# Audyssey setup -- should I recline my theater seats?



## Skrill (Feb 4, 2014)

I have a dedicated theater with power recline leather seats. I have a receiver with MultiEQ XT32 - and a 7.1 setup.

At ear level --with my seats upright -- (a) I may have issues with clearance from seatback to mic (i.e., back reflections), and (b) I have issues with the mic "peaking" over the seatback and "seeing" the surround backs. That said - in almost all cases when people are actually in the theater (mostly me) the seats are at some form of recline.

Therefore -- I was thinking that I should recline the seats back a bit to solve both issues (a) and (b) and run my measurements using the 8-point recommended mic pattern in the FAQ. With the seats back a bit -- the measurements will be more real world anyway I was thinking. Any thoughts on this? 

Thanks!

CT


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I would think you'd want to run it with the seats in the positions they would likely be in the majority of the time. I'm no expert on Audyssey by any means, that is just what makes sense to me.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I have run Audyssey a few times in the last couple of months due to upgrades. I wondered the same thing and have run it both ways (seats reclined/normal) and couldn't really hear a difference. I would suggest running it both ways in your room and see if you can hear any difference.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I have done the same and not been able to measure any difference with REW... or it was extremely minimal, although I would not necessarily this will be the case in every system/setup/room. This was only with one seat, the primary seat. I have even sat down, reclined, place the mic at the left ear, right ear, nose (and repeat). Very minimal variances from just having the mic about where my nose would be when seating and my recliner closed. It could be more significant with several recliner seats up. YMMV :huh:


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## Skrill (Feb 4, 2014)

Thanks for the input -- I will try reclining the seats and running the HT-Shack recommended 8 points (which differs from what I had previously run -- which was the Audyssey recommended 8 points), and see what happens.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

It seems that some room/seating combinations are more sensitive to seat back position than others. In general it works best to run Audyssey with the seat back in the position where it is most likely to be used.

FWIW, we have also found that draping a thick, plushy, soft blanket, folded over several times so it is REALLY soft and thick, over the seat back so it is behind the head - down to the shoulders - reduces reflections and helps reduce that sensitivity to seat back position. The blanket stays in place during measurements and while listening - all the time.


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## R2RO (Jul 31, 2014)

Hi Skrill, I wonder what AEQ version you are using and if you found out any significant differences while running Audissey with the reclined seats. I have run it several times mostly with the seats up, but have not noticed any difference, then again, my recliner is on the 2/2 row of seats and is against the backwall, and my walls have acoustic treatments so very few reflections to mess the readings.


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