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How "good" is my home theater?

post #1 of 14
5/14/07 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 
I know this may seem silly, but I'm trying to identify any weak parts of my system, that I've been building over the past few years. There are times where the sound just doesn't seem as good as it should be. For many DVDs, I have to turn up the center channel volume for decent dialog. Is that normal? Maybe I'm crazy.

• Speakers - PSB image 5T fronts, C40 center, 2B surrounds and Sunsonic 6 subwoofer
• AVR - Onkyo TX-SR703 (5.1 - calibrated using setup mic, no HDMI inputs)
• DVD - Oppo 970HD (connected with Toslink digital cable to AVR, HDMI to TV)
• HDTV - Panasonic 37" plasma (TH37PX60U) - I love it!
• Comcast Motorola cable box
• Monster audio cables (Toslink, subwoofer cable)
• Speaker wire - Monster XP NW high resolution cable, using A/R banana plugs

I also have a Wii and an Apple TV

I have the cable box and DVD connected to the TV with HDMI, and audio connected to my Onkyo using Toslink digital audio cables.

My living room is wide, but not deep. I sit about 7' away, and with a good DVD (Sin City, Star Wars, LOTR Trilogy, etc.), sound is great in the "sweet spot".

How does it appear? My speakers are old, but are they still good? Any adjustments or tweaks anyone could suggest? Any DVD settings tips? Am I just too picky? Sounds "just fine" to my wife, but I swear that it seems that it should sound better, more consistently. Thanks!
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post #2 of 14
5/14/07 at 4:07pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

I usually up the center volume a little for movies and lower it again for music. Different movies/tv shows also seem to be recorded at different volumes so a little tweaking might be needed every now and then.
Quote:
AVR - Onkyo TX-SR703 (5.1 - calibrated using setup mic, no HDMI inputs)
I've never been able to get agreeable sound using these auto setups. Always wind up doing it myself. Have you tried calibrating things manually? Might make a difference. BTW, I'm currently using an Onkyo 702, OPPO 970 and some Swan speakers in my main room.
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post #3 of 14
5/14/07 at 5:44pm
Thread Starter 

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c
I've never been able to get agreeable sound using these auto setups. Always wind up doing it myself. Have you tried calibrating things manually? Might make a difference. BTW, I'm currently using an Onkyo 702, OPPO 970 and some Swan speakers in my main room.

Good idea, but I don't know how to do it manually. How do you like your Onkyo and Oppo?
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post #4 of 14
5/14/07 at 7:16pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
Good idea, but I don't know how to do it manually
There's a button on the remote labeled "test tone" which sends pink noise to the speakers one at a time. You adjust the volume of each speaker using the level + and - buttons until they are all the same. You can try and do this "by ear" but it best to use an spl (sound pressure level) meter, about $40 at Radio Shack.
Quote:
How do you like your Onkyo and Oppo?
The 702 is a very nice, well built and feature packed avr for the price. I think it's better suited for movies than music. But big bang for the buck. The thing I really like about Onkyo's is the bass/treble controls work for SACD/DVD-audio (front speakers only). If the brite light around the volume knob bothers you, use the dimmer button on the remote to turn it off. The OPPO is quite good too. I bought it as a stop-gap until the HD players settle their little war. And prices to come down a little more.
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post #5 of 14
5/15/07 at 12:52pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

The purchase of a SPL meter was one of the best investments I've made for my home theater. I picked mine up at Radio Shack.
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post #6 of 14
5/15/07 at 1:05pm
Thread Starter 

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Moe
The purchase of a SPL meter was one of the best investments I've made for my home theater. I picked mine up at Radio Shack.

Thanks for the advice. Does the SPL meter include instructions? I have no clue how to use one.
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post #7 of 14
5/15/07 at 1:08pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Instructions are really easy. You just sit in your listening position holding the SPL meter. You play a pink noise through each channel individually and adjust the volume of each channel until all channels are playing at the same volume. The SPL meter will measure the volume.
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post #8 of 14
5/15/07 at 1:16pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Yep; just set your master volume at "0" and adjust all your speakers to 75db using your AVR test tones. This is a good starting place and later on you can get a set-up disc and really have some fun. I use the Avia but there are a few different ones on the market
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post #9 of 14
5/15/07 at 4:08pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
get a set-up disc
Thanks for mentioning the setup disc . I fully intended to bring it up myself and can't believe I forgot to! Must be getting old.
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post #10 of 14
5/15/07 at 5:00pm
Thread Starter 

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c
Thanks for mentioning the setup disc . I fully intended to bring it up myself and can't believe I forgot to! Must be getting old.

I saw "The AVIA Guide to Home Theater" on Amazon. Is that it? It came out in 1999?
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post #11 of 14
5/15/07 at 5:19pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Avia is an excellent disc. I am not sure if there are newer and better things out there by Avia is excellent.
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post #12 of 14
5/15/07 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Nice site, Chris. Cool HT setup! I'll definitely give the sound level meter a try. Think I'll get improved sound over Onkyo's results with the setup mic? Is there a way to "start over" with the speaker settings on my AVR, or can I just start with the settings where they are?
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post #13 of 14
5/15/07 at 7:06pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Quote:
Think I'll get improved sound over Onkyo's results with the setup mic?
Hopefully you will, but by doing it manually you will know for sure that it's acurate. And don't forget to double check the distance settings the auto setup came up with. You can make changes where needed.
Quote:
Is there a way to "start over" with the speaker settings on my AVR, or can I just start with the settings where they are?
You can start over by re-setting the speaker volumes to zero before starting the calibration but it isn't really necessary. Starting from where things are will work just as well. Where you end up at is what's important. You might want to jot down the numbers the Onkyo came up with for comparison. That way if doing it manually doesn't work for you then you can put things back the way they were without having to re-run the auto setup.
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post #14 of 14
5/16/07 at 1:57pm

Re: How "good" is my home theater?

Sounds good to me. I'm building mine right now.
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