Avia test questions

cokewithvanilla

Hey, I am running through my first AVIA test and I already have a question, so I figured I'd post a topic.

I am on the phase test, and when I test my mains, they appear to be out of phase, however, they seem to be wired properly. If I remember correct, they said 4 seconds the sound would be centered, then 2 seconds not if the phase was correct. Mine was opposite.

I have checked the wiring three times. Is there any other way these speakers would be out of phase?

Would it hurt to reverse the wiring and see if it sounds better?

cokewithvanilla

Since I never wait to make sure I don't screw something up.... I switch the wire on the left speaker.... things sound right now.... the voice isn't coming from the right corner of the room anymore..


what does this mean?!

Is it possible the internal wiring is screwed up?>

kuntasensei

Did you make sure your speaker distance settings were correct? The distance settings in the AVR can have a huge effect on phase tests like that.

cokewithvanilla

kuntasensei wrote: »

Did you make sure your speaker distance settings were correct? The distance settings in the AVR can have a huge effect on phase tests like that.

I adjusted them before, but I think I reset my preamp. I will have to check this. Could it make a real big difference? I mean, the voice was coming from behind me, then I reversed the wiring on the left speaker and the vocals are dead center.

kuntasensei

Yes, it can. Distance/delay controls essentially act as a variable phase control as well, because they change the arrival time at your main listening position. Room acoustics can also cause phase reversal. I would rule all of that out before changing polarity of your cabling.

cokewithvanilla

I just set the calibration, 12 feet for the fronts, 14 for the center, 9 for the rears.

It still has the same problem.

What can I really do about the room?

kuntasensei

It's possible that your room just has phase issues. I suppose there's a rare chance that a speaker is wired out of phase, but... I wouldn't typically expect that. You might play around with speaker placement and see if it changes things.

cokewithvanilla

kuntasensei wrote: »

It's possible that your room just has phase issues. I suppose there's a rare chance that a speaker is wired out of phase, but... I wouldn't typically expect that. You might play around with speaker placement and see if it changes things.

Hm. What kind of placement would cause such a thing? The room is a rectangle...

kuntasensei

Proximity to the wall, width of placement of your mains, side-wall reflections. There are any number of placement issues that can cause phase issues. First, check to make sure all your wiring is correct and try tweaking distance/delay settings slightly to see if a slight change brings the imaging back into focus. After ruling all of that out... you may well just have to swap the wires to the speaker.

jinjuku

Does your pre-pro or receiver have an auto-eq function? If so I would run that once and then dig into the menu for the settings it configured with and see what it thinks everything looks like.

cokewithvanilla

jinjuku wrote: »

Does your pre-pro or receiver have an auto-eq function? If so I would run that once and then dig into the menu for the settings it configured with and see what it thinks everything looks like.

I couldn't be that lucky. I got an Emotiva DMC-1... yeah, maybe not the best choice.

Currently, I simply have the wires flipped on the left speaker. I promise, the tiny changes that occur from the calibration settings do absolutely nothing. it's literally night and day. The voice comes out of the rear with the wires correctly placed... with any settings, and from center stage with them reversed.

Same with different amp and source... I might plug the source directly into the amp to see if its the preamp... otherwise...