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Onkyo 797 Volume? (1 Viewer)

Gary Wa

Auditioning
Joined
Dec 15, 2001
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3
Anyone familiar with the Onkyo 797's volume settings? I just received mine over the weekend and after hooking it up, I found that it doesn't reach a loud enough listening level until it hits 40 or so. Volume only goes to 100. Is the thing broken?

Overall, I'm not very impressed with it so far. Still have some tweaking to do, but I thought I'd be blown away by the leap from my 4 year old Sony DA80ES. Right now it sounds a bit harsh/bright in both 2 channel and surround modes.
 

RandyRush

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Messages
61
I don't know what you might have done, or if the unit is defective, but my 797 is at a fairly high volume at around 30-32; most dvd's I watch at about 40 and it rattles the room; I would check your connections and make sure all is right; otherwise, you might have a defective amp.
 

Jeffrey_Jones

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 6, 2001
Messages
283
This can be due to several factors:
1. Speaker level setting - Have you calibrated your speakers yet? RS Meter should read ~75 db for all channels (+ 6-10 db for sub) using the generated test tones. The receiver automatically goes to the appropriate volume when you start the test tone...at least mine does.
2. Source volume - My cable system is quieter then when I watch a DVD. My 898 has the ability to boost volume for various inputs, not sure about the 797.
3. Expectations - Many newer receivers behave differently then what people are use to. On my old 727, twelve...maybe two o’clock on the volume dial was max. Anything beyond introduced clipping. This wasted the second half of my volume control. My 898 has a much more usable volume range. This also means that I have to turn the dial further then I am use to.
My normal listening level for CD/TV is around 50-55 and for DVDs it's 55-65. If no neighbors are home, maybe 70 :)
As long as your system sounds good to you, and you have the headroom to crank the volume without distortion then I would say everything is fine.
Thanks,
Jeff
 

Paul_Psutka

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 23, 2001
Messages
115
When I listen to music or movies at a moderately loud volume on my Onkyo 797, I have the volume control set close to 70. I was concerned too, since on my older receiver without a digital volume control I'd never have the volume turned past the 1/2 way or 12 o'clock position.

But it's just a number, and you can really fine tune the volume at that point in the volume range. I can't imagine having the volume as high as 80 or 85, so the fact that it goes to 100 is sufficient even when listening to a cassette tape that was recorded very low.

Don't forget you can switch between relative and absolute volume too. In the above examples we're talking about absolute volume.

And as someone else mentioned, it's going to depend on how efficient your speakers are.

It's funny that you experienced the same thing I did first time I turned the receiver on. I kept turning the volume up.... hit "40" and was thinking "where's the volume? is this receiver broken?" I went into the setup menu, preferences, volume setup, and set the "PowerOnVolume" to 50. Might as well start there, since I usually don't have a reason to go lower than 50.
 

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