SVS Calibration help needed, needle jumping all over! (1 Viewer)

[Ryan_C]

Gang,
I just got my first sub, an SVS 20-39 CS+ (OMG is all I can say ) but I am having trouble calibrating it. I did a search, but couldn't find an answer.
I am using Avia, and have all 5 surround speakers set to 85 dB. I am using the alternating pink noise for the mains/sub to calibrate, as suggested by others. I believe I am using the left main, but I don't guess that matters much.
At any rate, the needle on the SPL meter bounces back and forth like a pogo stick. And yes, the meter is on slow response with C weighting. I tried putting at an "average" of where the needle is bouncing, but is there any simple way to make the reading a bit more stable even with the meter's decreased sensitivity to low frequencies? Any help here would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

Does the needle bounce even when the SPL meter is resting on a coffee table (ie. not in your hand)? If you have "standing waves" in your listening area then moving the meter even a half inch forward can change the reading.

--Steve

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=56533
-V

 

[Ryan_C]

Steve,

I do have the meter sitting on a flat surface, so it is stable, but I will try calibrating it again and move the meter around a bit to see if that works.

Vince,

Thanks for that thread. I did read that, but wasn't sure whether the needle fluctuated that much for everyone or just in some cases.

Thanks again guys!

 

[Jared W]

I actually had the same problem with my meter. The needle was bouncing around like crazy, then when I would rotate the dial it would seem to not register anything even on the lowest scale setting. anyways.. I took it back to RS and got a new one. No problems now =)

I was new to the SPL meter too. I went crazy trying to use it for like a week. So before you go crazy trying to get it to work right you might make sure it is working right. They actually had to get out a 2nd one before I got one that worked right.

 

[Troy_K]

In my old room, my sub did that, too. I could never get close to getting a reading with my meter, so had to set by ear. I had tons of loud bass in that room, but it was pretty boomy, and very high peak in the 40hz range or so. When I moved to a different room, my needle nearly froze during measurements just like perfection. I'm guessing you are getting some serious environmental things going on resulting in a very peaky FR. Try relocating your sub or listening position and re-measuring.

Troy