Onkyo AVR manual EQ settings? (1 Viewer)

[Joe Pick]

I sure hope someone can help. I have an Onkyo TX-SR703 AVR connected to PSB Image Series speakers (5T left and right, C40 center, 2B surrounds). I've done the speaker calibration with the included setup mic, but my center speaker's tone sounds audibly quite different from the left and right fronts. Not bad, just different. Not quite as clear or defined. When watching the "Cars" DVD, many times voices travel from left to right, passing through or stopping in the center. The voices (Luke Wislon for example) sound a little different when in the L or R speaker compared to the center. I'm using identical speaker wire throughout, and double-checked my connections.

My Onkyo has a manual equalizer setting that I thought might help, but I don't have a clue how to try to make changes. After doing the auto-setup, the settings are very different from speaker to speaker. If I want to make manual changes, here are the options for each speaker:

c. 80Hz : 0dB
d. 250Hz : 0dB
e. 800Hz : 0dB
f. 2.5kHz : 0dB
g. 8kHz : 0dB

Each band can be cut or boosted from –6 dB to +6 dB in 1 dB steps. Onkyo tells me that low frequencies (e.g., 80Hz) affect bass sounds; high frequencies (e.g., 8kHz) affect treble sounds. Since the left speaker sounds good to me, I tried to set up the center speaker with the same settings as the left, but I'm not sure if that did anything.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to set these up, or whether or not it will make a difference? Sorry to ramble, but I wanted to include as much info as I can think of. Short version: I want my center channel to sound very close to the tone of my L and R speakers. Thanks!

 

[troy evans]

The best thing to do would be to check Your levels with an SPL(sound pressure level)meter.I use an analog model but You can also get a digital readout one.These are available at Radio Shack for a cost of around $40.00.Like You mentioned there are + and - decible ranges for each speaker.Your going to adjust these ranges using the SPL by way of the speakers Test Tones.There should be a button on Your remote or Your receiver its self that will start to send this tone to each speaker one at a time.Make sure to turn off any EQ or bass or treble settings off or at 0db also make sure You turn all Your speakers to the "Small "setting not "Large" as this will effect proper level calibration.I recomend setting the SPL to the 75db range,use C weighting,and set slow as the speed option.Sit where You watch Your movies from in Your setup,hold the SPL up directly at head level with the microphone end pointed to the ceiling and run the test tone through all the speakers of Your system.Watch for extreme jumps or peaks that are out of the 75db range for each speaker and adjust that + or - db for each speaker using the receivers individual speaker db settings.Of course check each speaker again after You've made Your initial settings just to be sure they all are at the same level.After thats done play "Cars" again.See if the same problems occur.At least after proper calibration if You don't like the sound or want to put an edge on it then You can just adjust Your bass and treble settings to get the disired effects You want.Sorry the out of the box setup mic didn't work.Also try setting all of those ranges You said each Speaker had to 80hz all the bass below this needs to go to the subwoofer anyway.

 

[Joe Pick]

Thanks Troy. I've actually done that, but, unless I'm wrong, won't that just help with volume levels for each channel, more or less? How can I fine tune the sound using the equalizer settings for:
c. 80Hz : 0dB
d. 250Hz : 0dB
e. 800Hz : 0dB
f. 2.5kHz : 0dB
g. 8kHz : 0dB

I can't play test tones for this, just overall volume levels.

Also, I can't specify "small or large" speakers. This is what I found in the manual for the Onkyo: "The following crossover frequencies can be specified: Full Band, 40 Hz, 60 Hz, 70 Hz, 80 Hz (THX), 90 Hz,
100 Hz, 120 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz. Specify Full Band for speakers that can output low-frequency bass sounds adequately, for example, speakers with a good sized woofer. For smaller speakers, specify a crossover frequency. Sounds below the crossover frequency will be output by the subwoofer instead of the speaker.

Any ideas?

 

[Joe Pick]

Here are the frequency response specs for my center speaker:
On Axis @ 0° ±1.5dB 65-20,000 Hz
On Axis @ 0° ±3dB 50-23,000 Hz
Off Axis @ 30° ±1.5dB 65-10,000 Hz
Lf Cutoff -10dB 45 Hz

Based on this, I can choose one of the following for the speaker: Full Band, 40 Hz, 60 Hz, 70 Hz, 80 Hz (THX), 90 Hz, 100 Hz, 120 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz.

What makes sense? 60 Hz?

