Essential Setup - Arcam AV860 Handbook

essential
setup
Before you use your Receiver it is essential that you
enter some information into the Setup menus about
your speaker configuration. This allows the Receiver to
process any surround sound digital source to exactly
match your system and give you the ultimate surround
sound experience.
There are three pieces of vital information which are
outlined in the sections: 'Speaker Types' , 'Speaker
Distances' and 'Speaker Levels' .
The way you enter this information manually into the
Receiver is given later in the 'Setup Menus' section
on page E-28. The settings can also be established
automatically using the Arcam Auto Speaker Setup
function. However it is important to understand why
these speaker settings must be entered, which is why this
section is presented first.
Speaker types
You need to set the type of speakers that you have
connected to your Receiver:
Large capable of full frequency range reproduction
Small not capable of full frequency range
reproduction at the low frequency end
None speaker not present in your configuration
The terms 'Large' and 'Small' do not necessarily relate to
the physical size of your speakers. As a rule of thumb,
if a speaker cannot reproduce a flat frequency response
down to about 40Hz (and very few can!) it is often better
to consider them as 'Small' for setup purposes of home
cinema.
When a speaker is set to 'Small' , very low frequency
sounds are redirected away from that speaker to a 'Large'
speaker or a subwoofer, which are far better suited to
reproducing these low frequency sounds.
Note that it is not possible to set all speakers to
'Small' unless there is a subwoofer in your speaker
configuration. If you do not have a subwoofer, you will
be forced to set your front speakers to 'Large' .
(Advanced users may wish to automatically override the
'Small' speaker setting for purely stereo music listening
when not watching movies. This can be achieved in the
'Input Config. ' menu – see page E-29.
Crossover frequency
If you have set any speakers as being Small, then you will
be required to set a value for the crossover frequency.
This is the frequency below which signals are filtered
away from these Small speakers and redirected to Large
speakers or the subwoofer (if present). A frequency of
80Hz is often a good starting point, however you will
probably have to experiment with different values to find
the best value for your system or consult your speaker
handbook.
Use Channels 6+7 for
If not used in the main zone, it is possible to assign the
Surround Back channels to Height 1, bi-amp the Front
Left/Right channels or to provide an amplified output
to Zone 2.
Speaker Distances
It is essential for the distance from each speaker to the
listening position to be accurately measured and entered
into the 'Setup' menu. This ensures that the sounds from
the various speakers arrive at the listening position at
the correct time to recreate a realistic surround effect.
The distance can be entered in centimetres or inches.
E-26
Speaker Levels
Finally the levels of all the speakers in the system need
to be adjusted to match each other at the listening
position, again to create a proper surround effect. To
help with this the Receiver can generate a test noise for
each speaker which should be measured with a sound
pressure level (SPL) meter. The meter should be set to
'C' weighting and slow response. Several smartphone/
tablet apps are available which can also perfom this
function. The level of noise measured at the listening
position from each speaker should be adjusted on the
Speaker Trims page of the Setup menu so that the meter
reads 75dB SPL. It does not matter what the system
volume setting of the Receiver is before turning the test
noise on as the volume setting is over-ridden for the
duration of the speaker noise test.
There are several basic SPL meters on the market at
reasonable prices aimed at home cinema enthusiasts.
Check your local technology store, search online or ask
your dealer.
If you do not have an SPL meter or suitable app, you
can try to adjust the noise level of each speaker by ear.
In this case it is not possible to adjust the speakers to
the absolute 75dB SPL volume level, but you should aim
for all speakers sounding equally loud. Setting speaker
test noise levels by ear is not recommended as it is very
difficult to do accurately, but is often better than doing
nothing at all!