2. In the store the 663 was super loud at with the volume at 14.5db. It isn't that loud at the house at 14.5db. What could cause this?[/i]
Different speakers, different room, different level settings for each channel.
3. What the heck setting are movies designed to be viewed in? I would imagine the best results would be to set the receiver to use the surround format that is listed on the back of the dvd such as dolby digital or dts? However that is not a choice on the receiver.
4. Shouldn't the receiver recognize what encoding is on the dvd and automatically run that mode?
The receiver will automatically choose Dolby Digital or DTS decoders if that is what is the dvd player is sending. If you have 7.1 speakers, you can switch to other modes like PLIIx.