Crossover Settings Confusion and Other Questions

Question

Equipment is as follows:
- LG 55-inch 55LH90 LED TV
- Denon AVR-590 A/V Receiver
- Klipsch HD 500 5.1 Speakers
- DirecTV High Def Satellite Receiver/DVR
Long story very short is that I hit a button on the receiver remote about two weeks ago, unknowingly changing the existing audio settings to something along the lines of Matrix or Direct or Stereo.  I'm not one to fool with trying to customize settings on equip. like this... I usually just use the very basic functionality in controlling the equipment, as that's why I paid money 1.5 years ago to have everything professionally installed and calibrated.
Upon accidentally hitting that remote control button, my audio went to pot, was very muffled, volume was minimal, sound was hissy, etc.  Sounded like I was listening to $15 speakers.
Had no idea what had happened, didn't want to fool with trying to figure it out myself, contacted the receiver manufacturer to explain what had happened, they recommended immediately that I reset the receiver and thought the processor had locked up.  Did the reset and that of course unfortunately scrapped all of my custom calibration settings that the installers had configured a year and a half ago.  Sound still not improved.  Recommended that I send the receiver in for repair.  I held off for a few days on doing that and finally found the likely cause / solution on a message board, clicked the same button on the remote that I'd likely clicked by accident a few weeks earlier, and the sound was back to a more normal level.
However, now I'm left without all of those custom calibrations via the Audyssey stuff that was erased, and I'm lost as can be as to how to get our system sounding like it did prior to all of this happening approx. 2 weeks ago.
I'm lost on the crossover frequency settings and what they should be, what the dials on the rear of the subwoofer should be set at, what the crossover settings for the front / center / rear surround speakers should be, etc.
I ran the Audyssey configuration using the supplied microphone that came with the receiver, but the resulting sound just still doesn't sound at all like it did originally after the installers did all of the setup / configuration back in Aug. 2009.
Audyssey sets the crossover levels of my front L/R speakers to 120 HZ.  Audyssey sets the crossover level of my center channel to 110 Hz.  Audyssey sets the crossover levels of my rear L/R surround speakers to 120 Hz.  In what I seem to remember is the "bass management" area of the receiver settings, the crossover for the subwoofer is set at 80 Hz.  I believe another setting for the subwoofer is LFE+Main, too.
With the above in mind, I have no idea at all (1) if the crossover values are appropriate for the various speakers and the subwoofer in the mix to distribute high/mid/low sounds appropriately between the speakers and the sub, (2) I have no idea what the "Level" knob on the rear of the subwoofer should be set to (values range from Min to Max), (3) I have no idea what the LowPass (Hz) knob on the rear of the subwoofer (ranges from 80 to 100) should be set to, and am just very confused / frustrated that with the accidental click of a button on the receiver remote 2 wks. ago and then Denon's tech support recommending the most drastic solution to this issue in resetting the receiver's processor and erasing all of the custom Audyssey settings.  I'm left with very sub-par sound as a result of all of this and can't seem to get the re-run Audyssey calibration routine to get my system back to sounding as phenomenal / balanced as it did for nearly 1.5 years straight after the initial setup / calibration of everything back in Aug. 2009 by the Best Buy professional installers.
Any explanations of what the crossover settings for all of my speakers and subwoofer, knob settings on the rear of the subwoofer should be (in general, mind you, as I know all situations / environments / listening preferences are different), or any other helpful recommendations are GREATLY appreciated.  I'm very frustrated that Denon's tech support didn't first have me see if I had accidentally adjusted the sound properties via the remote via an accidental button click as opposed to taking my receiver back to square one.  I'm not a technical master of this stuff and have no idea what I'm doing wrong in trying to get everything back to sounding like the great system it used to sound like.
Thanks in advance for any clearly-explained suggestions / recommendations on all of this.  My last resort is to contact Best Buy and pay them to come back out to re-calibrate everything themselves if I can't figure out where my calibration settings / adjustments are wrong.