 

[gene c]

For the crossover, I'd use 80 for everything. As for the eq, here's what I did with my 702. First, I unplugged the sub so it didn't interfere with my adjustments, then I set all 5 frequencies to -6. I then raised the 80 hz to +6 and listened to the sound. Then I put 80 back to -6 and raised the 250 to +6 and listened again. I continued on thru the ranges many times until I had a good idea of what effect each setting would have on the sound. 800 seemed to have the biggest effect on vocals, but 250 and 2.5 also had an effect. I put in a good two channel cd/dvd and adjusted the eq settings for front l/r speakers as best as I could. I then disconnected the right channel and used a good 5.1 disc to match the center to the left. I then disconnected the center and matched each surround one at a time. Then I hooked them all back up and played with the sub settings. The disc you use should have a wide response. I think music works best so I used Boz Skaggs live concert dvd for both two channel and 5.1 settings. This is time consuming, but the effort was worth it. I still make the occasional re-adjustment now and then. Can't seem to keep my hands off this stuff!

 

[troy evans]

I've been giving this some thought.Just out of curiosity,have You engaded any of the DSP modes?i.e. Surround,Mono,All Ch Stereo,etc.You're probably aware that these settings also would have an effect on Tone of the speaker channels.I use an Onkyo 701 and when I use the different DSPs I notice sweeping differences in audio quality.Depending what the source material is encoded in and what DSP You have set could cause a Unbalance so to speak of sound quality.Also does Your receiver have the Re-EQ setting?Mine has this and It's My understanding this feature tames your system a bit or makes sound less bright.I don't activate this setting on Mine.If You do have it,try going back and forth between it off and on,just to eliminate that possibility as well.I'll keep researching this on My end,but,I hope some of this may help.

 

[Joe Pick]

Nope - no sound modes were on, other than the DVD's Dolby soundtrack. I don't see a Re-EQ setting either.

 

[Joe Pick]

This is helpful - thanks. When I did the Onkyo auto-calibration, it set all my speakers to "Full Band", which I changed to 80Hz. What is "Full Band"? Why would it be picked by the 703 for all 5 speakers?

One more question on EQ. Your explanation of how it works makes sense, but what about the sub? Leave it at 0db for all 3 of its settings?

 

[gene c]

I'd do the same with the sub as with the mains. Set all three to -6 and then adjust them up one at a time to get a feel of what they each do, them adjust them to a point that you like best. One more thing. After you feel like you're done, re-check the volume levels as the eq process may have changed things enough to make a difference.

 

[Joe Pick]

OK Gene, I gave it a shot. I'm getting to a point where I'm not real sure what I'm doing, but it sounds a bit better than the "Auto" settings. I like how I can toggle back and forth between Auto and Manual settings to see the difference. Just curious, on your 702, what are your settings? I may try yours to see how they differ from mine (which I've written down).

 

[gene c]

Of course different rooms and different speakers will require different settings. My room is very brite (at least I think so). Here's what mine are set at.

1. front l and r
2. 80 = -1
3. 250 = +1
4. 800=-2
5. 2.5 = -1
6. 8k = 0

1. center
2. 80 = 0
3. 250 = +3
4. 800 = -3
5. 2.5 = -2
6. 8k = 0

I set the surrounds the same as the center

1. sub
2. 40 = +6
3. 80 = +5
4. 160 = -2

1. volume levels
2. fl = +1
3. center = -2
4. fr = +2
5. sr = +1
6. sl = 0
7. sub = variable from -5 to + 3

My Swan towers and center use the same woofers, mid-range and tweeters so I didn't have to do any major adjustments, just a little bit here and there. But it did make a noticeable difference. I mainly had to tone down the mid-range of the center because it's on top of my rptv. The higher up it is, the thinner it sounds. As for the bass and treble controls: bass is +2, treble is -2. It takes awhile. I've been playing with mine for over a month now. Today I lowered the 8k another 1 db across the board. Next week I'm sure I'll tweak something else. Edit: My 702 does have the Re EQ feature and it did help remove some of the harshness that's a problem for my brite room. That's another reason why the settings aren't adjusted too much.

 

[Joe Pick]

Man, I don't know. Maybe I need a break.

My room must not be brite, because I tested with your settings and it sounded canned and less full than normal. I tried all your tips, and did each of the three front speakers, one at a time. I'm not sure why, but the differences between the auto, off and my manual settings aren't that much different. The levels, using a SPL are really close to each other. Maybe my room sucks. My living room is carpeted, and the fronts are 7' from a couch, and the ceilings are 9'.

