Maplin SPL, anyone have any experience with it

Carnagerover · 09-10-2009, 1:55 PM

I have just aquired on of these to use on my surround sound speakers, however I'm not sure if it is broken or what is happening with it.

When the room is completely quiet it registers 25.4 DBC, however out of nowhere it will just jump up and around and there is zero change in noise level?

I'm not really sure how it is supposed to work but trying to get a accurate reading is proving hard.

How should this work, anyone have any experience?

amioa · 09-10-2009, 6:47 PM

hello

is the battery fresh? what setting is it set on?

Carnagerover · 09-10-2009, 7:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amioa

hello

is the battery fresh? what setting is it set on?

Hi,

The battery came with it and is brand new, there are no settings.

This is the model;
Mini Sound Level Meter : Enviroment Testers : Maplin

The problem I have is it seems to be un-reliable and I can't get a test pattern on DVE or the THX disc to last long enough for it to settle down.

My amp goes through the test tone to quickly and wont allow you to just play the individual pink noise on say the left speaker, then the right it loops around them all.

I have used the autocal mic that came with the amp and that does a good job at distance, however it sets all my speakers to 0 when my center definitely sounds louder than the fronts so I don't trust it for sound levels.

Bit of a noob at this thought I would give it a go however this SPL doesn't seem ideal at the moment. It was suggested by someone who writes for What Hifi but i'm not sure what to do with it

amioa · 09-10-2009, 9:32 PM

hmm C weighting only, no range adjustment...ok...will do for basic testing..

do you have a laptop you can hook up to the sound system? You can get some test tones and play them as long as you need to get readings...

Carnagerover · 09-10-2009, 9:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amioa

hmm C weighting only, no range adjustment...ok...will do for basic testing..

do you have a laptop you can hook up to the sound system? You can get some test tones and play them as long as you need to get readings...

I have a Laptop as well as a popcorn hour so yeah that wouldn't be a problem.

This SPL however seems altogether a bit random, seemed worth a punt for £20 but I suppose you get what you pay for, however as this is kind of a one thing deal, seems a waste to spend big monies.

I hear alot of talk about fabled Radioshack SPL meters, maybe I should have gone for one of them.

I'm not sure what could cause it to suddenly jump around all over the place, I can detect no change in the volume what so ever, as they isn't any sound.

Do you know of a place where these tones could be downloaded?

I am 98 percent happy with my setup now, I have my fronts spaced for a better soundstage, center is well central and my rears are now wall mounted, I have tried firing them across me and directly down at me, I have an excellent test DVD and with the rears pointing down now the placement of sound is excellent.

Just thought I would give it the final push and get some accurate readings on the speaker levels to complete the setup.

amioa · 10-10-2009, 8:10 PM

a good quality level meter, similar to the sort i use in day to day work, can be as much as 3k for a full package deal, so £20 is right down there in the budget end, that said though, the radioshack meter seems quite useable.

the reason i asked about the battery, is that when a battery is near death with these sorts of meters, it can produce random glitches.

for test tones, google Test Tones, there are loads of free tones legally available.

Carnagerover · 10-10-2009, 9:45 PM

Thanks,

I had already grabbed so tones from google, looks like I am going for the Radioshack one, I'll save the 3G for when I have an actual dedicated Home Theatre room installed

Hopefully i'll get on better with that one

Carnagerover · 12-10-2009, 5:35 PM

I have bought the Radioshack SPL meter, I don't have it yet, however everything I have currently downloaded has sweeping test tones that aren't any better than my Sony Amp.

Could anyone point me in the direction of a download or proper calibration dvd that has these.

I have the DVE SD DVD and that also only has sweeping test tones that I can find.

Are you supposed to calibrate with those? I am doing something wrong, how are you supposed to be quick enough to make sure the level is correct before it moves on?

amioa · 12-10-2009, 7:01 PM

try these

Test Tones

Carnagerover · 12-10-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amioa

try these

Test Tones

Thanks for the link, I have downloaded the Pink noise however how do I make the sound come out of the other speakers. It just plays in stereo?

Unless I am completely missing the point

I would have to imagine on better amps that mine that you have a dedicated level option for managing the speakers rather than a sweeping test tone.

I have no clue how to do it with mine.

amioa · 13-10-2009, 7:29 PM

fiddle with the amp settings, mine plays a pink noise burst from each speaker in turn, or will spit out a tone from all if I cycle through the different options for output

Carnagerover · 19-10-2009, 10:43 AM

I know this is technically not related to my original post, I did ask on the official thread but got no response.

So,

A friend of mine is offering me his Q Acoustics 1010i package, it looks really nice and would be a big upgrade I would imagine over the Sony ones I currently have.

The Q Acoustics are 6Ohms like my amp so I think that is a good start.

The specs on the amp are as follows;

6Ohms 1kHz (per channel)
135 W/ch
6Ohms 1kHz (L+R)
90 W + 90 W
(6Ohms 1kHz) THD
1%
Power Output (Total)
135 W x5 + 190 W = 865 W

The front and rear speakers say 15-75w on the back
The Center is 50-100w
The Sub has 100w built in and thats as much as I know on this.

Would my amp be able to drive these speakers properly?

I would really like to get them if so

amioa · 19-10-2009, 7:55 PM

cant help on that score, but does look like there is enough...

ARNOLD AKIEN · 25-10-2009, 8:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu/d

I know this is technically not related to my original post, I did ask on the official thread but got no response.

So,

A friend of mine is offering me his Q Acoustics 1010i package, it looks really nice and would be a big upgrade I would imagine over the Sony ones I currently have.

The Q Acoustics are 6Ohms like my amp so I think that is a good start.

I would really like to get them if so

They should work and that is a well recommended speaker package but you really would be wise to repost this in the speakers forum ... was that the forum upon which you made your original post? If not then maybe you should try reposting there?

Current new price level for this package is around £350 but there are several variants on the package ....

Q ACOUSTICS 1010i 5.1 SPEAKER PACKAGE - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/3676 for details

Review is here ....

Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 System Speaker package review - from the experts at whathifi.com

Ideally you should listen to this speaker package and since it is on offer from a friend this surely shouldn't be a problem? Asking price from a friend and the wisdom of buying from Friend is entirely another matter.

Best Wishes,

Arnold.

Carnagerover · 25-10-2009, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARNOLD AKIEN

They should work and that is a well recommended speaker package but you really would be wise to repost this in the speakers forum ... was that the forum upon which you made your original post? If not then maybe you should try reposting there?

Current new price level for this package is around £350 but there are several variants on the package ....

Q ACOUSTICS 1010i 5.1 SPEAKER PACKAGE - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/3676 for details

Review is here ....

Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 System Speaker package review - from the experts at whathifi.com

Ideally you should listen to this speaker package and since it is on offer from a friend this surely shouldn't be a problem? Asking price from a friend and the wisdom of buying from Friend is entirely another matter.

Best Wishes,

Arnold.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Arnold, I have since sorted out my problem by purchasing the speakers from Superfi along with the Onkyo 507 AVR from Peter Tyson.

This is a big upgrade from what I had before and my calibration trouble is also over as the Onkyo amp has a solid test tone for each channel that has to be manually changed from one to the other giving me plenty of time to set the levels with the Radioshack SPL meter.

Other benefits of the Onkyo are the ability to change the levels on the front speakers, I have always needed to turn down my front right speaker as it is unavoidably close to a side wall and gets some sound reflection. Now all the levels are the same I am getting great surround and matched levels.

Really happy