How to calibrate my SVS with Pioneer Elite Auto MCACC? (1 Viewer)

[Trevin Chow]

I just hooked up my M&K K7 left, center and right speakers and my SVS 25-31PCi sub to my Pioneer Elite VSX-45tx. This is all new equipment I have acquired inthe past few weeks.

After hooking everything up, the M&K speakers sound great. I haven't done any calibration yet. One reason for me to get the 45tx was for auto-MCACC. It was 11:30pm, so I thought it was a bit late to play test tones in my house, so I'm going to do that tommorow.

But I did notice that there was barely any sound at all coming from teh sub when I played a few DVDs (titanic, Phantom menace). I have done the following:

-subcable connecting the SVS to the proper connector on my receiver. The subcable is plugged into the LEFT input on the SVS.
-receiver is set to "YES" for the subwoofer channel
-I have the surrounds speakers turned off in the receiver since those aren't installed yet (waiting for installer to come in 3 weeks after the holidays).
-sub Gain is set to about 1/3

Just wondering if I have to do anything else, or just run the auto-MCACC? I would've expected more bass right out of the box without any calibration with teh gain set at 1/3.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Trevin,

You just need to run the MCACC program on your receiver. Make sure the microphone is plugged into the receiver and is placed at the listening position.

On my Elite 47TX, the only parameters I needed to adjust manually after running MCACC were the speaker sizes. MCACC always want to set all my speakers to LARGE, yet they really need to be set to SMALL. The only ones that I would even consider running as LARGE would be the L/R main speaker, which are towers. I prefer to run them as SMALL, though, with a crossover of 80Hz.

 

[Scott Goldsmith]

I agree with Scott, I have the Elite 53TX and when I did the auto calibration, the receiver set my stuff to large, which it is, Klipsch RF-7/RC-7/RF-5, but the sub didn't pack that huge punch. So I took some advice from a member and set everything to small with the crossover at 80hz, and MAN, BOOM, there it was, HUGE bass!! Give that a shot and I bet it fixes the problem

 

[John Robert]

Agreed, run the MCACC and then tweak your sub. For whatever reason (it's been discussed many times in this and other forums), the auto-cal sets a low sub level. Most of us just bump it up a few DB. YMMV...

 

[Trevin Chow]

Thanks for info everyone. I calibrated this morning then turned up the gain. I'm one happy SVS owner! This thing just pounds!

 

[Scott_Jua]

I have the SAME receiver, and SAME Sub that you do...and had something to add.

After running MCACC You may still notice that the 45TX underestimates the SPLs coming from the sub. You may need to adjust them according to your preferences. I had to pump up the volume a little on the LFE channel in the menu, even AFTER setting the Auto MCACC. Depending on your room, your results may vary, but make sure you do a check with Avia and an SPL meter after you run auto MCACC. You don't HAVE to go to such lengths, but I'd reccomend it if you have the means. Otherwise you can play it by ear...a few ticks up from what MCACC sets it at should be all you need to get deep, blended, accurate bass.

I also have my sub setting at PLUS in the menu set up. That's also AFTER having run MCACC. I could tweak my setup for different movies, since they tend to differ from track to track, but overall I'm quite happy with my settings and results.

(now that I've read the other posts): yeah, what John said...

 

[Trevin Chow]

Scott, i'm relatively new to all this. In what menu do I set the sub to PLUS and where do I get a chance to increase the volume on the LFE channel?

 

[Scott_Jua]

I'll have to check once I'm at home, but I believe after you've run MCACC, you can go back into the OSD menu (On Screen Display) and go into speaker set up. There should be a sub settings option in there. As I'm not at home I'll have to post again when I can guide you through it...

 

[Simon Ngan]

I have a question for you guys. What microphone do you use? Does the Pioneer come with a microphone for the auto calibration?

I have a Primare processor and I'd like to try the auto calibration but I don't know what microphone to get. Thanks for your help,

Simon

 

[Trevin Chow]

Scott: any luck with finding that info for me?

Simon: The pioneer comes with a mic.

 

[Scott Goldsmith]

Trevin - If you want to set the sub to PLUS go to the OSD menu, go under setup and in the speaker settings option. Use the manual setting not auto setting, scroll to the sub, switch it until you find the PLUS setting. PLUS pretty much just makes the sub on at all times, music or movies, standard settings turn it on during movies only. Hope that helps, look in the owners manual too, it tells you exactly how to set it to PLUS.

 

[ScottCarr]

The Plus Feature is truly for bass nuts. I believe what the plus setting does is it bypasses the cross overs and sends 120hz and below to the sub as well as the full frequency range to the mains.

With the 49txi the bass from the fronts is significantly increased in Plus without taking away from the subs.

 

[Scott_Jua]

way too many Scotts in here.. .sorry I was so late to reply though...

How'd it work out for you?

 

[Trevin Chow]

everything worked fine for me. I just turned up the gain a little bit on the SVS.