Yamaha Rx-V6A volume from -20 upwards only enjoyable & loud enough.. (volume too high?)

[Audio Excitement]

I have a Yamaha Rx-V6A av receiver with Mission OX-3 speakers, but find i have to turn up the volume to round -20db before it becomes enjoyably loud with the speakers starting to liven up. My room acoustics are quite satisfactory & these speakers sound REALLY GREAT with the yamaha receiver.. This is truly a great combo!! Just to mention there is no real reviews on the mission QX range speakers & i think they have done an EXELLENT job with the design of these floor standing speakers that are extremely well priced for what they deliver.. anyway, getting back to my question. This amp goes to +16db & i am running round -20db mostly for 2 channel stereo setting. It seems i could turn the volume louder with no distortion & it really starts getting loud at round -10 db. My question is if this is a problem long term for the amplifier to run at these levels.. The QX-3 speaker specs state 4 ohm & "8 ohm compatible" What do they mean by saying it is 8 ohms compatible with minimum impedance at 3.8 ohm?
The Yamaha Rx-V6A is rated: Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 100 W (8 ohms, 0.06% THD).
Does the high volume setting and these specs make sense?
I do appreciate your thoughts on this..!

 

[BMXTRIX]

Anything under 0dB means you are attenuating the signal (turning it down). An amplifier, in a product, should be able to run forever at 0dB without any problems with overheating or harming the product in any meaningful way. Normal wear and tear, but not excessive.

This is a common concept from what I've seen with Yamaha product. I often run my theater at -10dB or higher when watching movies. Sometimes, when I want to punch it up, I run it with a bit of gain (so above 0dB) and it's fine for the length of a movie.

Don't sweat running things on your Yamaha at 0dB or lower.

There may also be a menu setting that allows you to change the scale from 0 to 100 or something like that if that makes you happier. But, it is more honest to show the scale in -80dB to +20dB or whatever their default range is. In most of my products, I think the range tends to be -80 to +20dB of range. Once I get under about -60dB, it is typically close to inaudible on most speaker/amplifier combos I've used.

 

[PENG]

I have a Yamaha Rx-V6A av receiver with Mission OX-3 speakers, but find i have to turn up the volume to round -20db before it becomes enjoyably loud with the speakers starting to liven up. My room acoustics are quite satisfactory & these speakers sound REALLY GREAT with the yamaha receiver.. This is truly a great combo!! Just to mention there is no real reviews on the mission QX range speakers & i think they have done an EXELLENT job with the design of these floor standing speakers that are extremely well priced for what they deliver.. anyway, getting back to my question. This amp goes to +16db & i am running round -20db mostly for 2 channel stereo setting. It seems i could turn the volume louder with no distortion & it really starts getting loud at round -10 db. My question is if this is a problem long term for the amplifier to run at these levels.. The QX-3 speaker specs state 4 ohm & "8 ohm compatible" What do they mean by saying it is 8 ohms compatible with minimum impedance at 3.8 ohm?
The Yamaha Rx-V6A is rated: Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 100 W (8 ohms, 0.06% THD).
Does the high volume setting and these specs make sense?
I do appreciate your thoughts on this..!

This is not necessarily an unique characteristic for your V6A/Mission OX-3 combo. Take a read of some articles related to loudness, dynamic EQ, Fletcher Munson etc. if you are interested:

Acoustics Chapter One: Loudness (indiana.edu)
Fletcher Munson Curve: The Equal Loudness Contour of Human Hearing (ledgernote.com)
Dynamic EQ and equivalent for Yamaha | Audioholics Home Theater Forums

 

[lovinthehd]

For my tv/movie watching, -20 dB is my usual go-to volume, somewhat loud but just what I find more comfortable....music varies more so just find a suitable volume level, but with several of my sources that usually means a bit lower. I'd worry more about your ears than the amp for your usage....

 

[Audio Excitement]

Anything under 0dB means you are attenuating the signal (turning it down). An amplifier, in a product, should be able to run forever at 0dB without any problems with overheating or harming the product in any meaningful way. Normal wear and tear, but not excessive.

This is a common concept from what I've seen with Yamaha product. I often run my theater at -10dB or higher when watching movies. Sometimes, when I want to punch it up, I run it with a bit of gain (so above 0dB) and it's fine for the length of a movie.

