Denon 2805 setup problem

[saidiadude]

Trying to setup the following system: Denon 2805, Energy C3 speakers, S10.3 sub. I've read thru the oh-so-enlightening manual a few times now (grrr), followed the auto setup procedure but the speakers sound horrible, especially at low volume - no midrange and zero bass (sub is OK, set at 80Hz x-over). When I check the EQ Parameter (Menu item 1-6), the freq ranges are mostly negative for all settings (Normal/Front/Flat). Some of the lower frequencies are at -5db or so :-( While trouble shooting, I've tried this so far:
- Checked the speaker wire polarities
- Checked the speakers on another system - they sound great
- Reset the processor (reboot)

To get around the problem, I'm using the Manual EQ. Even then, I have to turn up lower freqs to abt +5db and higher freqs to +3db or so.

Questions:

- Is the "Flat" EQ setting supposed to be off by this much?
- How does one reset the "Flat" EQ setting to all zeros (or close to zero)?
- Does the Manual EQ mode add to the Flat setting or to zero? I.e if on
flat, the recvr shows 57Hz at -3dB and I set the Manual EQ to +3db,
is the setting actually 3dB as set or 0db (-3+3)?

One caveat: I havent connected the rear speakers yet as I'm waiting for the ceiling mounts to arrive. Would the lack of the rear speakers throw off the receiver, esp in regards to the flat EQ?

Havent played with the "sound stage" settings for some of the modes/effects. Would that make a difference?

Thx for your help.

[DeepPurple23]

I have heard of problems with the "Auto" setup. I would return the unit to the default EQ settings until I had all the speakers set up as desired. Only then would I run the auto EQ. I'm not sure I would even run it then, but that's just me.

Good Luck.

[BlazeMaster]

I have this same results when I run AUTO-EQ. There's no way to find out whether it's correct or not, until I get a Calibration disc that can generate test tones for the whole frequency range by each speaker. You're aware that most rooms do have acoustic problems where some parts of the frequency range are exaggerated while others are suppressed? With that in mind, there's almost impossible to get a linear response throughout the frequency range without some EQ (turning the volume down on some frequency and turning it up on others), which is what your EQ is doing. I think you're just used to of hearing speakers giving non-linear response.
I've read alot about this unit in magazines before I purchased it, and almost all of the reviewers claimed that the AUTO EQ can bring a linear response on nearly on ranges while being off by a dB here and there, so it's pretty effective.

[mitch57]

saidiadude,

I have the Denon 3805 which is pretty similar. I went through some similar setup woes like you. I use the auto setup to get my speaker distances from the listening position set correctly. It's very accurate. Also make sure you have your crossover set before you run the auto setup as it doesn't do any adjustments to the crossover and sets the EQ based on the crossover.

In the end I found I could do a better job fine tuning it by turning the room EQ completely off, after I ran the auto EQ, and adjusting things manually.

Give it a try and let us know how that works. :T

[saidiadude]

Thanks everyone for the info. I installed the rears yesterday and re-ran the Auto setup. It got the distance, levels, etc, parameters right as usual, but the equalizer was way off again. It's no where close to flat, almost sounds like the wiring is wrong at low vol - it's not, I checked. I ended up using the manual equalizer - what a difference! Ran the Spiderman scene where Goblin makes his appearance on the Flyer and tosses explosives into the building. The sub handled the scene very cleanly (x-over at 80Hz, I had to turn up the vol slightly over the auto), but C3's were lacking bass slightly whether set as "large" or "small." Midrange is also slightly muddy, but the speakers need to broken in - they have abt 10 hours on the fronts, 0 on the rears. Next step: to pick up the Radio Shack SPL meter and recalibrate when speakers are broken in. The system is definitely starting to sound alot better.

As far as I can tell, I've done the setup correctly (X-over, tone control, select Pure Direct, etc). Also, I listened to the Energy speakers in a different room as well as the same room (I moved my 2nd recvr). Speakers sound great (using flat response) on the other recvr but not on the 2805 when using Auto setup.

I turned the bass and treble up slightly on the tone control and that seems to have helped on low volume. I tried both "small" and "large" speaker settings, but noticed nothing different when watching a movie or listening to a wide range of music. On-line reviews state that the C3s can go down to 40Hz, but I dont hear a lot of bass from them. Moving them around doesnt seem to make much of a diffence either.