Ok, Just spent a couple of hour playing. I have come up with yet more questions. I take your advice Bruce to use settings based on preference, however, I want to have every thing set to specs or at least as close as possible. The Cinema EQ mode sounds great, maybe too great. With this mode enabled there seems to be more mid range frequencies played whereas with it off there seems to be more highs and lows. I presently have my system set up with ALL speakers set to normal and the sub on. I have all levels set to Avia's standards. Am I now more pleased with the sound? I am not sure... I am pleased knowing it is calibrated correctly. It is just a different sound than before. I conclude that if you intend to run any reciever in Cinema EQ mode than you should toss the Avia DVD out the window if you want to use it to calibrate audio. With Cinema EQ enabled it is impossible to match the individual channel levels with the sub. For example, on the left channel the bass was always too high. The center channel had no bass at all. The right was like the left and the surrounds had no bass like the center. Would it be fair to say that the Cinema EQ mode would be more suited to someone that didn't calibrate their system with the Avia CD? Would it also be fair to say that it is 'better' to calibrate everything to the Avia CD standards than to use something like Cinema EQ which appears to be a mode in which frequencies are distributed in a manner intended by the manufacturer to compensate for average home theater weaknesses? I understand that the term better is subjective, but my goal is to most accurately duplicate a movie theater in my home. Hence the term, home theater. ;) I know people that turn their rears up as loudd as they will go just because it seems like a novelty to them to show their friends, "hey look i have sound coming from the back of my room!" To them that sounds "better" than having them set to Dolby specs. I compare this to using Cinema Eq where my sound is more attention getting, but my sub is never matched to my other speakers because I am unable to calibrate it in Cinema EQ mode. What do the pros think?
