Onkyo TX DS696 Set up

The Old Gaffer
The Old Gaffer Posts: 35
edited April 2002 in Technical/Setup
Looking for a little help. I have the stated Onkyo reciever (100w into 5 channel) with 800i fronts, 400i center, PSW 450 sub, FX500i surrounds. the room is not huge 12'x16'. I had the problem of the sound being too harsh in the high end and the mids distorted and muddy. I took off the binding stap on the 800i's and used 14g speaker wire to bridge the posts, that seemed to help, also messed with the placement which helped. sounds pretty good right now.

When setting the speaker levels I use a radio shack sound meter, i start with the left front 800i set at 0db (onkyo range is -12 to +12 so I am in the middle. I then turn up the volume on the pink noise test until meter reads 75db, I then set the other speakers to match by adjusting the +- db setting. My question is: should I start with the left front at 0db? or some other setting? or doesn't it matter? thanks in advance for the help.
Gaffer
Post edited by The Old Gaffer on

Comments

  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited April 2002
    personally, i start with the center channel, but it shouldn't really matter as long as all speakers are reading 75 hrz on the SPL meter when you're done. also, you may want to play with your recs. bass/treble to get your polks sounding good to your ears.

    good luck and happy listening...
  • Dr. Spec
    Dr. Spec Posts: 3,780
    edited April 2002
    My system is similar to yours. So is my room size. Starting with 0 db naturally made sense to me - it is the baseline.

    The speaker efficiency will make a difference, as will the soundtrack (DD and DTS have slightly different volumes for the channels), as will the distance to the listener. Individual preference, too, especially on the surrounds.

    I borrowed a very expensive German SPL meter from work, and got all the speakers at the same db during the test tones, and I ended up not liking it, and changing them anyway!!

    My final settings for 5.1 playback are:

    center: 0db
    mains: +1 db
    surrounds: +3 db

    My system:

    (1) CS400i
    (2) RT800i
    (2) PSW 350 (Y splitter LFE)
    (2) CS245i (I really like it as a surround)
    "What we do in life echoes in eternity"

    Ed Mullen (emullen@svsound.com)
    Director - Technology and Customer Service
    SVS
  • woodyjacobs
    woodyjacobs Posts: 706
    edited April 2002
    I just bought an Onkyo TXSR600 (which just came out a few days ago replacing the TXSR595) and was having the same problem...I also have a 400i center and it seemed to sound really harsh until I did some tweaking...I had to set the center to -1 db and the front and rear surrounds to +2db. Oh, and the Cinema Filter feature (that I think your receiver also has) really helps control that clanky-sounding brightness of certain DVDs; it was especially nice for controlling all of the metal clanging in the coliseum scenes from Gladiator. You might try that if you haven't yet. Have you found that you really have to crank up the sub with your Onkyo?
    system 1:
    Athena: AS-F1 mains, AS-C1 center, AS-B1 surrounds, AS-P400 sub, Yammie RXV-730, Rotel RB-976 driving front stage, Samsung BD3600 Blue Ray, Denon DVD2900 for sacd/cd , jbl n24awII on the deck, samsung 40" 1080p lcd

    system 2:
    XBox 360 Spherex 5.1 system, HK DVD38, Phillips CDC 926 CD changer, Phillips 32" LCD

    2 channel
    NAD 1600 pre, NAD 2400 THX amp, Phillips CDC 926, Linn extra speaks, crappy TT
  • The Old Gaffer
    The Old Gaffer Posts: 35
    edited April 2002
    I set the volume on the PSW450 at 9:00 when doing the initial set up. the onkyo ended up at +8db. when I play movies I do have to adjust the volume up on the sub but never past 12:00.
  • woodyjacobs
    woodyjacobs Posts: 706
    edited April 2002
    Thanks for that. I think your PSW450 is just a little stronger sub than my EOSONE DSP912 (12" 120w cont.)...I have the Onkyo set at +10db and the sub at about 1:00 for music...I can cut it back to about 11:00 for DVD.
    system 1:
    Athena: AS-F1 mains, AS-C1 center, AS-B1 surrounds, AS-P400 sub, Yammie RXV-730, Rotel RB-976 driving front stage, Samsung BD3600 Blue Ray, Denon DVD2900 for sacd/cd , jbl n24awII on the deck, samsung 40" 1080p lcd

    system 2:
    XBox 360 Spherex 5.1 system, HK DVD38, Phillips CDC 926 CD changer, Phillips 32" LCD

    2 channel
    NAD 1600 pre, NAD 2400 THX amp, Phillips CDC 926, Linn extra speaks, crappy TT