# Help setting up Sony STR-DN850



## fviola (Oct 1, 2012)

Hi everyone, I recently upgraded my old Onkyo to a Sony DN850. I am not at all an expert in receivers and am having a few problems...well not problems but issues in determining the best settings.

To make it easier, I bolded my main questions....thanks in advance!

My setup:
Receiver: Sony DN850
Speakers: Polk OWM 5 (L/R/C) and Polk OWM 3 (Surround)
Subwoofer: Insignia Powered Sub (i know nothing about this sub, it is a cheap sub, using it until i upgrade it)

Samsung TV
PS4
Verizon Fios

*all connected with HDMI to receiver 
Concern #1:
I used the included microphone to auto calibrate my speakers. The DN850 did not come with any useful manuals, but I found a pdf online from Sony. In the manual, it said that I should set the subwoofer crossover frequency to the highest value before performing the auto calibration. The subwoofer does not have anything labeled "crossover frequency" but something called "low pass." I adjusted the low pass to 150hz, which was the maximum value (the range was 80-150hz).
*
Was this the correct thing to do before calibration?*

Concern#2
After performing the auto calibration, the DN850 set all my speakers to the large setting. 
*Is this correct? Or should I manually change them to small?*

My understanding is that large speakers output some bass whereas if I set them to small, the sub will do most of the work...or *am I completely wrong on this part?*

Concern #3
Going from Onkyo to Sony, there are different audio option for me to choose from and I am not sure what is the best for my setup.

On my Onkyo, when watching cable tv, whatever the source from the cable box was, that was the source output from the receiver, such as Dolby. The receiver would light up the sound source being used.

When using my PS4, which was set to Linear PCM, the raw audio was sent to the receiver and output as such. On the receiver, LPCM would be lit up. 

These display signals let me know everything was okay and I was confident that i was receiving excellent 5.1 sound when present.

Now:
For the PS4, which is still set the LPCM, I set the DN850 to A.F.D. Auto. My understanding that with A.F.D. Auto, the receiver will take in the LPCM from the PS4 and output it correctly without any processing, just as my Onkyo did. 
The bluray setting (there are separate settings for general PS4 and PS4 bluray), is set to Bitstream, so that I can receive that proper audio decoding from bluray discs. So with A.F.D. Auto selected on the DN850, if a bluray disc is playing, the output from the receiver should be whatever format the disc is in since it is bitsream (dolby, dts, etc.)
*
Am I understanding A.F.D. Auto correctly? and is this the proper or good way to set this up?*

I was confused by A.F.D. Auto because there was another option for A.F.D./2-channel sound mode. This other option seems to take a 2 channel sound and output it multichannel...which is not what I want, but was wondering why they are both called A.F.D.?

My cable box is currently set HD-D.C.S., which is a processing developed Sony. I chose this because it sounded decent for the time being...but I am not sure if I should just change this to A.F.D. as well.


Really what I want is the best possible sound output (obviously) for my PS4 and cable without having to change processing manually. I achieved this with the Onkyo, but don't know if I did so with the Sony.

Any help with any of this would be much appreciated...obviously I have no real idea what I am talking about!


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

fviola said:


> Hi everyone, I recently upgraded my old Onkyo to a Sony DN850. I am not at all an expert in receivers and am having a few problems...well not problems but issues in determining the best settings.
> 
> To make it easier, I bolded my main questions....thanks in advance!
> 
> ...


Hi fviola!

Receivers and their manuals can be confusing, for sure... so lets see if can't work through this.

1) You asked about the subwoofer crossover setting and the calibration set-up procedure. I'm going to assume that your subwoofer is connected to your receiver via an RCA (or subwoofer) cable...not speaker wire... correct? The crossover knob on your subwoofer is only used if your subwoofer is connected to the AVR using speaker wire (and you have your speakers connected to the subwoofer outs). If you have your sub connected to your receiver with a cable, then your receiver will perform the crossover (you'll need to access your receiver's settings menu to tell your receiver what the crossover will be...typically you want to set it at 80Hz...but you can set it slightly higher or lower depending on your main speakers. Your mains are fairly small... so you might want to try setting it at 90 or 100Hz.... just know that any sound over 80Hz starts to become localized, so might find you're better off at 80Hz).

