my speakers bi-ampable.. guess will have to invest in extra cables to try out.

Thinking of setting up the 1709 using auto setup mic, but after read thru the useer manual, i dont understand wat is the meaning of "Defeat Volume" of the subwoofer? Does it mean turn off the volume of the subwoofer?
If turn it off then how to configure for the sub setting?

Richard,

It does not mean you turn off the volume of the Sub. For basic Sub volume, it should be set at 12 o'clock & set the frequency level to the max. Then Audyssey will do the calculation later.

I think you should visit this site for more details;

Official Audyssey Details Set-Up


Enjoy your reading & make sure you tweak the kits up.

Well, for me, I will manually adjust the Sub volume via Denon AVR. For dvd, I adjust to +2.5db and for Astro I set it to +8db so that to get a bit of bass for assstro listening, no complain la.....what to do, the least I can do. I will also set my astro input to Dolby PLII Cinema so that the dialogue can channel to the centre speaker.

Tell me your settings after running the auto set-up in your room....

Wow!!!
Thanks for ur input again, mika.
Well, this muz be done in a quiet environment.
will be doin it when i go back home nxt week, cant wait to try it out. not sure would it really improve the sound significantly.
Anyway, some time i really hate to do tuning also. coz my family members will shift the speakers position after I tuned the system.
Worst thing is, they will simply adjust the setting according to their own taste. So sometime i also lazy to bother, anyway, tats my fathers property, so he can juz do watever he want. But I will still gv it a try since i so curious abt it.
gonna take time to read up the Audyssey setting.

Well, I am just wondering why your father is so keen in tuning the AVR settings. I guess most of our old men, wives or uncles would like the system to tune everything for them so that they plug & play. Just like HTIB system. To tune an AVR properly is not a straight forward thing. YOu got to study & read up a bit.

It is true that it says the Auto setup has to run in a very quiet room with minimu noise. After running the set-up, speakers are to remain where they are placed to avoid inaccurate timing & speakers not integrate correctly. But some people prefer to do manual settings as they dont like the conservative settings of Audyssey mult-EQ. I personally prefer Audyssey EQ but not its dynamic volume, when watching movies as I dont listen in very high volume. Average volume for me is at -28db and at this volume, the audyssey EQ is doing wonderful job in presenting open yet dynamic sound across all speakers.

As for astro, I set to dynamic volume ON because there are plenty of advertisements noise that keep charging up at your ears.......

Actually my parents prefer strong bass and high treble, like the previous Yamaha receiver has a "music enhanced" feature, my father like to turn it on and then set high gain for each speaker like +6db, then the treble and bass also cranked up to +4/+6 db. To me, it was done too over, i found the sound was distorted and treble and bass were overwhelmed. Some time my ears will get hurt by the sound coz it is way too sharp! Not smooth at all.
Well, I cant do anything also since they pay for it and not mine.

Another thing is, normally the user manual will says the Dolby Prologic will create surround sound even if the input sound is stereo. I think tis is not rite to me at all. I hv tried using tis mode when passing thru the sound from TV ( normal TV program) to receiver, and I do hope it could really create a surround feel to me, but always disappointed me.
The sound like all go to the center where main speaker is not working well wif the centre. not to mention the surround, i cant even hear anything which suppose to be come out from surround speakers. So, i normally will switch to 5 channel stereo to gv a boost to the sound.

ur parents??? fuyoo.... still so happening huh ?

if my dad i guess watched 20-30mins fall asleep..

well... actually my father is the 1 who tune the system.
they normally listen to song, those chinese oldies but is remix to cha cha type.
So, it is actually quite rythmic and i like it too sometime.
They seldom watch DVD also, juz sometime only.
Me also less watching, coz no mood to sitting down for an hr++

But with new Denon AVR-1709, I am sure you will discover more in your dvd collection. This will in turn make you glue to movies more than ever.......not to mention BD movies though...

