Cant decide between 80, 100, to use on my Monitor 40, CS2, and PSW505 sub.

Skeeterdamus

I have had the speakers themselves now for over 3 months, The subwoofer (PSW505) is only about a month old now, I used AUTO MCAA tune on the Pioneer reciever but it doesn't seem to change the crossover on its own.


It lets me pick 60,80,100,150 is all sadly for all channels can't set each one on it's own, I myself have tried 80,100,150. And since my ears can't even tell a difference between the 3 choices (Havn't watched a blu-ray on it yet, but I have a digital cable box an watch 5.1 broadcasts alot)

Right now, since I couldn't find what one was best, I just stayed on 100. (100 seemed to sound the same as 80 to me, but im sure I just have crappy ears for that stuff. I just want the "safest level so all the bass goes to the LFE signal"

Skeeterdamus

Also MCAAC also did this weird thing, I just re-ran it after setting the Crossover to 80hz, and when it was finished it re-set all the speakers to LARGE, instead of SMALL. But When I turn them back to 100, and rerun the MCAAC it sets them back to "Small"

Also it gave the sub (PSW505) a -9DB rating, I know your supposed to make it blend in well, but that seems pretty steep as the other speakers are only -2 for 2 of the four monitor 40's and the CS2 is -5DB.

As from what Iv'e all read it says set them as small, so im really debating if this AUTO MCAAC is really worth a damn to be honest might have to go buy a DB reader.

cnh

Can you tell us what AVR you are using?

Also, 80hz should be fine for those speakers. The lower you go the less "localizable" the bass. I would stay at 80 hz if you can!

Can you set it, manually, at 80hz and then also set the speakers to small at that crossover point after the Auto set-up mike is done?

The sub, you often have to tweak by ear because Auto-set-ups have trouble with LFE values!

cnh

txcoastal1

What CNH said plus while running MCAAC make sure it is as close to dead quiet as possible....no fans, AC, or other back ground noise, and place mic at ear level of the "sweet spot"

Good luck
Ron

Skeeterdamus

The reciever is a Pioneer VSX-821-k

I got all this at one time from newegg for $800 Kinda Wish I would of got a 7.2(Mainly for the option of 2 of these subs) so im saving up for that now and will re-use this receiver as a Garage 2.1 system in a few months.


And yes, I can set them manually after it's done..

Yeah, I sat the mic on the back of the couch in the dead center of the tv and center speaker also had to noise on, even shut the door to the basement to get away from the white noise.


I just know I personally Don't see a difference from 80, to 100 I just want all the heavy load to go to the sub and use the speakers as mainly tweets cause well thats why I got it!

cnh

Your LFE movie effects, the really important ones, are probably not going to be much above 80hz. That is the THX setting for bass often used as a standard for films. It's also easier to integrate your speakers (musically) at that frequency, you'll notice less of a gap between the two if you allow the sub to do what it does best--play 80hz and below.

This is particularly true for your Center speaker which carries 50 percent of the surround info. A center that is set too high will NOT carry the "authority" it should.

Sounds like you're OK otherwise!

cnh

Skeeterdamus

so if the center carries 50% of the sound (Espectially voices) should I set the center to -0? no idea why it set itself to -5 when the other 2 fronts at set to -2.

It screams in Here at -0 though, wasnt for sure if thats a good thing or not. (First system.)

I mean, it may set the center so low because I do have one love seat right in front of the TV about 7 foot away? (I play PC games on the TV in 1080 SO I love to sit close!)

cnh

The Auto set up should be pretty good at adjusting your db levels for each surround speaker. You shouldn't worry so much. If you think the auto set up has not done well, then I would suggest you get an SPL meter (can pick those up at a Radio Shack or online). You can set the meter to, say, 75 or so db and just run through the test tones for each speaker till they meet that value; correcting by increasing or decreasing the output.

But, to tell you the truth, you're probably OK with the settings as they are. The only thing I would tweak by ear is the sub (to your liking).

Don't second guess yourself to much. Listen to the system for a few days and once you get used to it, you'll be in a better position to judge what seems right and what seems wrong!

But most of all, enjoy! Pioneers are usually pretty easy to set up!

cnh