Do Warm/Bright Receviers still exist?

[alkit]

Hi,

I recently bought an Onkyo TX-NR708 receiver to match with my Polk Audio Rti-A series speakers.

I find the sound coming out of the speakers to be a bit bright.

Now, after doing a lot of searching, I have found that many people label the Onkyo receivers to be on the bright side.
I have also found out that brands such as Marantz, H K and Denon are labelled as "warm" receivers.
Yamaha - some people say extremely bright, some say extremely warm (quite confused?)

I was just wondering if this is still the case - with technologies such as Audyssey etc, do receivers still contain a "tonal signature" or does this apply to older models only?

If it still applies, would changing my receiver for a "warmer" one reduce the brightness in sound?

Thanks for the help!

-----
Fronts: Polk Audio Rti-A5
Center: Polk Audio Csi-A6
Surrounds: Polk Audio Rti-A1
Subs: Jamo Sub300 x2
Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR708

 

[rnatalli]

Modern day receivers run in pure mode with levels matched will sound 98% identical. That said, room correction technologies definitely influence the sound in different ways so it's possible what you're hearing is a result of Audyssey. I would read some of the Audyssey guides found over at AVS as they may help. If that fails, you can turn Audyssey off or try a receiver using different room correction like YPAO or MCACC.

 

[sholling]

Modern day receivers run in pure mode with levels matched will sound 98% identical. That said, room correction technologies definitely influence the sound in different ways so it's possible what you're hearing is a result of Audyssey. I would read some of the Audyssey guides found over at AVS as they may help. If that fails, you can turn Audyssey off or try a receiver using different room correction like YPAO or MCACC.

+1. You may also need to few days to get used to sound.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hi,

I recently bought an Onkyo TX-NR708 receiver to match with my Polk Audio Rti-A series speakers.

I find the sound coming out of the speakers to be a bit bright.

Now, after doing a lot of searching, I have found that many people label the Onkyo receivers to be on the bright side.
I have also found out that brands such as Marantz, H K and Denon are labelled as "warm" receivers.
Yamaha - some people say extremely bright, some say extremely warm (quite confused?)

I was just wondering if this is still the case - with technologies such as Audyssey etc, do receivers still contain a "tonal signature" or does this apply to older models only?

If it still applies, would changing my receiver for a "warmer" one reduce the brightness in sound?

Thanks for the help!

Well, in the real world modern receivers and amps are neutral, period, end of story.

However, that doesn't prevent urban legends, stories, myths, voodoo, bs, etc.
So, in the end, I bet your previous component was equally neutral. On the other hand, your speakers and your room could produce what you are perceiving, bright.
The Audyssey and such built in EQ was designed to give a uniform FR in room.

 

[PENG]

Hi,

I recently bought an Onkyo TX-NR708 receiver to match with my Polk Audio Rti-A series speakers.

I find the sound coming out of the speakers to be a bit bright.

Now, after doing a lot of searching, I have found that many people label the Onkyo receivers to be on the bright side.
I have also found out that brands such as Marantz, H K and Denon are labelled as "warm" receivers.
Yamaha - some people say extremely bright, some say extremely warm (quite confused?)

I was just wondering if this is still the case - with technologies such as Audyssey etc, do receivers still contain a "tonal signature" or does this apply to older models only?

If it still applies, would changing my receiver for a "warmer" one reduce the brightness in sound?

Thanks for the help!

-----
Fronts: Polk Audio Rti-A5
Center: Polk Audio Csi-A6
Surrounds: Polk Audio Rti-A1
Subs: Jamo Sub300 x2
Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR708

I have the feeling that around here the split is about 30/70, 30 would tell you yes, 70 would tell you no. I belong to the 70 group so the answers are no, no, and no. If you go to another forum such as Polk Club, the split would likely be 90/10, i.e. 90% would tell you yes.

Placebo and Hearsay both can influence you greatly so if you now go ahead and replace your 708 with a Marantz SR6004, or a NAD model, you may come back and tell us the 70% group that we are wrong.

Right now I am listening to a SACD that I have listened to many times using my Denon and other amps but now the Marantz AV7005/MM8003 and it sounds just the same, neutral to me just the way I want it. People can choose to believe what they want but the fact is all those electronic gear are designed and built based on science and engineering principles, they are not designed by artist, not the electronic parts anyway, so think about the logic behind those silly claims.

Now if you are considering entry level gear then the more powerful one will provide more balanced sound and could appear to sound "warmer" than the less powerful one that struggles with the lower frequencies. The 708 is a very capable lower mid range AVR and it should have no trouble driving those Polk speakers in a small (say 12X20X8) room.

 

[KEW]

When I turn up the treble, my Marantz receiver starts to sound bright.
When I turn up the bass, it starts to sound warm.
Otherwise, it seems pretty neutral.

 

[audit13]

I had an Onkyo 705 and switched to a Marantz sr-7002 around April, 2010. The Onkyo has Audyssey MultEq XT and the Marantz sr-7002has MultEq.

After running Audyssey, I found the "Audysseyed" sound of the Marantz to be "less bright" than the Onkyo. This could be due to the difference between the Audyssey equalization, target curves, etc. in the two receivers.

Does your Onkyo have "manual" settings where you can applyyour own equalization criteria? If it does, you might want to play around with the settings to determine the best settings.

 

[KEW]

I had an Onkyo 705 and switched to a Marantz sr-7002 around April, 2010. The Onkyo has Audyssey MultEq XT and the Marantz sr-7002has MultEq.

After running Audyssey, I found the "Audysseyed" sound of the Marantz to be "less bright" than the Onkyo. This could be due to the difference between the Audyssey equalization, target curves, etc. in the two receivers.

Does your Onkyo have "manual" settings where you can applyyour own equalization criteria? If it does, you might want to play around with the settings to determine the best settings.

In case you missed it there were some bad microphones that went out with Onkyo AVRs at one point. I don't know if this would cause what you experienced or not.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71811&highlight=microphones