Help with sound quality issue

[pat182rick]

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out why my audio is not very good when listening to cds, mp3s or my turntable. Here is my setup:

Yamaha RX-V663 receiver
Blu Ray Player and Xbox hooked up with HDMI
Sony Turntable PS-LX300USB hooked up with red/white rca cable
Definitive Technology - 5.1 Flat Panel Theater Speaker Package with 2 added Aiwa Front speakers

When I watch a blu ray, watch tv, or play xbox, the sound is amazing. But when I switch to just music, cd, record or mp3, the sound is flat, lacks punch. I have wood floors, and the front speakers are on the ground with no pads or anything. The 4 surround speakers are on tables. I've thought that maybe I need to add speaker pads to my speakers, or add a rug to my wood floor, but the sound is very good when watching movies, so good sound is possible. Not sure if this is layout, setup or hardware problem. I can post a layout of my room after I post a few more times....

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JesseP]

Well how are you playing cds and mp3? Do you play them through the blue ray player or the xbox or do you have another source? What is the placement of the speakers in your room, especially the front 2? I would guess it has something to do with the placement of your two fronts considering everything that you say sounds "good" is something that can operate in 5.1 and the things you say sound bad are all in stereo.

 

[m_vanmeter]

are the CD player (if not the blu-ray player) and the MP3 device connected by red/white analog inputs ?

Did you do any "tweaking" on the menu setup for the Yamy V663 ?

I had a slight problem with another Yamaha receiver when I set it up and did not like the results at all. I checked the manual for the "factory default reset" start-up combinitation of buttons and reset the box to default. I listened to everything first, then started through the menu again. Results were much better. Something to try, anyway.

 

[pat182rick]

Well how are you playing cds and mp3? Do you play them through the blue ray player or the xbox or do you have another source? What is the placement of the speakers in your room, especially the front 2? I would guess it has something to do with the placement of your two fronts considering everything that you say sounds "good" is something that can operate in 5.1 and the things you say sound bad are all in stereo.

I play my cds on the blu ray or xbox, and the mp3s on my ipod, hooked through usb to the xbox. Here is a diagram of my speaker placement:

flickr.com/photos/64971256@N00/4329952017/

The cds sound ok, but not amazing, but the turntable sounds especially bad. It almost sounds as if the turntable signal is not loud enough, but it has a built in preamp.

 

[pat182rick]

are the CD player (if not the blu-ray player) and the MP3 device connected by red/white analog inputs ?

Did you do any "tweaking" on the menu setup for the Yamy V663 ?

I had a slight problem with another Yamaha receiver when I set it up and did not like the results at all. I checked the manual for the "factory default reset" start-up combinitation of buttons and reset the box to default. I listened to everything first, then started through the menu again. Results were much better. Something to try, anyway.

The Blu Ray and Xbox are hooked up with hdmi to the receiver, and then hdmi from the receiver to the tv.

I did the automatic setup with the microphone that came with the yamaha receiver, and was pretty happy with the results, until I listened to the turntable. Then I tweaked alot of the settings to add some more bass and try and get some more punch out of the sound, but it didn't really help.

 

[skers_54]

See my advice in your other thread. That should help, since the "flatness" could be because none of the high frequencies are reaching your ears.

Have you ran the auto-setup (YPAO)? It will balance the levels of your speakers and sub and tries to correct the room. You could try upping the subwoofer level by a couple dBs too for more impact.

I had an old Aiwa system and the speakers were pretty bad in retrospect. IIRC, they were bland and lacked "punch". I'm not familiar with those Def Techs, but you could try moving a couple of those to the front and seeing if that improves anything.

 

[highfigh]

I play my cds on the blu ray or xbox, and the mp3s on my ipod, hooked through usb to the xbox. Here is a diagram of my speaker placement:

flickr.com/photos/64971256@N00/4329952017/

The cds sound ok, but not amazing, but the turntable sounds especially bad. It almost sounds as if the turntable signal is not loud enough, but it has a built in preamp.

The cartridge on the turntable is one of the most important things in the package and if that's not good, there's no hope of getting good sound. Download Audacity so you can play everything at the same level and tweak the sound when you need to. So far, I haven't seen a USB turntable that impressed me. eto get a good regular turntable and an A/D converter. As far as the general sound, hard floors isn't a good way to go. Hard surfaces will make any equipment sound bad.