 

[gene c]

I'm sorry to hear things aren't working out for you so far. I feel as though I may have led you down the path of frustration. Anyway, if it was a room acoustic issue, I would think all of your speakers would suffer from the same symptom. Since the problem seems to be a sound mis-match between your center and fronts I wouldn't think the room is the main problem. I looked on PSB's web site and found the c40 center, but saw no mention of a 5t front. Could it be the t55 tower? Even though they are from the same series, maybe the center is too small for the towers and can't keep up. I don't know, just a thought. Maybe an e-mail to PSB might shed some light?

 

[Joe Pick]

The 5T is older. It comes up after a Google search.

One 1" Aluminum Dome Tweeter, Two 6 1/2" Polypropylene Woofers, Bass-Reflex
MFR: 35 Hz - 21 kHz ± 3 dB
Sensitivity: 92 dB/w/m
Impedance: 6 Ohms Nominal
Power: 10 - 175 Watts
Size: 36" H x 8" W x 14 1/4" D
Weight: 42 Pounds Each
Finish: Black Ash or Cherry Vinyl
MSRP: $799/pair

 

[Joe Pick]

Not at all - this has been helpful. I may start over, listening to a CD in stereo mode, just using the right front speaker to begin, then I'll switch to the left. After those are set, I'll use "All Ch Stereo" and set the center speaker channels while the others are unplugged. I'll test the results using a good DVD, maybe Gladiator. Does this sound like a good plan? For the settings below, what should I be listening for for each? Am I correct that the 80Hz setting begins the bass sounds, moving toward higher-end treble at 8kHz? I'm guessing that since the crossover for my sub is set at 80Hz, I may not notice much for the first couple (c and d).

c. 80Hz : 0dB
d. 250Hz : 0dB
e. 800Hz : 0dB
f. 2.5kHz : 0dB
g. 8kHz : 0dB

Thanks again!

 

[MaxL]

do you have itunes or something else with an equalizer? while the itunes equalizer doesn't have those exact bands, you can turn down everything except the band you want to know about and it will give you a good idea of what content - instruments, voices, etc. - are most present at that frequency. you could even do this with your receiver by turning down all the frequencies to -6db except one and crank that one up to the +side and then listen to a piece of music. then try turning that down and another up.

but anyway, that won't solve your problem. the center is the most likely culprit as it is from a different incarnation of the image series (which is a great series of speakers FWIW). it may be as simple as a different driver and frankly you're unlikely to solve that with your receiver. the other thing that no one (i think) has mentioned is the sub, it's unlikely that it has anything directly to do with the problems, but it's probably worth disconnecting it while you get you speakers sorted out first. i'd focus on getting the front 3 to work and then the surrounds and sub. if you can't get it to sound right in one fair sitting, i'd get in touch w/ psb and or the dealer (as has been suggested). also, if there's any way to get your hands on another avr, you could try hooking them up to that too, just to make sure it's not the onkyo. also it it unlikely to be the room but you could try taking the front 3 speakers and avr into another room to see if they sound any different. also unlikely to have anything to do with it, but i assume the jumpers are in place.

 

[Joe Pick]

I stopped into a PSB dealer, and he suggested setting the L, R and C speakers as Full Band and the surrounds at 80Hz. He then told me to set the sub's cutoff at 90 on the sub itself, and at 100 on my AVR. As for EQ settings, like everyone else, he told me to tinker until I get what I like.

Make sense?

 

[gene c]

Sorry for the delay. My DSL line has been out for a few days.The Onkyo also had a Dolby PLII called "all mono" which might also be useful in this. I also prefer setting eq's to music instead of movies because music has a more uniform presence in the front speakers. In other words, there's always something coming out of them. Movies have lapses in content which I found distracting. But if it works for you then by all means....

 

[Joe Pick]

My PSB guy, on a second visit, suggested setting the L and R at full band, and the center and surrounds at 60Hz, and the sub at 80, and at 150 on the sub itself (you were right). I reset the Onkyo and tried this without ever touching the setup mic. The PSB guy also suggested leaving the Onkyo's EQ at 0's or off.

Somehow it seems better.

 

[gene c]

That's all that matters. However, setting your fronts to "large" will reduce the signal your sub gets by a good amount and puts more strain on the receivers amp. Can I talk you into at least trying 40 as a crossover for the fronts? If not, does your 703 have the "double bass" feature? If so, try it out. You'll find it in the speaker setup menu, but only when the fronts are set to "large". Good luck, and I hope you finally find the settings that work best for you.