problem with 805

[tbizzle]

Ok, I bought my new Monitor 70's recently and was planning on breaking them in with music and comedies, etc. at mild volumes for a while. I had listened to them for about 70 hours or so, and then I bought my Onkyo 805. After I got it set up, I had to go out of state for a while. Meanwhile I ordered an ED A2-300 and was eagerly waiting to get back and try the new setup. So I got some advice on the 805 settings and set it all up. The A2-300 wasn't quite here yet I wanted to hear how the Monitor 70's sounded with my current setup. I popped in Transformers and for the first time with the new speakers and receiver, I cranked turned the volume up a lot.

The speakers sounded ...off, I couldn't quite place it but they sounded weak in a way, not what I was expecting. It sounded a little better on my old setup, so I was thinking I might have the receiver settings wrong, so I double checked my PS3 to make sure I was getting DTS HD-MA and Dolby TrueHD, etc. It doesn't say it on my receiver facing, it just says Direct (which is the listening mode I was recommended to set it to).

I also checked my speaker settings and the fronts are set to Full band, the center is at 80Hz thx, the sub is at 80Hz thx and the impedance is at 6 ohms.

I kept watching the movie and when I got to the Transformers arrival scene and Optimus first speaks, I heard a sort of crackle from my center when he spoke. Does this mean I blew my center speaker? I then tried a few other scenes from the movie and it almost sounds like the Center speaker is getting the majority of the sounds from the movie, even a lot of the music. I turned the volume down a lot for fear that my settings were all screwy and I didn't want to damage any speakers, and I still heard a crackle sound when Optimus spoke later on.

Any ideas or advice?

I appreciate any help you guys can give, thanks in advance.

Tyler

[FilmmakingFiasco]

Have you used the mic to do the Audyssey audio calibration? If you set it to direct, it doesn't use these settings or (I believe) any other settings you may have tweaked. You will not see TrueHD or DTS-HD-MA show up on the receiver if the audio is coming from the PS3. The PS3 needs to be set to PCM because it cannot bitstream the audio to the receiver (which is why those codecs don't show up, the PS3 does the decoding). I have my receiver set to MultiChan

Your center channel does most of the heavy lifting in a film. Most of your sound in a film will come from the center. I don't have Transformers so I can't tell you about that specific crackling you may be hearing.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by FilmmakingFiasco

Have you used the mic to do the Audyssey audio calibration? If you set it to direct, it doesn't use these settings or (I believe) any other settings you may have tweaked. You will not see TrueHD or DTS-HD-MA show up on the receiver if the audio is coming from the PS3. The PS3 needs to be set to PCM because it cannot bitstream the audio to the receiver (which is why those codecs don't show up, the PS3 does the decoding). I have my receiver set to MultiChan

Your center channel does most of the heavy lifting in a film. Most of your sound in a film will come from the center. I don't have Transformers so I can't tell you about that specific crackling you may be hearing.

Ahh maybe that's the problem. I ran audyssey the first day and I remember it sounded good on music for a little while. Then someone recommended that I use "Direct" mode and I have since only watched movies on Direct. And yeah I have the PS3 set to LPCM.

As for the crackle, I was thinking it was because I possibly hurt the speaker. The voice I'm referring to in this movie is very deep and it has lots of bass. I guess it just sounded a lot different on my other receiver. Hope I didn't hurt it. *crosses fingers*

Thanks so much for your input, I'll try setting it to MultiChannel and run Audyssey when I get my sub set up.

[Rob J in WNY]

tbizzle,

Definitely check to make sure you don't have any speakers wired out of phase - most notably any of your front speakers. You will most assuredly get a "strange sound" with a speaker wired out of phase.

Also, in case it pertains to you, use no less than 16-gauge speaker wire for your Onkyo 805. 14-gauge would be even better.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

tbizzle,

Definitely check to make sure you don't have any speakers wired out of phase - most notably any of your front speakers. You will most assuredly get a "strange sound" with a speaker wired out of phase.

Also, in case it pertains to you, use no less than 16-gauge speaker wire for your Onkyo 805. 14-gauge would be even better.

Ok I'll double check everything when I get home tomorrow. I have the speakers bi-amped, so they should be set to 6 ohms, correct? Sorry, just learning about all of this stuff

And I'm currently running 12 gauge all around. Thanks for the help fellas

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

I would definitely take your 70s off of full band too. I have them crossed at 50hz right now and they sound great. That's also 10hz above there spec. -/+3db roll off. I've tried 50hz, 60hz, 70hz, and 80hz as a crossover. I can't pick one. I think I might go back to 60hz to get an overall better crossover freq.

As for your center, it's hard to tell. I can definitely pop in the Blu for you right now if you would like tbizzle. Just let me know some scenes and the volume level you were watching it at and i'll jump on that for you. As for using direct as a listening mode: it just insures that there isn't any more processing added onto what the PS3 decoding and PCM signal comes in as. It should essentially be the same as if you had the 805 do the decoding. I'm sorry to hear this. As for the out of phase and in phase, that will definitely do it for you. The CS2 crackling sounds like a different problem.

[DonRSD]

set the receiver on MULTICHANNEL for ps3.....thats how you will get lossless audio

direct is for fools. i NEVER use that

if the directv broadcast is dolby digital.....i use dolby digital.
if directv broadcast is stereo........i use THX GAMES/PLII MOVIE (depending on what im watching)

for music channels or cds i use ALL CH STEREO/STEREO....just depends on my mood

as far as audyssey i ran it and my levels were low. i always had my 806 around -5db to hear anything

so i raised the levels by about 7 (my center was -6 per audyssey)
what i did was raise the reference volume from 0.0 to about -10....now i can hear things @ -40db when my wife/kid(s) are sleeping

[Driver_King]

set the receiver on MULTICHANNEL for ps3.....thats how you will get lossless audio

No, that is a mode, not the mode to get lossless.

direct is for fools. i NEVER use that

I use Direct and it sounds great as do many others. Are we all fools?

