What do you recommend changing in my audio system?

[Patrick Tracy]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

Are you telling me I should use "Surround" to get the voice out of the central channel? But should I choose Surround on Onkyo even if I have a file worked with Edius in Stereo?

Yes, that appears to be how the settings work in that Onkyo. I currently use a Denon, but my last three receivers were Onkyo, covering the time from stereo to the original Dolby Surround to Dolby Pro Logic. The Pro Logic unit would take stereo input and distribute it to a 5.1 speaker setup, which is basically what you want for checking things in surround. The AllCh setting will also distribute a stereo signal across a 5.1 speaker setup, but not in a way that produces a proper surround image with the voiceover in the center speaker and the stereo music in the left and right speakers etc. It will basically put everything everywhere.

[Adriano Moroni]

I'm doing some tests with the new spekers. So I went into the Onkyo Menu and saw these entries, but I didn't change them, because I'm afraid of making a mistake. Please inform me that I would like to use only the Stereo speakers. I'd like to use only frontal speakers in Stereo.
The entries are:
1) Should Music OTP be ON or OFF?
Should ACCU EQ be ON or OFF?
thrn I saw:
Subwoofer +2
Center 0
PM LOW OFF
C SPEAD OFF

I know that everything is objective, but how do you think you would configure these entries?

[Patrick Tracy]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

I'm doing some tests with the new spekers. So I went into the Onkyo Menu and saw these entries, but I didn't change them, because I'm afraid of making a mistake. Please inform me that I would like to use only the Stereo speakers. I'd like to use only frontal speakers in Stereo.
The entries are:
1) Should Music OTP be ON or OFF?
Should ACCU EQ be ON or OFF?
thrn I saw:
Subwoofer +2
Center 0
PM LOW OFF
C SPEAD OFF

I know that everything is objective, but how do you think you would configure these entries?

I couldn't find anything in the manual about OTP.

AccuEQ is an automatic equalization feature. In my experience, such corrections to the system eq are best done by an experienced human with more sophisticated tools than what is likely inside the receiver. I would turn that off.

"Subwoofer +2" probably refers to the subwoofer level compared to the other speakers. That will be different for different combinations of subwoofers and left/right/center speakers. I adjust my subwoofer level by ear using the controls on the subwoofer while playing music I'm familiar with.

C SPREAD distributes the center channel audio across all the front speakers. I wouldn't do that if you're using a center channel speaker, but it might happen automatically if you disable the center channel in the receiver's menu.

[Adriano Moroni]

Originally Posted by Patrick Tracy

C SPREAD distributes the center channel audio across all the front speakers. I wouldn't do that if you're using a center channel speaker, but it might happen automatically if you disable the center channel in the receiver's menu.

Therefore do I have to put it on OFF?

[Patrick Tracy]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

Therefore do I have to put it on OFF?

Yes, I would turn it off.

[Adriano Moroni]

Thanks for your suggestions. I attach a pic where you can see the location of my Elacs. I have also 2. floor rugs, one large and one small. Then who are the curtains on the right and 2 fabric sofas. Under the speakers I often have a carpet panel.
I am not able to find C SPREAD and ACCU EQ in the Menu anymore, where are them?
I never make a AccuEQ test with microphone. I don't find the original mOnkyo mis. Is it important this test?

[Patrick Tracy]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

Thanks for your suggestions. I attach a pic where you can see the location of my Elacs. I have also 2. floor rugs, one large and one small. Then who are the curtains on the right and 2 fabric sofas. Under the speakers I often have a carpet panel.
I am not able to find C SPREAD and ACCU EQ in the Menu anymore, where are them?
I never make a AccuEQ test with microphone. I don't find the original mOnkyo mis. Is it important this test?

Perhaps if you have the center channel disabled you won't be able to access C SPREAD (because that gets done automatically without a center speaker). I don't know why you can't find AccuEQ. Hopefully it's disabled.

Your room has some positive and negative features. On the negative side, there are lots of hard surfaces. That will tend to color your sound by adding reflections. On the positive side, the intrusion of the chimney on the right and the stairway on the left probably break up some reflections. The curtains will help a little when closed. Note that the curtains and the rugs won't have any effect on bass frequencies. Those are likely to vary a lot depending on where you are in the room unless you apply aggressive acoustic treatment.

One area that could use some improvement is that the left and right speakers are a bit close together if the couch is the main listening position. The usual geometry is a nearly equilateral triangle. That might entail putting the speakers higher (with one on the mantel). If you did that then a slight tilt downward would be a good idea to keep them aimed at the listener.

[Adriano Moroni]

Your suggestions are good, thnank you.
To tell the truth, I didn't disable the center channel because I don't know how to do it. I just put the distance of all the speakers from the listener and that is 3 metres.
Then I also chose the volume and when I came across "Central", I chose -5. Maybe you disable it by setting the minimum i.e. -10?

Then there is another thing I would like to say. When I turn on the Onkyo it always turns on with "AllCH Stereo", even when I turn it off with "Stereo".

[Adriano Moroni]

Now I am quite satisfied with the configuration of the new Speakers.
I ask for one last favor.
Mybe my Onkyo is defective.
I'll give you an example:
I would like to set "Subwoofer" 0 (zero, because it is +2), so I set it to 0 and press the "ENTER" button on the remote control to save the configuration. Then the same thing happens to me when I choose to use "Stereo" in "Listening Mode". When I turn off the TV and Onkyo and turn them back on and go to check those sections, I see that it is always Subwoofer +2 and ALLCH Stereo. I feel like I'm going crazy with this Onkyo. Am I doing something wrong? How can I save the Subwoofer 0 setting on Onkyo?
I thank you a lot!

EDIT: I managed to solve it. In fact I had to press the SETUP button. Only from there is it possible to configure the speakers and save the configuration.

[Patrick Tracy]

You should be able to edit the settings of each Listening Mode so that the receiver returns to your preferred behavior for a given type of input. Other than that, I have no suggestion.

[Adriano Moroni]

I'm making this post just to thank you all.
Without you I would never have been able to solve my problem.
Thank you for your availability and professionalism.
Now I listen to my documentaries much better.

[Adriano Moroni]

Hey friends, I HAVE A SETUP PROBLEM with my Onkyo.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I would like to use 5.1 and I'll explain how. I would like to use ALLCH Stereo, so I configured the speaker volume: Front L and R +2, Center -12, rear speakers L and R +1. In this way I have a more than satisfactory sound quality, I would say good. I like using this option better than Stereo. So I took the remote control and chose 5.1 and ALLCH Stereo. Almost imperceptible voice and music come out of the central channel. So far everything is OK. But every time I turn off Onkyo and then turn it back on, only the center channel automatically works and no other speakers. Then when I click on the "Listening mode" button on Onkyo, the word ALLCH Stereo appears and from that moment all the speakers work correctly. Why is this happening to me? Maybe did I make something wrong in Setup? When I turn on Onkyo, I would like ALLCH Stereo to automatically work. Can you help me solve this problem?
THANK YOU

[Patrick Tracy]

I have no idea why you're having that problem, but AllCh Stereo is not the right mode to use if you want a proper surround image. It's really just meant for parties where you want "everything everywhere."