rf-62's? Directional?

[smcilwaine287]

So many of you may know by now I have been frustrated with setting up my 62's. It is very easy to identify where the sounds is coming from unless you are in either of the 2 center chairs. Does this seem normal to anyone? I must be in the center at all times or it seems unlistenable to me. I work for a HT company and this never seems to be the case in the show rooms. Very frustrated. ugh. Please email me w/ advice, post it here, or call me - 813.454.6167

Today I even pushed the out more past the entertainment center and toed them a bit more, no help. Volume on the left side also seems too high, I can't get it right.

[wuzzzer]

Might be a dumb question but are you sure the + and - wires are hooked up correctly?

[Brac]

I also think you should have the speaker outside of the sub. Swap the sub and speaker.

How about a pic showing other front.

[Zen Traveler]

... I work for a HT company and this never seems to be the case in the show rooms. Very frustrated. ugh. Please email me w/ advice, post it here, or call me - 813.454.6167

If you work for a HT company I am curious why you aren't getting advice from the resident experts. [^o)]

That being said, the first thing I would do is pull the RF-62s out so they clear the front of your Entertainment center by an inch or two and toe them in towards your main LP. I would also pull the Center channel slightly forward. {EDIT: Have you tried placing your Center channel on the top shelf and angle it down? That would be something that could improve your front soundstage} From looking at your picture that would be the first things I would try. Good Luck.

[jamesV]

I agree with the others, bring the speakers out more.

Volume on the left side also seems too high

It might be that the left speaker is siting in a corner and your right one is not. Have you run a setup program or used a RS SPL meter to set your speakers up?

James

[colterphoto1]

Yes to the advice given.

1. pull the speakers out so that they're clearly in front of the entertainment system. This should help with dispersion. Also the ports are in the back, they need some clear space- probably 6" at least from back of cabinet to wall.

2. the left speaker is very close to three room boundaries (floor, wall, wall2), chances are the right speaker isn't nearly as 'enclosed'. This puts each speaker in a different acoustic space with the left speaker getting more reinforcement from room boundaries. Some tweaking with your receiver's setup might help alleviate this.

3. the boomiest postion for a sub is directly in a corner, frequently it's a starting point but rarely the final postion for the smoothest bass response.

4. are those speakers way high up on the walls shooting over your head the surrounds? Really?

5. to get the boomiest sound possible, set with your head as close as possible to the rear wall, for better sense of surround, move away from the back wall. Your brain knows the wall is there, so it's not convinced of the surround sound you're trying to develop.

6. what HT company do you work for and in what capacity? these are pretty basic issues really. your system looks great but there are quite a few oversights in this installation. is this your personal home or a professional project? were aesthetics high on this list for this client?

7. regarding the 'I can tell where sounds are coming from' issue, is this mainly with movies or with music also? The sound field is not convincing or you can only hear one speaker at a time? Perhaps the center speaker is not loud enough, it's a smaller speaker in this installation, and very low in the cabinet, perhaps tipping it upwards would help get it's sound out of the carpet. The sound field is probably VERY wide for standard stereo listening due to the enormity of the cabinet. I would not expect good stereo field from such a system.

[Frzninvt]

Wouldn't that center channel sound better up on the top shelf rather than firing at your feet?

Why do people insist on butting there speakers up on either side of the TV rack or entertainment center instead of spreading them out? I see it all the time, is it merely for looks?

[smcilwaine287]

Yes aesthetics is a big issue in this. The back wall was pre wired, as I wish I did not have to put them up so high, but for the time being that is where they are. The center has since been tilted up towards me and the L and R have been pushed out about 2 inched further and toed in a bit more. Still didn't help. I am much less concerned w/ SQ for movies as I am for music. 2 channel audio for music is the big issue. The left speaker always seems louder, whenever I turn up the right speaker it's either too loud or too soft.

"2. the left speaker is very close to three room boundaries (floor, wall, wall2), chances are the right speaker isn't nearly as 'enclosed'. This puts each speaker in a different acoustic space with the left speaker getting more reinforcement from room boundaries. Some tweaking with your receiver's setup might help alleviate this."

What settings should I be tweaking?

[jamesV]

the L and R have been pushed out about 2 inched further and toed in a bit more. Still didn't help.

A string or better yet a laser pointer would help getter a better sweet spot. Center the laser point on the speaker and aim at the desired location, your seat, then do the same with the other speaker. This will give YOU the sweet spot and have the correct toe in that you need for 2-channel listening.

What settings should I be tweaking?

Does your receiver have an auto setup for the speakers? If so, how does it make them sound? This is where a SPL meter will come in handy to get all your speakers to sound the same from your listening position.

James

I looked up your receiver. What "sound field program" are you using for 2-channel? Also take a look at pages 52 and 87 of the manual to help set your speakers up manually to better suit your room.

[smcilwaine287]

I'm not using any specific sound field program, as you do not need to always use them. Is there a recommended one to use? thanks.

[jamesV]

Is there a recommended one to use?

I don't know which one exactly, I don't have a Yamaha receiver, but you should try them out to see if it might help you out.

