- and + dBs on Speakers

[Jessjosh]

I am very confused about the + and - dBs as relating to volume on my speakers. I own the Arcam AV8 pre/pro. A professional guy installed my HT system a few days ago. The problem I am having is that the front left speaker's volume is set at -10dB and the front right speaker is set at +0dB. When I tried to set the left speaker to 0dB to match the right front speaker, it got even louder, very loud. I really do not understand the + and the - but I do not know what to do next outside of calling up the dealer. I would appreciate it if someone could straighten me out and tell me what I should do next. Thank you.

JJ

 

[annunaki]

It would appear as though the internal L/R bias is off in favor of the left channel. Have you checked to make sure the balance control on the front of the unit is not favoring the left? Are you using a db meter to calibrate the channel volumes? A 10 db difference is rather huge. Is the left channel gain of the amplifier set much higher than the right? If all else checks out, I would say it could be a problem with the units pre/pro or amplifier. Do some troubleshooting before saying it is one piece or the other. Let me know.

 

[markw]

What should you do next? Put it back the way it was!

You paid the tech to come out to your home, take measurments and optimize your system for the best listening experience possible. That takes some time and adjustments. The difference in the "levels" shown on your system reflected his work.

Not every home is "perfect" in the fact that your speakers are "perfectly" placed so as to be equally loud in your "perfect" listening place. That's why he adjusted the speakers. So they would sound "perfect" in your listening place.

Now, by going back and putting everything back to zero, you've just blown away his work. The fact that when you change the -10 back to zero and is sounds too loud merely shows he did his work.

You just undid it. Now, you can either put it back where it was or you can call him to come out and redo it but, if I were him, I'd charge you for another visit.

That's like going to a doctor and having him perscribe green pills to make you better. Since you don't like green pills, you take red ones instead and complain that your problems never went away.

 

[Jessjosh]

Solution to Speaker Problem

Thank you annunaki for trying to help and even markw for bawling me out. However, he was totally wrong. I managed to put both front speakers at +0dB and they seem equal now. Maybe it was just a quirk in the AV8. I am sure the installer did not do what markw said since the left speaker was much louder than the right speaker. Still, we all need some negative comments from time to time. Thanks again.

JJ