Doesn't your XBox play CDs?

 

[markw]

I've found that when evaluating speakers, I use music. If they sound good on music you can rest assured that their performance on movies will be stellar. It doesn't always work the other way around.

 

[JesseP]

I've found that when evaluating speakers, I use music. If they sound good on music you can rest assured that their performance on movies will be stellar. It doesn't always work the other way around.

I for sure agree with that statement

 

[JesseP]

I play my cds on the blu ray or xbox, and the mp3s on my ipod, hooked through usb to the xbox. Here is a diagram of my speaker placement:

flickr.com/photos/64971256@N00/4329952017/

The cds sound ok, but not amazing, but the turntable sounds especially bad. It almost sounds as if the turntable signal is not loud enough, but it has a built in preamp.

I would imagine Cds would sound better through the BD player then the xbox. I dont know too much about your receiver however so i would follow the other advice given by other members pertaining to that. The problem could also lie in the acoustics of the room. I notice none of the seats in the room are facing your system straight on. Try standing in between the couch and recliner to see if you can hear any difference. Also try just adjusting each speaker a little and see if you can hear a difference. You could also fool around by putting the speakers in a different part of the room but im sure thats not an easy task so make that a last resort.

Through my experience speaker placement is extremely important. The way i set mine up i started by picking a focal point in the room for listening. I picked my favorite recliner and centered it in front of the speakers. I then measured the distance from my face when sitting in the chair to each speaker to make sure they were the same distance from me. Then i turned each speaker so that when im sitting down in the chair i can only see the front of the speaker (so that the sides disappear at the right angle). Any other adjustments i usually do by ear.

As for the record player i think you should forget about it until you can get CDs to sound the way you want. If we can get the CD source to sound good then hopefully it also solves the problem of your turntable but if it doesnt then that tells you there is something wrong with your turntable.

 

[highfigh]

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out why my audio is not very good when listening to cds, mp3s or my turntable. Here is my setup:

Yamaha RX-V663 receiver
Blu Ray Player and Xbox hooked up with HDMI
Sony Turntable PS-LX300USB hooked up with red/white rca cable
Definitive Technology - 5.1 Flat Panel Theater Speaker Package with 2 added Aiwa Front speakers

When I watch a blu ray, watch tv, or play xbox, the sound is amazing. But when I switch to just music, cd, record or mp3, the sound is flat, lacks punch. I have wood floors, and the front speakers are on the ground with no pads or anything. The 4 surround speakers are on tables. I've thought that maybe I need to add speaker pads to my speakers, or add a rug to my wood floor, but the sound is very good when watching movies, so good sound is possible. Not sure if this is layout, setup or hardware problem. I can post a layout of my room after I post a few more times....

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

Turn off or disconnect the Aiwa speakers- if it sounds better, leave them out of the system. Aiwa has never been known for great speakers, no offense.

The quest for great sound shouldn't require any emotional attachment to any brand or model. Either something sounds good, or it doesn't.

 

[goodman]

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out why my audio is not very good when listening to cds, mp3s or my turntable. Here is my setup:

Yamaha RX-V663 receiver
Blu Ray Player and Xbox hooked up with HDMI
Sony Turntable PS-LX300USB hooked up with red/white rca cable
Definitive Technology - 5.1 Flat Panel Theater Speaker Package with 2 added Aiwa Front speakers

When I watch a blu ray, watch tv, or play xbox, the sound is amazing. But when I switch to just music, cd, record or mp3, the sound is flat, lacks punch. I have wood floors, and the front speakers are on the ground with no pads or anything. The 4 surround speakers are on tables. I've thought that maybe I need to add speaker pads to my speakers, or add a rug to my wood floor, but the sound is very good when watching movies, so good sound is possible. Not sure if this is layout, setup or hardware problem. I can post a layout of my room after I post a few more times....

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

After listening to all 5.1 of your speakers, listening to just two speakers in stereo mode sounds weak to you. See if you have modes on your receiver such as Dolby Pro Logic IIX or 5 channel stereo that will engage all of your speakers, especially the subwoofer.