Is it my receiver settings or speakers?

[jmr27]

Hi there,

I have a Yamaha RX 710 and my Speakers are;

Polk M 40's Fronts
Polk M 40's Back and back sorround
Polk Cs10 Center
Subwoofer 2 Bic F 12's

I have to have my reciver turned up half way just to get these speakers to kick-in. is there a setting that enables the reciever to its potential?

This is for both music and movies..

Thanks.

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by jmr27

Hi there,

I have a Yamaha RX 710 and my Speakers are;

Polk M 40's Fronts
Polk M 40's Back and back sorround
Polk Cs10 Center
Subwoofer 2 Bic F 12's

I have to have my reciver turned up half way just to get these speakers to kick-in. is there a setting that enables the reciever to its potential?

This is for both music and movies..

Thanks.

how long have you had this setup? is this issue something new or has it always been this way? I also suspect your yammy is not a powerful receiver to begin with and that may be the issue.

of course, it may be working just as it should which is not what you think it should be or would like it to be.

[jmr27]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

how long have you had this setup? is this issue something new or has it always been this way? I also suspect your yammy is not a powerful receiver to begin with and that may be the issue.

of course, it may be working just as it should which is not what you think it should be or would like it to be.

The yammy is bout a year old, was comprable to the old 667, now my model has been upgraded. Its around 630 watts. I got the speakers 6 months ago.

Hoping no need for a new reciever...

[BIslander]

Have you calibrated levels using the AVCR test tones or a calibration disc?

[jmr27]

Originally Posted by BIslander

Have you calibrated levels using the AVCR test tones or a calibration disc?

Yes , ran the YPAO thing , plus a manual tweak etc. My old Yammy seemed louder and that was in mid 90's....

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by jmr27

Hi there,

I have a Yamaha RX 710 and my Speakers are;

Polk M 40's Fronts
Polk M 40's Back and back sorround
Polk Cs10 Center
Subwoofer 2 Bic F 12's

I have to have my reciver turned up half way just to get these speakers to kick-in. is there a setting that enables the reciever to its potential?

This is for both music and movies..

Thanks.

Can you tell us what number is being displayed when you are halfway turned up? The newer AVR are not dialed in from 1-10, or in some cases '11'.

Besides getting halfway, you can continue to turn the knob until it reaches more likely volume/SPL.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by HAMP

Can you tell us what number is being displayed when you are halfway turned up? The newer AVR are not dialed in from 1-10, or in some cases '11'.

Besides getting halfway, you can continue to turn the knob until it reaches more likely volume/SPL.

My thoughts exactly, he's pushing 7 channels with a 90 w ch avr and the Polks are 89 db (not bad but not the most efficient also) so having to "crank" it up is normal I believe.

To the OP, are you running out of power or is it only that you think it should be louder than it is at that level? As long as you can push it to levels you like, without overdoing it to clipping (distortion) then don't worry about it. Now if you can't get the desired volume without distortion, then it's time to look for more power.

Another thing, while bookshelves are great they do have a tendency to not push as much air obviously so it's somewhat harder to reach high levels compared to towers (of the same make obviously as you can't compare different brands and lines)

[jmr27]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

My thoughts exactly, he's pushing 7 channels with a 90 w ch avr and the Polks are 89 db (not bad but not the most efficient also) so having to "crank" it up is normal I believe.

To the OP, are you running out of power or is it only that you think it should be louder than it is at that level? As long as you can push it to levels you like, without overdoing it to clipping (distortion) then don't worry about it. Now if you can't get the desired volume without distortion, then it's time to look for more power.

Another thing, while bookshelves are great they do have a tendency to not push as much air obviously so it's somewhat harder to reach high levels compared to towers (of the same make obviously as you can't compare different brands and lines)

I'm new to all this new audio but i would think having it turned half way would push these speakers a little. But as i turning it up theres no distortion etc. I believe i have enough power but I'd leave that opinion to you experts. So now wondering if i should invest in some towers?? , maybe polk m 60s or perhaps reccomendations froup anyone of you. Budget $400 $500...

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by HAMP

Can you tell us what number is being displayed when you are halfway turned up? The newer AVR are not dialed in from 1-10, or in some cases '11'.

Besides getting halfway, you can continue to turn the knob until it reaches more likely volume/SPL.

???

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by jmr27

I'm new to all this new audio but i would think having it turned half way would push these speakers a little. But as i turning it up theres no distortion etc. I believe i have enough power but I'd leave that opinion to you experts. So now wondering if i should invest in some towers?? , maybe polk m 60s or perhaps reccomendations froup anyone of you. Budget $400 $500...

If you can get it loud to your liking, don't change anything unless you want to. Remember they are only numbers. Also often with the vintage gear (not all, but many) you would turn it up halfway and it was real loud, but if you continued to up the volume many would just start to distort as they would reach their peak power earlier. Not as much with these digital volume controls.

Don't worry and enjoy, though Hamp asked a good question, I'm curious also.

[Johnny Vinyl]

A case could be made for more efficient speakers, no?

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

A case could be made for more efficient speakers, no?

I did mention it kinda, but yes if someone feels like upgrading that could be a very good way of doing it, I know in the apartment I'd love to have more efficient speakers as they do sound much better at low volumes and my Missions even if rated at 8 oms nominal, 89 db, I believe they probably have a fairly big dip somewhere (actually I'll ask BD how I can measure that) and they won't start to sound good before closer to reference where they open up and really deliver. Had the space when I bought them, but decided to keep them after all, will just reconfigure my room. End of rant

[BIslander]

It appears all is working as it should. But, you can always get an SPL meter and calibrate levels by hand.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

[jmr27]

Originally Posted by HAMP

Can you tell us what number is being displayed when you are halfway turned up? The newer AVR are not dialed in from 1-10, or in some cases '11'.

Besides getting halfway, you can continue to turn the knob until it reaches more likely volume/SPL.

-33db that's when it starts to kick in

[MovieLovers]

I know I'm a little late on this but, I'm using a 9 year old Yammy receiver with Aaron Jones phase 1 speakers(I'm not to familiar with Polks). When I first hooked them up to the Yammy, I was a little disheartened by the sound and having to turn the volume up to about -20 to get a good sound(hence Loud)(and around -15 to -10 for some movies).
This past weekend I read the "How to Calibrate Your Home Theater System Using A SPL Meter"(or something like that) and now -20 is really loud. Negative 33 sounds like what -26 sounded like previously. So, I just said all of that to say what BIslander suggested, calibrate your system and you should notice a difference.