ONKYO 605 Volume Control

[Draagonman]

I just switched to the 605 last night and I have a question about volume level on the 605. On my old Sony STR-DE675 I would have the volume level about 30 and it would sound very loud, on the new 605 I have to turn up the volume level to 60 and higher to match the loudness of the Sony.
Is this normal?
What do other people have have their volume levle at on the 605

[Beta Man]

I think that the 605 is 90W per channel, and the Sony was 100w per channel, but either way what a company states as output usually isn't reality.... I could find you some receivers that push out 75 or less watts/channel and it'll blow away either of those in terms of output.

Either way though, it's pretty subjective to what people have to turn the dial to.... for one, people have different speakers/connections etc. and also, what's your definition of "loud" not all people hear alike.

[Mikesamuel08]

Originally Posted by Draagonman

I just switched to the 605 last night and I have a question about volume level on the 605. On my old Sony STR-DE675 I would have the volume level about 30 and it would sound very loud, on the new 605 I have to turn up the volume level to 60 and higher to match the loudness of the Sony.
Is this normal?
What do other people have have their volume levle at on the 605

I have an Onkyo 605 myself and I notice that when I play a dvd, I normaly turn up the volume level to 60-65. But when I play a blu-ray movie with LPCM or better the volume is around 58-61; so what your volume level is about right.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Mikesamuel08

I have an Onkyo 605 myself and I notice that when I play a dvd, I normaly turn up the volume level to 60-65. But when I play a blu-ray movie with LPCM or better the volume is around 58-61; so what your volume level is about right.

There is a "right" and "wrong" level? Because his is similar to yours, then he's "right" ????

[savage1984]

For movies with lossless, I have my 605 at 65. For with lossy, 70.
For tv, anywhere from 40 to 55. It really depends... commercials are always louder. I hate that.

[Mikesamuel08]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

There is a "right" and "wrong" level? Because his is similar to yours, then he's "right" ????

Its right; his system is fine.

[rarredoa]

Personally I believe that room size will play the biggest factor in how loud your receiver will have to play. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and dialogue plays loud enough when i am around level 45 with the onkyo 605. When i listen to LPCM, however, i usually listen in at around 55, but during action sequences, my upstairs neighbor begins to stomp on his floor. Again i believe this is because of the size of the room. Personally I agree that different receivers will output different volumes with respect to one another, mainly because of the way sound volume/electronic's are calibrated internally. The difference between 90 watts and 100 watts is very minimal in terms of sound volume at reasonable listening levels, within the same brand, but between different brands, I WOULD expect a slight difference, but not to say one brand's better than another, just my 2 cents

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Mikesamuel08

Its right; his system is fine.

well, now that I've read it on an internet forum, it must be true.

[pdl2mtl90]

I notice the same thing. Switched from Onkyo 550 to Onkyo 605. Volume has to be turned up much higher. No biggie though. Upgrade was worth it!

[Graytwhyte]

New guy here, I just switched to the Integra 7.8 and did the Audysey calibration, and I have noticed the same thing. I have a relative volume setting that goes from -81.5 to +18, and I had to turn it to about -7 to get a "normal loud" volume from the speakers. The sound still seemed kind of thin though, like it wasn't turned up high enough. Will it hurt the receiver to turn it up even more? The Yamaha I came from barely went up 1/4 of the way and it was loud, and it was 45 less watts per channel. Thanks, Tim.

[Mr3dfx]

Here is how subjective it is....for my system using the 605, listining to TV it's at 25-30, DVDs...40-45. and Blus...30-40...if I go much higher on blu, crap starts shakin' too hard... ....I can't wait to have a house...

And no...turning it up won't hurt it as long as your speakers are not being dasiy chained together thusly messing with their impeadence and possibly then screwing up your speakers. I would also check to see if you have any kind of "night mode" turned on, that could also mess with the loudness comming out of your speakers...or even "mute", as some mutes turn the level down by 20-30 levels.