James

[wuzzzer]

I'd just use the Stereo setting. Have you used the YPAO setup? Do you have any enhancements turned on such as Silent Cinema, Compressed Music Enhancer, etc? If so, turn them all off.

How does everything sound when you listen in Pure Direct mode?

[smcilwaine287]

The sound is fine. I mean, SQ could be better but that's not really the issue here. The issue is that the sound is very easily identified from the location it is coming, and it does not blend very well..

Has anyone compared these to the Martin Logan Preface's? I am considering those.

[jamesV]

Have you tried the auto setup on the receiver?

James

[Frzninvt]

Replacing the speakers isn't going to solve the problem, it is the placement and size. They look tiny compared to that ginormous entertainment center which is surely blocking the dispersion pattern. That teeny tiny center channel doesn't help either, it is supposed to provide the filler for the mains which it isn't doing firing at the bottom of the couch. You really need the RF-83's in the corners and an RC-64 in that room I think you under bought.

You can try any speaker you like but until you get them correctly positioning your going to be in the same boat.

If you truly want to step up to the plate I would suggest some Cornwalls with a Heresy center if you want to throw some money at the situation.

[smcilwaine287]

Yes I have run an auto setup. How else could I place the speakers? since the picture I have raised the center on an angle to shoot towards me, and i have pulled up the 62's about 1.5 inches and toed them in a bit more. Yes I have ran auto setup. Unfortunately the RC-62 was too big in the space I need it to fit so I had to go with the rc-52. From what I read lots of people have the rc-52 and rf-62's and they love it. Klipsch even recommended that center for me.

I really can't afford any higher priced speakers, as I am only 19, and I pretty much maxed out on this system. Based on my setup, and my price restrictions. And the fact that my wife's goal is aesthetics, what would you guys recommend. Thanks.

[colterphoto1]

let's start with some real basics. for good stereo sound a very good starting point is to form an equilateral triangle between your main listening position and the two main loudspeakers. how is that?

Have you spent any time with your RXV-663 manual? There usually isn't a straight away Balance knob any more. Due to multichannel sound the setup is usually accomplished using on screen menus and you have a relative setting for the volume of each speaker. I'd start my adjusting the volume of the left main speaker downward by a few db (lets say 2-4 db down relative to the sound of the other speakers).

EDIT- sorry, didn't read you latest post. If you ran the YPAO setup, it should have calibrated that left speaker so it's not louder than the others. Did you have the YPAO mic sitting exactly where your head is in your favorite chair? I put a big pillow in my fave recliner and place the mic on top of it before running the YPAO. You might try that. YPAO is a great system and I've had very good results with it. After running YPAO you can still get inside the system and make further manual adjustments if you wish. Some guys do this to turn the sub up/down depending on the movie they're watching. I highly recommend a couple of quality evenings reading the manual and playing with menu choices.

19, a wife, and a nice home- got me beat by a long shot there....

[kelA]

Why dont you try pulling the speakers out into the middle of the room and see if your problem still exists? Set them up about 5 ft. apart rerun YPAO and see if they sound balanced. If they do than you know it is a placement issue, and new speakers will not solve the problem. I'm thinking like everybody else and it is your HUGE entertainment center that is most of the problem.

[JSChapman]

Hey smcilwaine287! Listen VERY CAREFULLY to what the guys here on the forum are saying. They'll definitely set you straight on exactly what you need to do, to get your system sounding the way it should. Any advice I'd be giving you, would simply be repeating exactly what these guys here are saying. I'm 19 as well and this summer I have an opportunity to start my apprenticeship with a local Home Automation company. I don't know what the requirements are for your particular job but, one of the requirements for my job is to know "Advanced Calibration of a Typical Home Theater". This would prove that I posses the skills to correct your listening problem. Like I said these are my job requirements, not yours. In the end I hope it all works out for you and that the guys here are of big help to you. Good luck!

[peshewah]

I have the same reciever and fronts as you so here goes. Pull speakers away from wall and toe them in. Mine is a foot away from the wall.When I ran auto set-up it was all wrong except for the distance. Page 85 on manual. Get into manual set-up. #1: Basic Menu. Size: set all speakers to small, bass out sub only , crossover to 60hz. SP level: Set fronts to 0, center to 3, surrounds to 2 or 3 maybe, sub at 0 or1. Your distance is probably fine if you ran auto set-up. Test Tone off. #2: Volume control. Adapive Dynamic range control OFF(very important).Adaptive DSP level OFF. And then #3 is Sound Level and it gets into the equalizer. I strongly recomend getting a SPL meter and running it no matter what speakers you end up with and a test tone like Pink Noise. One other thing, on the back of your sub set your gain to about 11 o'clock and your crossover on your sub all the way up. Listen to music in 2 channel or Straight Enhancer. Pure Direct doesn't sound too good for me. I have my fronts bi-amped but it takes away from the surrounds so I'm going to order a Emotiva XPA 3 and use my 663 for the surround and as a pre-amp. The 663 will make a very low cost pre-amp. Good luck my friend, I hope this helps.