ROTEL RSP1066 - Manual (Page 28)

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CENTER BACK SPEAKER(S) (small/
large/none): Some systems have one or two
additional center back surround speakers for
use with 6.1 channel surround signals or 7CH
stereo processing. With the RSP-1066, such
a configuration is available using the preamp
outputs and external amplifiers. Select the
LARGE setting (not available with SMALL front
speakers) to have your center back speakers
play low bass. If your side speakers have limited
bass capability or if you would prefer that the
bass go to a subwoofer, use the SMALL set-
ting. If your system has no center back speakers,
select the NONE setting. With center back
speakers, the Rotel XS extended surround and/
or other decoders will provide the optimum
center back signals for any surround mode and
any type of recording.
SUBWOOFER (yes/no/max): Use the YES
setting if your system has a subwoofer. If your
system does not have a subwoofer, select NO.
Select the MAX setting to redirect all low fre-
quency information from all speakers (includ-
ing LARGE speakers) to the subwoofer. This
will give you maximum bass performance with
normal bass information being played by both
the subwoofer and any LARGE speakers in the
system.
CB SPKR SELECT (1 speaker/2 speak-
ers): Use the 1 SPEAKER setting if your sys-
tem has a single center back surround speaker.
Use the 2 SPEAKERS setting if your system has
2 center back surround speakers. If your sys-
tem does not have any center back speakers,
select NONE on the previously described
CENTER SPEAKER setting on this menu.
NOTE : Speaker configuration is a global set-
ting for all surround modes and need only be
done once.
To change a setting, place the highlight on the
desired line using the UP/DOWN buttons and
use the +/– buttons to toggle through the
available settings. To return to the MAIN menu,
press the ENTER button. Press the MENU key
on the remote to cancel the display and re-
turn to normal operation.
TEST TONE Menu
TEST TONE
LEFT: 0dB
CENTER: 0dB
RIGHT: 0dB
R SURROUND: 0dB
CENTER BACK: 0dB
L SURROUND: 0dB
SUBWOOFER: 0dB
ENT KEY=MAIN MENU UP KEY=up
+/– KEY=change DWN KEY=down
This menu uses pink noise test tones to set equal
volume levels for all speakers (left front, cen-
ter, right front, right surround, center back, left
surround, and subwoofer) to ensure proper
surround sound reproduction. Setting the output
levels using the test procedure provides the
most accurate adjustment so that digital sur-
round sound material will be reproduced as
it was intended and is a critical step in cali-
brating the system.
NOTE : If you have configured your system to
use two center back speakers, there will be
an additional line in the menu, giving you the
ability to independently adjust the CENTER
BACK 1 and CENTER BACK 2 speakers.
To access this menu and perform the test tone
calibration, you must be in one of the surround
modes. To do this, press any of the MODE buttons
except 2CH. Then, enter the ON-SCREEN DIS-
PLAY menu system and select TEST TONE from
the MAIN menu to reach this screen.
When you enter the TEST TONE menu, you
will hear a test tone coming from the highlighted
speaker. Highlight different speakers by moving
the cursor to the desired line using the UP/
DOWN buttons. The test tone will shift accord-
ingly to the selected speaker.
While seated in the normal listening location,
switch the test tone to the various speakers.
Using the loudest speaker as a fixed reference,
listen to hear if any other speakers are notice-
ably louder or quieter. If so, adjust that speaker’s
volume levels up or down (in 1dB increments)
to match using the +/– buttons. Continue switch-
ing among the speakers and adjusting until
all speakers are the same volume.
To return to the MAIN menu, press the EN-
TER button. Press the MENU key on the remote
to cancel the menu display and return to nor-
mal operation.
Calibration with an SPL meter:
Calibrating the system with an SPL meter, rather
than by ear, provides more precise results and
improves the system’s performance significantly.
Inexpensive SPL meters are widely available
and the procedure is quick and easy.
Both Dolby and DTS specify a standard cali-
bration level for all theaters to ensure that
soundtracks can be played at the volume level
intended by the director of the film. This ref-
erence level should result in spoken dialog
played at about 80 dB (a realistic level for nor-
mal speech) with the loudest peaks in any single
channel at about 105 dB.
This calibration can be accurately done in a
home theater using a sound pressure level (SPL)
meter and the pink noise test tones described
above. Set the meter to its SLOW response
with C-weighting and hold it away from your
body at your listening position pointing towards
the speaker being adjusted. Increase the master
volume control on the RSP-1066 until the meter
reads 75dB when playing the test tone through
one of the front speakers. Then, use the indi-
vidual channel adjustments on the TEST TONE
menu to adjust each of the individual speak-
ers, including the subwoofer, to the same 75dB
on the SPL meter. Note the setting of the mas-
ter volume control. Whenever you play a Dolby
Digital or DTS soundtrack with that master
volume setting, you will be playing it at the
reference volume level.
The idea of a reference volume setting to be
used in every theater has its merits. However,
many home theater listeners find this setting
to be excessively loud. It’s worthwhile cali-
brating your system to a known standard, but
let your own ears be the judge for deciding
how loud to playback movie soundtracks. Re-
gardless of your listening levels, using an SPL
meter to calibrate equal levels for all speak-
ers in the system is well worth the effort.
RSP-1066 Surround Sound Processor