Operating instructions
15THE OUTLAW’S GUIDE TO THE SMS-1
you can look at page 17 for details about the options available on that
screen. Oh, and if you’ve already made some changes to the equalizer
settings, you should know that running Auto-EQ will erase all of them.
In addition to visiting the System Settings screen, you need to take a
moment to get the receiver volume and SMS-1 volume levels adjusted
properly. To do this, turn the volume down on your receiver and select
the input that the SMS-1 is connected to. If you haven’t done so already,
get the microphone out, connect it to the SMS-1, and set it in the pre-
ferred listening position. Mute the SMS-1 and enter the System Response
menu by pressing “Menu” on the remote and “1-2-3-4-5.” Increase your
receiver’s volume until the right side of the curve rises to around 80dB.
Lastly, un-mute the SMS-1 and adjust the SMS-1’s volume so that the left
side of the curve is as even as possible with the right side. Once you’ve
done that, press “exit” and select “yes” to exit the menu.
We’re here in this section to discuss the Auto-EQ, but so far we’ve been
doing a bunch of manual stu. All of that’s behind us now, though. Grab
the SMS-1’s remote, type “3-2-1” into the remote, and sit quietly for less than
a minute while the SMS-1 feeds twenty-ve test tones to your system and
listens to the results. When it is done, the SMS-1 will have adjusted the lev-
els of all eight equalizers to suit your room and your listening position.
This is a good place to pause and tell you a bit more about the SMS-1’s
automatic EQ adjustment feature. The process above is the basic (or “Self-
EQ”) mode. This mode does not require the SMS-1 to be connected to
anything except a subwoofer, as it generates the sweep tones and passes
them directly to its subwoofer output. There is a separate automatic EQ
mode (“Auto-EQ”) that is activated from the System Response screen by
highlighting the “EQ Mode” setting and pressing “SELECT.” This mode
uses sweep tones from the same stereo output as the manual EQ process
and analyses the response from up to fty sweeps. Neither approach is
as eective as a manual EQ setup, although Auto-EQ can serve as a good
starting point for that eort. If you want, you can press “1-2-3-4-5” on the
remote to enter the System Response menu, highlight the “EQ Mode”
setting, and press “SELECT” to change it from manual to auto and see how
the Auto-EQ process compares to the Self-EQ that you just did.
Once the Auto-EQ is nished, you can pack up the microphone and settle
in for some music listening and movie watching. You may want to take
a moment rst to look at the settings established by the Auto-EQ to
make sure it hasn’t made any adjustments that might pose a risk to your
equipment. Did we just scare you? Sorry about that, but as we’ll explain
later it is possible to set the SMS-1’s equalizers in a way that could push
a subwoofer farther than it is meant to be pushed. With Auto-EQ, we
don’t have to worry about “stacking” EQ’s since the frequency of each
equalizer is left at its default position, but there are still some risks. Most
notably, it is possible that Auto-EQ can apply a great deal of boost to a
low frequency band in an eort to atten the bottom end of the curve.
What’s wrong with that, you ask? Well, the SMS-1 is assuming that the
dip is caused by the room, but in many cases the dip is because of the
subwoofer’s natural roll-o. In that case, adding that boost forces the sub
to try to work harder in a range where it is not meant to go. That’s why we
suggest taking a look at the settings in the System Response screen to see
if any seem excessive, particularly at the lowest frequencies.