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44
ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
STEP FOUR – Setting Channel Output
Levels Manually
For a conventional 2-channel receiver, the balance control affects
the stereo imaging by adjusting the relative loudness of the left and
right channels.
With up to seven main channels, plus a subwoofer, imaging
becomes both more critical and more complex. The goal is to
ensure that each channel is heard at the listening position with
equal loudness.
EzSet/EQ II calibration can handle this critical task for you, simply
and automatically. However, the AVR’s Adjust Speaker Levels menu
allows you to calibrate the levels manually, either using the system’s
test tone or while playing source material.
1. Make sure all speakers have been placed and connected correctly.
2. Adjust the number of speakers, crossover, distance and sub mode
for each speaker in your system, as described in Step Three.
3. Measure the channel levels in one of these ways, and adjust the
channel levels using the Adjust Speaker Levels menu:
a) Preferably, use a handheld SPL meter set to the C-Weighting,
Slow scale. Adjust each channel so that the meter reads 75dB.
b) By ear. Adjust the levels so that all channels sound equally loud.
c) If you are using a handheld SPL meter with source material,
such as a test disc or an audio selection, play it and adjust the
AVR’s master volume control until the meter measures 75dB.
Press the AVR Settings Button to display the menu system, and then
navigate to the Speaker Setup line. Press the OK Button to display
the Speaker Setup menu. Select Setup Listening Position 1 or 2,
press the OK Button, and then navigate to the Level Adjust line.
Press the OK Button to display the Adjust Speaker Levels menu.
See Figure 32.
Figure 32 – Adjust Speaker Levels Menu
All of the speaker channels will appear with their current level settings.
Reset Levels: To reset all levels to their factory defaults of
0dB, scroll down to this line at the bottom of the menu and press
the OK Button.
To set your levels using the AVR 7550HD’s internal test tone, adjust
the TEST TONE line as follows:
Test Tone: Determines whether the test tone is active. To begin,
press the OK Button repeatedly to select the OFF, AUTO or MANUAL
setting. Manually moving the cursor out of the channel listings area
of the screen automatically stops the test tone.
When this setting reads AUTO, the test tone will automatically
circulate to all channels, pausing for a few moments at each channel
and then moving to the next channel several seconds later, as
indicated by the highlight bar. Adjust the level for any channel
when the test tone is paused there, using the
7/3Buttons. Use
the 1/5 Buttons to move the cursor to another line, and the test
tone will follow the cursor.
When this setting reads MANUAL, the test tone will not move to the
next channel until you use the
1/5 Buttons.
Individual Channels: If you are using an external source
to set your output levels, navigate to each channel and use the
7/3Buttons to adjust the level, as desired, between –10dB
and +10dB.
When you have finished adjusting the speaker levels, select the
Back option or press the Back/Exit Button. Record the level settings
in Table A3 in the appendix.
AUDIO EFFECTS
To adjust other audio settings, such as the tone controls, to improve
performance, press the Audio Effects Button to display the Audio
Effects menu (see Figure 24). The menu may also be accessed from
the Setup Source menu by pressing the Info Settings Button and
selecting Audio Effects.
NOTE: The settings in the Audio Effects menu affect each
source independently.
Dolby Volume: See page 33 for an explanation of Dolby
Volume processing and its benefits. Refer to Table 3 on that page
for an explanation of each of the Dolby Volume settings.
Tone Control: Determines whether the treble and bass
controls are active. When it’s off, the tone controls are “flat”, with
no changes. When it’s on, the bass and treble frequencies are
boosted or cut, depending upon the tone-control settings. When an
analog audio source is in use and the 2-Channel Stereo surround
mode is selected, setting the Tone Control to “Off” places the unit
in analog bypass mode.
Treble and Bass: Boost or cut the high or low frequencies by
up to 10dB by using the
7/3Buttons to change the temperature
bar setting. The default setting is 0dB, at the center of the tempera-
ture bar.
LFE Trim: Attenuates the loudness of the subwoofer. The setting
defaults to the maximum of 0dB. Press the
7/3Buttons to reduce
the level by up to 10dB; the setting will appear as a negative number.
EQ: This setting activates or deactivates the equalization settings
obtained when the EzSet/EQ II process was run. The settings are
saved for reactivation at a later listening session.
Speaker Setup: Select Position 1 or 2 to activate the speaker
configuration settings saved for the desired position. The settings
may be configured either by running the EzSet/EQ II process and
saving the results, or manually, as explained in the Manual Speaker
Setup section on page 41.
When you have finished, press the Audio Effects Button or the
Back/Exit Button.
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