Have To Set Amplifier To Loud To Play...is This Normal?

[terbolee]

Just wondering. My new Sony digital 7.1 amplifier has volume control that scales from 1 to 60. The sound is great but, I need to crank up the volume to nearly 60 to get the sound. Is this normal? It has auto calibration but I wonder if I placed the "test" microphone in the wrong place. I'm wondering if I'm over-revving the amp. My old analog Sony amp didn't have to be cranked all that high though. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[JoshH]

Just wondering. My new Sony digital 7.1 amplifier has volume control that scales from 1 to 60. The sound is great but, I need to crank up the volume to nearly 60 to get the sound. Is this normal? It has auto calibration but I wonder if I placed the "test" microphone in the wrong place. I'm wondering if I'm over-revving the amp. My old analog Sony amp didn't have to be cranked all that high though. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Sounds like the new amp goes to '11'

Seriously though.. have u calibrated the channels to 75db C weighted?

[AndrewW]

are your speaker cables melting ?

Something doesn't really sound right.

My 2700B goes from -60dB to +20dB.

Normal movie listening for me is around -30dB !!!

Andrew.

[terbolee]

Sounds like the new amp goes to '11'

Seriously though.. have u calibrated the channels to 75db C weighted?

You've lost me there. I set up the seven speakers. The manual asked me to plug in a microphone that had like a 4-metre cable. I placed the microphone on the sofa and began auto calibration. For the next five minutes, each speaker emitted some high pitch sound in turn. After that it was coompleted. The numbers 1 to 60 are displayed on the front panel when I turn the volume dial. So you think I should calibrate manually? Thanks.

[terbolee]

are your speaker cables melting ?

Something doesn't really sound right.

My 2700B goes from -60dB to +20dB.

Normal movie listening for me is around -30dB !!!

Andrew.

Hope they're not melting. Not sure what they represent but 1 to 60 is what I see on the front panel when I turn the volume dial. I get great sound but around 57.

[AndrewW]

Hope they're not melting. Not sure what they represent but 1 to 60 is what I see on the front panel when I turn the volume dial. I get great sound but around 57.

But at 57 is that what most people would consider a normal comfortable volume (could you have a conversation over it ?) or are your ears bleeding ?

Andrew.

[terbolee]

Just normal listening. With my old Sony analog amp, I used to get that same sound level with the volume dial set to just a quarter of the range. Hmmm, that makes me wonder. I actually haven't played a music CD through it yet. Perhaps my Sony DVD player, which is connected via a digital coax cable AND an optical cable is not sending a strong enough signal. Or that the "Sony supplied" thin speaker cables were not any good. Just rambling here...any new thoughts? Thanks.

[Autocrat]

Phase.

[terbolee]

Phase.

I kinda felt that "phase" sound waves may be cutting each other out causing me to crank up the volume. I have two 200 Watt sub woofers that are about 1M (3-ft) apart from the amp and face the sofa where I sit. 185 Watt front right and left speakers sit about 2M (6-ft) from the amp. Front centre speaker sits about 0.5M (1.5ft) right of the amp. Three rear speakers all face the amp about 5M (15-ft) away. All of our walls are double brick.

Would love any suggestions, mate! Thanks.

[betty boop]

terb

check the htfaq re links on system setup

as per worx suggesttion do also follow this thread for settign levels

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=31720

if you find you still need to really crank it to sound adequate you either need more efficient speakers or a gruntier avr/amps

[terbolee]

Thanks for the link. However, as a newbie, I thought I was reading English but not understanding any of it.

[betty boop]

Thanks for the link. However, as a newbie, I thought I was reading English but not understanding any of it.

I'm sorry to say then you will never have your system setup right in that case. I thought mark techers instructions in the link was quite to the point and specific.

perhaps you need to contact the retailer who you purchased the gear from for some help. either to show in store how to setup the gear you have or to come out to your place and setup for you.