Answer 1

As I said in my first post in your other thread "you changed a setting the receiver and speakers are fine" <- not word for word but close to what I said LOL.  I knew from what you described thats what it had to be.  I do have a  concern about the phase issues and the distance readings but that could be placement of mic or if your speakers are facing straight out instead of being slightly faced inward.  May I ask where did you place the mic and was it on a tripod? I suggest either borrowing or buying a camcorder tripod for this.  I answered your questions below in blue.
 Also before ever doing a reset on any piece of equipment check the internet for some ideas as it could save you a lot of headaches. 
bmccollum wrote: 
Okay... stayed up late last night running through the Audyssey calibration routine.  Took several tries at the calibration routine, as it kept on coming back saying I had phase issues with various speakers (it bounced around between telling me the phase issues were with the Front Left, the Front Right, and the Center Channel).  I just kept on re-running Audyssey until it finally ceased telling me some of the speakers had phasing issues.
Before I continue, I can't thank you enough again for reading through my posts and offering your suggestions... really do appreciate the assistance!
While I'm thinking about it, I determined why the sound qualities / volume / etc. got so poor all of a sudden about 2-3 weeks ago.  I apparently accidentally hit one of the buttons on the receiver remote that changed the sound setup from whatever it had been set on forever to something like "Virtual" or "Direct" or "Stereo" or something like that, as opposed to Dolby Digital or whatever it had been set on forever.  I unfortunately went through the recommended Microprocessor Reset procedure on the receiver per their tech support's recommendation & that's why I lost all of the original Audyssey calibrated settings from August 2009, when all along, I could've just resolved the audio issues if I'd known that I'd accidentally clicked a button on the receiver remote, and had known I just needed to re-click another button to get the audio back to what it was normally set on. Here are the results that were set by the Denon AVR-590 via the Audyssey calibration.  Note:  Before beginning the Audyssey calibration process, I had the volume level knob on the rear of the sub itself turned halfway to the 12 o'clock position, and the LowPass knob on the rear of the sub turned all the way to the right (I believe 160 was the value).  I ultimately turned the volume knob on the rear of the sub to about the 10 o'clock position as I re-ran the Audyysey calibration multiple times, as the dB values being shown for the sub were coming back at - 12.0 db or close to that with the sub volume set at the 12 o'clock position.  The sub dB value got closer to the desired 0 dB value (as shown below) with the sub volume knob set to the 10 o'clock position.
* Speaker Configuration Check    *
- Front Speaker                 Small
- Center Speaker              Small
- Subwoofer                       Yes
- Surround Speaker         Small
- S. Back (Preout)             None
* Distance Check                 *
- Front Left                         0.1 ft                     (this should seemingly be more like 15.0 ft)  is the speaker facing slightly in
- Front Right                       1.3 ft                     (this should seemingly be more like 15.0 ft) "  it should be                             "
- Center                               14.7 ft                   (this seems accurate)
- Subwoofer                       16.3 ft                   (this seems accurate)
- Surround Left                 8.0 ft                     (this seems accurate)
- Surround Right               8.7 ft                     (this seems accurate)
* Channel Level Check            *
- Front Left                         + 12.0 dB  Lower this to about 2 or 3 db below the center channel
- Center                               +  2.5 dB
- Front Right                       + 12.0 dB Lower this to about 2 or 3 db below the center channel
- Surround Right               +  2.0 dB
- Surround Left                 +  2.5 dB
- Subwoofer                       -  2.0 dB
* Crossover Frequency Check      *
- Front                                  60 Hz                    (seems low... not sure...) Set to 80 hz
- Center                               120 Hz                   (seems reasonable... not sure...)you can leave it or set it to 80 hz
- Surround                          150 Hz                   (seems high... not sure...) again leave it  or set it to 120 or 80 hz
- S. Back                               None
Okay, I've made the following minor adjustments thus far post-Audyssey calibration, as noted below:
- SW Mode:                        LFE+Main  set to LFE only
- LPF for LFE:                      120 Hz
- Sub Volume Knob         Left sitting around the 10-11 o'clock position on rear of sub
- LowPass Knob                                Left sitting at max setting to the right on rear of sub (I believe value is 160)
- Front Left                         15.1 ft. is now what I've set the distance chk. at manually, as opposed to 0.1 ft
- Front Right                       15.3 ft. is now what I've set the distance chk. at manually, as opposed to 1.3 ft.
So there we are... ANY additional insight you may have on any of the values I've reported to you and whether or not they seem reasonable or completely out of whack is greatly appreciated.  My main concerns/questions are the various Crossover Freqency values set by Audyssey and whether or not they should likely be manually adjusted by me to better utilize/distribute the sound between the various speakers / sub, and secondly, why/how did Audyssey so incorrectly set the distance of my Front Left & Front Right speakers and was it likely wise of me to have set them to what they should be w/a new distance setting now of around 15 ft. for each of the Front Left and Front Right speakers?
Here are my questions in a nutshell now.  I'm probably overanalyzing things now since having experienced this audio issue a few weeks ago and now I'm prob. hyper-sensitive to all aspects of the home theater sound I have at present.
(1) Why do commercials seem to have expanded sound using all speakers whereas just you plain ol' TV programs seem to use fewer speakers and just mainly the center channel aside from some occasional applause and such coming out of the Front Left and Front Right speakers?
The commercials are most likely broadcast in stereo instead of surround sound.  The receiver will switch from dolby digital to stereo and you won't even notice it except for the sound.
(2) Why would I hit the "STD" button on the receiver remote to choose Dolby Digital vs. when
 to hit the "SIMU" button on the receiver remote to select "5 Channel Stereo" or other options via that "SIMU" button?5 Channel stereo is just that, Its 2 channel stereo being output through all 5 channels.  It is not 5 channel surround.  Standard give you Dolby digital, Prologic II etc.  Simulation gives you 5 channel stereo, Matrix, Hall and the other simulated surrounds. You want to hit the standard button.
(3) On rear of subwoofer, I've set the LowPass knob all the way to the right, assuming that the "LFE +Main" and "LPF for LFE = 120Hz" settings override the LowPass knob on the rear of the sub, therefore having that knob turned all the way to the right to allow the settings for the sub in the receiver itself to control the LowPass / Crossover stuff.  Correct. As long as the sub accepts LFE signals the receiver will send anything lower than 120hz  directly to the sub. If not that is why you are setting it to the highest setting.
(4) With Audyssey Crossover Frequencies set as shown above, are these reasonable/appropriate values to where all speakers are utilized properly for the equipment I have in distributing all low/mid/high frequencies appropriate between the various speakers / sub without audio drops and so forth?  The Crossover Frequency stuff is probably the most confusing part of all of this to me.
Again, I can't thank you enough for your help and any additional recommendations you can make regarding my situation.