settings for rear channels

[gopies]

Sorry if this sounds silly but just wondering how people set up their rears. Have B&W 704 fronts and HTM7 centre with Wharefdale Valdus 400 as rears driven by Rotel rsp1066/rmb1075. Fronts ~ 4 metres from listening position and rears ~ 1.8 metres. On the preamp I initially had the test tone @ 0dB for each channel. They sounded pretty similar albeit not done with an spl meter. Apart from T3 and lion king many other movies I have listened to don't seem to use the rear channels all that much. On occasions I get and and you can hear things but it is ridiculously low. It all seems odd given that the test tones don't differ all that much. Given that this is my first foray into ht - is it my setup or the mere fact that many soundtracks don't use their rears all that much?

What are peoples thoughts?

Regards
Gopies

[David Meek]

Hi Steve, welcome to The Guide! :later:

Three thoughts here: First, get an SPL meter. It's amazing how much variance in sound level your ears will NOT pick up on. Second, use a disc-based series of test tones, ie. Video Essentials, AVIA or the like. The internal test tones on a receiver/pre-pro are okay for getting it close, but to get a true reading on SPL levels for a DVD source, you should use a DVD to set them. Try these two things to know you have ablsolutely set the levels correctly. Third, what are the other movies you watch? That may have EVERYTHING to do with the performance you are hearing. If they are newer action-type movies, then you should expect lots of surround activity, if they are old B&W classics, then no, there won't be much - if any - surround activity.

Hope this helps.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[John Holmes]

gopies, Welcome to the Guide!

David has giving you great info. It is amazing how far our ears can be off when setting the channel levels. I'll just add that, if you do all of what David has covered and you still find them to be a bit low, you may want to check the gauge of wire used to the surround speakers.

You never mentioned the size of your listening area. I know when i first started out, I was using very thin wire to my surrounds and was having the same issues as you. I was using 22awg wire and changed to 14 awg. My speakers came to life. And the speakers were only about 13ft into the room. Not sure if this is an issue with your setup. Just thought I'd share. Let us know how things turn out.




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[gopies]

Hi guys. Sorry for the very late respnse and thanks for the advice. My rears are connected with 12awg wire. I will definitely try get my hands on an spl meter etc. I am sure its the soundtrack, its just weird to hear very soft ambient noise in some movies - I mean either use the rear channels properly or not at all.
gopies