Final Setup
Just finish three more vital steps, and you'll be ready to enjoy
first-rate sound at home. In a multichannel home theater or music
setup, you have to configure the receiver to match your speaker
setup, time align all the speakers in the system, and balance their
levels. All of this is done using your receiver's speaker-setup
(or bass management) menu.
The menu will ask you to select either "small" or "large" for each
of the five main speakers (usually by pairs for the L/R front and
surround speakers). These settings refer to the speakers' bass-handling
ability — "small" for satellites with limited output below
80 Hz and "large" for full-range speakers with true output below
80 Hz (generally large tower speakers).
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 Use
a sound-level meter to calibrate the volume of your speakers. Don't
do this by ear. Stand behind the listening position and hold the
meter at the same height as the listener's head, with the microphone
pointing up so that the sound from all the speakers in the setup
moves over it.
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With the "small" setting, all bass is directed to the subwoofer,
freeing the main speaker from the demands of reproducing low-frequency
effects as well as deep-bass musical notes. With virtually all 5.1-channel
home theater setups — and all THX-certified speaker
systems — you'll get the best sound by selecting "small" for
all five main speakers and "on" for the subwoofer. When in doubt,
use the "small" setting.
(Listening to DVD-Audio multichannel music, however, is a different matter.
As David Ranada showed in "Confirmed: DVD-Audio's 'Base-Less' Rumor,"
every DVD-Audio player so far — and almost every receiver capable
of accepting the six-channel input from a DVD-Audio player — lacks
the bass-management capabilities to play DVD-Audio discs properly on a
subwoofer/satellite system. Until hardware manufacturers address this
issue, you'll need five full-range speakers if you want to hear exactly
what's on a DVD-Audio disc.)
For accurate soundstage reproduction and image placement, it's
essential that you time align the speakers so that the sounds from
all of them arrive at your ears at the same time. Enter the distance
of each speaker from your listening position, and the receiver will
automatically set the correct time delay.
Balancing speaker levels is also easy. As your receiver sends test tones
to each speaker, use a sound-level meter to measure the volume. (A few
receivers come with measuring devices, but you can buy a meter at RadioShack
if yours doesn't have one.) Stand behind the listening position and hold
the meter at the position of the listener's head, with the microphone
pointed toward the ceiling so that the sound from the speakers passes
over it. Adjust the level settings for each speaker, using the receiver's
remote control, until they're all at the same volume with the test tones.
Note: You can not do this accurately by ear.
Well, if you've carefully followed all of the steps above, you
may now prepare to be amazed — even astonished — at how
much more realistic your home entertainment system sounds. Great
sonic performance is in the details, and a great speaker setup will
take your system to a level of sonic quality you might not have
thought possible. Happy listening! S&V
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SAMPLE SETUP DISCS
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CDs
Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman
While not perfect — Chapman's vocals are a little too bright
and the bass too prominent — this recording is excellent for
quickly and reliably determining differences in speaker setups.
Eric Clapton Unplugged
A superb, clear, detailed, wideband recording featuring many acoustic
instruments and hits like "Tears in Heaven" and "Layla."
Art Davis A Time Remembered
An exceptionally natural, direct-to-two-track purist audiophile
recording that sounds as if the musicians (including Herbie Hancock)
are in the room in front of you.
Michael Hedges Oracle
This CD of mostly acoustic guitar, accompanied by occasional bass,
vocals, and percussion, has astonishing clarity, resolution, transient
response, and dynamic range.
Bireli Lagrene Blue Eyes
Phenomenal presence, dynamics, and punch along with exceptional
resolution. Oh, yeah — Lagrene is an unbelievable guitarist,
and he's brilliantly recorded here.
Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 21 and 24 Eugene Istomin/Seattle
Symphony, Gerard Schwarz
Heavenly music, sumptuously recorded. If this CD doesn't sound lush,
sweet, seductive, and spatially expansive, your speakers just aren't
set up right — or you have a big problem with the rest of your
system.
George Strait Chill of an Early Fall
Solid country music from one of the
genre's most solid performers, with tracks like "If I Know
Me" and "Chill of an Early Fall" that feature Strait's
warm, complex voice and richly detailed instrumentation.
DVDs
These music DVDs are better suited for checking out your surround
sound system than almost any movie soundtrack. — David Ranada
WILL SMITH
The Will Smith Music Video Collection
This'll give a workout to your surround speakers as well as test
the system's overall bass response. The mix comes to life with direct-radiating
surround speakers placed at ear level.
James Taylor
Live at the Beacon Theater
Various Artists
VH1 Divas Live/99
Front-stage vocals such as on these DVDs are more telling than movie
dialogue when it comes to the tonal quality and placement of a center-channel
speaker.
Vienna Philharmonic
New Year's Concert 2000
This program of waltzes and polkas sounds extraordinarily realistic
when speaker levels are correctly balanced, especially with dipole
surrounds placed above ear level.
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(Originally published in: Sound & Vision, May 2001)
