Guys, I'm revisiting my audio calibration and have a question regarding subwoofer distance.

As you know, there is no setting in the 950 for sub distance. If I want my phasing/timing to be correct between the mains and the sub, where should I set the mains/center/surr distance? Should I set the closest speaker to 0ft and just add the differential distance to the other speakers?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Cary

Bumping this one.

Not even gonk has responded, jeez!

Cary

I had always simply used the real distances for each speaker (averaging the surrounds together to get an approximate distance), but if you are worried about it I would probably go with your idea - collect all your distances, set the closest speaker's distance to zero, and subtract its distance from the other distances so they all relate.

What I have heard most people do is adjust the speaker distances to the listening position and then physically move the subs around until they get the right sweet spot. Sometimes using dual subs can help.

I agree with gonk and MeanGene . Use real speaker distances for the mains, center and surrounds . Entering artifical distances could make it sound too disjointed . I believe MeanGene's point was to say that the room will have more of an effect on how the sub responds than any other factor . If you are able to manipulate the sub's position then do so . This is often the best way to correct many of the problems that are found with bass response in a small enclosed environment . If you cannot move the sub physically try looking to see if the sub offers any internal phase control . I have had mixed results in the past by utiliziing various setup discs and the built in phase control on subs . It seems to be hit or miss . Can't hurt too try though .

Also, I will admit that when everything is set, I will tweak the center channel by ear in very small increments.

Gene, you tweak the center distance by ear? Interesting! What test material can be used for that?

Cary

I can't speak for MeanGene, but I have tweeked my center channel at times as well. I have a post regarding center channel being overpowered by mains in some movie passages. It was either changing, adjusting the trim on mains down, or up on the center. Since I listen to a lot of music,
I make tweeks on the center, by ear for different movies if I feel it is needed.

There are no rules set in stone that I know of, it is, as always, a matter of preferrence and how you hear the source.

Cary, it's not clear from MeanGene's post, but he may be referring to tweaking the center channel trim (not distance) - something that is very common.

I did it by accident first. I usually always set the distance to exactly the listening position distance, but one day I decided to see what would happen if I changed the center channel distance by 1 foot from the correct distance setting. For one thing I learned the importance of setting the distances for all speakers, because it does make a difference.

I adjusted the center channel 1 increment (in case your set to meter) closer than the previous setting and the change seemed to help with my viewing/listening pleasure. You must take into consideration that I do not have matched center to front speakers and this may not be applicable to your setup. Also, you may want to adjust the trim or recalibrate after making a change to the system configuration.

I do think that this is an experiment that could provide benefits to some, and if all else fails, you can always set it back quite easily.

In thinking about it more I realize that, do to seating arrangements, the main listening position is not centered, but off just enough to make the front left speaker about a foot farther away then the right. With the center channel speaker being about the same distance as the front speakers, I set it about 1 foot closer to give it a tad more distinction in it's role as center channel.

Does that explain it?