Setting up a new audio system can be a chore, but if you look for these settings, they can help you get on the path to better listening quickly.
Setting up a home theater system can be one of the most thrilling things audio enthusiasts can do. It can also be a confusing, and sometimes even frustrating task for many, if only because there are so many potential mistakes to avoid when trying to optimize your home theater experience. That list, of course, includes obvious things like the brand of audio equipment you’re using, the components you need to achieve your audio goals, and how you lay out the speakers in the space itself.
Once you have made those vital decisions and meticulously placed your speakers in the best possible locations to maximize their effectiveness, there’s no guarantee that the sound you hear coming out of them is going to be what you actually want. Indeed, the decision-making surrounding your audio setup is far from finished once you’ve powered it up, as there are still dozens of audio settings you can choose from if you want to tweak the sound.
If you’ve ever even casually glanced at your receiver’s settings menus, you know that sorting through the various audio settings for your home theater system can be legitimately dizzying. But fine-tuning your home theater’s audio output doesn’t necessarily have to be an intimidating task. And if you don’t want to get too deep into the audio rabbit hole, you should know you can likely boost your sound quality on the fly by adjusting these settings. Run auto calibration on your system
Assuming you’ve gone all-in on setting up a legit home theater system in your home, then you likely dropped some coin on a top-line receiver that will allow you to alter and adjust sound settings to whatever you want them to be. While we fully encourage you to dig into those settings and adjust the sound to your needs, we’d also suggest that you run the system’s auto-calibration function before you do.
If you’re unfamiliar with auto calibration, the function is included on most modern audio and home theater systems you’ll find on the market. As for what it does, the name is relatively self-explanatory, as auto sound calibration essentially runs white noise or test patterns through your surround system to provide balanced sound. It does so based on factors like the placement of speakers and the properties of the room itself, with Marantz calling it Audyssey, Pioneer dubbing it MCACC (Multichannel Acoustic Calibration) and Sony labeling it DCAC (Digital Cinema Auto Calibration).
Whatever it’s called on your system, you should be able to access the feature by navigating to the menu of your audio receiver. Some higher-end systems may require the use of a microphone placed in a prime seating location to triangulate the best sound. Other systems may also ask that you manually enter the distances between speakers and sitting positions during the process. Rest assured that when the process is complete, your home theater sound should be perfectly balanced. And in the home theater game, that’s the first step to audio bliss.