Don't sweat running things on your Yamaha at 0dB or lower.

There may also be a menu setting that allows you to change the scale from 0 to 100 or something like that if that makes you happier. But, it is more honest to show the scale in -80dB to +20dB or whatever their default range is. In most of my products, I think the range tends to be -80 to +20dB of range. Once I get under about -60dB, it is typically close to inaudible on most speaker/amplifier combos I've used.

Many thanks for shedding some lite on what an acceptable volume is for the Yamaha RX-V6A amp. It was always a worry for me, since i enjoy the system so much that i would like to keep enjoying it for as long as the components shall allow me to do so under it's rating.. So, what i extrapolate from this is, that my amp seems to be more than ok for the speakers i have which is good news for me.. At -10 it already becomes QUITE LOUD for sure ! The Mission QX-3 speakers are rated 20 - 120w so they also should be fine..

 

[Audio Excitement]

For my tv/movie watching, -20 dB is my usual go-to volume, somewhat loud but just what I find more comfortable....music varies more so just find a suitable volume level, but with several of my sources that usually means a bit lower. I'd worry more about your ears than the amp for your usage....

Yes i find my go-to volume mostly round -22 for movies to appreciate the resonance of the speakers i have..

 

[PENG]

Many thanks for shedding some lite on what an acceptable volume is for the Yamaha RX-V6A amp. It was always a worry for me, since i enjoy the system so much that i would like to keep enjoying it for as long as the components shall allow me to do so under it's rating.. So, what i extrapolate from this is, that my amp seems to be more than ok for the speakers i have which is good news for me.. At -10 it already becomes QUITE LOUD for sure ! The Mission QX-3 speakers are rated 20 - 120w so they also should be fine..

I would suggest you don't go by the volume thing because it depends on many things including but not limited to the following:

- The recording level of the source contents (example: some Youtube contents, or CD's can be unusually high, or even low, thought that would be rare..)

- The output level of your source player (example: again such as audio/video players)

- The preamp gain, that could easily range from lower than average to higher than average

- Power amp gain, could be as low as 23 dB or lower, to 32 dB or higher.

- Volume scale could be different, for example, one that goes from -80 to +18 such as Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo could be quite different versus some that may go from -60 to 0.

- Volume scale based on linear scale versus log scale.

The last example listed above is obviously a big factor:
Log and Lin Controls (learnabout-electronics.org)

 

[Audio Excitement]

I would suggest you don't go by the volume thing because it depends on many things including but not limited to the following:

- The recording level of the source contents (example: some Youtube contents, or CD's can be unusually high, or even low, thought that would be rare..)

- The output level of your source player (example: again such as audio/video players)

- The preamp gain, that could easily range from lower than average to higher than average

- Power amp gain, could be as low as 23 dB or lower, to 32 dB or higher.

- Volume scale could be different, for example, one that goes from -80 to +18 such as Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo could be quite different versus some that may go from -60 to 0.

- Volume scale based on linear scale versus log scale.

The last example listed above is obviously a big factor:
Log and Lin Controls (learnabout-electronics.org)

Hi Yes well noted, my main content for volume is streaming from Spotify directly through the Yamaha multi cast app. Yamaha have integrated the spotify streaming with yapo etc.. I have 0 gain set for this input. I listen to 2ch music from this input. I find for most music a good listening level is round -20db. Sometimes -15 for lower gain music recordings.. My amp only goes to +16db

 

[PENG]

Hi Yes well noted, my main content for volume is streaming from Spotify directly through the Yamaha multi cast app. Yamaha have integrated the spotify streaming with yapo etc.. I have 0 gain set for this input. I listen to 2ch music from this input. I find for most music a good listening level is round -20db. Sometimes -15 for lower gain music recordings.. My amp only goes to +16db

Keep in mind you are dealing with log scale here for sure. Take a look of the dB to multiples:

3 dB is 2X
6 dB is 4X
10 dB is 10X
20 dB is 100X !!!!

So let's assume in your case at volume 0 your amp outputs 100 W into 8 ohm, at -20, it will output only 1.0 W. That can be calculated (approximately)if you wish. If -20 is loud enough for you, you are in good shape. If not, crank it up to -10 and enjoy.