Measurements

Auto equalization takes the guesswork out of applying complex filters to the audio signal. As with anything automatic the end result is a product of its implementation. The drawback to the EQ system included with the SC-600 amplifier is its lack of user control and information. It would be very useful to be able to see and override the filters used to EQ the system. There are some room anomalies that cannot be fixed by EQ and it is a potential waste of power to try.

Using my reference microphone I took some basic in-room frequency sweeps to better understand what changes were being implemented after the auto-eq was run. Measurements were taken with a Behringer ECM8000 measurement microphone, Room Eq Wizard was used to generate the tones and plot the measurements. This amazingly powerful and free software can be found here: http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/, many thanks to the people involved with REW.

The following graph includes two measurements, the black line is before the auto equalizer was run, and the red line is after.

What we see is that the amplifier was able to boost the output about 3dB from 24 – 28Hz, and a peak at 45Hz was slightly reduced. Overall the -3dB point went from 29Hz – 75Hz +/- 6dB, to 25Hz – 75Hz. Not bad for a completely automatic equalization process. As with all equalizers you cannot correct every room anomaly and room treatments are always preferred over electronic equalization. With that being said the improvement afford by this simple eq was automatic and painless.