Sierra's Rule!

[harsubs]

Set up details

1) Sierra LCR
2) 170 SE surrounds
3) VTF 3 Mk3 (w/o turbo) subwoofer
3) Emotiva LMC/LPA Combo
4) Neuneo DVD player
5) Sanyo Projector

Room Details
Basement HT set-up. False ceiling at 7'. Room is 24 * 12. Seating position is 12 feet from screen. Surrounds set at 2' behind seating position and angled down. Initial sub position was Front right corner.

Movies:
This set up takes movie watching to another dimension! One of the movies had a lot of scenes with quiet dialogues and the Sierra center was awesome. I can actually hear stuff without turning up the volume. Also there were quite a few scenes with people moving around and the dialogue shifts constantly across all the front speakers - I could close my eyes and place each one on the screen - even when they were between the front and center speakers! Overall, I feel like I'm in a movie theatre now, much more so than before. It's hard to describe in words the total immersive feeling that this system delivers. I'll be watching a lot more movies now!

The VTF3 delivered bass by the boat (or is that butt) load! So much so, that I had to consider near field placement because the walls were rattling so much.

Music.
Haven't tested this system for any serious listening. The one classical CD I played sounded GREAT.

Overall Impression:
I love my speaker system! :D

Any questions?:)

[Blake1214]

[QUOTE=harsubs;24781]Set up details

1) Sierra LCR
2) 170 SE surrounds
3) VTF 3 Mk3 (w/o turbo) subwoofer
3) Emotiva LMC/LPA Combo
4) Neuneo DVD player
5) Sanyo Projector


Movies:
This set up takes movie watching to another dimension! One of the movies had a lot of scenes with quiet dialogues and the Sierra center was awesome. I can actually hear stuff without turning up the volume. Also there were quite a few scenes with people moving around and the dialogue shifts constantly across all the front speakers - I could close my eyes and place each one on the screen - even when they were between the front and center speakers! Overall, I feel like I'm in a movie theatre now, much more so than before. It's hard to describe in words the total immersive feeling that this system delivers. I'll be watching a lot more movies now!

QUOTE]

Hi Harsubs,

I'm glad you're enjoying your setup. I have been having problems in setting up my center to have very clear dialogue during movies on the Sierras. I'm currently using the HK AVR 645 as the receiver. Dave responded to me and suggested for me to turn the center crossover to 120Hz and see if it improves. I will do that tonight and see. But I still went ahead and placed the order for the Emotiva Ultra Theatre combo 20 minutes ago as I hear they opened up the Sierras a lot more than the HK. Can you please give a few pointers on the settings that you used on the LMC-1?

Thx.

Blake

[muzz]

I find the Dialogue to be extremely clear on the Sierras, so I hope you find the issue.

I have the same speaker setup as harsubs, but I'm using a Boston Acoustics AVP7/A7200 combo(Sherwood Newcastle P965/A965 combo clone- made by SN), and a Rythmic 12" Direct servo sub.

Sounds fantastic.

Glad ya like them harsubs!!

Hope you get to the bottom of it Blake!!

[harsubs]

[QUOTE=Blake1214;24829
Hi Harsubs,

I'm glad you're enjoying your setup. I have been having problems in setting up my center to have very clear dialogue during movies on the Sierras. I'm currently using the HK AVR 645 as the receiver. Dave responded to me and suggested for me to turn the center crossover to 120Hz and see if it improves. I will do that tonight and see. But I still went ahead and placed the order for the Emotiva Ultra Theatre combo 20 minutes ago as I hear they opened up the Sierras a lot more than the HK. Can you please give a few pointers on the settings that you used on the LMC-1?

Thx.

