CS2 Voice Volume Not Correct

ljay880

Hello everyone! I've had my CS2 for about a year now, but it has never sounded right (to me). I knew this was because I had junk speakers filling in for the rest of the 5.1 set-up, till I could get a pair of decent front L/R speakers. While I know there are much better speakers out there, I settled on Polk 70s (series 2). I have Monitor 30s as my surrounds. My receiver is a Sony STR-DN1040 and I ran the DCAC to calibrate the speakers. The distances were pretty good, but it set all my speakers to large. This didn't sound terrible, but it wasn't great either. I changed everything to small and set the crossover on the 70s to 60Hz and the CS2/30s to 80Hz. This sounds a lot better, and I now know what its like to have uniformed sound (more akin to a movie theater), than various streams of sounds that are easy to pick out from each other. I was very happy with this aspect, but one problem remains. During most movies/TV shows, parts with softer dialog are hard to hear, sometimes I can't even tell what they are saying, so I turn it up. Then some louder, action sequence kicks in and I am grabbing for the remote to turn it back down. This back and forth is driving me crazy, and I was hoping all the Polk experts on this forum could help! I've done hours of googling and trying settings, which is how i came upon my current settings, but I can't seem to get a soft spoken scene to sound right, without turning the volume up to levels I don't want them to be at. Thanks in advance for any help!

hochpt21

I had this problem as well. Same speakers.

Make sure the center is pointed directly at ear level. Not to low or high.

Turn the level on your center up and the levels on the 70's down. When the action sequences start it's the 70's that are overpowering, not the center getting too loud.

Finally, some movies just kinda suck like that, the newest Batman trilogy for example.

ljay880

Thanks for the response! Oddly enough, the DCAC set one of the 70s at -0.5 DB and the other at 0.5DB. I changed this so that both are 0.5DB. My seat is about 17ft from the TV and exactly dead centered with the Center speaker, between the L/R, so shouldn't it have set them at the same level? The CS2 was set to -3DB. My Sub (Polk PSW505) was set to -7DB and the 30s were set to 1.0DB. What settings would you recommend? The CS2 is a little low actually, pointing at what would be the high shin/low knee area, rather than the ears. Because of my current stand, I can't change this. It literally touches the stand on top & bottom, so I can't change the angle of it. I plan on building a new stand to remedy this issue, but at present, I can't do anything about it.

F1nut

Your AVR sets levels based on room interaction, etc., so it's not unusual for the left to be set at a different level than the right. However, the calibration programs are not perfect and should be used as a base line only and need to be dialed in by using an SPL meter. Radio Shack makes an excellent digital version.

hochpt21

I know it's hard to believe, but that placement does make a pretty big difference. Any amount you can angle it up would help.

Try turning your center up and the 70s down. The center is almost exclusively used for dialogue, the surrounds are the big explosions and that's why you are having to turn up for the dialogue and down for the action.

tonyb

17 feet away.....that's a pretty big room there. As stated, turn the center channel levels up to +3 and see how it sounds. A lot of todays movies simply suck at dialog too like the Batman series already stated.

How big is this room all together ?

ljay880

Thanks for all the tips so far! I will try bumping the center up to +3 and see how that changes things. I worked late today and everyone is already in bed, so dialing up the sound system is going to have to wait till tomorrow

@hochpt21 My brother in law does carpentry work and we are going to be building a new stand that will have more space to angle the center, as well as raise it to about neck level. The CS2 is slanted after about 3-4 inches, so I have it slid into my current stand util that point and it touches top and bottom. This prevents me from doing anything until I build new stand.

@tonyb The room is about 21ft x 16 ft, so the speakers have some space to reach me.

F1nut

You NEED to buy an SPL meter. Tony's +3 was just a suggestion. Try -2 first and work your way up.

tonyb

Yep, +3 was just a suggestion. Seeing that your setting is at-3 now, you need a pretty good jump especially since your sitting 17 feet away from it.

None of the settings suggested are written in stone, always adjust them to your preferences even if it's outside what the calibration claims to be correct.

littlewoodboats

I found the fronts in my room improved when I set the front R/L and center to small and crossed at 80 hz (80hz is the THX recommended crossover point) My monitor 7's play much lower than 80hz like your Monitor 70's but for theater when using a subwoofer 80hz worked best. Your receiver will thank you for out boarding playback of the lower registers to the subwoofer.

I also found improvement when I moved the subwoofer to the side of the room firing across the room instead of in front firing at us sitting on the couch. As we sit on the couch the sub is behind a recliner doubling as a coffee table. The sub is the Polk PSW125 front firing. I do not have any experience with any other type of sub so could not speak to placement of a downward firing unit.

you really should have a SPL meter. Running the set-up on my Outlaw M-975 my front Right is set lower in the menu to gain the same 85dB as the Left and Center. I have since increased the Center by 1dB. Once you are in the ballpark the adjustments are subtle and the meter helps as it hears .5 dB steps much better than my guessing.

ljay880

@F1nut I took your advice and started with -2DB on the CS2 and the voices are indeed a bit better. The kids are watching TV right now, so I can't play more with it now. The audio in what they are watching isn't really great, so its not a great test of how well it worked. The one thing I have noticed already, is that going from -3DB to -2DB, I can hear the CS2 above the Monitor 70s, just slightly. I have off Thursday and the kids are in school, so I will really have the time then go back and forth with quiet movie parts and various levels to see how it changes.