[yamapro]

Al makes a great point... if none of the setup infofrom those links are helping you the best bet is to go get some support from the retailer who you bought it from. At the very least they should talk you through the set-up

Good Luck mate

[jel]

I placed the microphone on the sofa and began auto calibration

Do you mean directly on the sofa ie where your arse normally sits?

If yes, try rerunning the test with the mic raised to approx head height (when your seated of course)

digital coax cable AND an optical cable

remove one. you only need one connection.

I don't know if this affects it at all, but having both certainly wont provide any benefit.

[dvduser]

And when all else fails - RTFM

[terbolee]

I'm sorry to say then you will never have your system setup right in that case. I thought mark techers instructions in the link was quite to the point and specific.

perhaps you need to contact the retailer who you purchased the gear from for some help. either to show in store how to setup the gear you have or to come out to your place and setup for you.

Today I went back to Dick Smith Powerhouse to get some help. In their demonstration room, an Onkyo amp was playing music. Found that it had a front panel display range between 1 to 72. At the current comfortable listening level, the front panel showed 56. When turned down to 40, I could hear nothing. To that, their sound expert mentioned that it was normal. Not sure if I was told a fib but there wasn't much I could do but return home.

[terbolee]

Do you mean directly on the sofa ie where your arse normally sits?

If yes, try rerunning the test with the mic raised to approx head height (when your seated of course)

remove one. you only need one connection.

I don't know if this affects it at all, but having both certainly wont provide any benefit.

Tested auto calibration at neck level. Same as before. I believe the system is using the digital coax cable, thought both are plugged in.

[betty boop]

Today I went back to Dick Smith Powerhouse to get some help. In their demonstration room, an Onkyo amp was playing music. Found that it had a front panel display range between 1 to 72. At the current comfortable listening level, the front panel showed 56. When turned down to 40, I could hear nothing. To that, their sound expert mentioned that it was normal. Not sure if I was told a fib but there wasn't much I could do but return home.

maybe perhaps purcahse from some place other than dse nest time if thats all the help their "sound expert" had to offer !

if the place you bought from is not helpign you any you might have to get some one from a specialist store to come pay you a visit to set things up properly. it will cost you but might help you get a better understanding of things plus get better enjoyment from a system properly setup.

[AndrewW]

can you post some more info about the system ? model number would be a good start.

I think some of the replies here are a little pompous, not everyone can afford to buy from a specialist HiFi store, and I'm sure we can be more productive in trying to help this guy out rather than bagging him for buying from dse.

To me it definitely sounds like there is a problem here, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of it.

With a model number I should hopefully be able to locate a manual online and we'll see where we can go from there.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[terbolee]

can you post some more info about the system ? model number would be a good start.

I think some of the replies here are a little pompous, not everyone can afford to buy from a specialist HiFi store, and I'm sure we can be more productive in trying to help this guy out rather than bagging him for buying from dse.

To me it definitely sounds like there is a problem here, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of it.

With a model number I should hopefully be able to locate a manual online and we'll see where we can go from there.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hi Andrew

Many thanks for your advise. Others here have been most helpful & I extend my gratitude to them. I've learned heaps about db, phase, etc. At DSE, even the ONKYO amplifier which they used in their demo sound room was cranked up to around 57 given its front panel display range between 1 to 72. My Sony seems to max out at 70. My system works fine...just that I was wondering why I had to nearly max out the volume control to get a decent sound. My older SONY analog amplifier has been re-allocated to my bedroom. If I turned its volume dial even more than half, my ears would bleed!

I checked today that music CDs played well around 47 on the display.

As for the amp model, it's SONY 1510W D-Light Sync HDMI Multi Channel AV Receiver STR-K1500. It came with seven speakers for 7.1 channel. The DVD player I'm using is a SONY DVP-NS51P. I bought this player because I was told that it had TWO laser beams that can "jump" across bad spots on a DVD.

Many thanks

[cwt]

Many thanks for your advise. Others here have been most helpful & I extend my gratitude to them. I've learned heaps about db, phase, etc. At DSE, even the ONKYO amplifier which they used in their demo sound room was cranked up to around 57 given its front panel display range between 1 to 72. My Sony seems to max out at 70. My system works fine...just that I was wondering why I had to nearly max out the volume control to get a decent sound. My older SONY analog amplifier has been re-allocated to my bedroom. If I turned its volume dial even more than half, my ears would bleed!

