Well, I did it -- my SVS shipped today! (1 Viewer)

[Phil Iturralde]

... if I calibrate my 6 speakers using a 65dB level for the pink noise, are the levels of the speakers relative to each other going to end up different than if I were to calibrate them at a 75(85) dB reference?

If your Volume Control equally adjusts the 5 individual amplifiers output in a linear fashion, then it wouldn't matter. Another point to keep in mind is, if you used AVIA (85 dB) to calibrate your speakers @ 65 dB, then right off the bat, all your channels gain (individual pads) would be calibrated -20 dB below the actual REFERENCE. Most AV 5.1 Receiver's outputs are not linear when you raise or lower the volume.
An easy way to check that, is REF Calibrate your AV Receiver @ 65 dB using AVIA. When your done, re-run the test again, but this time @ the Recommended 85 dB SPL and tell us if ALL your individual gain settings are identical. If they are, then by all means use 65 dB.
I personally think there will be some ±SPL differences between the 65 dB Calibration vs. 85 dB SPL between one or all your different (5.1) speaker channels. If I'm right, ... when you decide to recreate that all important Cinema Theater SPL, your individual channels will be OFF (±SPL) by the different SPL's noted between 65 dB Calibration vs. the actual 85 dB REF Calibration between one or all your different (5.1) speaker channels. Any differences would be more obvious @ the louder SPL levels vs. the lower SPL levels!
Let us know what you discover with the above experiment.
Phil

 

[Richard Harvey]

Well, mine arrived on Friday. Great turnaround, guys! (I ordered on Monday, and had it on Friday). My only downer is the box it arrived in (via UPS) was totally water soaked on the bottom of the box. I was really afraid the sub had been damaged, but after inspecting the inside everything was dry. I really didn't want to have to send it back the first day!

My initial impressions are very good. I'll definitely have to buy a lint brush for the covering material. I setup and calibrated using Video Essentials, which I then verified against my Denon internal tones. Everything was calibrated to 75dB. After that, I checked phase and made sure everything was tucked away and ready to roll.

I ran through a series of good demos: SW: Ep. 1, JP3 (Dino duel scene), LOTR, Matrix, Apollo 13, Super Speedway dts, as well as some musical 5.1 material (Sting, Metallica, and Peter Frampton). The overall sound is very good, though music was more "boomy" than I like, so I'll have to find an easy adjustment for movies vs. music. The bone rattling isn't quite as high as I had hoped, but I think this is mostly due to my adjoining kitched -- there is alot of open air to move, and I think I'm simply expecting to much. It does seem to be doing it's job, because I am now hearing rattling somewhere at the rear of the room that I'm going to have to diagnose now (I can see my wife's face now when I tell her we have to replace drywall because of my sub!).

I don't have any corners per say to place the sub in; the room is open and doesn't really have a "corner". (the one that would be suitable has a 45-degree fireplace in it). Has anyone tried using moveable acoustic walls, similar to a cubical wall, that could be setup and taken down easily that I could use to articially create a corner/barrier for the sub to get better response? Or, is this just a waste of time?

Thanks for any help!

Rich

 

[SVS-Ron]

Richard,

If you haven't already, bypass the crossover on the sub, put that crossover to 80Hz, and turn up the sub! For movies anyway, I simply couldn't live with a flat setting. Settle on Matrix and SWEp1 (unless you have my favorite calibration check out disk... Toy Story 2, first 5 min.) and do repeated runs with more and more gain (at over all listening level as high as you would ever go for demos even) till you achieve the effects you want.

Hopefully your processor stores different level calibrations for different sources or "modes"??? Critical CD music listening is an entirely different bass proposition for me. I adjust that by ear with bass lines I know very very well. Don't be surprised if you are 10dB under your preferred movie settings when it comes to bass for music. It's critical you use your memory of your processor/receiver if you have it in other words. Set CD/Stereo as you like it.

Finally, play more with position of your sub. Position is CRITICAL and only you know when you have the right sound, there is no way to accurately predict it in difficult rooms like yours. Moving the sub a few feet, sometimes a few INCHES can have a radical effect on the sound in your chair. And remember, due to sometimes odd reactions of very low bass (at high levels) you are unlikely to get perfect sound in all locations of your room.

Keep us posted. Room reactions and level calibration for your programming are all you need to play with now.

Ron

 

[Richard Harvey]

Ron,

Thanks for the feedback. Here are some answers to your suggestions:

+ I definitely have the sub set to bypass crossover, and I've set my Denon 2802 to crossover at 80. I've set mains, center, and rears to 'small' (which is appropriate I believe). Everything was initially balanced to 75dB.

+ As for storing different calibration levels, yes the 2802 does store different levels for CD vs. DVD. However, my problem is alot of my music material are DVD concerts, not CD. In this case, the 2802 doesn't have a variable DVD setting, since the source is the same. I haven't been able to figure out a workaround that doesn't involve me either tweaking the 2802 or turning the sub volume manually each time. I hate this because it throws my calibrations out of whack, but it may be the only thing I can do.

+ Good info on the placement. You'll notice I just ordered an interconnect from your site of the longest cord you offer so I can try various placements around the room.

I think the bigger problem I face is my wife. To get bass levels I like, I turn the volume up near reference levels. She can't stand watching a movie this way; the trebles kill her ears (the screaming of the Nazgul in LOTR had her covering her ears). If I turn down the main volume but try to compensate my bass needs by boosting the sub, then the entire movie is over-bassed and out of whack. I'm not sure how in the world I'm going to solve this, though one of the placements I'm interested in trying is right beside our couch. If it works, I might be able to get the 'feel' of the sub even at proper levels with the volumes turned down. Otherwise, my wife is banned from movie watching with me!

If I'm understanding you, though, it's critical for me to keep adjusting gain upwards until I reach a level I like, correct? I assume this is regardless of overall dB balance with my other speakers? I remember reading somewhere in your manual that it's also good to minimize signal from the receiver to lowest levels (with about a 6dB buffer) and instead increase gain to deliver the cleanest signal, correct?

Thanks again,
Rich

 

[Leif Wall]

I've had a 20-39CS for a few months now. I didn't really have a corner to put it in since the room is oddly shaped. Well, after purchasing a new 53" Panasonic widescreen and rearranging everything, the SVS is now happy in a corner.
And let me tell you... Oh baby! I used to not have any ouput below 30hz. (confirmed by Avia) Now, i'm getting mucho output down to 20hz. It's a night and day difference and couldn't imagine if I added another 20-39.
Lord of the Rings flat out blew my mind today.