Questions about Onkyo 600 (1 Viewer)

[Brian Bowles]

My friend just replaced his 20 year old Harmon Kardon with an Onkyo 600. He has some polk speakers that are about 12 years old. They are larger than bookshelf speakers but not towers. It seems that now he does not have as much bass as he had before with the HK. All of the speakers are set on large and he does not have a sub. I tried the crossover at 80, 100, and 120. It is not on night mode. Is it possible that the Onkyo is so much more clean that the bass is just not as boomy? Also I bet his old reciever did not even have a crossover. What should he set this one too and is there less bass because he has a crossover? Thanks!!!

 

[Jorge M]

If your friend does not have a sub, why are you playing with the crossover? The front speakers should be set to large, subwoofer should be set to no, and you shouldn't even be able to see the x-over setting. Otherwise, you'll be missing all the bass!

 

[Paul Clarke]

Jorge,

some receivers still show certain non-applicable setup options after selecting Large speakers + Sub=No and you can even enter them but they have no effect as in this case. I had an old JVC DD receiver that acted the same way.

And Brian,

would you have called the bass 'boomy' before the 600? I don't see why anyone would think any receiver, albeit a new one by comparison, would have such 'clean bass' that you can't hear it as well as before...ergo, the old bass was 'boomy'.

I agree with Breck...sounds like the 600 simply has less bass output than the H/K. Try an equalizer as Breck suggested. You might be surprised to see how many dB's of boost are required to set things right.

 

[Jorge M]

Experience with my Onkyo 696 tells me that settings that do not apply to your setup will not show up as an option. For example, if you set Subwoofer=no, you will not see a "subwoofer level" option under level calibration. I've never dealt with an Onkyo 600, so this might have changed, but it would make no sense IMO.

My point is that if the friend has no subwoofer, then Subwoofer=no is the right setting. The fact that he is getting no bass output and he is changing x-over points leads me to believe that he's set Subwoofer=yes, hence the problem. Again, I have no experience with the 600 so I might be wrong.

Brian, let us know if you've solved the problem!

 

[David Cohen]

That's Onkyo for you. Their receivers are equalized toward higher frequencies

This is an inaccurate statement. There is no equalization applied to signals to emphasize highs on this or any Onkyo receiver. Their goal, much like most other premium manufacturers, is to be accurate to the original signal. It is not uncommon for people to notice what they percieve as a lack of bass when upgrading from an older receiver. The high frequency responce of older recievers left much to be desired. With so many companies extending and flattening their frequency response these days, high frequencies are now more noticable since they are being reproduced more accurately.

That being said. all recievers have a slightly different "character" and will react differently with various components ad speakers. Some lack the current neeeded for loud reproduction of low bass notes.

Listen before you buy.

Peace.