Help with speaker configuration settings

[tiana]

Hi!

We've been building our Polk system piecemeal and finally got our subwoofer so we now have a real 7.1 system. I'm confused on the speaker configuration, however, because the Polk manual and the Onkyo receiver seem to be telling me different things :( Help?

My setup is:
Front: Monitor 70s
Center: CS2
Sub: PSW505
Rear: Monitor 40s
Surround: ancient monitor 5's (I know, they're on the upgrade list)
Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR808
No amp yet

In the receiver speaker configuration, when we ran the Audyssey configuration, it set:

Subwoofer yes
Front: Full band (at the bottom of the screen it says if you have tower speakers, use full-band. the other available options are set to a specific hertz)
Center: Full band
Surround: 80HZ (THX)
Back (rears): 80 HZ (THX)
LPF of LFE: 120HZ

So...any recommended settings? This is so far beyond me, any help would be very greatly appreciated!! :)

~ Tia

[Geoff4rfc]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Let the Audysey do it's thing and try listening to it.

[Erik Tracy]

The usual dogma for any HT setup, whether you have towers or bookshelves as fronts is to set them for 'small', set the bass=sub, set the AVR bass xover to 80Hz, and then enjoy both music and movies free of any worry about straining your poor AVR amp to drive mains as full, or fret over scary LFE levels overdriving your inadequate mains -whether towers or bookshelves.

Of course, later, as one may become obsessed with tweaking the sound from their rig, one can always dare the curse and wrath of the HT 'gods' and rebel by experimenting with what sounds best for you.

[gp4jesus]

of course, later, as one may become obsessed with tweaking the sound from their rig, one can always dare the curse and wrath of the ht 'gods' and rebel by experimenting with what sounds best for you.
lollol!!
Erik,

I think there is more truth to the 'wrath' than you know.

cheers

[Geoff4rfc]

lollol!!
Erik,

I think there is more truth to the 'wrath' than you know.

cheers

Right on bro, go ahead, preach a little bit, I'm down.

[Geoff4rfc]

lollol!!
Erik,

I think there is more truth to the 'wrath' than you know.

cheers

Not to get crazy or anything, or start any huge arguments/debates/flaming/etc,etc........It's obvious what your screen name represents. Mine takes a little history or personal experience to recognize.

Here's a picture of me in 2006 on a Suzuki 1000 (I was semi-pro), take a look at the fish decal on the upper fairing and see the intials "RFC". What you can't make out under the decal are the words "Racers For Christ".

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/Geoff316/Seattle100T-4.jpg

[tiana]

Thanks for the replies! :). It's sounding pretty good so far. When you say set the fronts to "small" what exactly do you mean? Obviously not "full band" but since the other options are numbers, do you mean the smallest number (40)? Sorry for the ridiculously uninformed question :(

~ Tia

[Erik Tracy]

Thanks for the replies! :). It's sounding pretty good so far. When you say set the fronts to "small" what exactly do you mean? Obviously not "full band" but since the other options are numbers, do you mean the smallest number (40)? Sorry for the ridiculously uninformed question :(

~ Tia

I'll admit to not knowing the Onkyo receiver you have, so you'll have to become the 'expert', but if you read the manual and the numbers correspond to what the low cut-off frequency is, then maybe there is a numbered setting for "80"?

You could start there for all (not just your fronts, but your center and surround speakers) of your speakers so that all bass frequencies below 80Hz are directed and handled by your subwoofer.

That is the general advice give for the 'standard' setting of speakers.

It does seem that with home theater equipment, one almost needs technical training or a degree? :frown:

[DSkip]

Tia, don't discount those Monitor 5's. The old monitor line is a solid line. If you do end up replacing them, you might want to hang onto them for a second setup in the bedroom or something. If you get rid of them, you should give local polkies a heads up before you go through with it.


As far as crossovers, I'm with Erik. The M70's should be able to play well under 80, but by cutting them off higher they should sound better considering the power behind them.

[Lietuvis91]

tiana:

Sounds like u really want to learn how to get this right, so in addition to the advice u get here i suggest that you read through the first post in the following link, i agree with this person and i think u will find it useful

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51.html

[tiana]

Wow thanks for all the awesome replies! Thanks to them and the link you specified (especially this one: http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/128214.html ) "small" and "large" finally make sense now.

I did a preliminary settings change of all speakers to 80 and it made a huge difference - much crisper sound. I can actually feel the bass now! We may tweak a few things due to room acoustics but now I at least have an idea where to begin.

Thanks again!!!

Tia

[Lietuvis91]

good deal, glad we could help.

Just as a side note....
I did about 3 hours of "active/critical" listening yesterday with my m70s at low levels with many various kinds of music and found that the speakers sound cleaner and more detailed when set to "small". Setting them to "large" just pushed frequencies into them that they are not really the best at handling so it muddies the overall sound. The fact that I have a very solid sub really helps to fill out the low end (under 80hz), so I get best of both worlds, nice clear highs and mids and everything below 80hz really gets "handled", lol!

[Geoff4rfc]

tiana:

Sounds like u really want to learn how to get this right, so in addition to the advice u get here i suggest that you read through the first post in the following link, i agree with this person and i think u will find it useful

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51.html

Thanks for providing the link Lietuvis, it was an education for me, I will definitely give it a try.

I read through some of the replies and agree with this one: "Like it has been said a centillion times, you take every article or review with a grain of salt.

First, the author of this old article did not have 5 full-range speakers.
Second, how often do they mix major BASS into the surround channels?
Third, the Center speaker does mainly one thing - dialogue, not crank out copious amount of bass.

Don't listen to how the author tries to JUSTIFY his own system's limitations.

It's actually really simple. Just try both ways. See which one is the best sounding to you. That's the right way every time.

That's my impression."

Thanks again.

[gp4jesus]

Here's a picture of me in 2006 on a Suzuki 1000 (I was semi-pro), take a look at the fish decal on the upper fairing and see the intials "RFC". What you can't make out under the decal are the words "Racers For Christ".

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/Geoff316/Seattle100T-4.jpg
Geoff4rfc,
Praise to your boldness

Tiana
Please accept my apologies; I do not mean you or any of the other members of this awesome forum anything negative. You may experience some heat from the more learned/less patient members who, at one time, were in the same place on same road.

In the end, when you get a sense of accousticallly "being in the middle" of what's on the screen, you've arrived!

cheers tony

[gp4jesus]

Tiana,

Haven't gotten to the audiohaulics link YET, but*...
* I will

Try listening for mid-range clarity to your 40's*, by themselves* cut off* @ where ever Audysey* set them. Then at the next higher frequency setting. If you hear a distinct improvement @ the higher cut off run them there; if you don't...
* center by itself

Full range rarely works for most center/surround/rears.

cheers

[Geoff4rfc]

Geoff4rfc,
Praise to your boldness

Tiana
Please accept my apologies; I do not mean you or any of the other members of this awesome forum anything negative. You may experience some heat from the more learned/less patient members who, at one time, were in the same place on same road.

In the end, when you get a sense of accousticallly "being in the middle" of what's on the screen, you've arrived!

cheers tony

Thanks Tony, as far as your apology is concerned, IMO none is necessary, but you never know how fragile another person might be.

My philosophy is: there is an O and a Fence, pick up one at a time but never at the same time, or you will have an "Offense" :biggrin:

[gp4jesus]

...there is an O and a Fence, pick up one at a time but never at the same time, or you will have an "Offense"
good stuff. clarity on the 'O'?

[Geoff4rfc]

good stuff. clarity on the 'O'?

ummmm, okay, O = your breath, fence = stinks :smile: