5.1 setup... what does 'distance' mean?

HangTime

HangTime

HangTime

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Bit of a stupid question, I recently purchased a 5.1 AV/speaker system (LG SR906B) and one of the things the manual wasn't clear on is what the 'distance' setting for each speaker is relative to. I'm assumming it means distance from the listener or could it mean distance from the TV?

Also, I could use some advice on how best to adjust/compensate for sub-optimal speaker positioning, by which I mean due to the room/furniture layout it is not currently possible for me to set everything up nice and symmetrical. The right speakers (both front and rear) are a bit closer to the TV/Sofa than the left so I'm guessing I could adjust the level (making left slightly higher than right) but not sure if that is a good idea or not. Additionally, the rear left speaker is positioned a bit higher than the others.

I'm aware that the simple answer from audiophiles would likely be "position your kit properly or at least symmetrically" but is there any advice I could heed on making the best out of a bad situation?
 
Distance to the listener.

For no symmetrical rooms. Pioneer has MCACC


Other makes has similar thing, i.e. Audyssey

In short, i stick the speakers where i want it, run the sweep and that's it.

see, mine isn't totally symmetrical either.

 
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It's not always possible to set things symetrically so measure the distance from the main listening spot to each speaker and enter it manually. The Amp should the use that to 'steer' the sound correctly, adding the tiny delay for closer speakers so you hear everything as you should.
 
Thanks, logically I don't know why I thought it could be distance from the TV because it may not even be plugged into a TV :)

It does have a microphone that you can use for auto-calibration but reading reviews online they said it wasn't very reliable, which is perhaps understandable for a cheap starter kit. The good news is I've been reasonably impressed so far on default settings with a bit of distance tweaking when used for football (crowd noise) and Saving Private Ryan (war noise). Volume level seems a bit erratic when watching TV but I guess that is down to the source as much as anything.
 
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