Anyone else think this is odd?

Hey everyone,

I've got a Yamaha RX-V750 receiver, and when I do a YPAO, it sets my mains at +7 dB, my centre at +4, my surrounds at +7.5, and my subwoofer at -8. Is that weird? Someone once told me that all the values should be within +/- 3 dB. The receiver is able to get the distances right, and sets them all as small. It also recommends a crossover of 120 Hz. I moved that down to 80 Hz and bumped up the sub from -8 dB to -6 dB.

So, in a nutshell, is it weird that YPAO set values ranging from -8 dB to

cheers, vij

PS: My speakers, for the sake of being complete, are the Athena Audition first series: mains: 2 x F2, centre 1 x C1, surrounds 2 x B2, subwoofer P400.

The different DVD mixes will make you insane, because the problem is nothing you can fix without mucking up all your other movies and music, unless . . .

Unless you could make presets in the receiver that could fix the most common problems you have with those fussy discs. Maybe, one that clears up low dialogue, another that tones down the bloated bass, etc. That would be grand!

Also, after you do the YPAO, if there is something you don't like: Adjust it in giant leaps . . . , and then scale it back with small adjustments. If you just adjust something a-little-bit-at-a-time, then soon enough you won't remember how it sounded in the first place. This is why I wish more receivers had numerical adjustments for the levels. Then you could just write down the original value, and go back to it for a quick compare.

Good luck, vij. And, don't let it make you too crazy.

I don't have the golden ears, nselson. And I'm honestly unsure if it sounds better. I know it sounds a bit different. There are times when the mains overpower the centre, so that's why I bumped it up. They still do occassionally, but only on stuff that has low-mixed dialogue, like Dead Like Me. There are times when music and movies seem light on bass, and times when they're bass-heavy. I guess that means I've found a middle ground. Crap. I wish I could get someone to do this for me. I like tweaking and all, but it gets frustrating sometimes.

Thanks for saying that +/- 3 dB is unrealistic -- that actually sets my mind at ease! I thought something was out of whack with my setup, and was getting worried.

So basically, YPAO is not infallible. They make mistakes. That's okay, that's why I have my analog SPL meter. Even armed with that, though, I notice the bass is still higher than all the other channels using the test tones (more like test fuzzy sounds). But when I listen to music or movies, I find I don't hear (and feel) it as much as I expect to. Oh well. I guess I just need to fine tune a bit more. Did I mention how frustrating this is?

cheers, vij

Thanks, nselson. I try not to let the system make me nuts. I have to remember that most times, I actually like fiddling with things, tweaking settings, and such. I've considered having different presets for different discs, but then I'd have to remember which number corresponds to what I want. I think it'd just be easier to tweak things on the fly.

Good advice on the "giant leap" approach to adjustments. Basically, I ran YPAO, wrote down the numbers it came up with, then tweaked. But I might try it again with a huge manual adjustment -- it would probably be easier making smaller adjustments afterward that way. Thanks for the advice!

cheers, supervij