Blake[/QUOTE]

Blake,

The LMC-1 seems to have bug with respect to the speaker distance - it doubled my distance settings. So, I put in half the distance and it seems ok now. With respect to the settings, my listening postion is about 8 feet from the center and 11 from the mains. The LMC asks you to turn up the vol. to 70dB and then calibrate each speaker. This was too loud for me - the SPL meter was reading over 90 at my LP. So, I turned the volume down to 55 and even then had to dial down the fronts and the center by almost 9db in order to reach 75 db. Instead, I turned down the volume further to 48db and left the speakers at 0db (as I did with the sub - I'm having bottoming out issues with my VTF3 and am waiting to hear back from HSU on that issue). The surrounds are 6 feet from me and are dialed down to -3.5dB each on the LMC's cal screen. I sit under a rather noisy projector and so experimented with boosting the center by 3dB over the mains, but then reverted back to the 0dB setting. This setting produced the clearest dialogues in quiet scenes.

[curtis]

Blake,
The LMC asks you to turn up the vol. to 70dB and then calibrate each speaker. This was too loud for me - the SPL meter was reading over 90 at my LP. So, I turned the volume down to 55 and even then had to dial down the fronts and the center by almost 9db in order to reach 75 db. Instead, I turned down the volume further to 48db and left the speakers at 0db (as I did with the sub - I'm having bottoming out issues with my VTF3 and am waiting to hear back from HSU on that issue). The surrounds are 6 feet from me and are dialed down to -3.5dB each on the LMC's cal screen. I sit under a rather noisy projector and so experimented with boosting the center by 3dB over the mains, but then reverted back to the 0dB setting. This setting produced the clearest dialogues in quiet scenes.
Something does not seem right here. You should calibrate all speakers(sub too) to match at 75dB on the SPL meter regardless what the gain is on the pre/pro or receiver. So you play the test tone on a single speaker, turn the volume on the LMC1 to get that tone to 75dB, leave that volume where it is then play that same tone on the each remaining speaker using the trim levels in the LMC1 to match each speaker to 75dB.

Maybe the manual for the LMC1 is funky?

[harsubs]

Something does not seem right here. You should calibrate all speakers(sub too) to match at 75dB on the SPL meter regardless what the gain is on the pre/pro or receiver. So you play the test tone on a single speaker, turn the volume on the LMC1 to get that tone to 75dB, leave that volume where it is then play that same tone on the each remaining speaker using the trim levels in the LMC1 to match each speaker to 75dB.

Maybe the manual for the LMC1 is funky?

Maybe it is the way I described it.

Here's what the manual says
It’s easiest to set the main volume at a
reference level of about 75dB for this exercise before engaging
the calibration process. To do this, activate the Noise Test feature
from the LMC-1 remote by pressing the “TEST” button using the
OSD as your guide. Adjust the main volume to about 75dB using
the main volume control on the front panel (using front speakers
as your reference) and then leave the LMC-1 volume control in a
fixed position from this point on. Only the individual speaker level
will be adjusted through the menu.

Ok, now that I read this again, I think I goofed. Thanks Curtis, for clearing that up. I think my settings are ok though(all six speakers register about 75dB) at my LP.

[Blake1214]

Thx Everyone!! (Curtis, Muzz, Harsubs),

When I got home last night, the first thing I played with was the crossover settings for the center. Per Dave's recommendation, I set it to 120Hz. The dialogue was indeed a little easier to hear now. It did however cause the soundstage to sound thinner. It was evident when I watched "Walk the Line." The deep voice of Johnny Cash was no longer as full. Another movie I watched was "Black Hawk Down." The change also took away the mid bass punch when they fire the rifles. But when special effects came in (helicopters and missiles) there weren't much of a difference. I'm assuming during special effects, the other speakers came into play and since they are crossed over at 60Hz, they filled in the gap. I also made sure the Auto setup was turned off.

No worries guys, I'll keep playing around with the settings and see if I'll be able to get it just right. I'm waiting on my Emotivas which should get here in a few days. I'll need to play with the settings all over again anyways.

Harsubs,

I've read a lot of feedbacks regarding the distance doubling on the LMC-1. I spoke with Dann G at Emotiva and he assures me all the bugs has been resolved with the upgraded firmware. I'm not sure how long its been since you bought your unit but you may want to check with them if a new firmware is available for you. They are also sending out dongles for your LMC-1 so you can update the firmware without the need of sending your unit back.

