Search results

Kostas, I don't think anyone can provide a definitive answer to your question, due to the subjective nature of the listening experience. But I can understand your situation, since I too use a Yamaha receiver (RX-V1) as a prepro and McIntosh amps (several MC-7100, which are 2-channel amps...

Kyle, Take a look at this thread for an explanation of volume level settings on the RX-V1 and other recent receivers. It sounds to me like your receiver is working okay. Cliff

Angus, Older receivers and integrated amps covered a large volume range over the first 1/3 to 1/2 rotation of the volume knob, and a very much smaller range over the remainder of the knob's rotation. The newer receivers (e.g., your RX-V3200) with digital display of dBs show a more uniform...

Bill, Yes, Brian is absolutely correct. The bottom line for me is that most "bass management" schemes are compromises in one way or another, even the highly touted "use a sub and set all speakers to small". (I say this because, with the typical crossover frequencies of 80-90 Hz, the listener...

Mike, As I recall, the Video Essentials disc allows you to calibrate with speakers set to "large". This is because it includes the LFE tone on the separate LFE track, instead of rolling the LFE into the speaker tones like AVIA does. Cliff

Michael, The older receivers without digital display of dBs covered a large volume range over the first 1/3 to 1/2 rotation of the volume knob, and a very much smaller range over the remainder of the knob's rotation. The newer receivers (e.g., RX-V1) with digital display of dBs show a more...

Glenn, The RX-V1 is certainly an excellent receiver, but I think you should be able to pick one up for less than $1700 since it has been replaced by the RX-Z1. I have seen posts in which this unit was available for $1000 to $1500. Good luck, Cliff

Hall of Fame sounds spectacular. It is one of the discs I use to demo my system for guests. Be aware that most of the bass is in the front left and right channels, and there is no 0.1 LFE channel. Not a problem if you have your speakers set up as small, or if bass from the front main channels is...

Andrew, Here are a couple of three-channel amps: AMC 2N100-3 Adcom GFA-5503 Cliff

Andrew, I have an RX-V1 and am a firm believer in the potential benefits of external amplification (I use McIntosh MC-7100s). However, having listened to the amp section of my RX-V1 for awhile after I first purchased it, I have to note that this unit's amps are very good. If you are trying to...

I have to agree with all the positive comments. Several years ago I owned a Yamaha A-1000 which was driving Definitive Technology speakers in my HT system. To my ears, this combination accentuated the high frequencies disproportionately to the midrange (i.e., what some folks would call...

Thanks a lot for the info and links, Max. I will definitely look into EAC. Cliff

I'm just getting started ripping CDs and burning compilation CD-Rs. I am using the software bundled with my Dell 4100 (Easy CD Creator 4) to extract wave files from CDs, create image files on my hard drive, and burn CD-Rs. I would like to normalize volumes of the wave files to minimize volume...

The "sub/main/both" setting is confusing as explained in the manual, but simple in concept. If you don't have a sub, or wish to feed your sub from the main preout, use the "main" setting. In effect, this means that there is no sub as far as the receiver and its bass management system is...

Stanley, I suppose your experience demonstrates that the CS-Ultra is indeed less sensitive than the 20-39CS. Providing the Ultra with more watts should help. However, if you compare Samson/Ultra with MA500/20-39, be aware that, for the same sub output level on your receiver, the 20-39 might...

Derek, The Sennheiser HD-495 is said to be an excellent headphone for portable devices. Excellent quality, VERY light weight, low impedance (so it can be driven to adequate volumes by portable players). The earcups are supra-aural, which are less bulky (and therefore perhaps better while on...

Thanks, Bruce and brucek. The Symetrix 551E is an analog equalizer and therefore has no ADC/DAC processing. Neverthess, input level must be held within some optimal range, and thus the issues brucek described for the BFD are somewhat applicable to this device as well. But there does seem to...

brucek, I have taken your suggestion about incorporating the X-30 into my setup, which also includes a receiver (Yamaha RX-V1), a parametric equalizer (Symetrix 551E), and a sub amp (Samson S-1000). I have a question about the sequence of connections between the receiver and the sub amp...

Wayne, Although I expect that a number of the new units yet to be released will have preouts, I don't think you are going to find preout/main-in on Yamaha's low-to-mid level receivers. Of the current models listed on their website, the RX-V1200 and RX-V2200 do not have this, the RX-V3200 and...

Richard, This is a versatile box that I have used for a variety of purposes over the years. I'm not sure how you intend to use it, but you need to be aware that the switcher part, which allows you to select among 3 sources plus a tape loop, is only for 2 channels. The output of the selector...

The Paradigm X-30 has this. It's more than $100, but not a whole lot more.

That was an extraordinary lesson you presented, brucek. Thanks so much - I think I get the gist of what you're saying, but I am going to have to study your essay in order to really capture the details. Much appreciated. Cliff

Thanks once again, Tom. That information changes things. At least, if my supposition about matching output-input impedances is correct, then the fact that the Samson input impedance is so low may indeed explain the problem others have had. But I'm no expert on this. If anyone can illuminate...

Thanks, Tom. That exceeds the input impedance of any of my consumer-grade amps, which range from 20-47 KOhms. So I guess the input impedance of the Samson amps does not explain the problem some people have had with volume output from their Samson/SVS units. Cliff

Recently there have been some threads in which people complained that the outputs from their Samson/SVS units are not loud enough. I have noticed these from owners of both Onkyo and Yamaha receivers, and the responses have included advice that there is a voltage or impedance mismatch between...