Channel separation with different receivers

[chaos83]

Help making Yamaha receiver sound crisp like the old Onkyo I had.

Hi guys, I bought a Yamaha RX-V659 a few years ago. It got good reviews and had a lot of features for the price point at the time. I've been very happy with the receiver, however I did try a lower powered 5.1 Onkyo receiver just prior to deciding on the Yamaha. When playing movies, such as the beginning scene in Underworld with the subway shootout, I noticed the sounds of bullets being shot and hitting walls and objects in all directions very well with the Onkyo system. With the same speakers in the same room and the Yamaha receiver, I noticed the direction of sounds was more ambiguous and just generally all around. I bought the Yamaha because of the features and marketing etc, however I always remembered how the Onkyo produced sound which sounded more precise and directional. I prefered that as I found it seemed to hit me more while watching movies etc. I noticed the same effect while playing clips from Chronicles of Riddick and I'm sure other movies aswell. I've run the auto configuration and manually tweaked the sound settings on my receiver but I can't for the life of me make it sound as good as the less expensive Onkyo did. I've always chalked it up to me not knowing the intricacies of the receiver and that in time I would be able to calibrate it to sound the same, but no luck so far. All tests were run in Dolby Digital mode and I have a Klipsch reference 5.1 setup in my living room.

Does anyone have some advice for me to better configure how discreet each channel is so that surround effects (while still amazing) could sound even more directional on my setup?

This receiver sounds amazing and I would be truly happy if I had never heard the Onkyo system, however since I have heard the same speakers sound so much more vibrant and crisp, I feel as if this Yamaha RX-V659 is currently producing sound which is muffled out in comparison to the Onkyo out of the box.

Thanks for your help,
Mike

 

[lsiberian]

Hi guys, I bought a Yamaha RX-V659 a few years ago. It got good reviews and had a lot of features for the price point at the time. I've been very happy with the receiver, however I did try a lower powered 5.1 Onkyo receiver just prior to deciding on the Yamaha. When playing movies, such as the beginning scene in Underworld with the subway shootout, I noticed the sounds of bullets being shot and hitting walls and objects in all directions very well with the Onkyo system. With the same speakers in the same room and the Yamaha receiver, I noticed the direction of sounds was more ambiguous and just generally all around. I bought the Yamaha because of the features and marketing etc, however I always remembered how the Onkyo produced sound which sounded more precise and directional. I prefered that as I found it seemed to hit me more while watching movies etc. I noticed the same effect while playing clips from Chronicles of Riddick and I'm sure other movies aswell. I've run the auto configuration and manually tweaked the sound settings on my receiver but I can't for the life of me make it sound as good as the less expensive Onkyo did. I've always chalked it up to me not knowing the intricacies of the receiver and that in time I would be able to calibrate it to sound the same, but no luck so far. All tests were run in Dolby Digital mode and I have a Klipsch reference 5.1 setup in my living room.

Does anyone have some advice for me to better configure how discreet each channel is so that surround effects (while still amazing) could sound even more directional on my setup?

This receiver sounds amazing and I would be truly happy if I had never heard the Onkyo system, however since I have heard the same speakers sound so much more vibrant and crisp, I feel as if this Yamaha RX-V659 is currently producing sound which is muffled out in comparison to the Onkyo out of the box.

Thanks for your help,
Mike

Your probably hearing things you just imagined or your speakers are too much for the yamaha. It's possible your yamaha isn't 4ohm stable. Which would effect the LFE sounds your hearing better with the onkyo.

 

[bandphan]

Auto setup EQing

 

[Djizasse]

Do you have a "straight" button on your remote?

 

[mtrycrafts]

.... I bought the Yamaha because of the features and marketing etc, however I always remembered how the Onkyo produced sound which sounded more precise and directional. ...Thanks for your help,
Mike

That is hard to believe as the audio channels are discreet in the soundtrack and the processing.

 

[Pyrrho]

That is hard to believe as the audio channels are discreet in the soundtrack and the processing.

It is possible that chaos83 is unknowingly using some sort of DSP mode to alter the sound, but otherwise, yes, it seems unlikely that there would actually be an audible difference in channel separation with discrete multichannel sources.

chaos83, what source is it that sounds "more ambiguous" with the Yamaha? If it is a DVD, are you outputting the exact same soundtrack from your player? What processing modes are engaged? If you want it to sound as it was intended to sound, you must not engage any extra processing of the signal; you would just want to engage the proper decoder for whatever is input into it. And, of course, if you are comparing between two receivers, if you used a special processing mode on one that you did not use on the other, then that can explain why they would not sound the same, which has nothing to do with the quality of the receiver. Also, if the Onkyo had the channel balance incorrectly set, it may sound different from having the channel balance right. Some people willfully turn up surround channels or the center channel higher than other channels, though I do not recommend this.

Also, if you moved the speakers between using the different receivers, or moved your seating position or furniture significantly, it may sound different.

Another possibility is suggested by bandphan, as some automatic setup systems EQ the speakers in some way or other, and that can affect how it sounds as well. If one used an EQ, but not the other, then two receivers may sound different due to that.