would an amp help me?

[carios23]

Not sure if it is upgratitis but my receiver seems to be very weak when I plug 7 speakers to it. I removed 2 but it still feels weak. I can barely hear the center speaker and the dialogue is less quality than desired.

I was thinking that buying a cheap power amp for the two front speakers would help but I don't know. Would I be just better off buying a new receiver?

[beefytwinkie]

Your receiver does not have the pre-outs required by an external amp.

What you should definitely do is run the Digital Cinema Auto Calibration and see if that helps if you have not done that already.

Also, try putting your center channel in the center. From your picture it is too far to the right. That could probably cause some loss of volume to dialogue.

[victorvondoom88]

Originally Posted by carios23

Not sure if it is upgratitis but my receiver seem to be very weak when I plugged 7 speakers to it. I removed 2 but it still feels weak. I can barely hear the center speaker and I dialogue is less quality than desire.

I was thinking that buying a cheap power amp for the two front speaker would help but I don't know. Would I be just better off buying a new receiver?

Have you ran the auto calibration to balance out the levels of all channels? If not you should start there. It sounds to me like your set up isn't calibrated.

[victorvondoom88]

You may also want to double check your x-over settings for your speakers especially the center I looked yours up and it is rated at 85Hz-50kHz so you should definitely set that to small or crossover at 80,90 or 100. Running it "large" would probably muddy up the dialog as well.

[victorvondoom88]

I just looked at your gallery as well. Would it be possible to move your center above your TV and tilt down slightly? Even it is just to test out how it sounds? Or do you have enough room in your cabinet to tilt the front up so the tweeter is aimed at your ear level?

[carios23]

Originally Posted by beefytwinkie

Your receiver does not have the pre-outs required by an external amp.

What you should definitely do is run the Digital Cinema Auto Calibration and see if that helps if you have not done that already.

Also, try putting your center channel in the center. From your picture it is too far to the right. That could probably cause some loss of volume to dialogue.

You make me a sad panda!

I moved the speaker more to the center. But during the calibration it actually increased the level for the center speaker. I am not sure if I am doing it right because it always assigns all speakers to large and I have to change it to small. So, I am not sure if I am not defeating the point of the calibration

Originally Posted by victorvondoom88

You may also want to double check your x-over settings for your speakers especially the center I looked yours up and it is rated at 85Hz-50kHz so you should definitely set that to small or crossover at 80,90 or 100. Running it "large" would probably muddy up the dialog as well.

I kept the front speakers large but the crossover of the center speaker is at 100. I will try this setup for a while to see if I like it better.

Originally Posted by victorvondoom88

I just looked at your gallery as well. Would it be possible to move your center above your TV and tilt down slightly? Even it is just to test out how it sounds? Or do you have enough room in your cabinet to tilt the front up so the tweeter is aimed at your ear level?

I will definitely look at tilting the front up. Sounds like a great idea. I think putting the center speaker above the TV will be too much of a conversation piece

Thanks guys for the help. I can always rely on knowledgeable people to help me out in these forums.

[Almadacr]

The real problem is .... with Sony its a trial and error since nobody knows what to call at there calibration method .

Normally to get the best results in your system , you should set the crossover at 80hz and your L/R speaker to small and let the sub to handle all the lower frequencies .

I also had a Sony ( the first ones that came out with HDMI ) and if i recall i could set manually the volume of each speaker .

[callas01]

Originally Posted by carios23

You make me a sad panda!

I moved the speaker more to the center. But during the calibration it actually increased the level for the center speaker. I am not sure if I am doing it right because it always assigns all speakers to large and I have to change it to small. So, I am not sure if I am not defeating the point of the calibration



I kept the front speakers large but the crossover of the center speaker is at 100. I will try this setup for a while to see if I like it better.



I will definitely look at tilting the front up. Sounds like a great idea. I think putting the center speaker above the TV will be too much of a conversation piece

Thanks guys for the help. I can always rely on knowledgeable people to help me out in these forums.

