Skip to main content

Calibration the Right Way

Having designed over 400 pro, commercial, and residential projects, and tuned over 300 systems, we have a certain way of doing things that we consider "the right way." You'll hear us talk about the right way a lot because we just don't believe any client is going to get the best possible result from cutting corners. So here's a little primer from PMI.

Calibration is the last step in the design/build phase of a project. Once all of the gear is in place, the panels positioned, the decor defined, then it's time to calibrate. We believe the job of a calibrator is to check and validate that everything was built and installed properly before beginning to tune the room.

   Step 1:  Check that every piece of gear is installed and connected correctly
   Step 2:  Verify that every piece of gear is actually working
   Step 3:  Set up configurations and verify proper operation
   Step 4:  Tune the speaker system to the room

We find that in steps 1-3 there is almost always one piece (if not more) that is not connected, not installed properly, or just not working. We were recently called by a homeowner to check their new home cinema system which had already been tuned by a professional. The homeowner could tell something was still not right so they called us in. When we discovered the tweeter in the center speaker was not connected, we then checked the entire system's connections and configurations. We found countless other bugs, and painstakingly corrected each one before going through the tuning process.

Doing it the right way, you'll have a project to be proud of, and the client will be more likely call you again when they have another project in mind or want to refer you to their friends and colleagues.

For more information on this and other topics, please visit our website where you'll find a range of published articles and informative links.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What happened this time?! EQ With a Healthy Side of Hum.

What happened this time?! EQ With a Healthy Side of Hum. So I was on this job site the other day, with the classic set of challenges. The client had bought a high-end 2-channel system from the integrator: Wilson Duette speakers, Linn preamp, Moon/SimAudio power amplifier. After it was all up and running, the client complained there was "not enough bass". So, the integrator sold him a couple of JL Audio subwoofers and asked me to come along and make the whole thing work - setting crossovers, time-aligning the speakers, balancing levels, equalizing the response, and voicing. We used a trusty Ashly ne4400 DSP audio processor; it’s a pro-grade digital audio processor with EQ, crossover, delay, level - the works. When I got to the location, things were a far sight worse than just "not enough bass". The installation of the EQ hadn't gone quite right; they had no audio signal, but a *lot* of hum. Client was steamed. So in I dove. In cases like this, there...

THE GRIMANI FILES: Bringing Life to a Comatose Home Theater

This client was referred to us by the integrator, who completed this installation about 10 years ago. The room was a dedicated three-row home theater in an upscale neighborhood of Detroit. All the gear was state-of-the-art for its time - from the studio-grade speakers, to the professional HD video projection system. But the surround decoder finally gave up the ghost after several years of faithful service. The client heard that Dolby Atmos® was the latest thing, so he sourced a new processor. He expected it to be an automatic upgrade, but wasn’t aware that he also needed to add speakers for the Top and Wide locations. At any rate, it was time to install, configure, and tune the system for the new processor. I took the job and carved out two days - right before Christmas - for a quick jaunt from my temperate San Francisco Bay Area home to frigid Detroit. (Who doesn't like a little cold for the holidays?) While planning the trip, I found out that the system didn’t include any ...

Fun Room Details

In Deep Thank you for reading the high level article, now we will go into a detailed explanation of this project. This blog expands on the details from the " Home Theater Has Come Out of the Cave " article. The integration firm responsible for building this masterpiece is  Audio Images  of Tustin California. Our designs and engineering is only as good as the implementation and AudioImages came through on every detail. The Room Shell The physical issues that needed to be dealt with to accomplish these goals dictated a few design solutions: Sound Isolation The room had to be decoupled from the Great Room that is located directly above it. This prevents the sound leakage from disturbing the adults. Decoupling loosely means to build resilient wall and floor-ceiling structures with little to no connections to the house’s framing structures. The purpose is to limit every contact point that could mechanically transfer sound energy and interfere with daily use ...

Performance Media Industries, Ltd.

61 Galli Drive, Suite B. Novato, CA 94949, USA
[T] (415) 883-1476
[F] (415) 883-8147