Anyways, here is what I suggest Tbizzle. Try a few other modes to see what you like best (just not stereo on movies) if Direct isn't cutting it. Also do this for your speakers; adjust your front speakers to around 50-60hz crossover, leave your center to where it is, and adjust your subwoofer to 120hz on the receiver and all the way up on your subwoofer. That should help. Also, placement is key to having good sound. Don't forget that. Mess with your subwoofer placement as well as toe-in on your speakers, and consider risers for your speakers and subs as well as the possibility of room treatments.

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

No, that is a mode, not the mode to get lossless.



I use Direct and it sounds great as do many others. Are we all fools?

Anyways, here is what I suggest Tbizzle. Try a few other modes to see what you like best (just not stereo on movies) if Direct isn't cutting it. Also do this for your speakers; adjust your front speakers to around 50-60hz crossover, leave your center to where it is, and adjust your subwoofer to 120hz on the receiver and all the way up on your subwoofer. That should help. Also, placement is key to having good sound. Don't forget that. Mess with your subwoofer placement as well as toe-in on your speakers, and consider risers for your speakers and subs as well as the possibility of room treatments.

direct sounds very flat and lacking 'depth'
sorry man......some of us have opinions too!

plus i would set my crossovers at 80hz across the board....OP

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

How about you set the crossovers 10-20hz above the roll off. On the Monitor 70, that's a crossover of about 60hz. On a T90e, that's about 70hz. It's all a matter of preference. Personally, I figure if you're speakers are good to 30 or 40hz, why not use as much of there frequency range as possible while still maintaining dynamic headroom.

As far as listening modes, you just have to find one that suits you, and that's all that matters in the end.

And then again, this is what Direct is on an Onkyo 805:

Direct
In this mode, audio from the input source is output
directly with minimal processing, providing high-fidelity
reproduction. All of the source’s audio channels are
output as they are.

So essentially, you're just ouputing what the PS3 sends, already decoded, to the receiver.

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

How about you set the crossovers 10-20hz above the roll off. On the Monitor 70, that's a crossover of about 60hz. On a T90e, that's about 70hz. It's all a matter of preference. Personally, I figure if you're speakers are good to 30 or 40hz, why not use as much of there frequency range as possible while still maintaining dynamic headroom.

As far as listening modes, you just have to find one that suits you, and that's all that matters in the end.

And then again, this is what Direct is on an Onkyo 805:

Direct
In this mode, audio from the input source is output
directly with minimal processing, providing high-fidelity
reproduction. All of the source’s audio channels are
output as they are.

So essentially, you're just ouputing what the PS3 sends, already decoded, to the receiver.

i hear ya on direct, but it lacks the 'fullness' i get out other modes (multichannel)

the lowest i would put my t90e are 70hz but i dont wanna move my center down to 70hz NOR do i want the left/right to have different hz than the center.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

i hear ya on direct, but it lacks the 'fullness' i get out other modes (multichannel)

the lowest i would put my t90e are 70hz but i dont wanna move my center down to 70hz NOR do i want the left/right to have different hz than the center.

This is what I do, I keep my fronts and center the same as well, at 80hz.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

i hear ya on direct, but it lacks the 'fullness' i get out other modes (multichannel)

the lowest i would put my t90e are 70hz but i dont wanna move my center down to 70hz NOR do i want the left/right to have different hz than the center.

Direct sounds flat to you because it's not using Audyssey- I agree it doesn't sound as dynamic to me either.

You could honestly go lower than 70hz but personally I never ran mine below 80hz (THX specs). Just got to give about 10-15hz room between the specs and your crossover for rolloff.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Never thought of it that way. That is having them all at the same crossover.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

Never thought of it that way. That is having them all at the same crossover.

I personally really like having mine all at the same crossover of 80hz. All of my speakers are capable of it and you get consistent response from the subwoofer even when there are loud panning effects. Anything below 80hz is supposedly omni-directional anyway, and this also takes the load off of the receiver to push the lows out of the speakers and places some of the burden where it should be- on the sub.

I'm a big fan of doing it that way, at least with my current setup. If I had something truly high-end it might be different.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

I'm going to have to rethink my settings now. I just find it such a drag to switch between music settings and movie settings.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

As for the OP. I got in a good bit of transformers on regular 'lossy' and TrueHD. Didn't notice any crackling from the center. You might want to check another source other than the PS3

[SlmShdy1]

I think having the receiver set to Full Band might be the reason for the crackling. That happened to my speakers (granted, they're not nearly as good) after I ran Audyssey. I was watching a trailer for I Am Legend, which has a lot of bass, and I could notice crackling but when I switched the crossover to 80Hz it was fine.

[Driver_King]

Whatever you guys decide to do with the crossover settings is your choice. All of my speakers are ran at full band (as they all are full range speakers) and my subs are set at 120hz, which is the setting Audyssey recommends anyways (the sub x-over). I have two subwoofers and directionality is not an issue at all.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

direct sounds very flat and lacking 'depth'
sorry man......some of us have opinions too!

plus i would set my crossovers at 80hz across the board....OP

I don't understand your comments toward me Don. I really don't. I was offering my opinion and I did say he could adjust it to whatever sounded right to him. Did I say something to offend you or upset you?