First, I have had your whole setup, actually, I had the F5000s and W3000, but I had the rest of the speakers. I can say that the center channel is very bad. You can do a few things for the short term fix. First set all your speakers to small, the fronts crossover at 80 hz, the center about 100 hz, the rears at 80-100 whatever you prefer. THEN in the center channel volume, adjust the gain so that its about +2 dbs over the fronts. I think I found the Center at +1.5 to +2.0 dbs and the mains at -1.0 dbs, and it was better, but I only kept the Sonys for about 8-12 months, and they were gone.

When I left the Sonys behind and bought Energys, I still had my Sony 920 receiver, and I could hear dialog and details so much better, I didn't have to adjust the main volume or the center channel gain anymore. I could hear the dialog finally, even the soft sounding dialog.

As some know, I typically defend Sony, however, their speakers, I have owned them, and as I began to hear more and more speakers, I saw how bad the speakers I had were. And I wont recommend them ever. Id suggest the money you have to buy a new receiver should be spent first in the place you will get the biggest impact. And that would be your front 3 speakers.

[drummerboy_2002]

Originally Posted by carios23

You make me a sad panda!

I moved the speaker more to the center. But during the calibration it actually increased the level for the center speaker. I am not sure if I am doing it right because it always assigns all speakers to large and I have to change it to small. So, I am not sure if I am not defeating the point of the calibration



I kept the front speakers large but the crossover of the center speaker is at 100. I will try this setup for a while to see if I like it better.



I will definitely look at tilting the front up. Sounds like a great idea. I think putting the center speaker above the TV will be too much of a conversation piece

Thanks guys for the help. I can always rely on knowledgeable people to help me out in these forums.

Set you fronts to small. Bass is better handle by the sub, and you'll free up some power in the amp. I've got the STRDG1200, which if I remember correctly, is on a parallel path with the 2400 and has a beefier amp than what's in your 820. My Paradigms and dinky sony sat surrounds (5.1) have tripped the protection circuit on me more than once. I don't know how power hungry your speakers are, but it's possible running your 7 is overtaxing your amp. I don't know why your calibration is setting your fronts to large when you have a sub. Mine has always been fairly consistent (and consistently correct), and they're from the same year. At any rate, if calibration and the suggestions above don't work for you, you may either need to be happy with running 5.1, or think about upgrading your receiver.

[Dwayne]

Originally Posted by carios23

Not sure if it is upgratitis but my receiver seems to be very weak when I plug 7 speakers to it. I removed 2 but it still feels weak. I can barely hear the center speaker and the dialogue is less quality than desired.

I was thinking that buying a cheap power amp for the two front speakers would help but I don't know. Would I be just better off buying a new receiver?

I had a Sony STR GD 820 and although a very good receiver at the time it was produced for the money it has no PRE-OUTs for an additional amp. My advice is buy another AVR receiver with the power that you need but always keep in mind that no matter what you buy make sure it has the PRE-OUTs for an additional amp if later that is what you think that you will need. I dont know what your wallet will allow you to spend but alot of AVR receivers in the low range and some mid range still do not have PRE-OUTs. An additional amp is really not needed unless you have a large area to fill with sound. Just something to keep in mind. No matter what you go with you will be amazed at what you have been missing with the Sony receiver because it has very bad DACs and whatever you will get will most likely have BURR BROWN DACs, WOLFSONS, or CIRRUS LOGICS and they will make a remarkable differance in what you have been used to. Also the newer receivers will upscale the video signals as the Sony did not. Lots of neat things to look forward to but look around and compare and study up on the features before you throw down the cash because the best speakers in the world will only sound as good as the source pushing them. Good luck.

[spaceape]

Big Daddy wrote Connecting an Amplifier to a Receiver Without Pre-Outs. Not sure if it will help you out.

Also if possible put your center speaker in the middle with the tweeter pointing as best possible towards your ears. Try also to match the left, center and right speakers tweeter in height.

[streetsmart]

Your center speaker is sitting on one of the middle shelves, flanked by a shelf up and down. As a rule, this is not a good position for a speaker (even if it may be the most common). Ideally, your speakers should be located some distance from boundaries (walls, floors, ceilings, shelves, equipment, etc). Otherwise, you will get an uneven spectral balance (or frequency response).

The center speaker should either go on the top shelf and possibly close to the front edge or on its own stand in front of the cabinet, with the tweeter pointing as much as possible to your ears.

Mark