# Audyssey Strange Crossover and Sub Distance Settings



## A-rab (Dec 28, 2014)

Hi all,

I've been having some issues with Audyssey crossover settings lately. My current setup is as follows: 
- Speakers : Chane Music & Cinema A5rx-c towers and A2.4 center 
- Seating position is 10' from the TV 
- Room size is 12' x 16' 
- The L/R speakers are 8' apart on each side of the TV. 
- The sub is the Seaton Sound MFW-15 Turbo-SS 
- The receiver is a Denon avr-x4200w.

I've run Audyssey about 5 times now (with the 8 placements every time). The F/R and Center distances are pretty much bang on but it keeps recommending a 250Hz crossover (max available crossover setting) and setting my subwoofer at 0.1 distance whereas it is actually at 10' from the listening position.

I've reached out to the Audyssey online help desk which have been very prompt but none of the following recommendations they provided changed anything
- Reset the receiver to factory settings, update firmware and rerun Audyssey 
- Put a towel under the mic's tripod so that the reading doesn't pick-up vibrations from the sub (hence maybe why the sub distance is set at 0.1')
- Verify woofer damage on speakers (they all run fine with sine waves at 40, 60 and 80+ Hz)
- Bring towers out into the room (not much space for me to do this)

I was also advised that 250Hz recommendation may be due to a dip in the frequency range due to room acoustics which Audyssey reads as a -3db roll off and applies as a crossover recommendation. 

I'm also wondering if this means as long as Audyssey recommends a 250 Hz crossover for whatever reason, I will not get any benefits from having Audyssey. It seems a bit of a waste to have spent the extra money to have Audyssey on my receiver if I won't have any room EQ between Audyssey's measured roll off point and my choice of crossover setting (i.e. 60 or 80 Hz).

Apologies for the lengthy post but hoping someone has a clue...!

Thanks!


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

The Chane is rated to 50 Hz so shouldn't be an issue.
I realise you may not have the equipment to measure but I would recommend running REW on your setup to see what is actually going on. 

I looked at your room nodes (Assuming your ceilings are at 8 foot) and there are no issues there.
I used Bob Golds calculator http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm

Do you have, or can you borrow, a mic to run some tests with REW?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Is the mic pointed straight up and is it at ear level?


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

tonyvdb said:


> Is the mic pointed straight up and is it at ear level?


Good point Tony! I keep forgetting the K.I.S.S. principle...


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## A-rab (Dec 28, 2014)

Yes the ceiling is 8' high and yes the mic is pointing up! :smile:


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

How does the system actually sound after running audyssey? The distances are actually setting delays which help re-align phase of the sound coming from speakers at the listening point, so what it's going may be okay.

The 250 Hz crossover setting could be due to a bad null (room mode). If you manually set it to something reasonable for your speakers, like 80 Hz, how does the system sound?


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## A-rab (Dec 28, 2014)

fusseli said:


> How does the system actually sound after running audyssey? The distances are actually setting delays which help re-align phase of the sound coming from speakers at the listening point, so what it's going may be okay.
> 
> The 250 Hz crossover setting could be due to a bad null (room mode). If you manually set it to something reasonable for your speakers, like 80 Hz, how does the system sound?


So I've brought the speakers out by 6" (pushing the WAF to the limit), played around with toe-in and reran Audyssey. The speaker distances are still good. I saw an improvement in the sub distance (it is now set at the appropriate distance). However, Audyssey is still recommending a 250 Hz crossover. In terms of sound, the higher bass frequencies sound a bit off. The rest of it is pretty good, especially with the Audyssey setting at "flat". I guess that there might be a -3db drop around 250Hz, maybe due to room acoustics?! I need to run REW but need to get U-MIK. Even by running REW, I'm not sure I would know how to correct the problem. this hobby is getting expensive lol


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Have you tried reversing the phase on the subwoofer? (set to 180 instead of 0 or vice-versa) An inversion will sound off, and usually create a huge dip at the crossover frequency


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## A-rab (Dec 28, 2014)

*Re: Audyssey Strange Crossover and Sub Distance Setting*



fusseli said:


> Have you tried reversing the phase on the subwoofer? (set to 180 instead of 0 or vice-versa) An inversion will sound off, and usually create a huge dip at the crossover frequency


I'll try that for sure. Should I rerun Audyssey with a different phase? My understanding is that it will readjust the phase based on readings.


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

I would definitely try it. Change the subs phase setting, on the sub or on the AVR, and rerun.


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## A-rab (Dec 28, 2014)

fusseli said:


> I would definitely try it. Change the subs phase setting, on the sub or on the AVR, and rerun.


I played around with phase and reran Audyssey, still no bueno *sigh*.


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