirty minutes to do it right. I just grab a beer, the remote and find a comfortable spot of the floor out of the way and remain silent. Also make sure you do the set up when there is no one else around to make noise.

I had this same results as Michael when I calibrated for all eight spots.

My mom and I measured and marked each location with a piece of tape on the floor, then I placed the microphone (I taped it to the top of my father's camera tripod which was adjusted to ear level (when sitting)) in each spot and calibrated.

It was over a year ago that I ran Audyssey, but if memory serves me correctly, I'm pretty sure it's highly recommended to use a tripod or something of the sort to hold the microphone, rather than sitting in on a chesterfield or holding it in your hand, because objects nearby (especially a wall) will cause reflections that will result in an improper calibration.

Did using a tripod actually make your walls disappear?

Sure, if you use the right tripod:

Yes and don’t forget step 31.2.3.5 “Ensure tripod is blessed with Holy Water sanctified by an Archbishop.”

Smartass, Charles . To correct the record of what I've said- just keep the f'in microphone away from a wall !

Ken, you've got a quick trigger finger for apropos pictures that always amuse me.

I think I read that quote in The Book Of Audiophiles, which follows The Book Of Romans.

Gnostic Gospels?

That they are, my friend, that they are .