@hochpt21 You said you had the same speakers. Out of curiosity, what did you have the crossover set to? I have mine at 60hz, but I read most people set it at either 60 or 80hz.

I was looking at SPL meters and it seems the cheapest one I see is on Amazon, for about $60. Is that a good deal or where would be the best place (pocketbook wise) to grab one? Also, is there a sticky/guide for the procedure of how to test/setup a system using a SPL?

F1nut

Yep, playing with the levels is what you need to do.

Set to 80Hz.

Radio Shack Cat. No. 33-2055 is the one you want.

ljay880

@F1nut I ordered the SPL you mentioned and it should arrive on Friday. Is there a guide on how to dial in a sound system using one of these?

txcoastal1

I put the SPL meter at my center listening position. Connected 1 speaker at a time at took a reading and adjusted levels to match the front 3 speakers.
Now this is not set in stone. You may prefer different setting once evaluated.
I take notes while setting the system up and right down levels of preference.

have fun

ljay880

My receiver has a test tone that I can do for each individual speaker. Can I use this for tuning? Would I set each speaker DB level back to 0 and then run the test tone, then increase the DB for that speaker until the test tone I am getting registers a 75DB on the SPL? Then repeat for each speaker? Does the receiver's normal volume level (like turning the sound up or down while watching a movie) have anything to do with this tuning?

afterburnt

A little late but it may help. You can get an SPL app for Android and try. I really don't know if the app is worth a damn but I suppose it could tell you something about the levels at least in relative terms.

ljay880

OK, so the Radio Shack 33-2055 arrived in the mail today and I got familiar with how it works. I had previously asked about the test tones and DB level from my receiver and if this could be used to calibrate. I am not sure exactly how to do this otherwise. Does anyone know if that will work or not?

F1nut

Yes, use the test tones and the meter to set the levels. Check what the levels are set to now with the meter (write them down), then tweak the levels to your liking.

ljay880

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! Two more questions ... What is a good DB level to set it to with the meter and does the system volume level (not the individual speaker DB settings) have anything to do with the test tones?

F1nut

The system volume level is separate from the test levels. The standard test dB level is 75dB, but you can adjust to your liking.

ljay880

I only have a 3 hour window ( on Fridays) where everyone is gone from the house and I can shut down everything for absolute silence. I had obligations the past Friday, so I will have to try the calibration this week.

On another note, I have a junk pair of speakers for my surrounds and wanted to get a matching pair. I can get a pair of Polk FXiA6 with ~50 hours on them for $250. What are everyone's opinions on these speakers, how they would pair up with the rest of my set-up, and is $250 is a deal worth acting on? Is there a better pair I can get at that price point, used or new? Thanks again for all the help so far!

ljay880

So I tried the calibration with my systems test tones, but the problem is that they go up and down with my system volume. As such, I have no real way to know that a tone is being played at this level, and the meter is recording at the same, from the listening position. What would best way to do this?

Nightfall

The db of the tone is not important, matching each channel is. Once you have them matched you can go from there. Not enough center channel, kick it up in .5db increments and listen. ETC.

F1nut

I can get a pair of Polk FXiA6 with ~50 hours on them for $250.

Sorry I missed this. Yes, buy them now!

The db of the tone is not important, matching each channel is.

Agreed.

ljay880

@F1nut I am picking them up tomorrow, but then I will have to figure out if it would be best to mount them on my left and right, or behind me. The couch sits against the back wall, so the main listening position would be almost flush with them. Also, the best setting (Bi or Di) as I've read tons of thoughts on this. This is for a 5.1, so I've read that a few feet in front of the main listening position, on the left and right, in Di mode. Does this sound right, and/or are there any other recommendations you would make?

@Nightfall this might be a bit of noob question, but should I then pick a master volume level that i commonly listen to the system and then shoot for what level on the SPL? Before, I thought my system would just spit out 75DB, and I could change each channel's individual db level so that all were hitting the main listening position at 75DB. This will not work, so now I'm a bit confused on how to do the actual test/balancing.

I apologize for all the questions in advance, if they seem redundant.

Nightfall

The volume you choose is not important as long as your meter can read it accurately. Once you choose a volume, whatever it is, don't touch the volume dial anymore - only adjust each channels db from the AVR menu until they all read the same from the meter at your listening position.

F1nut

ljay880 wrote: »

@F1nut I am picking them up tomorrow, but then I will have to figure out if it would be best to mount them on my left and right, or behind me. The couch sits against the back wall, so the main listening position would be almost flush with them. Also, the best setting (Bi or Di) as I've read tons of thoughts on this. This is for a 5.1, so I've read that a few feet in front of the main listening position, on the left and right, in Di mode. Does this sound right, and/or are there any other recommendations you would make?

It would be best to try different positions as no two rooms are the same. My seating is very close to the rear wall. I like the results with my FXiA6's on 30" stands hugging the rear wall. I tried them higher as many suggest, but found it completely unnatural. Nor did I care for them on the sides slightly in front of the seating.