ahaha....
BD is till very expensive, but no point to get BD player at the moment since WD HD player is so cheap and it provides decent quality i suppose.
After watching BD, actually dont really like to watch DVD already due to the PQ diff really really a lot.
haha, anyway will try to arrange time to test out tis new toy in my house. Still thinking on how to get the auto mic setup optimized.
Been reading here and there for 2 days.
Well, hope you have a great day in first day of the year in 2009!
cheers~

---

Added on January 1, 2009, 9:30 amWell, after reading a few thread about setting up the Audyssey. It says that we should avoid standing in the middle and holding the mic. So, my ques is:

Where the hell should I hide myself in which corner of my room in order
to minimize the reflection from my body?

If get out from the room then, how am I goin to set it?

This post has been edited by cougar richard: Jan 1 2009, 09:30 AM

BD is not about the 1080p picture

u get lossless audio

of coz BD is about the picture.. if not, every one just get MKV+7.1 lossless audio, and free...

BD is abt BOTH 1080P and DTS-HD MA

Hi fellow Denon sensei

i am a newbie in home theater system and in need of extra opinion, especially from Denon experience player.

Recently my friend offered to sell me a 2nd home theater set for RM 2K after i conveyed my interest to him. They consists of :

- Denon AVR 1800 (gold colour with remote control)
- JBL subwoofer PS100 (2x2, wood encase, black colour)
- JBL surround Flix2 (1 foot tall, wood encase, black colour)
- JBL central Flix2 (2 feet long, wood encase, black colour)
- Duke DK760s 3 way speaker for front (4ft tall, wood encase, dark maroon colour)
- includes standard wiring
- no warranty as it is a 2nd hand set

My intention is to hook up HTPC to avr, listening to some music via HTPC and 90% watch movie via HTPC. Watching DVD from DVD player would be 10 % of the time. In future may include hooking up PS3 to the avr. The home theater set is situated in my living hall in a double storey link house. My LCD, DVD and HTPC comes with HDMI.

Here are some of my questions :

1) Is it worth considering since the AVR1800 is more than 10 years old ?

2) What would be alternative recommendation if I were to purchase a new set with a budget of ~RM 2K ?

thanks fellow Denon user

Char,

May I know how much your friend offer to you 2nd HT sets? less than RM2k?

Folk out RM1k to take back whole kits except the AVR1800.

Well, since you are planning to buy PS3 which will play HD audio in the future, it is pointless to take on the 1800 coz it cant play the loseless audio. It is considered outdated amp with no HDMI connectivity. To enjoy bluray audio, for a start, you need to get AVR-1909. However, it is > RM2k. Maybe the price has dropped now......

thanks mikapoh for your advise. i would think 1800 is a bit old.

denon avr1909 cheapest found is RM2,600 in M'sia..

for cheap & really good AVR, i'd go for Yamaha V663 - can get around RM1850..

i'm not expert but i did some research as i'm budgeting for my HT set now...

I was actually a Denon fan. Due to the exorbitant price of AVR-2808, I've to opt for Yamaha RX-V1800. Denon's surr steering is outstanding but the price is a real turn-off for peasant like me.

Tried out AudysseyEQ yest. Has some improvement for surround effect.
But i think still need some tweak to fine tune it.
Dont really like Dynamic Vol, it brings volume to real low level. Lost many details. Sometime dont like Dynamic EQ also. It enhances the bass too much but not the details of the sound. causes the sound very muddy.

For my case, the Audyssey always set my surround level higher than other front speakers eventhough they are nearest to my listening position.

I always watch with mulit-EQ but dynamic volumme off except astro where there plenty annoying advertisement noise. I found with the EQ on, the surround effect are greatly enhanced. But, if you like to watch your movie at high volumme, then turning the EQ off is ideal.
My LFE vol is at 12 o'clock at the sub and the +2.5db at the avr. For astro, I have made it memorised to +8.0db so to boost the bass frequency.