Something wrong with my Pioneer receiver? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Dog]

another thread with a n00b question.....

I bought my Pioneer VSX-D412-K 5.1 audio receiver used off a buddy this past weekend and the left speaker is quiet.

I don't have a five speaker set up yet, only two tower speakers I plugged into the FRONT speaker inputs. I also set the sound setting to just "stereo", not "surround" or "Dolby Pro-Logic etc." because I've only got two speakers.

well after I fired it up most of the sound is coming from the right speaker.

If I go into the "input" settings or something like that and turn up the decibels to around "+7" or "+8" the left speaker starts to get louder and the sound balances out.
is there something wrong with the receiver, like is the left channel bad? or did I hook something up wrong? theres so many settings on the receiver it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to just set the input to "digital audio". anyways thanks for your help

 

[John Garcia]

So with the right at "0" and the left at 8 it sounds even? Even with the worst room placement, that sounds excessive.

The first thing to do is swap the speaker connections from right to left and see if the problem follows the connection or the speakers. If the problem moves to the other side, it is the receiver and if the problem stays on the left, the problem is the speaker. My guess is it is a problem with the receiver.

 

[Chris Dog]

good idea, I'll try that.

should have done that first.... like you said to see if its the deck or the speakers....

are you familiar with the "db" settings on the Pioneer receivers?

it goes from negative 10 db to positive 10 db.. are these right and left balance settings or sound loudness settings? thanks

oh yeah- and to top it all off the "screw down" nut for the positive wire on my left speaker is missing and the connection is kinda shady... this can't be helping much either..

 

[Chris Dog]

I was able to set to balance the db settings on the receiver and now both speakers sound fine.
I think before I just had too many db's going to the right speaker.... tuning is hard when you don't have the owner's manual... ;(

 

[John Garcia]

If the screw down is missing, if it is a binding post, you can most likely use banana connectors and you won't have any issues with the wires staying in.

The dB setting is to allow you to adjust each speaker's volume so that they are all the same at your listening position, normally done with an SPL meter. By balancing the levels, things that pan (front to rear or right to left, etc...) will sound correct and convincing as they move around the room.

Check Pioneer's website or ask in the receivers forum here and maybe someone can help you find where to download the manual

 

[Chris Dog]

thanks... I called up Def Tech and had them mail me a new nut for the post.
and if I could find someone with the technical manual available for download that'd be killer...