Lifestyle Soundtouch 535 series III Adaptiq speaker balance to the left

[Longbow64]

Hello,

I experience a lot of difficulty to properly get the adaptiq set up on the LS535 series III. I constantly end up with audio balance to the left side (front and rear are louder) when using my favourite listening positions.

I have a symmetrical speaker setup in a square living room in which my left speakers are close to a corner (30cm) and the right speakers are on a straight wall. All speakers are mounted to the wall facing forward using Bose Wall Mounts. The centre speaker is below the TV and the acoustimass is standing on the floor close the left front speaker.

If I run adaptiq using my 5 favourite positions (primary position directly in front of the center speaker, 2 meters) the audio balance is way off to the left. This is really anoying since the sound effects coming from the right side are hardly noticable.

I can only get the audio more or less centered if I trick-f*ck the system and perform a "offset" adaptiq procedure, choosing all positions well to the left of my room (in between left front and rear, looking to the left of the TV.) This is not the way to go but the result is better yet unsatisfactory....

IMHO I think that adaptiq should be able to compensate for any differences in wall reflections but it apparently doesn't.

Bose, is there a known issue with adaptiq speaker balance since there is also a topic about the ST300 with the same issues? Is my adaptiq headset broken? I don't get any errors.....

For the enthousiasts under us, there should be a way to independently setup speaker levels or maybe a balance slider.

Does anybody else experience this?

Regards

[Brent_B]

Hi Longbow64, 

Thank you for the post. I'm very sorry to hear that. We did see this with the ST300, but we did get a few of them in, and they appeared to be related to drivers not functioning properly in the soundbar. We didn't see it with the same degree of regularity on the 535 so it may be that AiQ is not adjusting for the reflections, just like you mentioned.  Has the system always done this? Or is this something that you've noticed recently?

It's possible that a new headset could help. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that one side of microphones may not be functioning as well as the other. Also, I would recommend is to do a standard reset of the system to see if it helps. Here is the process:

1. Turn the system off. Wait 30 seconds
2. Unplug the control console power cord from the power outlet
3. Unplug the audio input cable from the control console
4. Unplug the Acoustimass module power cord from the power outlet
5. Unplug the audio input cable from the Acoustimass module. Wait 30 seconds
6. Reconnect the audio input cable to the Acoustimass module
7. Reconnect the audio input cable to the control console
8. Reconnect the Acoustimass module power cord
9. Reconnect the control console power cord
10. Retest the system

Can you try to re-position the cubes to be angled inward and re-run AiQ? I'd be curious to know if that helps since it may put some more distance between the cube face and the wall. 

Please let us know

Thank you 

[Longbow64]

Hi Brent,

Thanks for adressing these problems.

Yes, it has been like this since the first setup. Aiq doesn’t show any problems with the headset and aiq finishes normally.

You’re suggesting 2 causes, but.....
1. I don’t have a second headset to try....
2. The cubes are mounted to the wall using the Bose WB-50’s so changing the angle is not possible (and not necessary in my opinion)

Can you perhaps help me getting a different headset? I have no ideas to check if it is broken. I live in the Netherlands by the way.

Regards

[Longbow64]

Hi Brent,

Luckily I could use my neighbours' headset to come to the conclusion that my headset is NOT broken. The audio image is more or less centered but something else is happening....

The LS535 speaker cubes are direct/reflecting. Since the left F+R speakers are mounted close to a corner, I think these speakers are actually direct AND reflecting. The right F+R speakers are on a flat wall so there's nothing to reflect and they are direct only.. This situation must have created the difference in listening experience more to the left side.

Do you have a solution to get this compensated so the audio experience is equal left and right? There's nothing written about placing the speakers further from a corner? And it seems that AiQ leaves this difference unsolved....

Regards

[Brent_B]

Hi Longbow64, 

Thanks for responding. If you've tried another headset, than the cause is not the headset. I think you're correct in that the left speakers are getting more reflections since they are closer to the corner. There are settings in the 535 to adjust the level of the rear speakers and the center channel, but there isn't a setting in the 535 that can adjust the balance from left to right. Do you notice this on all of your sources or more from a particular source? If you press the "More" button to access settings, scroll over to "Options", you could try to adjust the Audio Compression setting or Source Sound setting to "Altermative" and see if that helps. The only other option would be to either adjust your listening positions (like you've already done) or re-position the speakers themselves. 

Kind Regards

[Longbow64]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. 

I’ve tried all mentioned options already during my hours of troubleshooting. I’m aware that this system doesn’t have a balance setting. I think bose missed a big opportunity here since these expensive systems totally rely on AdaptIQ. In other words, consumers can’t fully personalize the system according their preferences if Adaptiq doesn’t do the trick. Now I’m more or less stuck with an expensive unbalanced listening experience. To be exact, the unbalance seems to be more coming from the rearspeakers and slightly more noticable during digital audio playback in all formats.

I can’t reposition the speakers since their wiring runs through concrete. I’ve tried about all listening positions but the R (rear) side’s volume remains low. 

There has to be a solution or workaround for this. Please add individual speaker setup to the next update if possible. 

Regards