Low volume on new Denon S660H receiver

[DJ in TX]

So I just started playing with some settings, I made sure all the bass decibels were zeroed out ( I had changed one to +2.5 decibels at one point to get more bass). From there I went back into setup>speakers>manual setup>crossovers and changed the “All” setting to 100Hz. Then went into same setup area but in the LPF for LFE setting I changed this from 40Hz to 80Hz and it sounds very good. I then read something about how anything lower than 120Hz and it will filter out a lot of sound info, but to me trying 120 Hz sounded way too bass heavy and a little muddy.

So I think I’m on the right track for improving the SQ of my music listening. I’m sure some additional tweaks could make it even better.

Any advice on setting tweaks to play with?
FWIW, I still haven’t seen anything specifically called “LFE+Main”.

 

[TLS Guy]

In case I haven’t restated this enough, I am a moron when it comes to audio equipment and settings. I don’t understand how crossovers work or frequency responses as they pertain to correct AVR settings. So
Let me ask this way:

I have the following components:
1. Denon s660h receiver,
2. A pair of paradigm atoms v6 bookshelves (adding that the spec sheet says the frequency response is 90hz - 20 khz, and has a 90 decibel sensitivity on an 8 ohm load. I do not really understand what this means.
3. And I have the klipsch -R100SW sub.

I have run the Audesey room correction setup.
Besides this, I am not sure of a good starting point for AVR settings. Can someone recommend a good baseline set of crossover settings given my components? The defaults that came up from Audesey seem low based on your responses, and also do not seem to strike the right balance for what sounds good to me. Based on some things I read online, they recommend the crossover setting to be 10 hz higher than the lowest frequency response range of the speakers, so this would be 100hz. However other sources say 80hz is the most appropriate. Although Some say this last recommendation should be ignored as it is too general. So, what do you all think?

what is a good starting point? I want to get as much out of my atoms as I can for the highs and mids and balance that with the Klipsch so they each play to their strengths and compliment the overall sound of my music. From there I can just increase or decrease the bass as appropriate for each type of music I might be listening to.

You have a difficult problem. You are correct the 3 db point is 90 Hz. So what you require is a crossover at 140 to 150 Hz. The rule of thumb is to cross at F3 plus 50% and not 10%.

The problem is that speakers are small, but of unusually high sensitivity. That combination presupposes a very poor bass response. In many ways you have to regard that speaker as a speaker with mid and tweeter but no bass driver.

You are going to need two subs by each speaker and a crossover at 140 to 150 Hz.

I have no idea why firms market speakers like that, and worse, but they are in many ways just plain useless.

 

[DJ in TX]

You have a difficult problem. You are correct the 3 db point is 90 Hz. So what you require is a crossover at 140 to 150 Hz. The rule of thumb is to cross at F3 plus 50% and not 10%.

The problem is that speakers are small, but of unusually high sensitivity. That combination presupposes a very poor bass response. In many ways you have to regard that speaker as a speaker with mid and tweeter but no bass driver.

You are going to need two subs by each speaker and a crossover at 140 to 150 Hz.

I have no idea why firms market speakers like that, and worse, but they are in many ways just plain useless.

I just say that I’m not adding another sub or any other components at this point. As for my Atoms, I really like their sound. I e been enjoying them since 2010 with no complaints. As for my current setup, do you have any advice related to frequency settings for crossovers etc?

 

[-Jim-]

So I just started playing with some settings, I made sure all the bass decibels were zeroed out ( I had changed one to +2.5 decibels at one point to get more bass). From there I went back into setup>speakers>manual setup>crossovers and changed the “All” setting to 100Hz. Then went into same setup area but in the LPF for LFE setting I changed this from 40Hz to 80Hz and it sounds very good. I then read something about how anything lower than 120Hz and it will filter out a lot of sound info, but to me trying 120 Hz sounded way too bass heavy and a little muddy.

I just say that I’m not adding another sub or any other components at this point. As for my Atoms, I really like their sound. I e been enjoying them since 2010 with no complaints. As for my current setup, do you have any advice related to frequency settings for crossovers etc?

So I think I’m on the right track for improving the SQ of my music listening. I’m sure some additional tweaks could make it even better.

Any advice on setting tweaks to play with?
FWIW, I still haven’t seen anything specifically called “LFE+Main”.

Glad to see you are getting some positive results. IMHO you are close with the settings but I'm a bit confused if you are letting your Denon receiver automatically set the crossovers & levels via Audyssey using the Microphone?

Here's your Klipsch r-100sw manual for reference.

I suggest you re-run the setup for the system. Make sure all is quiet for the duration of the setup process, and the mic is positioned at the correct ear level.

If you are letting the Denon set the levels (at least to start with - you can tweak them later) start with connecting the Subwoofer 1 output to the LFE the Sub. Position the Sub's Gain to about 60%. Turn the Low Pass Filter knob fully clockwise (as you are letting the Denon set these levels). Leave the Phase setting as you have it now as it seems by your comment that the Sub is in phase with the Atoms. Before you run Audyssey set the Sub to On (you can switch it to Auto later).

Run the Audyssey setup and advise what the Denon does to the settings.

I'm thinking you need to have the Sub at 120 Hz (it's upper limit) as the Bass output of the Atoms need that support.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Couple quick things. The lpf of lfe affects ONLY the .1 of a 5/7.1 soundtrack. It does nothing for music(unless it has a multichannel track like 2.1 or 5.1 etc. the only reason to lower the lpf is if you have localization issues with movies.

Only the crossover affects the bass that’s redirected from the speakers to the sub.

I would not try the lfe +mains unless your mains are very capable in bass. Unfortunately yours are not. 120hz XO point is probably good. Here’s a visual representation of what we’re talking about.

 

[lovinthehd]

I’m not seeing an “LFE+main” mode but I’ll keep looking. The LFE setting is at 80hz. The front does say 40hz, but that was default, I didn’t set that. My previous receiver didn’t seem to have that option so no experience with what to set this at. I can adjust up but not sure where to set it.

Per your manual (pdf version) page 162 for LFE+Main mode. I'd rase the front crossovers. LPF of LFE is not a crossover, it's just a limit on the LFE content (the .1 channel in a multich format) and the normal setting is 120hz.