Bruinsrme Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 I have spent some time playing with calbirating my subs. A particular site that only sells subwoofers has some information on how to calibrate subs. Other forums seem to cover this topic, some more in depth than other. So the materials I have and have been recommended across the forums are; test tones, spl meter (radio shack) and some method of plotting your results. My method is I calibrate the the mains, center, surrounds first. Then I move to the subs, no fronts no surrounds and I calibrate the subs to match the fronts. The sub level is based on an average reading across the 20Hz to 99Hz range (based on cross overs @ 80hz) Then I integrate the fronts backin with the subs and start messing with the phasing to achive the best curve. Did I mention I where ear protecting while doing this? I do..... I use Excel to plot the bass curves as seen here BASS CURVES quick tutorial how to graph in Excel One item I learned is that most test tones require an offsets to the results. Add the following; At 10Hz add 20dBs to the meter's readings and at ... 12Hz add 16.5dB 16Hz add 11.5dB 20Hz add 7.5dB 25Hz add 5dB 31.5Hz add 3dB 40Hz add 2.5dB 50Hz add 1.5dB 63Hz add 1.5dB 80Hz add 1.5dB 100Hz add 2dB 125Hz add .5dB I know there is a lot more to it and as a result I find the subs to blend very nicely with the fronts. Please don't shoot me for this but here goes; SvS has some good info how to calibrate in their FAQ section and if you can download on of the manuals there are some god set up/calibration tips. What are your methids and experiences? scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Nasty Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 My methods is trust your ears, and don't rely on numbers too much. Don't know why, when i did all those calibrations... i completely stuffed up my sound. I had to get everything to default and leave it there. What i am looking for is the 7.1 equalizer. Only if they could deliver in australia. check it http://www.audiocontrol.com/images/AudCon_Product/the__Bijou.JPG That for me would be the easiest and best thing to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewishAMerPrince Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I too went through all the machinations of setting up my system and my sub with the RS meter. The end result blended very well, but It seemed somewhat heavy on the low end so I bumped the sub down a bit and things improved quite significantly. Like one respondent said, it's probably best to trust your ears. The reason for this is simple. Our ears are, after all, transducers. Each individual will therefore have a different frequency reasponse to his/her ears. Some will hear treble better than others, and some will hear midrange better than others, and finally some will hear deep bass better than others. Relying on a meter does not take this into consideration. It is a great starting point, but only a starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanman023 Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 ---------------- On 10/20/2004 4:43:37 AM JewishAMerPrince wrote: I too went through all the machinations of setting up my system and my sub with the RS meter. The end result blended very well, but It seemed somewhat heavy on the low end so I bumped the sub down a bit and things improved quite significantly. Like one respondent said, it's probably best to trust your ears. The reason for this is simple. Our ears are, after all, transducers. Each individual will therefore have a different frequency reasponse to his/her ears. Some will hear treble better than others, and some will hear midrange better than others, and finally some will hear deep bass better than others. Relying on a meter does not take this into consideration. It is a great starting point, but only a starting point. ---------------- nice....i totally agree...calibrate first...then bump up/down the level to your taste.....i tend to bump my center and surround backs up a couple of notches.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I have found that an SPL meter and a test disc are great for a base line starting point. After callibrating, I still find myself using a different gain for music and HT. Music having slightly less gain than HT. I also found that using a meter and a test tone disc is invaluable if you are e-qing to remedy room response. The only method I have found for setting phase that I consistantly like is my ears. I've used Avia to set phase, but I always end up tweaking it for some reason when I'm done. Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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