Distances first
Measure from each speaker to the seat, in metres, and enter the figures. The receiver uses them to delay the nearer speakers so that sound from all of them arrives together. Guessing here smears everything downstream of it.
Levels second
Use the receiver’s test tone and set every channel to the same loudness at the seat. This is the step that fixes the two most common complaints in one go: dialogue too quiet, and effects too loud.
Crossover third
Tell the receiver which speakers can produce bass and which cannot, and hand the rest to the subwoofer. This is what makes a small system sound clean at volume rather than strained.
Then leave the tone controls alone
The temptation after calibrating is to add bass and treble back. Give it a week first. A system that sounds slightly plain after calibration usually sounds correct after you have stopped comparing it to the one you had.
The one adjustment worth making by ear
The subwoofer level, and its position. Move it before you adjust it — a metre changes its output at your seat more than a hundred euros of extra amplifier ever will.
Questions people actually ask
Is the automatic room correction enough?
It is a good start and it is worth running properly — microphone at ear height, at the actual listening position, room quiet. What it cannot judge is preference: many people raise the centre channel a decibel or two afterwards, and that is a legitimate adjustment rather than a correction of the correction.
What crossover frequency should I use?
Set speakers to "small" and cross them over to the subwoofer at a frequency the speaker manufacturer supports — typically higher for small satellites, lower for floorstanders. Running everything "large" asks the small speakers for bass they cannot produce and the subwoofer for nothing.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026
