# audyssey calibration at 70 db



## apilon (May 18, 2006)

Good afternoon ,

I have an Onkyo TX-SR706 being drive by 3 Emotiva UPA-1 and 2 UPA-2. 

I seem to recall that when i was using the Onkyo as a receiver i was able to achieve 75db on each speakers when calibrating with audyssey. 

Now since i added the Emotiva Audyssey calibrates at 70 db. 

I am not sure why Audyssey calibrate at 70 db as i am following the audyssey procedure for mic placement . 

Should i use my radio shack sound meter to adjust all speakers to 75 db or just leave as is? 

Alain


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I'm not an Audessy expert but i would imagine it would change abit being that you upped the power department. I don't calibrate my system useing anything but my ears (not the right way of doing it but...). If your ears tellyou it sounds ok then thats what i would go after.:T Hope i helped a little, others will chime in with much better answers i'm sure.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

apilon said:


> I have an Onkyo TX-SR706 being drive by 3 Emotiva UPA-1 and 2 UPA-2.
> 
> I seem to recall that when i was using the Onkyo as a receiver i was able to achieve 75db on each speakers when calibrating with audyssey.
> 
> ...


It is not the power but the input sensitivity of the two different amps setups and I would ignore it.



bambino said:


> I'm not an Audessy expert but i would imagine it would change abit being that you upped the power department. I don't calibrate my system useing anything but my ears (not the right way of doing it but...). If your ears tellyou it sounds ok then thats what i would go after.:T Hope i helped a little, others will chime in with much better answers i'm sure.


 See above. Calibration of level and delay and roomEQ by ear? I am impressed. :clap: Of course, I wouldn't recommend that to a newbie.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Thanks Kal, i am somewhat of a savant, not to toot my own horn or anything.:rofl2::bigsmile:


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

apilon said:


> Good afternoon ,
> 
> I have an Onkyo TX-SR706 being drive by 3 Emotiva UPA-1 and 2 UPA-2.
> 
> ...


The Emotiva UPA-1 power amplifier requires a 1 V RMS signal level to drive it to full power. The Onkyo TX-SR706 does not specifiy the maximum output level of the preamplifier. It may not be enough to drive the UPA-1. I would certainly try a manual level set, and see what performance you can get. I would also recommend contacting Onkyo to find out what the max levels of your preamp outputs are to be sure they are adequate to drive Emotivas.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about the level matching being a concern as tons of folks use there AVR's preouts to drive Pro-amps with no trouble at all. Without science i would just suspect the up in power to be the culprit.:T


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

Well I wouldn't worry either, since none of this equipment is mine. But the OP just shelled out some serious coin for all that Emotiva amplifier iron, but his experience is consistent with his preamp maxing-out at 0.5 V into an amp that needs 1V to drive it. So maybe the OP should be worried. 

Apilon, call Onkyo and get tech support to explain this problem to you.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

gsmollin said:


> Well I wouldn't worry either, since none of this equipment is mine. But the OP just shelled out some serious coin for all that Emotiva amplifier iron, but his experience is consistent with his preamp maxing-out at 0.5 V into an amp that needs 1V to drive it. So maybe the OP should be worried.
> 
> Apilon, call Onkyo and get tech support to explain this problem to you.


It's kind of one of those situations where "it is what it is". Like i said before several people run amps and pro amps off there preouts with no concern if calling tec will get a guy somewhere then by all means, otherwise if not happy Emotiva has a great return policy.:T

Just for referance i'll be running 4 proamps off my sub out with no worries, possibly 6, guess i'll see how it goes but from other folks experiances with no problems then i don't see a need to worry.

I'm curious if the OP likes the sound better now or before.:huh:


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## laser188139 (Sep 19, 2009)

gsmollin said:


> ... but his experience is consistent with his preamp maxing-out at 0.5 V into an amp that needs 1V to drive it. So maybe the OP should be worried. ...


Your conjecture might be applicable, if we were talking about clipping before reaching the maximum level of the speakers. But Audyssey uses a -30dBFS test tone to set the level at 75dB by adjusting up or down the level of each channel. So the actual voltages at this point are much less than the maximums of the amp input or receiver preout. 

