Yamaha 5750 volume/loudness???

[jman103099]

Okay, I know that a base Yamaha is lower than most of you guys go, but I had a quick question about this receiver.

I got a HTR-5750 for Christmas because as a poor college student I didnt think I needed to spend any more money - and from working at Best Buy for 3 years in high school, I knew Yamaha was the way to go. Anyways, the problem that im having is it seems you really have to turn this thing up to get sound to come out. When im watching a DVD movie its at about -15 or -10 and when listening to a CD (throught the DVD player) its at -20 or so. However, when listening to the tuner through it, you can leave it lower at -30 or -25 and have about what seems as the same volume out of it. It just seems to me I shouldnt have to turn this thing up 3/4s of the way to get this kind of volume out of it, and its still not as loud as a cheap JVC i used to have!!! PLEASE ANY IDEAS?

I know everything is hooked up right (haha, Best Buy people can be stupid, but I wasnt one of them). Im running all JBL speakers, (fronts, rears, center and sub) and all monster or better wires (bought all that before i left best buy and its really paid off). Like I said, my old JVC (which wasnt even digital) could reach volumes MUCH higher.

So is this just a Yamaha thing? Better sound quality and crispness for a sacrifice in volume output?

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!

-Justin
jman@bmwe30.net

 

[MDS]

There are multiple current threads in this forum with the same question (and this question comes up alot anyway).

The short answer is different sources have different volumes. The radio is very compressed and will always be substantially louder than the tv/dvd/cd. DVDs have a large dynamic range and thus the average level is low and they will always be lower than the tuner. Even cds have differing average loudness levels - older cds were conservatively mastered with lower power (-18dB), new cds are compressed and have insane levels of average power (-10db). So the source makes a big difference.

Most important though is that the number on the volume scale is meaningless. If the receiver can achieve the level of loudness you desire, then it does not matter what the actual number is. Also you cannot compare the number on one receiver vs another as each may use a different scale and have a different gain structure.

It is annoying to have to keep your finger on the volume control when changing sources so you don't get blasted out when switching from one to another, but unless and until we have some kind of standard for average levels, we just have to deal with it.

 

[jman103099]

I guess I understand all that. Makes sence, thanks for all that information!! HOWEVER - my question was more: why do I have to turn the receiver up so much? I mean the thing is at about 75% power. Is this a bad thing? Does Yamaha just not push a lot of power? I mean, it says its 90W per channel I think, but my JVC was 75 and it kills this yamaha (volume wise - NOT sound ) I feel like I want more volume, but dont want to push it past any limits. Im pretty sure it goes up to +10, so being at -10 is pretty high to me.

 

[Nomo]

The volume control on the Yamaha is not linear. By that I mean the first half revolution say between -70db and -25db does not give the same volume increase as the next half rotation between -25db and 0db. I'm not sure of your old JVC but my Sony and all Onkyo recievers I owned previously had a much more linear volume control. It took me a little while to get used to that. What you think is 75% is probably closer to 50%.

 

[dohanc]

Slight correction to NomoSony. The volume control you expect is linearily logrithmic (if there is such a thing). Pure linear would be pretty hard to achieve low volumes as sound is logrithmic and that's why we label volume in decibels in the first place.

As for your 75% of volume, this is 75% of some perceived 100% volume. Think about it like this, 0dB ideally would be full unclipped output with the right input signal. -3dB is half the power and 10dB is a person's perception of "double" the volume. If your cd player is giving you a maximum signal of -6dB then a +6dB volume on your receiver would give you an equivalent of 0dB. Of course it's never that easy because a decibel is only a logrithmic scale to a specified reference. Well that reference isn't always the same between units, and sometimes nothing is specified at all. Therefore 0dB on your cd player can actually be equal to a signal -5dB on your reciever because there using different voltage references.

 

[zyepod]

Don't know if I'm off track here... But what about receivers that adjust the volume to match a THX standard. Seems to me when I went to this receiver I had to start turning the volume much higher. Is there a way to stop it from adjusting? I don't use the THX setting anyway.

 

[crashguy]

Use the volume trim feature

If your receiver is so equipped (my Yamaha rxv2500 is), look up the volume trim feature. The feature is put in the unit to cure the exact problem you are describing - different sources have different levels. The volume trim feature allows you to adjust the input level of each source. The unit then recalls that setting when that source is selected.