Good to hear terbolee; was about to bring up speaker phase cancelation [out of phase speakers dropping the db's] .

[AndrewW]

As for the amp model, it's SONY 1510W D-Light Sync HDMI Multi Channel AV Receiver STR-K1500. It came with seven speakers for 7.1 channel. The DVD player I'm using is a SONY DVP-NS51P. I bought this player because I was told that it had TWO laser beams that can "jump" across bad spots on a DVD.

OK this is a good start.

Unfortunately the link on the Sony website for the manual is a dead link, so I can't seem to get my hands on a manual

One thing I would suggest is looking up the procedure to reset the amp to factory defaults, and then have a listen and see if you are having the same issues with volume.

One thing I can think of is that the 'auto configure' might actually be stuffing up (maybe due to an over sensitive microphone) and applying a level decrease to every channel. This is only a theory, but would be worth trying.

The other thing is: Have you tried pushing the volume control up towards the very top of it's range ? If you are at 'max' volume and it's still a comfortable listening volume then I would be taking it back and asking for a replacement/refund. For a system with 8 speakers and a claimed 1170W of power, I think you could safely argue that it is not performing as advertised.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[betty boop]

can you post some more info about the system ? model number would be a good start.

I think some of the replies here are a little pompous, not everyone can afford to buy from a specialist HiFi store, and I'm sure we can be more productive in trying to help this guy out rather than bagging him for buying from dse.

To me it definitely sounds like there is a problem here, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of it.

With a model number I should hopefully be able to locate a manual online and we'll see where we can go from there.

Cheers,

Andrew.

oh fair go andrew !

we have tried to help there is very detailled info posted on this forum jsut on this topic and I myself have directed trebor specifically there. it cant be expected that people can follow and do all this stuff. and thats not being pompous its being realistic and understanding. I wouldnt expect my parents for instance to be able to check levels on their system, setup and calibrate either. they would need some hands on one ot one in person help/support in doing something like that. hence why suggested he ask the retailer he bought it from to help him. now if the retailer so very obviosuly does not have a clue what else am I to say. can hardly recommend to anyone else !

and about affording to buy from specialist store. I bought my first reciever 20+ years ago it only had two channels from a specialist store and that was as a student on an extremely meagre income. so dotn tell me about not affordign to buy from specialist stores. and not like spcialist stores do not sell a lot of very affordable gear. you jsut have to have a look at the inventory on stores such as eastwood. and steve there goes on abotu this kind of thing all the time where people buy from a box mover at the and then ring him up for help !

I know a specialist store in melb that would sell this very same gear trebor has and I can bet you he could have gone in there with a notebook and asked how to set it all up and they would have gone through step by step what to do nad if needed made available someoen to come out for setup and installation if needed.

now if dse cant make available this kind of service a visit to a spcialist store askign for help is jsut what I'm suggesting.

if thats not possible I'd take the whole sh-bang back myself and go buy somethign fro ma spcialist store myself. might get some better service from there.

[turnthetable]

As for the amp model, it's SONY 1510W D-Light Sync HDMI Multi Channel AV Receiver STR-K1500.

I don't know if this helps I've got the same amp and for surround I have it set on 50 and it's plenty loud, my max vol is 70 (strange you'd think they'd make it 1-100)

Chris

[DaveMews]

What brand are your front speakers? What sensitivity and ohm load?

Try an audio cd rather than a dvd, I find that many DVD's have their sound levels really low, requiring the volume to be turned up high. Eg on my marantz receiver, it goes from -50db to +20. For CD's, anything louder than -20db is getting to be too loud, but DVD's need to be run at -10db to be able to hear whats going on.

It sounds to me like the new amp may not be driving the load on your speakers as well as the old one... so if you can let us know the sensitivity and ohm rating that would be helpful