29
CP-3
PLUS
Digital Surround Processor
Calibration
Setting Rear Delay
When presented with several similar sounds (as in the case of surround
sound) we tend to localize on the first sound we hear.Because rear speakers
are often closer to the listening area than the main speakers, occasional
leakage of the front channel sound into the surround speakers can be
audible and distracting. Delaying the sound from the rear speakers gives
the sound from the front a chance to reach the listener before the surrounds
kick in. The REAR DELAY control in the LISTENER POS menu allows you
to set this delay at 15-30 milliseconds. The best setting will depend on the
distance between the main listening area and the front speakers, and the
distance between the main listening area and the surround speakers.
From the Setup menu. press PARAM to select "LISTENER POS", then press
PARAM
▲
to display the LISTENER POS menu. Now use PARAM to select
REAR DELAY, then use PARAM
▲
and
▼
to adjust the delay time. Refer to
the graph shown at the right for the best setting for your particular situation.
Measure the two distances and note where they intersect on the graph. The
shaded areas indicate the optimum delay settings.
Note that the delay setting you choose here will only affect those surround
modes which do not have their own rear delay parameter.
In most setups, although your left and right speakers are about the same
distance from your listening position, the center speaker is often closer to
you, causing sound from the center speaker to reach you earlier than sound
from the left and right. Equalizing the path length (the distance from the
speaker to your ear) of the three front speakers in your system will improve
the image. The CENTER DELAY parameter allows you to electronically
time align the center channel with your main speakers. The delay (relative
to the main left and right channels) can be adjusted between -5ms and 9.5ms
in .5ms steps. To get the correct setting by ear, listen for a strong improve-
ment in the imaging and stability of the soundstage.
Alternatively, you can measure the path length difference, and calculate the
correct setting. To do this, measure the distance (in feet) from the tweeter(s)
of your main speakers to your primary listening position. Average these
two numbers. Measure the path length from the center speaker to your
listening position, and subtract this distance from the average path length
of the main speakers. Set CENTER DELAY to the same number of millisec-
onds as the number of feet of path length difference. For example, if the path
length of your main speakers is 14', and the path length of your center
speaker is 12', set the delay to +2ms. If the path length of the center speaker
is 15.5', set the delay to -1.5ms.
This adjustment globally affects all modes which use a center channel. In the
Music Surround mode, because the main channels are not processed at all,
it is not possible to have a negative delay value for the center channel (at
least we haven't figured out how to do it...). Therefore, if CENTER DELAY
is set to a negative value, in this mode it will default to 0.
Setting Center Delay
Rear Delay Settings
Set CENTER DELAY to 2ms.
Set CENTER DELAY to -1.5ms.