So, yes, you'll probably want to turn your subwoofer crossover to 150Hz (on the back of the sub) and leave it there... UNLESS you have connected with speaker wire. Just make sure you set the crossover on your receiver!

2) You are correct. If you have a sub, you should set your speakers to small. It's not uncommon for receivers to reset speakers to large after a calibration process. Completely counterintuitive, I know... but that's just the way it is.


3) I just read through the manual and it appears that AFD AUTO is the mode that you're looking for. Definitely test it (and listen to see if surround sound, etc, is working when engaged). You might consider tying some of the movie modes to see if they differ in any way... honestly, the manual is a bit cryptic. If I were you, I'd start with AFD Auto and give Sony customer support a quick call for clarification!

Hope that helps!


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## fviola (Oct 1, 2012)

Todd Anderson said:


> fviola said:
> 
> 
> > Hi everyone, I recently upgraded my old Onkyo to a Sony DN850. I am not at all an expert in receivers and am having a few problems...well not problems but issues in determining the best settings.
> ...


Thanks for the explanation. 

For numbers 2 and 3,I think you addressed my concerns fully. Thanks again. 

For my first concern, about the subwoofer, I did as you suggested, which is turn the sub up to 150hz and then went into my receiver settings. Were you suggesting to turn the receiver settings to 80hz for the sub? Because there is no way to control the actual hz for the sub other than turning an option called 'Low Pass Filter' to on. According to the manual, by turning this on,the sub is set to 120hz. I have this turned on and my l/c/r were calibrated to 80hz while my rear were calibrated to 100hz. I am just not sure if it is 'ok' to leave it as is or not.

Thanks again for your help, it is very much appreciated


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I just pulled this from the manual (page 192):

Setting the crossover frequency of the speakers (Crossover Frequency)
You can set the bass crossover frequency of speakers for which the speaker size has been set to [Small] in the Speaker Settings menu. A measured speaker crossover frequency is set for each speaker after the Auto Calibration is performed.
1. Select [Settings] - [Speaker Settings] from the home menu.
2. Select [Crossover Frequency].
3. Select the speaker for which you want to adjust the crossover frequency on the screen. 4. Press ￼ / ￼ to set the crossover frequency.
Note
This function does not work when headphones are connected.
The surround back speakers will be set to the same setting as that of the surround speakers.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Is that different from what you attempted?


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## fviola (Oct 1, 2012)

Sorry, I was away from home. 

Thanks again. 

I did go into the speaker settings, but I was not sure if you wanted me to adjust the speakers or the subwoofer. There is no option for a subwoofer in those settings, just the other speakers. 

The subwoofer cutoff frequency is at 120hz. I know this because the 'low pass filter' is set to on. The manual does not specify what it would be if I turn it off. 

My l/c/r speakers are set to 80hz. I set this using the steps you said. My surrounds are at 100hz, I didn't alter them yet, since I wasnt sure if you were suggesting to alter the speakers or the subwoofer, so I only did the l/c/r in case. 

I notice that when I am watching something on my Verizon fios, such as batman vs superman or game of thrones, there is a slight vibration like noise coming from the center speaker. Could that have anything to do with the crossover frequency? 

Thanks again.


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## Dawhoda (Jul 29, 2020)

Todd Anderson said:


> Is that different from what you attempted?


 seems legit


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## Tivis7 (Sep 23, 2020)

Todd Anderson said:


> Hi fviola!
> 
> Receivers and their manuals can be confusing, for sure... so lets see if can't work through this.
> 
> ...


THANK YOU! you just saved my sanity. My speakers were stuck on Large and I never checked.


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