Setting Dcb Level On Receiver??

[snodog]

Hey all! I was just looking at my on-screen display for my marantz sr6200 receiver and noticed that you can set the dcb levels for front, rear, and center and such. Is this something I want to adjust? They are all at 0 right now. The sound seems to be balanced ok as I can also adjust the levels to large or small. Damn, why so many things to mess around with? I am going to buy a center channel or subwoofer tomorrow also. Does anyone know the "ideal" adjustments to make? Thanks people, what a great site, you are always so helpful!!!

[poneal]

Go out and get a radio shack SPL meter. You then turn up your receiver and play the pink noise through your speakers. You then look at the meter and see if the db level is the same for all speakers. If needed you can increase/decrease the levels that you are talking about. There are many sites that can give you a more detailed description of how to set the speaker levels using the SPL meter, so I will leave that search up to you.

[snodog]

Yes, please tell me! Also, what is the pink noise you referred to? Any idea on the prices of the meters?

[poneal]

Well, OK since your willing to learn. A Radio Shack Sound Pressure Level (SPL) meter cost around $50.00 at radio shack. They have the analog or digital kind. Then analog type is cheaper and most prefer it over the digital model. Here's a few links to get you started:

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/speaker_placement.php

http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/spl.htm

This one requires acrobat reader which is a free download

http://www.rivesaudio.com/files/Spl.pdf

These documents should definitely get you started. If you have specific questions just them here.