Home Theater Setup Help

mex916

Im in need of some of your professional assitance

My setup all speakers are set to "SMALL":
RTI8
RTI6 book shelf
PSW10 sub with LFE
csi5 center channel
LED Sharp 60"
Sony STR-DA3100ES receiver
PS3 slim
Sony Blu-ray S570

I have this hooked up and set to "Small" speakers. Movie / actors voices are very hard to hear... I have to turn up volume way UP...but what happens is that the sounds of everything else get so intense im shaking the walls but the voices are not as loud as one would think from raising the volume so high.

update: I read some of the forums here and changed my crossover to 80 from the 100
and then I raised the the center channel from +0.5db to +5.0db much better .. i can hear the voices much better
Center: +5.0db
RTI8: +0.5db
RTI6 book shelfs: +0.5db
PSW10 sub: +0.5db
where do i set the Khz and the volume on my sub by the way... confused????

should I also adjust the EQ in the reciever?

what else should I do, am I on the right path?...
I do have a sound meter by the way...

I want to fine tune this setup as best as I can but my audio HT knowledge sucks!

Syndil

Reported.

tonyb

If your using the crossover in the receiver, then turn that crossover on the back of the sub all the way up so you don't have double filtering. Also experiment alittle. Try the fronts or any of the other speakers at large instead of small and see how it sounds. Some receivers will let you set the fronts to large and send bass to the sub. The only way to know what floats your boat best in your environment is to play around with the settings. What works for one person may not work for you or your tastes.

mex916

Thanks Tony, I will try turning the sub crossover ( and only adjust the sub volume) all the way and let my receiver do the crossover
"
By the way Ps3 is hooked up to my Sony Str-da3100es receiver via "optical"..... Str-da3100es does not have HDMI inputs
I Google some other things to change such as below

I set my PS33 bd/dvd audio output (optical) to bitstream
I turned off PS3 dynamic range, default is auto but i set to "off"
I raised the center to +3.5
kept everything else at +0.5dbs
I have sound meter .. need to use that right?

mex916

Good morning everyone!

As per my previous post my system setup lacks center channel movie voice loudness.. have to raise receiver volume up to hear
the actors voices…but then everything gets way too loud…
I’ve been experiment and have made some adjustments that helped Like raising the center channels Dbs.. this seemed to help alot!
but am I doing this right???

By the way I have a sound meter.. I need to find that bad boy..Its in my place somewhere!

I read, if I bump up the center channel dbs’s then it get to centered. So dont raise Dbs too much???

My receiver EQS.. are adjusted by me .. should I leave them flat while I make my adjustments?

My equipment Hook Up:

Speakers: Polk (set to SMALL in receiver), Speaker wiring: is regular NOT Bi-wired
Mains: Rti8
LEVEL/ Left & Right: set slider to Equal for L & R
Surrounds: Rti6
LEVEL: +0. 5DB
Center Channel: CSI5
Level: +3.5DB
Subwoofer: PSW10 with LFE (LFE is my connection used to receiver)
LEVEL: +0.5DB
Low pass knob: set to 100 (not all the way up) (will move to all the way up as suggested, previously by Tony)
Volume knob: set to middle

A/V Receiver: NON-HDMI
Sony STR-DA3100ES 120watts x7 @ 0.05%THD
Settings: Speakers set to: SMALL
Crossover: all speakers set to 80 (Default is 100)


Game console: PS3 slim
PS3 Slim TO Sharp 60" LED: HDMI
PS3 Slim TO Sony STR-DA3100ES Receiver: Optical (In PS3 Menu: Set to “Bit stream”) (Dynamic setting in PS3 is set to: OFF)

TV: Sharp 60” LED LCD 1080p -120hz
Sharp 60” LED/ LCD TO Sony STR-DA3100ES Receiver: Optical
Sharp 60” TO Blu-Ray: Optical (to ovoid lip sync issues)

Blu-ray/ DVD: Sony Blu-Ray BDP-S570
TO Sony STR-DA3100ES Receiver: CoaxDigital
TO Sharp LED/LCD 60”: HDMI

Cable:
COMCAST cable HD box to Sharp 60”: HDMI

mex916

I made a mistake my PSW10 does not have LFE.

I used a a RCA Y cable and ran that to my sub woofer output in my receiver. I guess the SONY STR-DA3100ES
has LFE when you set the speakers to "SMALL"

Tony as you said I will turn my frequency knob thing all the way up.. and let the receiver do its work!

mex916

I just want to thank those who gave me some free advice but so valuable to me!!!! I used the nowledge and advice learned here and made some adjustments to my HT system and all i can say is "WOW"
The sound is amazing.. the center dialogue is finally audible without turning the master volume all the way up!

I watched the animation Blu-RAy movie: 9.... it fraken amazing Picture on my 60" Sharp LED and the Home Theater sound is soo good that my girlfriend was jumpy because the sound was so realistic and you could hear the slightest bolt fall, metal to metal, footsteps... freaking cool!!!!!
I was so close to giving up but I didn't and thanks so.. much to everyone!!! I still neeed to tweak a bit like use a sound meter and learn about adjusting my recievers eq. for ea speaker .. so if you guys have advice keep it comming!


quick question i have PSW10 subwoofer so if I upgrade to a bigger model will it make a huge difference in my system.. is it worth the cost to upgrade? Do I need a seperate amplifier???

Albertmiranda92

i have a psw10 and bought a sony bdv e580 and i really do not now to set ip up

Sherardp

Mex you should put your sound meter on your speakers and level everything out to 75-80db on the meter. From there I would bump the center up a few notches to your liking. Do your receiver come with a small mic for auto room eq and setup?