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setting ALL speakers to “Small” works best. Also, is your subwoofer turned
“ON”? We don’t mean “is your subwoofer
amplifier
on?” (that’ll be impor-
tant later too!) but rather,
is your receiver sending a bass signal to your sub
amp
? This can only happen if you say “Yes” (or “ON”) in the “Subwoofer”
selection during the all-important setup menu of any typical Dolby Digital/
DTS capable receiver.
•
I
s your receiver connected to the sub amp?
Use a well-shielded
RCA cable (sometimes called a “patch cord”) to hook to the subwoofer output
of your DD/DTS receiver to
either
input jack of your subwoofer’s dedicated
amplifier. As mentioned earlier, you’ll need to “split” the bass signal with a
“Y Cable” if you bought a pair of subs. You only need feed
one
of the two
inputs (either Right or Left) of any single
Powered Box SVS
however.
•
I
s your Radio Shack ® sound pressure level (SPL) meter ready?
This tool is vital to proper home theater audio calibration. It’s akin to a tire
pressure gauge for your car. Set the meter to “Slow” and
“C-weighting” (turn the dial to 70dB). The manual which
comes with the SPL meter is excellent; we recommend you
read it entirely. Haven’t got the meter yet? Head down to
your neighborhood Radio Shack ® and snag one. We pre-
fer the analog instead of the digital display model. Ask for
part number 33-2050. At about $40, it’s a bargain. Proper
configuration
without
this meter is practically impossible.
Getting ready to start now: Make sure your receiver/processor master vol-
ume is set at “00 dB” or some other easy to remember reference level. Finally,
ensure your SVS’s volume control is set no more than 1/4 to 1/3rd up at first. It’s
also critical to check the subwoofer level control of your surround receiver before
you begin the test tones. Set it to no higher than “-5 dB” initially (that’s one quar-
ter way up, given a typical receiver’s subwoofer channel level limits of –10 dB to
+10 dB) . Your LFE “trim”, if you have one, should be set to 0dB to start (that’s
full up) but this can be dialed down later to tame peaks if needed. Turn off ANY
sound-field processing modes, “peak limiters”, “mid-night mode” etc.!
Now play your receiver's internal test tones so you have something
to measure with your SPL meter. Better yet, buy a calibration disk, such as
the Video Essentials, Sound and Vision HT Tune Up, or Avia DVDs. A test disk’s
tones ensure your entire signal path, from the DVD player to your speakers, is set
correctly. Whatever you use, when the tones start alternating from speaker to
speaker (watch your sound meter now), set each full range speaker’s volume to
about 75 dB (or 85dB if using Avia or S&V), by using the receiver’s dedicated
channel level controls (leaving receiver’s master volume the same). We recom-
mend you turn down the receiver’s subwoofer output level before you significantly
lower your sub’s volume/gain control. This helps keep input distortion to a mini-
mum. You should not be set much lower than –5 dB however, since some adjust-
ment room is needed to lower bass as needed. If your subwoofer reading is still
too high then turn down the sub’s amp volume a little with each run.