Help with new receiver. (1 Viewer)

[Omard.]

I bought a ONKYO TXSR601 on Tuesday. It is replacing a very old Sony receiver that had no optical connections. I have a Onkyo DVD player connected to it thru the Optical input and I also have a Dish 801 connected the same way. My question is that my Sony receiver seems to be louder then the ONKYO. I have to have the new receiver at about 60 or higher to sound good. Am I missing something? My speakers are bose 301 in the front and sony everywhere else. Also my sub which is a piece of crap I have to have the levels all the way up to get any sound. What could be wrong?

 

[Ed Moxley]

In the receiver's setup menus, did you set the volume levels for each speaker?
What you mention is normal for speakers that aren't setup right, and don't hold the settings in memory.
In my old receiver, I was constantly having to raise the volume for the center channel (voices). But the new receiver holds the settings, and it's no longer a problem.
Check those settings.......... receivers usually ship with the settings set to 0dB, for each speaker.
Good luck!

 

[Omard.]

What should I set that db number to? It goes all the way up to 12.

 

[Nathan Stohler]

The number for the master volume isn't very significant, because it varies from receiver to receiver.

To get the levels of all your speakers right, you should use your receiver's test tones and a sound meter and adjust until all your speakers until they are the same dB level from your listening position. Better yet, use a calibration disk like Avia.

 

[Rich Wenzel]

Sorry, I wrote this to the wrong post...please ignore.

Rich

 

[Omard.]

Sorry I'm a neewbie at this. So the db are not all the same number each should be set to different numbers?

 

[Nathan Stohler]

No, they are not all necessarily the same. Your receiver probably has adjustments for the center, surrounds, and subwoofer. These settings are for adjusting the gain relative to the main speakers. For example, if you play test tones (built-in or on a calibration disk), you may find that your mains read 75 dB on your sound meter, but your surrounds only measure 71 dB. In this case, you would set the gain for your surrounds to +4 dB and recallibrate.

You will need to do this for all your speakers (including your subwoofer).

You should check out the FAQ on this site, specifically the section on Reference Level.

 

[Omard.]

thanks for the help guys. I will check out the faq.