I received my 990/7125 last week did setup last Friday and have been loving every minute. I have one immediate questions:

Has anyone checked the accuracy of the 990 auto setup against a manual setup with an SPL meter. Is the auto setup with the mic on the target.

Having just spent 2 grand I have no problem investing $35 in an SPL meter but if the auto setup is good I could use the bucks for something else.

Thanks in advance.

Some folks have trouble with the auto-setup getting confused about large and small speakers, but it sounds like your room was like mine and didn't give the auto-setup any trouble along those lines. From my testing, the auto-setup was very similar to my manual calibration. I'd say that if the auto-setup got your crossovers and distances pretty accurately, than the channel levels are also pretty reliable.

Well, if you're an HT fanatic (like myself) you shouldn't be without a SPL meter, IMO. It's really one tool that has been invaluable for my setup. I've used it both for speaker leveling as well as a mic for low freq response measurements.

Better to be safe than sorry!!

The 990 auto setup function, in particular with the subwoofer, did not provide good results when I tried it. I then did a manual calibration with my Radio Shack SPL meter and a tape measure and I am very pleased with the results. Also, I like to see the results of minor changes in the channel level settings at the "sweet spot" and the SPL meter is the perfect tool to do that.

With all that said, its great that the auto setup worked for you. Enjoy your HT!

Buy yourself a RS SPL meter - best $35 you'll ever spend IMO. I didn't have such good luck with the auto program (my room is acoustically treated and I know it well) and the settings were a bit wonky (tried several times with different results). Once I did it the manual way, everything is just fine. I applaud the Outlaws for including this feature, I just think for the ones who prefer manual control, that is ultimately the way to go. If for now other reason than to have a backup reference to the auto settings (if you can get them to work-which many here seem to have done fine as well).

SPl all the way!

Personally, I wish the Outlaws had omitted the auto setup feature. I could be wrong, but I would imagine the majority of people buying this product are enthusiasts who know how to do a basic audio calibration. It would be better to put that money toward sound quality or a better remote, or reduce the price, IMO.

Hey mz,

The auto-setup feature failed me too. Kept telling me that I needed to reset my speakers to small for calibration. No biggie really, I would have verified the levels manually even if the auto-cal feature had worked anyway (as I assume most of us would

If nothing else, you owe it to yourself to do a comparison using a SPL meter. I agree on several points mentioned, not the least of which you stated: $35 is nothing compared to your $2K investment; and no serious HT enthusiast should be w/o one.

Good luck!

Thanks guys for the responses. Will be picking up the SPL meter later today.

A week or so ago I asked 990 owners if they got the same readings with the 990's auto setup as with an SPL meter, I did not have a meter at the time. Got an SPL meter today and ran through the calibration with the meter and here are the comparisons:

990 Auto Calibration

Left Frt. > 0
Center > -1
Right Frt. > +2
Right Rear > 0
Left Rear > +3
Sub > -2

SPL Meter Calibration

Left Frt.> 0
Center > 0
Right Frt.> +1
Right Rear > 0
Left Rear > +3
Sub > -6

So in my situation the Auto setup wasn't too far off but I feel better doing the calibration with the SPL meter.