Page 1 of Setting up in a Semi

Hi there,

Saturday was a good day I went TECHNOLOGY shopping I love shopping for stuff I don`t need. Anyway I brought a Kenwood KRF-V5050D AMP an ELTAX HT-2 Centre, an ELTAX ATOMIC A-8 woofer, and for the rears I brought Ariston- MSX07, I already had ELTAX MILLENIUM fronts, It all sounds fantastic but I need a little bit of setup info if someone could help me.
I am seated 10ft away from the fronts 9ft away from the centre and woofer and 4ft from either surround speaker.
I have my fronts set to normal so the bass goes to the woofer, my woofer is set to 8 on the scale and cranked to the top of frequency.

I have a couple of questions:-

1) What volume should all the speakers be set to? i currently have the centre +2 the fronts +2 the woofer +4 and the rears +4
it does sound ok but is it right??

2) My surround speakers are just above ear level and are in the rear corners of the room pointing towards my listening posistion which is
Slap bang in the middle of the settee, should these be pointing towards my head?? or towards each other?

3) My walls in the semi are PAPER THIN!!!!. I am constantly waiting for them to go out so i can CRANK it up LOL. When i watch a film
Night I turn everything down, it all sounds ok until something happens on screen and then BANG it all goes so loud!!, is there an
easy way to cut down the action noise? I have tried the NIGHT mode on dolby digital setting but this does not seem to help

P.S I am connected via OPTICAL cable.


I hope someone could help me,

Many Thanks

Lee.

1: run the setup mode and set all the tones to the same volume level from your seating position. And set the speaker distances to what they actually are.

2: I think i saw a post here the other day suggesting the rear speakers are pointed towards the rear wall, maybe from Westy. Fills the back area better then. I tried this on my setup and it really does sound better than having the speaker coming straight into your ear.

3: I have no idea :-)

One thing I would suggest is turning the A8 down to about 4 or 5. The idea of a subwoofer is that it is meant to be felt not heard !

I used to crank mine up, but honestly it sounds better about half way up, otherwise it`ll dominate the soundstage too much. The beautiful thing about the A8 (and indeed any subwoofer) is that you can pretty much stick it anywhere.

With regards to your speaker settings, that really depends on the amp set up - as Sashenden says, there may well be a test tone signal which you can bang around the room to try to get it right. Sash`s advice, based on Westy`s musings re the rear speakers is also sound - it`s far better not to have them at ear level. I actually have mine on speaker stands on top of furniture, in the corners of the room blasting outwards (they`re only mini monitors so no great shakes) - sounds fantastic.

Is that HT2 centre any good - I`ve seen What HiFi readers can get them for £30 and am vaguely tempted ?

Finally the neighbour problem - yup, it kills doesn`t it ? I too live in a semi-detached made of paper, so totally sympathise. Luckily they go out on the razzle rather a lot for a late middle aged couple, and make enough noise themselves, so they have never objected to me letting rip at the weekends ! Most neighbours are cool if you give them prior warning. Failing that, invite them round every so often so they don`t feel left out - it might be enough to encourage them to go the same route as you, then you can both slam it out !!!!

Thanks for the advice mate i appreciate it!!.

With regards to the HT2 yeah it`s very good, ive never had another centre before so I cant really compare, it`s all good cranked up mate!!.

Cheers Lee.

Cheers for the help sash!.

Much appreciated

Lee.

Hi there,

I`ll go for a late posting here but i have to get my say!
For instance,my Denon 3801 has the capability to increase the level of the front speakers as well as the centre and rears and subwoofer.The reason for the fronts having their own attenuation setting is that quite often the centre speaker in a manufacturers package(e.g mission) has a higher sensitivity and output rating(its the most important speaker in the system,so an expressive and clean sound is vital,hence lots of power and an easy load to drive)-this can often make the centre speaker stand out to much,so the ability to give a subtle lift in the front channels balances things out-you should never decrease the volume of the centre channel,its just not cricket!
And yes,having the surrounds on the sidewalls firing slightly towards the rear of the romm brings massive gains in atmospherics and surround presence. If you`re going to do this then make sure the fronts are firing straight into the room,rather than angled towards your seating position.This will ensure that sound is consistent between front and rear panning effects. And don`t lift the rear volume too much-everything will sound unrealistic and pants-don`t forget you`re closer to the rear speakers than the front three so the volume of the rears should be set at +1 at the very most in this case-believe me it works! Surround is about subtelty and envelopment,not boom,bang distractions to the soundtrack!
Lastly,my trick with the sub is to turn it right down,then lift the volume gradually until it integrates perfectly with the front speakers,then leave it at the level thats best.Its best to try it with the loudest possible sequence in a soundtrack,the sub should sound like its not even there-not jar your bones! Oh and if your walls are partitioning board-cut six squash balls in half and place under each speaker-if you have spikes then don`t worry.But if you haven`t ehb this will tame the sound quite a bit-it``l do something to stop the boom in the system anyway.As for the night setting-save yourself the guilt and buy some decent headphones-it wont be surround but crikey at least you can watch a film in peace!

Hope all of this makes sense

All the best

Westy

Well I gotta say that I am new to DVD and all credit given to this forum that I was able to answer someones question :-)

Everything I have learnt in the past 2 weeks is all due to reading the Q&A`s in this section. Thanks lads and keep the advice, hints and tips coming.

Thanks for the advice westy!!

With regards to turning the surrounds around to slightly face the rear, how far do you turn them around? do you have to set them so they actually face the wall?

Cheers

Lee.

Lee,

Just a fraction of a turn will suffice. Just imagine that the sonic image they produce would cross over at a point about one foot away from the rear wall and you`re in business,about 20 degrees is ample. However dont be afraid to experiment. But do put them on side walls if youe can-it`ll emulate the real cinema more effectively. Also try setting the rear distance a little closer-around .5 to 1foot closer to get a superb wraparound effect. Very subtle,but oh so sweet.

Any more quessies you know where to come.

Westy

ill give it a go mate cheers!!.

Lee