Need Help - HT Problem

[kevkie]

Hi Guys,

 

This is the list of equipment I am using now:

 

HT Spk            - Infinity TSS-450

Audio Spk        - KEF Cresta 2

AVR                - Pioneer VSX-815S Receiver

TV                  - SONY KV-DA29M61

DVD/CD Player  - Pioneer DV-383

 

I'm using an optical cable for audio and components for video. This is my first self owned equipment, I hooked everything up myself 2 days ago and these are my observations/problems faced:

 

Sound:

 

The Pioneer AVR has connections for speaker A and speaker B, since I dont have a stereo amp for the KEF's yet, I hooked it up to the Pioneer. Naturally, I poped in a DVD and "tested the sound" of the Infinity's eagerly. I noticed that the sound was VERY tamed and unclear. I also had to increase the volume very high (about -25db on the amp) to get the effect and impact that I was looking for (even so, its not clear). The sound is pretty different from what I heard when I auditioned the Infinity's at the shop. I have tried all possible settings on the AVR (at least I think) with little to no difference. Any idea what the hell is going on? I am stopping short of taking the set back to the shop to have it hooked up there to find out if somehow my speakers may be defective (which I really doubt). I have tried about 5 different DVD's and they all sound just as "bad".

 

Another problem, with the option of swapping between the HTIB speakers and the KEF's I did, its a world of a difference, I am sure that there would be a difference bit I did not expect such a big difference. I guess this is tied to the crap sound phenomenon as explained in the above paragraph, but still, very distressed.  >:( :-\ :'(

 

Vision:

 

To add salt to the wound, DVD pictures are not as clear as I expected either. I dont know if its the cables (which are not the expensive good stuff that some of you may be using, they cost me only about S$30) or if its the settings on the TV and DVD player. Sony has DRC Progressive, DRC100 and DRC1250, I currently am using progressive and honestly, its not good at all. I noticed that the colours are not too fantastic either, I have yet to do a custom setting, been living with the Vivid, and dunno what else preset setting that Sony has. Cant comment on TV programs as my antenna is not even up yet.  ;D :-X

 

Any ideas please?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Kevin - sian sian sian! :-[

[deepakvali]

bro, too many variables involved to cause your Infinity speakers to sound different compared to what you heard at the shop and at home.

 

Variation comes from:

 

1. Acoustic Treatment

2. Environment conditions

3. Hardware variation

4. etc........

 

Also comparing your Inifinity with KEF or Brand X will definitely yield you different type of results and that is why there are so many brands out there for you to play the permuation game to attain the combination you are after....that is why i call this hobby the bottemless pitt.

 

i am in there.....are you beginning to fall  ;D

[kevkie]

Hi deepakvali,

 

Thank you for the reply, yeah I have fallen alright,....dropping at a fast rate too!  :-[ ;D

 

At the shop where I bought the Infinity's, they were using a Harman Kardon AVR, entry model and very honestly I believe not much different from my humble panny in terms of quality and power and such.Same wires as well. Audition was not in a treated room, it was in an open space (hall I should say) with only 1 wall behind the TV being closest.

 

Noted on comparing the KEF and Infinity's, dug my own grave there but it reinforces my insistence on having a seperate pair of speakers just for CDs.  ;D

[armoury]

Video: you need to calibrate.  The default settings on the Sony are all way off.  At least from my recollection when I calibrated my Sony Wega KV-ES29M61 years ago.  The cables should not have that huge an effect on your PQ, since your screen isn't that big.  Default settings, or any of their choices, are usually off, e.g. so-called Dynamic has too much colour saturation and people look sunburnt or orange.

 

My Sony was an older one, and I found I prefered DRC1250, which is a built-in line-doubler,to DRC100, which uses a higher refresh rate but at the cost of no line-doubling, which led to visible scan lines.  I can't remember if my 6+yr-old Sony had a "progressive" setting, and if so whether I used it, but you should experiment with or without, even if instinct says using progressive should theoretically be better.

 

Sound, I can't really comment since I'm not familiar with your equipment, and as noted there are too many variables.  But do note that the number on the OSD/dial is somewhat arbitrary and it is therefore meaningless to compare to another brand, for instance on my Marantz -25dB would also be not very loud, -10 is pretty loud, and 0dB is what I calibrated so-called reference level at, which I almost never use.  On the other hand, on Yammies 0 is silent, normal listening is probably around +25-35 and +40 and up is really loud.

[kevkie]

Hi armoury,

 

Thank you for the reply, yes I will need to look at the custom settings and set it up...sigh. Any references on the so called"right way" of doing this?

 

I'm very concerned abt the sound...its the lack of clarity thats bugging me.

[petetherock]

Hi bro

 

Some thoughts:

1- running in time, give your new system some time, the cones may need breaking in

 

2 - check your connections - are all the speaker terminals screwed in well, plugged in well?

 

3 - I assume all the equipment is new, otherwise clean the connections

 

4 - Power ratings - HK amps tend to be conservatively rated and give excellant current, mid to budget Pioneer amps tend to exagerrate their power ratings, and see how sensitive your speakers are, HITB tend to be 86db or less.

 

5 - If all else fails bring it back to the shop, it should not be that bad, unless someting is wrong.

 

Good luck!

[armoury]

You need a calibration disk to do it right.  Eyeballing it is quite difficult, actually, although on AVS Forum someone wrote something he called the "steaming rat" way of eyeballing it.  Not ideal but I guess it sort of works; go search AVS's video section and see if you can find it, although it's probably been several years since I read that thread (4+?) and have no idea if it's still there.

[dbchoong]

Some basic checks:

 

1. Check the polarity of the AVR speaker output to speaker cables (red to red, black to black)

 

2. On the AVR, set all your speakers as "Small". Subwoofer is "On". Cross-over at 100Hz (later can adjust to something else if need to).

 

3. Make sure your DVD player is set as Bitstream output and not PCM.

 

4. Run Test Tone from your AVR and adjust each speakers' output to sound as loud as each other (best if got SPL meter else just use your ears). Or use a THX Optimizer DVD to perform this test (THX Optimizer can be found on some DVDs like Star Wars, Pearl Harbor and many more).

 

Have fun!

 

;D

[kevkie]

Thank you all for your pointers, I will be going through a process of elimination over the weekend to see if I can get things right....wish me luck! ;D

 

Will post more in this thread as I go along!  :)