Audyssey XT Room Calibration help....


I am wondering why when calibrating all 8 seating positions with my Onkyo Pro SC-885 pre processor it calculates the distance to near perfect but the crossovers are so out of wack. Speakers are Paradigm Signature S1's,C1,ADP1's - EG: 120HZ for rears which are crossed over at 70HZ, 120HZ for center and crossed at 60HZ, and fronts at 90HZ which are crossed at 58HZ. Should I just put them at full range or leave the settings as is????

ALSO: When a new installed powercord(s), interconnect(s), speaker cord(s), or component is connected to your system and you have prior calibrations should you re-calibrate with the new addition???? Any help would be appreciated...

REHGARDS Bacardi
128x128bacardi
I do not understand your numbers as expressed but none of those speakers are full-range and should be crossed over as recommended. Note that the so-called low frequency limit advertised was not measured in your room.

"powercord(s), interconnect(s), speaker cord(s)," make absolutely no difference. No need for recalibration.

Other component? What other component?

Kal
The frequency ratings for the above speakers are: Front-72hz-45khz,Center-73hz-45khz,Rears-99HZ-45KHZ. The Audyssey calibration at:Front 90hz,Center 120Hz,Rears 120HZ.I meant that if you replaced an amplifier or pre/processor with different specs(eg: S/N ratio, db ratings, power ratings)....Would you then need to re-calibrate????

REGARDS Bacardi
Audyssey's recommendations do not seem unreasonable as they take into consideration your room's acoustics and the performance of the speakers as you have placed them in that room.

If you replace the amp or processor, you should re-calibrate although the reasons have nothing to do with "(eg: S/N ratio, db ratings, power ratings)."

Kal
The quality of sound could be far different...The db could efffect the volume from the speakers if greater or less. The spl could too. The power rating could effect as well with the db rating. Correct.

Regards Bacardi
To be precise, the sensitivity of the power amp could affect the balance with the sub. SPL/Power are not relevant.

Kal
i would suggest that because speaker cable affects the sound reproduced by the speakers from the receiver generating the test tones that recalibration when changing those is necessary. power cord to the amp would affect the sound as well. ic's are farther along the soundpath chain and therefor would not affect calibration. also, in regards to bass management, audysee merely provides the software to the receiver manufacturer who then decides how to implement it. for instance, in my marantz, they decided to set any speaker that can reach 60hz as "large". clearly this is incorrect, but it may still sound best and integrate optimally with your sub. many suggest taking the lowest frequency repro of your speakers and adding twenty to it and set crossover there. for me, (totem dreamcatchers 57hz+/-) audysee set them as large and crossover at 60hz. i changed it to recommended spec(small and cross @ 80). i found that to sound thin, so i just changed the speakers to small and left the crossover at 60hz, this way the sub takes over ANYTHING below 60. now i have good midrange punch and liquidity, with bottom end oomph. so, in the end, play around with the crossover and large/small setting to find what sounds best to you in your room with your system.
THX.Uncertainsmile for your input.Greatly appreciated.....One other question. Do you calibrate all 8 positions to get a better average or only how many sitting position one has?????

REGARDS Bacardi
uncertain smile wrote:
i would suggest that because speaker cable affects the sound reproduced by the speakers from the receiver generating the test tones that recalibration when changing those is necessary. power cord to the amp would affect the sound as well.
You have got to be kidding.

Kal
kal, if you ain't a cable guy then fine, but...the receiver generates the test tone which in turn travels through the speaker cables which then is reproduced by the speakers. it would stand to reason that, if one beleives cables make a difference in the sound of a system, then a change in cable would change the readings audysee takes on the test tones cuz they will "sound" different. yes? audysee reads frequency response, speaker loudness level, speed of the response, etc. cables can and do change these things. would you recalibrate if you changes speakers? same thing. IF you're a cable guy. anything behind that chain can't make a lick of difference.
btw, those are very informative threads kal linked to. definately read them. calibrate as many positions as possible.
Well, Uncertainsmile, you do raise the two possibilities that I accept. Either one believes the cables make a difference or one does not believe they do. How would that affect one's need to recalibrate?

If you do not believe, then there's certainly no reason to recalibrate.

If you do believe that the cables made an improvement, then why would you want Audyssey to compensate and correct the change wrought by the cables you just paid for?

So, you can have it either way. ;-)

Kal
dude, it calibrates for optimal response in your room. IF your cables change the response of your speakers then it affects audysee's readings and calibration adjustments. what makes you think that audysee would cancel any improvements made by a change in speaker cable. in theory it should ENHANCE any such changes, otherwise why use it? with that said, now that i think of it the signal sent to your sub via your sub cable would change if you switch cables, recalibrate then too. c'mon now, be reasonable.
I am being reasonable in even entertaining that changes in cables make any significant difference at all!

Why would you assume that Audyssey would enhance a change in FR, for example, and not attempt to flatten the FR as it does with any system?

The most important changes that demand a recalibration are those that affect level, sensitivity, gain and, even then, only if they affect fewer than all the channels. Any change in level, for example, that applies to all channels needs no recalibration. By definition then, a change in the power cable for the prepro or AVR does not demand a recalibration.

Since Audyssey is actually MEASURING the sound objectively, you would first have to demonstrate that any of the cable changes make objectively measurable changes.

Kal