congrats on the purchase .. and you got a great deal on it to boot :k:
Audio forum people might know about mp3 → VCD convertors.. i’m sure there are many software that will do that job.. u can then burn VCD’s .. kinda circuitous but gets the job done.
For a small room u may not even need elaborate equipment.. see if u can borrow a sound meter from someone .. or buy it for one time use and return it ..
Invest in a good calibration DVD like AVIA or Video Essentials ..
Your receiver has adjustable X-overs.. if u set them right u’re all set to enjoy great sound with this new package..
You buy the sound meter (the analog display one) and get a hold of any of the two DVD's.
The DVD's have chapters on Audio Calibration which tell you everything you need to do.. Put simply, the aim is to calibrate all speakers so equal level of sound comes from the five speakers and the subwoofer doesn't sound 'boomy'.
Set the meter to "C Weighting", "Slow Response", and a range of 70dB (decibels).
Place the meter in the ideal seating position at ear level and tilted slightly forward and towards the speaker that is being measured. Make sure that your body or other objects are not blocking the sound from any direction.
Adjust the master volume level so that the tones register roughly in the middle of the range of the meter (70 to 75 dB). (quite loud for a smaller room.. so feel free to calibrate to a lower dB setting. Master Volume should be kept to a normal listening level (if it goes from 0 -10 keep it at 7) and not changed throughout the calibration.
The DVD has test tones for each speaker. Cycle through the test tones for each channel and adjust the individual levels of the speaker from the Receiver so that each channel measures as close to the same reference level selectd earlier. (Do not change the master volume.. adjust the individual speaker levels from within the Receiver).
When done.. use the low-frequency sweep in the DVD to determine how low can your speakers go without losing the volume.. small speakers cannot produce deep bass.. so find out that 'cutoff' point and set your x-over a little higher than that.. X-over is just a band pass filter.
I'd say with satellites it'd be around 120Hz to ensure you never send deep bass to your small speakers. (read your speakers specs and pay attention to the lower value .. like if they are rated 80Hz-20kHz.. they are good to produce low bass to 80Hz.. but practically they'll struggle at 80 so set the x-over higher to around 100Hz or even 120Hz.. low bass is non-directional so you wouldn't know it's coming from the sub.. which is why we can even hide the sub behind a couch or under a side table.
