Manually set up 5.1?

kirbz · 1 Apr 2012 at 13:30

Hi guys,

Just in need of some help. How would I go about setting up the speakers manually on my onkyo avr? I have used the setup microphone but something doesn't sound right, the volume is low on the centre speaker meaning that the effects are loud but voices are quiet.

Are there any guides to follow?

Vonhelmet · 1 Apr 2012 at 14:01

The manual should give details on how to set the speaker distance or adjust the individual volumes.

kirbz · 1 Apr 2012 at 18:15

I know how to access and change the settings, I was hoping to read up on how it should sound if that makes sense, it seems quite complicated

mad4jags · 2 Apr 2012 at 08:05

Bear in mind that a lot of movie soundtracks emphasise the effects anyway,many people complain of quiet dialogue when listening at lower volume levels,due to the sound engineers mixing the soundtrack at reference level,which is very loud.
Im sure your amplifier will have a dynamic range control of some kind to compensate for this,my Marantz reciever has Audyssey Dynamic Volume,which really brings the dialogue forward.

Vonhelmet · 2 Apr 2012 at 10:06

mad4jags said:
Bear in mind that a lot of movie soundtracks emphasise the effects anyway,many people complain of quiet dialogue when listening at lower volume levels,due to the sound engineers mixing the soundtrack at reference level,which is very loud.
Im sure your amplifier will have a dynamic range control of some kind to compensate for this,my Marantz reciever has Audyssey Dynamic Volume,which really brings the dialogue forward.

Or you can bump the centre up by 3-6db, as you see fit.

Mr Men · 2 Apr 2012 at 13:36

When I set mine up manually, I first set up the distances for each speaker which is straight forward enough with a tape measure to the seating position (off course some compromise if seating is for 2) then using the test tone adjusted the levels for each speaker so they sounded relatively the same level, but as said above then increased the centre by a bit more.

rangor gubbins · 2 Apr 2012 at 14:56

i tried out the audyssey microphone thing with my onkyo as well, but found it also came out with weird levels, so set them myself. didn't take too long. You can find various demo or test video files on the web that help.

realBabelfish · 2 Apr 2012 at 15:07

worked fine with my onkyo. i always need to tweak levels a bit on every amp to suit my preferences

kirbz · 2 Apr 2012 at 15:55

I did as Mr Men did, sat and listened to the noise and got the same volume from all the speakers, I kind of guessed that was how it should be.

I'll watch a blu ray and see what the sound is like now.

Thanks for your help.

P.s. which videos for set up would you recommend?

realBabelfish · 2 Apr 2012 at 15:56

kirbz said:
I did as Mr Men did, sat and listened to the noise and got the same volume from all the speakers, I kind of guessed that was how it should be.

I'll watch a blu ray and see what the sound is like now.

Thanks for your help.

P.s. which videos for set up would you recommend?

the test tone....