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Avia Subwoofer Calibration Tips by Edward J M

Avia is a Dolby Digital format, and relies on redirected bass in order to calibrate the subwoofer level. This requires the speakers to be set to small, and the speaker channel in question will then contribute bass to the subwoofer tone.

The amount of bass each speaker contributes to the sub tone is highly dependent on its room location, its inherent bass capabilities, its proximity to the subwoofer, the phase setting of the subwoofer, and the crossover frequency selected.

The best way to calibrate the subwoofer with Avia is to run the sub test tone for each speaker channel and note the results. Pick the channel that seems most representative of the average, and use it for final sub calibration. This method will tend to eliminate over or under calibration by disregarding the highest and the lowest values and using the average.

Also, a good way to evaluate the effect of the phase control when using Avia is to run the sub calibration tone for the speaker closest to the subwoofer and try the phase at 0 and then at 180. Observes what happens on the SPL meter. Usually one setting will be considerably higher than the other, indicating the subwoofer and the nearest speaker are the most "in phase" at that phase setting. This may not be completely desirable from a smooth FR standpoint, but it can help you understand the effect of the phase control, since Avia does rely on redirected bass.

See also: Common Subwoofer Setup Errors.

Also, Ed has written these great subwoofer reviews:

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