[curtis]

Blake...can you post a picture of how speakers are setup?

[harsubs]

Thx Everyone!! (Curtis, Muzz, Harsubs),

Harsubs,

I've read a lot of feedbacks regarding the distance doubling on the LMC-1. I spoke with Dann G at Emotiva and he assures me all the bugs has been resolved with the upgraded firmware. I'm not sure how long its been since you bought your unit but you may want to check with them if a new firmware is available for you. They are also sending out dongles for your LMC-1 so you can update the firmware without the need of sending your unit back.

Thanks for the info Blake. I'll give them a call. Mine aren't all that old (a few weeks).

[Blake1214]

You're very much welcome. I hope will get that issue resolved. I know this isn't a Emotiva Forum but since you're using it with Ascend speakers, we will want you to get it sounding at its best!! You may find the updated firmware details here

http://www.emotiva.com/manuals/emo.updates/LMC-update_doc.pdf

It was updated 8/8/07 so I think you qualify.

It doesn't list the distance doubling issue for one reason or another, but hopefully, it was addressed as well as many other owners have brought it to their attention. Since it's said the new firmware got rid of "ALL" bugs:rolleyes: then your issue should be addressed as well.

[Blake1214]

Harsub,

I received my UL combo yesterday and spent a few hours with them. Unfortunately, they forgot to send me the HDMI switcher so I was unable to use the OSD for setup (I only have HDMI cables). Although they said I have the latest firmware, I am also experiencing the same distance doubling issue as yourself. I've also found a couple of other bugs with my LMC-1 unit. You can go to their forum and see the post I have regarding the quirks I'm having. Hopefully, Emotiva will be able to address them in a timely manner.

[harsubs]

Harsub,

I received my UL combo yesterday and spent a few hours with them. Unfortunately, they forgot to send me the HDMI switcher so I was unable to use the OSD for setup (I only have HDMI cables). Although they said I have the latest firmware, I am also experiencing the same distance doubling issue as yourself. I've also found a couple of other bugs with my LMC-1 unit. You can go to their forum and see the post I have regarding the quirks I'm having. Hopefully, Emotiva will be able to address them in a timely manner.

Blake,
The doubling is just a display bug. The OSD shows the correct distance, while the front panel shows twice the distance. However, if you try to change the distance on the front panel, it reverts back to the distance you put in. Also, I'd be interested in your sub calibration if you use the Emotiva's tones - I have to turn the gain on the sub quite a bit to get it to match the Sierra's output and this results in too much bass. So, I've decided to use AVIA to calibrate the system for audio. The re-directed bass tones from AVIA result in a more matched level between the Sierras and the VTF3.

Since this is a Sierra thread, let me again state for the record that I am thrilled so far with them:D. Paired with the Emotiva, they sound heavenly - even at high volumes. The only thing I haven't done so far is to run them full range to see how they handle the lower end, but I'm hoping to do that this weekend.

[muzz]

I personally don't use/trust INTERNAL test tones, because of input variances..........
I always use Avia or the like to set levels, as THAT is my HD DVD player, and is the most critical listening I do (including cds, and movies).

[Blake1214]

Yup...I agree. So far I'm just doing some basic setup so the whole system sounds ok. It will definitely take some time and fine tuning with the AVIA to make it perform at its potential.

Harsubs,

I can say I do have the same problem with bass. I'm using a SVS pc plus so perforamance should be very similar to your HSU. I have my gain set to half which is way more than what most SVS owners use. When I was using the HK with the Sierras, it sounded a little thin during movies. And when special effects comes in, the bass was way too much. Now, atleast Emos improved the midrange so it's fuller and not as drastic of a change when it sends LFE signals.

[tank418]

Hey guys, what is AVIA ? and where can I buy it ?

[Blake1214]

AVIA is a DVD created by a company called Ovation Multimedia which is used to calibrate your audio and video setup. You can find more at the following link:

http://www.ovationmultimedia.com/avia.html