[Graytwhyte]

Thanks for the quick reply. I switched over to Absolute mode for volume control, and used the PS3 for a CD and turned it up to 60. It was pretty loud, and sounded good pretty good, but still seems high for the level of sound that was coming out. I wasn't terribly impressed with the results of the Auto calibration, so I'm going to have the dealer come out and calibrate (a service they offer for free) and hopefully they'll use an SPL meter. If not, I'm going to buy one soon to make sure my levels are right. Also, do I have to adjust the volume to 0 (relative) or 82 (absolute) to get the pink noise to the right volume, or does the receiver do this regardless of where the volume is set? I've done some searching, but having a hard time with results. Thanks again, Tim.

[zweet77]

I have personally not liked the audessy settings especially for subs no matter what it would set it at -15. You should try turning up the levels for each channel and also the in menu 4 i think is a option called intelligible volume that gives up to 12db boost after that it should get pretty loud in the 30 to 40 range on main volume.

[zweet77]

also as personal preference i like using all channel stereo for 2 channel sources the dolby surround settings don't do much to me and are pretty quiet.

[Graytwhyte]

Thank you very much for your help. I will give those things a try. I played The Fifth Element last night on BD, and it was pretty nice. The sound was so much more dynamic and loud, but it was still turned up to 65. I also turned the speakers up a little too. This is my first experience with PCM tracks, and I like it. Thanks everyone for the help. Tim.

[nezff]

why does it matter how far you turn it up. I like mine around 50-65. its loud there. you can bump your speakers up more also or turn the intellivolume up also. but either way it is the same.

[Graytwhyte]

Originally Posted by nezff

why does it matter how far you turn it up. I like mine around 50-65. its loud there. you can bump your speakers up more also or turn the intellivolume up also. but either way it is the same.

If there is no detriment to turning it up so much then I suppose it doesn't matter, but I think it's just a mental block. I'm used to the Yamaha I had where the volume would be extremely loud when it was at 10 O'clock on the dial. It seems like I'm using up any headroom I would have, and don't things start clipping if it gets turned up too much? I assume not at the 65 level, but I worry about things working harder the more it gets turned up.

The dealer is going to come out and "calibrate" things (for free) and that should make a difference, or at least then I'll know that's where things are supposed to be. I don't have a meter, or I'd do it myself. Thanks, Tim.

[nezff]

Originally Posted by Graytwhyte

If there is no detriment to turning it up so much then I suppose it doesn't matter, but I think it's just a mental block. I'm used to the Yamaha I had where the volume would be extremely loud when it was at 10 O'clock on the dial. It seems like I'm using up any headroom I would have, and don't things start clipping if it gets turned up too much? I assume not at the 65 level, but I worry about things working harder the more it gets turned up.

The dealer is going to come out and "calibrate" things (for free) and that should make a difference, or at least then I'll know that's where things are supposed to be. I don't have a meter, or I'd do it myself. Thanks, Tim.

go buy you a meter from radio shack. 50 bucks. I got one and used it to calibrate mine. turn some pink noise on each speaker and run your volume up to 75db. use the spl meter to get your speakers to read around 75db. give or take 1db. I have mine at 77 db running pink noise at the volume set at 75db. I know how you feel about the volume. I am the same way with mine. On movies, i turn mine up to around 60 for a good sound. For my 360, it sounds great at around 50.

[ixlegitballinxl]

i'd say 45-55.......anything over 55 is wayyyyyy to loud

[Graytwhyte]

I ordered a meter from Harbor Freight. I hear it's the same one that Radio Shack used to carry, but it's half the cost of the radio shack one. Also, the analog model from Radio Shack is getting harder to find because it's been discontinued.

I had the dealer come out and set things up, and he confirmed what many here have already said, "that it's not a problem unless things are getting too hot, or you have to turn it up all of the way, and it's still not loud enough." Also said that I got it really close using my ear to where it should have been when he used to meter.

I guess I won't worry about it for now, as things sound amazing, but if other problems start to show at least I know what to look for.

EDIT: Quick question. When reading over the "calibrating your system with an SPL" thread it says that you should turn your system up to 0 or 75, but my receiver automatically outputs at 82 when the pink noise is generated. Should I still calibrate things to the same as if it were on 75, or should it be louder to match the 82? Thanks

Thanks for all of the help, Tim.