Denon AVR-1803 Prologic II and DTS Neo:6 Question

Pat Moynahan · 07-10-2003, 07:40 PM

Hey to anyone out there. I am completely impressed with the avr-1803's decoding of DTS-ES and DD-EX. It's the Prologic II and DTS Neo:6 that are not impressive in analog and digital mode. Maybe it's just the settings I have, but does anyone have the same feelings? Also, are there any tweaks to the avr-1803 or settings that you would recommend? Thanks.

My System:
Klipsch SF-1 (Front R and L)
Klipsch SC-1 (Center)
Klipsch SS-1 (Rear R and L)
Soon to Be: Cerwin Vega LW-12 (Subwoofer)

JamesHl · 07-10-2003, 07:48 PM

What do you mean by impressive, and what kind of sources are you using them with?

Speaking of Neo:6, does anyone ever use that? I tried using it instead of PLII for my usual tv viewing and it seemed kind of... flat, or something. I don't know.

Pat Moynahan · 07-11-2003, 08:26 AM

What I mean by non impressive is that I have had other receivers in the past (an aiwa and a kenwood) and their prologic modes sounded somewhat good with tv and music running not that great of speakers. Currently I am running my tv to my receiver (analog) and running my computer to my receiver (optical digital). When I am listening to my music in 5ch surround it sounds great, but when I flip over to PLII it sounds like the music is only coming out of the center channel same with when I am watching tv. So I adjust the speaker levels so they are balanced i think FR and FL are +3 and center is +0. But this poses a problem when watching DVD's because when DD or DTS kick in I have to lower the settings back down to 0. I don't know if the receiver is suppose to keep speaker settings consistent over all of input modes or if it saves the settings for each mode. My receiver doesn't seem to save the settings because when I switch from my DVD input to my CD input (My computer) and the speaker settings are the same. Is there anyway I can commit the settings to memory? Or settings I can take advantage of to make PLII sound better? Thanks

JamesHl · 07-11-2003, 08:53 AM

Are all your speakers in the same place?

I don't know this for sure, but I was always under the impression that pro logic is basically just a piece of software that everyone puts on a chip, and it should be pretty much the same on all receivers. I wonder what other variables there might be here.

Pat Moynahan · 07-11-2003, 09:04 AM

How about the save settings on the receiver? Should my receiver be remembering the speaker settings I have put into it?

**HTF Ads**

BrianWoerndle · 07-11-2003, 11:43 AM

Try the music modes for them. You can adjust the center width to your liking.

Pat Moynahan · 07-11-2003, 11:46 AM

Do you mean the PLII Music Mode or a DSP mode?

Chuck Kent · 07-12-2003, 07:53 AM

Pat: There could be a number of things affecting the matrixed surround (DPL II and DTS:NEO) versus discrete surround (DD and DTS.) Since the discrete surround has separately encoded sound for each channel, it could/should always be more impressive (as long as the sound quality itself is good.) That said, I run a 3803 and I am quite pleased with DPL II and DTS:NEO when I use them.

1st, have you carefully balanced all of your speaker levels? If you have one, use a sound pressure level meter and a setup DVD like AVIA. (IMO, setup discs maje things mesh better than the on-board receiver generated tones. But if all you have is the receiver tones, they'll get you close.)

2nd, what type of signals are you playing via DPL II and DTS:NEO? Good quality stereo? If the signals are mono, near mono or very dialog driven (ie. stuff that would naturally come from the center speaker anyway) you not going to get much of any surround action.

3rd, the suggestion above of trying the music modes is also a good one. Heck, even Jim Fosgate, the inventor of DPL II use Music mode exclusively for his own listening at home. (In my case, DPL II Movie mode works very well when there is decent stereo separation. So for me, Music mode is not necessary for video/movie viewing.)

4th, we can't absolutely rule out that you don't have a receiver problem. If the above ideas don't really make any improvement, try doing a processor reset. The procedure is detailed toward the back of your manual. (YOU WILL LOSE ALL OF YOUR SETTINGS back to the same as when it came out of the box.) If you still have poor results, you may have a more serious problem that may need service or exchange.

Memory-wise, the 1803 has fairly extensive capabilities. While many parameters can be separately adjusted for each mode, speaker size is universal (except for the 2 channel Direct mode...it's always Large no matter what you've set the mains as.) The other thing to keep in mind is that individual speaker levels for DD/DTS are treated the same for DPL II/DTS:NEO. Many other modes can be set separately/differently but Denon treats these modes as the same.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Jim Mohr · 07-13-2003, 07:15 AM

Prologic II and DTS Neo:6 (for Music anyway) are the most impressive when the mains and center are IDENTICAL speakers - not just matched, but the SAME speaker. The sound can nearly approach discrete - I KNOW you are shaking your head right now, but you really have to try it yourself to hear what I am talking about. It is nice if the surrounds are also identical, but it is not as critical (but does sound the best when using 5 channel stereo. I know most peoples situation would not accommodate this configuration, but as I said, you need to actually experience it before making up your mind.

Pat Moynahan · 07-13-2003, 10:06 PM

Thanks everyone for the very informative replies. I looked more in depth into my manual and the separation and width features on the center and surround speakers under PLII music. Playing around with these settings I am able to get acceptable results. Also I think the problem was I was using a weak stereo input which the receiver wasn't decoding well. Thanks again.