Level cal and crossover

[bheemsen]

Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum. I just bought my home theater system. My receiver is Onkyo TX-SR800 and speakers are RM6600.

My question is on the receiver settings I am using the level calibration as 0db for all speakers and crossover freq. as 80 Hz.

Can you guys suggest me as to what values are good for a 14' X 12' living room. I am not using the Polk recommended connections. I connected the front speakers to receiver directly and set front to large (Polk customer support suggested this).

sub is located on the back near to back speakers.
phase is set to 180.

I appreciate any responses.

thanx..

[bheemsen]

Can any one please answer my questions ?

-Bheemsen

[Dr. Spec]

Are you using a speaker level connection to the subwoofer?

If not, why are you fronts set to large when they are satellites?

[burdette]

Ya, I don't understand the thinking behind the setup, either.

No, no one can really answer your questions based on your living room being a particular size. You have to set your system up for your particular room, furnishings, etc. You can get help on how to set it up, but not WHAT exactly to do.

[EARLJH]

there is a way to set the speaker level for each speaker. you need to go to the setup program and set the speakers. they will not be set to 0. mine is set to + 8 to 12 DB depending on the location of the speakers and the subwoofer is set to - 8 DB. Check the owners manual for the receiver and it will tell u how to set the speakers.

[bheemsen]

Thanx guys for all your responses.

1. I am not using the speaker level connection to the subwoofer.
As I mentioned in my post, Polk customer support suggested me to set front to large even for this connections.

2. My question was, what would be the ideal setting for level cal values for a medium sized living room.

3. Onkyo receiver manual says to set all the speakers to same level cal value. The back speakers are located 3 to 4 ft from viewing location on each side of sofa. The subwoofer is located near to the back right speaker. For this layout, is it good to use level cal between +8 to +12 DB ?

Thanx..
-Bheemsen

[scottvamp]

You are looking at it the wrong way. The +/- db is just the internal volume level of each speaker. They are just there for getting equal sound through speakers and raising the over all spl/db.
The proper way is to get a Sound Level Meter. Rat Shack for about 30 bucks. Using the cal noise from the reciever or a setup disk - you set your speakers levels according to the readings on the Meter. Looking for equal readings for each speaker at about 75db to 85db. That +8 to +12 is not going to mean anything. Actually your setting for most of your speakers may be totally different depending on the actual acoustics in the room.