Please help with setting up home theatre audio - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

mgsooner · 12-03-2002, 07:09 PM

Hi all. I've have one of those Sony Mini Theatre Systems....you know the kind that plays CD's, DVD's, has a tuner, tape player, etc. etc. Well I've had it for about a year now and it sounds good and all, but I was wondering what are the ideal settings for my audio when watching DVD's? I don't know what decibel levels are ideal to set the frequencies on the equalizer. I also recently bought a subwoofer to hook up to it, and I don't know what are the ideal settings for that either. I have it set on normal phase, with the cut off frequency knob turned to the maximum, 200 MhZ.

While my system sounds good, I do notice some "rattling" of my speakers during some movies which have extremely loud bass. I would like to prevent this from happening if possible.

Can anybody help me know what settings I should use? Thanks-

mg

tomdkat · 12-03-2002, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mgsooner
Can anybody help me know what settings I should use? Thanks-

Certainly! Get yourself a copy of Avia and calibrate your system.

Have fun!

Peace....

palebluedot · 12-05-2002, 06:49 AM

Rattling? Like something loose inside rattling? Or do you mean that weird almost "farting" noise that speakers make when they're being overwhelmed with low frequencies. What kind of equipment are you using? You said a Sony mini theatre...how about some model numbers of the equipment, speaker sizes, etc. What kind of new sub?

Avia is great, but if you're not willing to spend a lot of $ up front, for about 10 bucks less, you can pick up an SPL meter at radio shack (which you may want to get if you get Avia too). Use the SPL with THX's sound check, available on many DVDs.

Reading your post a little better, is this even a 5.1 system? Or more one of those bookshelf 4-channel surround systems?

tomdkat · 12-05-2002, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by palebluedot
Avia is great, but if you're not willing to spend a lot of $ up front, for about 10 bucks less, you can pick up an SPL meter at radio shack (which you may want to get if you get Avia too). Use the SPL with THX's sound check, available on many DVDs.

Even with Avia, the Radio Shack SPL meter you mention SHOULD be used to perform the volume level calibration using Avia's test tones.

Avia is WELL WORTH the investment, along with the Radio Shack SPL meter.

The THX Optimode test patterns have ben known to be inaccurate on various DVDs and are generally NOT considered to be "reference" test patterns like those on Avia or Video Essentials.

Invest in Avia... it's DEFINTELY worth it!

Peace.....

12-03-2002, 07:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
mgsooner Actor Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Norman, OK, USA	Please help with setting up home theatre audio Hi all. I've have one of those Sony Mini Theatre Systems....you know the kind that plays CD's, DVD's, has a tuner, tape player, etc. etc. Well I've had it for about a year now and it sounds good and all, but I was wondering what are the ideal settings for my audio when watching DVD's? I don't know what decibel levels are ideal to set the frequencies on the equalizer. I also recently bought a subwoofer to hook up to it, and I don't know what are the ideal settings for that either. I have it set on normal phase, with the cut off frequency knob turned to the maximum, 200 MhZ. While my system sounds good, I do notice some "rattling" of my speakers during some movies which have extremely loud bass. I would like to prevent this from happening if possible. Can anybody help me know what settings I should use? Thanks- mg __________________ My collection....a work in progress

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12-05-2002, 06:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
palebluedot Actor Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Minnesota, US	Rattling? Like something loose inside rattling? Or do you mean that weird almost "farting" noise that speakers make when they're being overwhelmed with low frequencies. What kind of equipment are you using? You said a Sony mini theatre...how about some model numbers of the equipment, speaker sizes, etc. What kind of new sub? Avia is great, but if you're not willing to spend a lot of $ up front, for about 10 bucks less, you can pick up an SPL meter at radio shack (which you may want to get if you get Avia too). Use the SPL with THX's sound check, available on many DVDs. Reading your post a little better, is this even a 5.1 system? Or more one of those bookshelf 4-channel surround systems?