Is AVR room correction necessary in my case?

[hnash53]

What is my case?
I use my Integra AVR in a 3.1 config for movies/TV. When listening to music, I switch the AVR to Stereo.

I have manually inserted the distances of the three speakers and sub and sound levels when setting up this simple system. Also, I have manually set the crossover for the fronts and sub. I upped the volume on the center speaker to make dialog a little clearer for me.
I've not used the auto config with antenna.
It sounds good to me.
But... does the automatic room correction setup do anything more than all of the settings I've made manually?
Thanks.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Yes. It corrects for the detrimental acoustic effects on the sound wrought by the room's dimensions and construction. Unless you implement REQ, those remain regardless of the source of the music, the number of channels or the number of speakers.

 

[raindance]

And the "antenna" is a microphone

 

[Chrispy]

What room eq does your particular Integra employ?

 

[hnash53]

What room eq does your particular Integra employ?

Audyssey.

 

[hnash53]

And the "antenna" is a microphone

Oh... that's it!

Yes. It corrects for the detrimental acoustic effects on the sound wrought by the room's dimensions and construction. Unless you implement REQ, those remain regardless of the source of the music, the number of channels or the number of speakers.

Ok thanks.

 

[Chrispy]

Audyssey.

An older one! Which version?

 

[hnash53]

An older one! Which version?

2EQ ?

 

[Chrispy]

2EQ ?

That's the lowest version, wouldn't want it particularly.

 

[hnash53]

That's the lowest version, wouldn't want it particularly.

I wouldn't know the difference. Is it still worth it to run the room EQ? It's just a 3.1 system. LCR with sub... the sub is behind me. Can the room EQ detect that the sub is behind me?

 

[Chrispy]

I wouldn't know the difference. Is it still worth it to run the room EQ? It's just a 3.1 system. LCR with sub... the sub is behind me. Can the room EQ detect that the sub is behind me?

The 2EQ version was more a basic setup version compared to the Audyssey MultEQ series (MultEQ basic, then XT, then XT32)

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I wouldn't know the difference. Is it still worth it to run the room EQ? It's just a 3.1 system. LCR with sub... the sub is behind me. Can the room EQ detect that the sub is behind me?

Yes use it. You have it anyhow so you might as well use it. As Karl wrote it will compensate for the room modes every room has.

 

[chych7]

Yes good room EQ can make a pretty big difference. Audyssey XT32 or Dirac Live is when you start getting good REQ that can help compensate room modes; anything lower isn't helping much. But, REQ also automatically sets levels and distances based on mic measurements.

How did you set your distances - with a measuring tape? If so, then it may have errors. REQ tries to time align the speakers and subs together; "distance" is a byproduct of that time alignment. Subwoofers typically have some additional delay to them (many use DSPs, which add time delay), so the correct distance setting on the AVR can be larger than the physical distance between you and the sub. Measuring time alignment with a measurement mic and REW would be one way to ensure the distances are applied correctly. Time alignment affects spatial imaging precision and the smoothness of transition between subwoofer and speaker.

 

[JktHifi]

Last time when I used AVR, it needs some tuning in the AVR for the surround (back) speakers at the beginning of every movie. And also loudness of sub-woofer is different between movies. Usually takes 5 to 10 minutes, sometimes in the middle of the movies. It’s all because my ears will be very angry if it hear bad sound. I prefer not to watch movies that don’t have DTS. Sometimes when the movies only have Dolby, not DTS, I‘ll turn it off.

 

[hnash53]

Last time when I used AVR, it needs some tuning in the AVR for the surround (back) speakers at the beginning of every movie. And also loudness of sub-woofer is different between movies. Usually takes 5 to 10 minutes, sometimes in the middle of the movies. It’s all because my ears will be very angry if it hear bad sound. I prefer not to watch movies that don’t have DTS. Sometimes when the movies only have Dolby, not DTS, I‘ll turn it off.

I don't have any surround speakers... just LCR across the front with the sub behind me.

Yes good room EQ can make a pretty big difference. Audyssey XT32 or Dirac Live is when you start getting good REQ that can help compensate room modes; anything lower isn't helping much. But, REQ also automatically sets levels and distances based on mic measurements.

How did you set your distances - with a measuring tape? If so, then it may have errors. REQ tries to time align the speakers and subs together; "distance" is a byproduct of that time alignment. Subwoofers typically have some additional delay to them (many use DSPs, which add time delay), so the correct distance setting on the AVR can be larger than the physical distance between you and the sub. Measuring time alignment with a measurement mic and REW would be one way to ensure the distances are applied correctly. Time alignment affects spatial imaging precision and the smoothness of transition between subwoofer and speaker.

I used a tape measure.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I don't have any surround speakers... just LCR across the front with the sub behind me.

I used a tape measure.

Use the mic (you called it antenna). And don’t worry if it gives some different distance settings than what you measured by tape.

 

[hnash53]

Use the mic (you called it antenna). And don’t worry if it gives some different distance settings than what you measured by tape.

ok thanks.

 

[hnash53]

I ran the Audyssey full setup procedure. The LCR distances were all 1.5 feet over my manual measurements.
The subwoofer was measured at 30 feet. The sub is actually behind me about 5 feet.

If there is an "improvement" in the sound, I cannot detect it.

 

[chych7]

Do Integra AVRs have the distance bug that pre x800 Denon's have? i.e. need to multiply distances by 0.875 to compensate the incorrect assumption for speed of sound. The speaker distance should be pretty close to the physical distance, so it being 1.5 ft over makes me think it could have the distance bug.

The subwoofer measuring 30 ft is not surprising. This would most impact the bass quality in the crossover region. But then again, most AVRs don't do this perfectly anyway; really need a measurement mic to tweak the distance to get the best blending over the crossover.

As an experiment, you can change the speaker distances to some extremes to see if you can hear a distance impact. Like, set both speakers to 1 ft, and then set them both to 20 ft, then set one to 1 ft and the other to 20 ft, to see if you can hear a difference (look for imaging quality/how precise the phantom center image is).

 

[raindance]

Toggle Audyssey on and off a few times to see if you can hear the difference.

If you can't do that, then it isn't the kind of Audyssey that does EQ.