E-27
E-26
English
Before you use your AVR850/AVR550/SR250 it is
essential that you enter some information into the Setup
menus about your speaker configuration. This allows the
AVR850/AVR550/SR250 to process any surround sound
digital source to exactly match your system and give you
the ultimate surround sound experience.
There are three pieces of vital information which are
outlined in the sections: ‘Speaker Types’, ‘Speaker
Distances’ and ‘Speaker Levels’.
The way you enter this information manually into the
AVR850/AVR550/SR250 is given later in the ‘Setup
Menus’ section on page E-28. The settings can also be
established automatically using the Arcam Auto Speaker
Setup function. However it is important to understand
why these speaker settings must be entered, which is
why this section is presented first.
Speaker types
You need to set the type of speakers that you have
connected to your AVR850/AVR550/SR250:
Large
capable of full frequency range reproduction
Small
not capable of full frequency range
reproduction at the low frequency end
None
speaker not present in your configuration
The terms ‘Large’ and ‘Small’ do not necessarily relate to
the physical size of your speakers. As a rule of thumb,
if a speaker cannot reproduce a flat frequency response
down to about 40Hz (and very few can!) it is often better
to consider them as ‘Small’ for setup purposes of home
cinema.
When a speaker is set to ‘Small’, very low frequency
sounds are redirected away from that speaker to a ‘Large’
speaker or a subwoofer, which are far better suited to
reproducing these low frequency sounds.
Note that it is not possible to set all speakers to
‘Small’ unless there is a subwoofer in your speaker
configuration. If you do not have a subwoofer, you will
be forced to set your front speakers to ‘Large’.
(Advanced users may wish to automatically override the
‘Small’ speaker setting for purely stereo music listening
when not watching movies. This can be achieved in the
‘Input Config.’ menu – see page E-29.
essential
setup
Crossover frequency
If you have set any speakers as being Small, then you will
be required to set a value for the crossover frequency.
This is the frequency below which signals are filtered
away from these Small speakers and redirected to Large
speakers or the subwoofer (if present). A frequency of
80Hz is often a good starting point, however you will
probably have to experiment with different values to find
the best value for your system or consult your speaker
handbook.
Use Channels 6+7 for
If not used in the main zone, it is possible to assign the
Surround Back channels to Height 1, bi-amp the Front
Left/Right channels or to provide an amplified output
to Zone 2.
Speaker Distances
It is essential for the distance from each speaker to the
listening position to be accurately measured and entered
into the ‘Setup’ menu. This ensures that the sounds from
the various speakers arrive at the listening position at
the correct time to recreate a realistic surround effect.
The distance can be entered in centimetres or inches.
Speaker Levels
Finally the levels of all the speakers in the system need
to be adjusted to match each other at the listening
position, again to create a proper surround effect.
To help with this the AAVR850/AVR550/SR250 can
generate a test noise for each speaker which should be
measured with a sound pressure level (SPL) meter. The
meter should be set to ‘C’ weighting and slow response.
Several smartphone/tablet apps are available which can
also perfom this function. The level of noise measured
at the listening position from each speaker should
be adjusted on the Speaker Trims page of the Setup
menu so that the meter reads 75dB SPL. It does not
matter what the system volume setting of the AVR850/
AVR550/SR250 is before turning the test noise on as
the volume setting is over-ridden for the duration of the
speaker noise test.
There are several basic SPL meters on the market at
reasonable prices aimed at home cinema enthusiasts.
Check your local technology store, search online or ask
your dealer.
If you do not have an SPL meter or suitable app, you
can try to adjust the noise level of each speaker by ear.
In this case it is not possible to adjust the speakers to
the absolute 75dB SPL volume level, but you should aim
for all speakers sounding equally loud. Setting speaker
test noise levels by ear is not recommended as it is very
difficult to do accurately, but is often better than doing
nothing at all!
auto speaker
setup
Dirac Live for Arcam
There is a proprietary automatic loudspeaker setup
function built into your AVR850/AVR550/SR250 from
Dirac Reasearch. Using a PC/MAC based application,
this attempts to set all the essential speaker settings for
all the speakers in your system. It also calculates room
equalisation (Room EQ) filter values to remove some of
the worst effects of resonant frequencies in the listening
room.
Your AVR850/AVR550/SR250 package is supplied with
a calibration microphone, which should be inserted into
the microphone input of the supplied USB sound card
and then into a USB socket on a PC or MAC connected
to the same network as the AVR850/AVR550/SR250
and positioned as directed by the Dirac Live for Arcam
PC/MAC application. This microphone picks up the
special calibration tones generated by the speakers when
Dirac Live for Arcam application is run. The AVR850/
AVR550/SR250 then analyses the signal and computes:
<
speaker type,
<
speaker distance,
<
speaker level,
<
problem resonant frequencies in the room which
need control by filtering.
To help the system be as accurate as possible when
performing Dirac Live for Arcam setup, there are a few
guidance rules that should be followed:
<
Minimise any background sounds in the listening
room and other nearby rooms.
<
Close all windows and doors in the listening room.
<
Turn off all fans including air-conditioning systems.
<
Mounting the microphone on a tripod or similar.
<
Position the set up microphone pointing upwards at
roughly head height in the normal listening position.
It is not necessary to point the microphone directly
at the speaker generating the test tone. (It helps if
you are able to position the microphone exactly
where your head would normally be for listening,
with the microphone in direct unobstructed view of
all speakers.)
<
If your system includes an active subwoofer, start
by setting its output level / gain control to a value
roughly matching the front speakers.
When activated, a calibration tone is played through
each channel of the AVR850/AVR550/SR250 in turn,
including the subwoofer channel. The calibration tone
cycles round each of the speakers multiple times as the
different parameters are calculated. If you do not have a
full 7.1 speaker (on the “floor”) configuration there will
be periods of silence between some speaker channels.
Follow the ‘progress’ information on your PC/MAC.
By default, Room EQ is not applied to any of the
source inputs.
You should enable Room EQ on inputs
you think benefit from this feature, as required, by
listening when playing typical source material through
each input. After being calculated, this is enabled from
within the Input Config menu.
While room equalisation can help to reduce problems
with listening room acoustics, it is usually far better
to try to solve these problems with the room directly.
Proper loudspeaker positioning, acoustic wall
treatments and moving the listening position away from
walls should produce far better results overall. However
it may be difficult to do this in a home environment, so
Room EQ is your next best choice.
Problems
We advise you to look over the reported measurements
on the screen following Auto Speaker Setup for any
obviously incorrect results, in particular to ensure the
reported speakers match your configuration and that the
speaker distances to the listening position appear look
roughly correct. If the results are not what you expected
re-run Auto Speaker Setup.
The Auto Speaker Setup function is normally quite
accurate but occasionally false results can be generated.
Problems may be as a result of:
<
external sounds or rumbling/handling noises picked
up by the microphone
<
sound reflections off hard surfaces (e.g. windows or
walls) close to the listening position,
<
very strong acoustic resonances within the room,
<
obstacles (such as a sofa) between speakers and the
microphone.
If you are still experiencing difficulties or you wish to
have the most accurate results for ultimate surround
performance, we recommend using the manual method
of establishing speaker distances and levels.
Using subwoofers
If your system includes one or two active subwoofers
you may need to set the subwoofer output level/gain
control set to a higher or lower value.
Please refer to the Dirac application and quick start
guide for full details of how to use the system with your
AVR850/AVR550/SR250.
Downloading the Dirac Live for Arcam
applcation
To download the Dirac Live for Arcam PC/MAC
application and quick start guide, please visit:
www.arcam.co.uk
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