Onkyo receiver with low volume?

If any of you have an onkyo receiver as part of your ht setup and have been turning up the volume past 50 to hear anything you might be interested in the following read. I found this on several av forums and followed the steps included. Now my speakers are rattling the windows at a 35 to 40 volume level.

"I just bought a tx-sr606 which has the same amp set-up and I watched a movie on my PS3 (TRUE HD)that required me to turn the volume up to over 50 to achieve decent decibels--thought that was too high since the 505 I had prior needed only about 40 to achieve the same output. Called Onkyo and here's what they told me---in set-up go to speaker set-up then level calibration and increase the decibels for the fronts,center and surrounds to about +10, and maybe about +6 for the backs(if you have them) and +6 for the sub. After that , go to source set-up then intellivolume and set that also to +10. After I changed these (and did not re-calibrate w/Audessey since I use the manual EQ) I tried the same movie again and got blown away with the volume at 25! I fell much better about upgrading to this receiver from the 505 since I made these changes(and you can still tinker w/your settings to your liking). Now I've just got to get a fan to cool her off a little!! Try this and post your findings here for us all to see."

+10?? Isn't that a little high? You're making the amp work much harder when you turn up the levels that high which means the amp will run HOTTER causing it to possibly clip or even worse, you can start popping transistors and blowing your amp.

I'm surprised Onkyo would recommend such a thing but what do I know, I'm no engineer.

I'm definitely no engineer either and what you say seems to make sense. Anyone who has the background care to weigh in on this topic? I tried changing the levels today but I don't want to damage my ht equipment. Maybe I'll restore all the old levels until I can talk to onkyo next week and see if they really know what they are talking about.

I have an Onkyo 705 and seldom turn the volume up past -20 for very, very loud sound. However, be aware that most Onkyo receivers have two ways of reading the volume setting: "Relative" and "Absolute." You'll find these adjustments in most units under "Misc." in the "Setup" menu. The -20 setting on my receiver is for "Relative" volume. That corresponds to about a +55 or more readout for an "Absolute" setting (something close to the read-out you're concerned about). So, my guess is that your receiver is set for "Absolute," and you may have had an older receiver (whatever brand) that was set at something like "Relative." Thus, your actual power output is probably normal, but it's just indicating the output in a different measurement than you're used to.

I would not, however, add +10 db output to the channel-balance adjustments. This would do no harm, as it is virtually the same thing as turning up the volume on the master volume knob by 10 db, but there is simply no need to do it. (If you turn the internal channel balances up 10 db, you will have to turn down the master volume knob 10 db for the same output. The amplifier is doing the same work, producing the same output, but you would see a lower volume readinig on the front of the receiver.)

Therefore, I'd recommend you just set your Onkyo's volume to "Relative" and feel good about it. It will not change the position of your volume knob or the amount of power feeding your speakers in any way, but it will make you feel better when you look at the receiver's volume read-out.

John

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[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Jul 27, 2008 - CDT 2:49 AM]

Thanks for the info. My ego has just beed padded and comforted
Now I just need a stand alone blu-ray player to replace my ps3 so that I can see those pretty audio codec lights come on.

made the jump from a ps3, and it was well worth it... trust me on that. an SA player will fulfill that missing felling.

I usually have the volume at around 60 for movies and around 40 for CDs. It doesn't really bother me what the number is, as long as I get good enough sound.

I just looked into my settings, and I have +2 on the left and right, +1 on the center, +6 on the left surround, and +5 on the right surround. I have the sub at +8. These settings were calibrated with an SPL meter.

Reaggie,

Your channel-balance numbers are not much different from mine. It's not uncommon for the rear speakers to need a different setting from the front speakers because they are usually either a different size or a different brand or model, so their efficiency ratings (the amount of power it takes to play them at certain output levels) usually differ.

However, if you are using a powered subwoofer, you might consider using its internal amplifier to raise it to the level of your other speakers, rather than use the receiver's amplifier as you apparently are doing now.

John

John,

I find with the gain output at +8, my volume control on the subs are around the 4.5 to 5 mark. I really achieve really deep low bass. I have one sub eq'd at 45Hz(12 inch Klipsch Downfire) and the smaller sub at 80hz(10 inch Klipsch RW10 Frontfire). The third is set to 120hz (Klipsch RW8 Frontfire). My onkyo is set to 120 output as well. The roll off between the three sub allows for some nice balance when explosions and action scenes kick in!

Reagan