speaker calibration

[killer10971]

can anyone please tell me what is the best method for setting up my speakers ,
i have them in position and am generally happy ,i have bought a radio shack analogue sound meter and have dve

should i set the volume to 00 or adjust volume until it registers 75db on the meter on the the first speaker then adjust the others using the first speaker as a reference, what about the sub should that be set to this level or as ive read higher @ 85db

i keep reading various articles and got myself well and truely confused

what sound file on the disc etc , i need a complete idiots guide

many thanks

[dazzlew]

I just used the pink noise generated from my amp, dialled in 75DB C, Slow and then upped or downed the master volume until the meter was correct for all speakers. You can dial in 85DB for your sub if you like.

[killer10971]

"I just used the pink noise generated from my amp"

i have read if you can for best results use the dvd rather than the receivers test tones as this is a better representation of the source ie the sound heard after it has gone through the amp receiver

cheers

[pierreye]

Normally you should set your amp 0 to 85db. So in order to calibrate at 75db, I'll dial the volumn to -10db. You can use Avia or DVE test tone. I remember some forumer mention that DVE test tone is not accurate as the LFE is artificially boost for 10db compare to other channel but I can't be sure. So far, most will recommend for AVIA but doesn't support 6.1 channel.