Yamaha RX-V1500 volume

[HSM]

Yamaha RXV1500
Paradigm Monitor 7 fronts
Paradigm CC370 center
Athena Bipolar rears
Energy s-10 sub

Im happy with the system and its my first expierence with the digital volume control. The -20 setting although getting up there doesnt seem overly loud to me. Yamaha site says turn up safely to -15 My room setup is similar to the RXV-2500 test review by Clint. 16x20x8 Speakers are 93db efficient. Clint said he cranked the 2500 up till pushing over 95db at listening. What was volume reading?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I wouldn't worry about the volume setting. You should be able to turn it higher than -15 without any clipping. The anechoic sensitivity on the Monitor 7's is actually 90db. My Polks are 89db. I'll occasionally run mine at -5 without hesitation. Finally, don't forget to set your speaker distances and adjust your internal eq. Factory settings are flat and need adjusted to your room as well as your taste.

 

[HSM]

Thanks Buckeyefan 1

Appreciate your reply and I had done the settigs suggested. Just makes me feel better that I can go louder in future. HSM

 

[DSLO]

Just bought this unit a few weeks ago. Checking to see if my audio connections/settings are correct. The audio (while watching dvd's) seems to be very low. The setting is at -42. Is this normal? I've been through the manual several times, and it seems like the volume has to be way up in order to get decent sound. Any advice is appreciated. Some of the info I've read so far (re: speaker setup) has been helpful. Thanks.

 

[Azz123]

Ive the 1500 as well guys...

Dont be scared!!

For normal DVD watching (even with the wife factor) we listen at about -13
If the boys are over and we are all puffing our chests, I'll go to -5 (yes, negative 5).

If Im cranking a CD, about -15.

if you put on a non component source, (example VCR) and adjust the volume the display should appear on the monitor out screen - it will give you the addition of a bar graph as well as the "-X" figure. By memory, -20 is aproaching 1/3 volume, and 0 is 1/2.

Perhaps your better off using that as a guide..

Happy listening.

Aaron

 

[DSLO]

RX-V1500 Volume

Aaron. Thanks for the response. I live in an apartment (landlady lives downstairs) and have not been able to crank this system yet. Not really sure what the volume level goes up to. I was just thinking that if the level only goes up to "0" from the "-42" I was listening at, that is more than half the power to get just acceptable audio while listening to/watching a dvd. Thought that was a little weird for a high level receiver.

 

[Azz123]

Morning DSLO... (Is here in Sunny Queensland)

Your technically correct about the volume only going to "0" however if you scan the forum you will not that the volume control on a modern receiver doesnt work like that of days of old..

In the "Good 'Ol Days" there was much hesitation over turning the control past 12 o'clock or 1/2 way - a reference of 1/2 the receivers potential output.

Todays scale of "-X" to "0" (or into the positive) is not a linear scale, as is the power that is produced.

As mentioned in my previous - turn on a non-component input and hit the on-screen display button on the remote (one to the right of the down arrow) while the remote is switched to AMP. The bar graph I mentioned should appear.

Oh, buy your landlady a ticket to the movies perhaps? Or a morning tea voucher for somewhere? <grins>

A

 

[derekwwww]

actually the volume goes up to +16.5 not 0.

 

[DSLO]

Yamaha RX-V1500

If the volume goes up to +16.5, all I have to say is holy s**t! Thanks for the reply. I'll never push it to that level, but it's nice to know that you can. Whatever happened to the 0 to 10 (or 100) level on the volume control? Where do they derive that -94 (or whatever) to +16.5 scale?

 

[MDS]

If the volume goes up to +16.5, all I have to say is holy s**t! Thanks for the reply. I'll never push it to that level, but it's nice to know that you can. Whatever happened to the 0 to 10 (or 100) level on the volume control? Where do they derive that -94 (or whatever) to +16.5 scale?

Good question (and a common one).

The scale is irrelevant and receivers vary as to how the volume control is calibrated; ie how much the level increases with a given movement in the volume knob. Even if two receivers use the same numbers (eg. -80 to +16) you cannot directly compare their output unless they are both calibrated to the same level. In other words, if they both have been calibrated to 85dB SPL output when the volume control reads 0dB, then you could conclude that moving the volume control to +1 on both would increase the SPL by 1dB.

The two scales are known as absolute (eg. 0-80) and relative (eg. -80 - +10). The relative scale is preferred because it closely mimics the way digital audio levels are defined. 0dB is 'max' and everything below it is relative to that. It's not perfectly analogous to digital audio, however, because you can't exceed 0dB for digital audio. 0dB on a receiver is just the accepted point to use for calibration - you make the receiver output your desired SPL at 0 on the volume scale and everything else is relative to that.

So for example, calibrating to Dolby Reference Level you would get 85dB SPL when the volume control is at 0dB (assuming you use a -20dB input tone). That gives you 105dB peak at the listening position. If you then had the volume knob on -10, you would be listening 10dB below reference level. You can do the same thing if your receiver uses the absolute scale.

Onkyo receiver manuals say that 82 on the absolute scale corresponds to 0 on the relative scale, but as I said they are only directly comparable after you calibrate so that the receiver is outputting a known SPL level at that volume knob setting.