How do i calabrate my system?
07-15-01, 05:37 PM
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Audio/Video or both. I think you might need to add a bit of information before people start to give you suggestions.
Video can be done by an ISF (I think that is what it is, could be way off on this one) tech. This is a liscensed person who calibrates everything from brightness and contrast levels to alignment of the guns on your television set. Some can be good some bad. Some people have had such good experiences they feel every penny was worth it.
Audio can be calibrated by buying a disk, Avia, Video Essentials, and using a SPL meter to make sure your HT speaker system is set up right for surround, dts, and dobly digital playback.
Hope this helps a little.
Video can be done by an ISF (I think that is what it is, could be way off on this one) tech. This is a liscensed person who calibrates everything from brightness and contrast levels to alignment of the guns on your television set. Some can be good some bad. Some people have had such good experiences they feel every penny was worth it.
Audio can be calibrated by buying a disk, Avia, Video Essentials, and using a SPL meter to make sure your HT speaker system is set up right for surround, dts, and dobly digital playback.
Hope this helps a little.
07-15-01, 06:26 PM
#3
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Sound:
Go to Radio Shack and get an SPL meter, $39. http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...uct_id=33-2050
Mains, center and rears.
The receiver should have a setting for distances from the listening position to each speaker. You want to set this up correctly so all the delay times are right.
Your receiver should have a setting for what type of speaker you have, usually "large" or "small". If you have full range speakers able to handle a wide frequency band(20Hz to 20KHz) then you want this setting to be large, small if the converse is true. You want to determine what frequency band your speakers can handle because the where your mains can't handle in the lower frequencies your sub takes over for and where you want to set the sub's crossover.
Your receiver should have a setup menu for speaker level. This will send a test tone(usually 75Hz) to each of the 5 speakers and the sub. Set your SPL meter to the test tone Hz and adjust each of your speakers to the same level(I usually set my center a little bit louder so the dialogue cuts through a bit better).
Sub.
This can be the hardest thing to set up in a HT to get it just right, placement is the key. A couple of things to keep in mind that the subs apparent "loudness" will increase a couple of db when you put it near a wall and will increase a couple of db more if you put it in a corner.
The first thing to do is put it where you want to. Usually you want to start behind and to the right or left of one of your mains if you have the room. Set the crossover of the sub in the general area of where yours mains cut off (i.e. if your mains handle 45Hz to 20KHz then set your sub's crossover around 40 to 50 Hz)The next thing to do is level match it with the rest of your speakers with the SPL meter(remember to set the range on the meter accordingly).
Now here is where the fun begins. Put some sort of a refrence CD or DVD that really works the sub but also maintains a nice clarity. For a CD I recommend Aja, by Steely Dan. Play this and start moving the sub all over the places that you can put it always returning to the listening position to find where the sub best fits in, this can take hours. Another trick is to put the sub in the listening position and you walk around the room untill the sub sounds the best and put the sub there(remember to adjust your settings on the receiver for distance and level each time you move it).
Now of course you don't have to do this with the sub. You can just obviously put it in one spot, level match it and be done with it. But every room needs to be tamed in one way or another and taking the time with your sub will pay off in the end.
Video:
One thing you can do to help with the video is pop in a DVD with the THX video setup on it and use that to calibrate it.
However to get better results you want to pick up either...
Avia http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...449627-3761542
or Video Essentials http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...449627-3761542
Follow the instructions on these discs for your video setup and they also offer audi setup help as well.
There is a ton of other stuff that you can do but this is a basic thing to get you started.
Go to Radio Shack and get an SPL meter, $39. http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...uct_id=33-2050
Mains, center and rears.
The receiver should have a setting for distances from the listening position to each speaker. You want to set this up correctly so all the delay times are right.
Your receiver should have a setting for what type of speaker you have, usually "large" or "small". If you have full range speakers able to handle a wide frequency band(20Hz to 20KHz) then you want this setting to be large, small if the converse is true. You want to determine what frequency band your speakers can handle because the where your mains can't handle in the lower frequencies your sub takes over for and where you want to set the sub's crossover.
Your receiver should have a setup menu for speaker level. This will send a test tone(usually 75Hz) to each of the 5 speakers and the sub. Set your SPL meter to the test tone Hz and adjust each of your speakers to the same level(I usually set my center a little bit louder so the dialogue cuts through a bit better).
Sub.
This can be the hardest thing to set up in a HT to get it just right, placement is the key. A couple of things to keep in mind that the subs apparent "loudness" will increase a couple of db when you put it near a wall and will increase a couple of db more if you put it in a corner.
The first thing to do is put it where you want to. Usually you want to start behind and to the right or left of one of your mains if you have the room. Set the crossover of the sub in the general area of where yours mains cut off (i.e. if your mains handle 45Hz to 20KHz then set your sub's crossover around 40 to 50 Hz)The next thing to do is level match it with the rest of your speakers with the SPL meter(remember to set the range on the meter accordingly).
Now here is where the fun begins. Put some sort of a refrence CD or DVD that really works the sub but also maintains a nice clarity. For a CD I recommend Aja, by Steely Dan. Play this and start moving the sub all over the places that you can put it always returning to the listening position to find where the sub best fits in, this can take hours. Another trick is to put the sub in the listening position and you walk around the room untill the sub sounds the best and put the sub there(remember to adjust your settings on the receiver for distance and level each time you move it).
Now of course you don't have to do this with the sub. You can just obviously put it in one spot, level match it and be done with it. But every room needs to be tamed in one way or another and taking the time with your sub will pay off in the end.
Video:
One thing you can do to help with the video is pop in a DVD with the THX video setup on it and use that to calibrate it.
However to get better results you want to pick up either...
Avia http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...449627-3761542
or Video Essentials http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...449627-3761542
Follow the instructions on these discs for your video setup and they also offer audi setup help as well.
There is a ton of other stuff that you can do but this is a basic thing to get you started.
Last edited by palebluedot; 07-15-01 at 06:29 PM.