Similar to your hypothesis, though, one should check if the levels chosen for each channel are maxed out at +12dB. If so, then the adjustment range of the Onkyo is maxed out, without being able to reach the intended 75dB audio level. If this is what is happening, it's not a significant problem provided the speakers are all still even in level. 

If the levels of each channel are not being maxed out, I would not worry about it. I would chalk it up to variation between the external SPL meter and Audyssey microphone. I know on my Radio Shack meter, I can see differences of 3dB between measuring with the range set at 80dB and at 70dB. So I would assume the Audyssey microphone is more accurate than the SPL meter. 

Bill


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

Yes, of course the audyssey is not clipping the amp while it is setting levels. But if the audyssey is sensing low sensitivity in the acoustic gain it may have to lower its reference levels to avoid clipping preamp outputs on program peaks. 6 dB is a lot of change, and the OP did notice it. I am assuming his measurements are correct, and if there is a calibration issue for the sound level meter, the calibration is at least consistent across the changes. He can always go back to the Onkyo AVR and rerun the setup and see if the system returns to previous performance.

Actually, at this point I am noticing no responding posts from the OP. We may be wasting our time debating the best course of action here while the OP has since either resolved the question himself, or decided it was not an issue. I'll wait to see what he says.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

gsmollin said:


> Actually, at this point I am noticing no responding posts from the OP. We may be wasting our time debating the best course of action here while the OP has since either resolved the question himself, or decided it was not an issue. I'll wait to see what he says.


Allthough a good debate, i would agree that since there has been no other responces from the OP we should give up or wait and see if he does come back with some findings.:T


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## apilon (May 18, 2006)

Kal Rubinson said:


> It is not the power but the input sensitivity of the two different amps setups and I would ignore it.
> 
> Good evening Kal ,
> 
> By ignoring it you mean leave the calibration as is ?


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## apilon (May 18, 2006)

Similar to your hypothesis, though, one should check if the levels chosen for each channel are maxed out at +12dB. If so, then the adjustment range of the Onkyo is maxed out, without being able to reach the intended 75dB audio level. If this is what is happening, it's not a significant problem provided the speakers are all still even in level. 

If the levels of each channel are not being maxed out, I would not worry about it. I would chalk it up to variation between the external SPL meter and Audyssey microphone. I know on my Radio Shack meter, I can see differences of 3dB between measuring with the range set at 80dB and at 70dB. So I would assume the Audyssey microphone is more accurate than the SPL meter. 

Bill[/QUOTE]

When i checked the calibration level some speakers are around -8 -10 db my sub is at -8 , 

i have been rerunning Audyssey 3 times and getting pretty much the same result all the time ......and there seem to be other people on AVS forum that are getting 70 db calibration with the TX-SR706 by itself so i should problably not worry about it


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## apilon (May 18, 2006)

I'm curious if the OP likes the sound better now or before.:huh:[/QUOTE]

To me the sound seems to be more full more alive with the emotiva


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## apilon (May 18, 2006)

bambino said:


> Allthough a good debate, i would agree that since there has been no other responces from the OP we should give up or wait and see if he does come back with some findings.:T


Sorry for not responding sooner with works kids and house chores i did not spent a lot of time on the computer recently


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Good to hear that, i figured that it would be. It probly sounds abit more effortless (or taxing on the AVR). Like previously stated i wouldn't worry about it and would sit back and enjoy.:bigsmile:


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

apilon said:


> Sorry for not responding sooner with works kids and house chores i did not spent a lot of time on the computer recently


No problem, we all have lifes and things that come before the computer. So i'll assume you are enjoying the new amp?


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## apilon (May 18, 2006)

bambino said:


> No problem, we all have lifes and things that come before the computer. So i'll assume you are enjoying the new amp?


I do indeed very please with Emotiva, nice clean sound lots of power , i currently drive them with Paradigm CT110 speaker system was currently looking at jumping into DIY speakers , but one of my customer talked about Behringer B2030P speakers being wonderful for the price around $100 Canadian each, so i am looking at them too to see what people are saying about those speakers. 

But that another subject and the wrong section of the forum to talk about speakers but overall I am very satisfy with Emotiva and have no trouble recommending it to others.


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