Audyssey setup / SPL meters

pioneer2000 · 13 Mar 2017 at 17:08

So, having got a new Denon X4300H to replace my aging Yamaha, I thought i'd give the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 a try as it is highly rated.

It has returned with differing distance measurements for all my speakers and set all levels to around -5db, which seems odd / unnecessary to me.

I've always set distance measurements manually in the past, however I have read recently that subwoofer measurements should not be done so as otherwise it may effect the phasing? (The Audyssey setup has put the distance at over 1m further away than the sub actually is, which is apparently the correct thing to do?)

Also, the crossovers have all been set individually, whereas previously they were all at 80Hz. Is there anyway to determine the best crossovers on a per speaker basis?

The current setup consists of:

Denon X4300H

Kef R500 floorstanders (Freq range = 39Hz - 45Khz)

Kef 200C center (Freq range = 52Hz - 45Khz)

Kef R400B subwoofer (Freq range = 26Hz - 140Hz)

Kef R50 front Atmos (Freq range = 96Hz - 19.5Khz)

Kef 3005SE surrounds

What should the crossovers ideally be for each of these?

Wondering if I might be better off getting a cheap SPL meter and manually calibrating them all?

pioneer2000 · 15 Mar 2017 at 14:10

Thanks, very helpful.

At present Audyssey has set the crossovers as:

40hz - R500

40hz - R200C (That is the matching center for the R500's)

80hz - R50

90hz - 3005SE

Why should I doubt these, if I am to trust the relatively odd looking distance measurements?

What does concern me is after running Audyssey, the sound now appears to be much quieter / flatter, with less dynamic range to my ears. Also the subwoofer is virtually muted at -6.5db.

pioneer2000 · 15 Mar 2017 at 14:24

So Audyssey is wrong is this instance?

pioneer2000 · 15 Mar 2017 at 22:59

Is the LPF for LFE best to set at 120Hz? The denon defaulted to 80Hz but apparently Audyssey recommend 120Hz to ensure the entire .1 range is sent to the sub?

pioneer2000 · 16 Mar 2017 at 11:48

Ok, so at present i've changed the crossovers to:

R500 --> 60Hz

R200C --> 60Hz

R50 --> 100Hz

3005SE --> 80Hz

LPF for LFE --> 120Hz

R400B sub setting --> 140Hz (on the actual sub itself)

Now I'm wondering if I am creating an issue as aren't the crossovers generally meant to be similar / the same to ensure all the speakers are consistent with each other?

By having the LPF at 120Hz, does that mean that all the .1 LFE signal up to 120Hz (which is the max the .1 signal can have) is being handled by the sub, and for everything else below the crossovers for the individual speakers is being redirected to the sub?

pioneer2000 · 16 Mar 2017 at 12:21

hornetstinger said:
"R400B sub setting --> 140Hz (on the actual sub itself)"

If possible you want to set the crossover on the subwoofer itself to maximum, or disabled.

Sure, I believe 140Hz is the max on the sub... so I should be fine there.

Awesome help buddy

One last Q for the moment...

Am I better off adjusting the distances to be more accurate to the physical measurements, or shall I leave the Audyssey distances alone?

As an example, Audyssey is suggesting that my front left and front right are approx 5/10cm different in distance yet they are not when I measure myself. I assume it won't make much of a difference either way?

pioneer2000 · 16 Mar 2017 at 15:32

Well the amp measures it in 0.01m increments, so seems that there is scope to be that accurate.

pioneer2000 · 16 Mar 2017 at 17:35

Ok, so trust the distances, ignore the crossovers it suggests?

pioneer2000 · 18 Mar 2017 at 10:41

Hmm ive just noticed that Audeyssey multi eq features turn themselves off upon changing source (don't think it was doing this before)... could this be because I've changed the settings from the ones audeyssey set?