Sound from my speakers

cindy100
cindy100 Posts: 256
edited May 2006 in Electronics
Hi! Yet another question I hope you can help with. Once I got my new receiver hooked up I have noticed that the speakers do not sound right. I don' really know how to explain it. The volume control on the new reciever starts out with a minus sign and then eventually gets into the plus sign. The old receiver was not like that so this is new to me. I'm sure I'm not using the correct terms here. Anyway, back to the speakers; I know I need to adjust the treble and bass; I have messed with it a little and haven't found anything I like yet. I have seen from reading posts here about setting speakers to large, small. I am not doing surround sound so not sure if this pertains to this or if the small/large has anything to do with my question. Again, I know there is nothing wrong with these speakers.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I have been thinking all along that once I got a new receiver with higher wattage per channel that I would have better sound coming out of the old set of speakers. I'm not talking so much about loudness, just better sound. It is a huge difference in the way they sounded hooked up to the old receiver. I'm wondering now if the new Polk's are going to be what I have been expecting.

Thanks so much for your advice, help and or suggestions on this. All I know is something does not sound good and/or right.

Cindy
Post edited by cindy100 on

Comments

  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited May 2006
    Double check to make sure you have the speakers plugged in correctly. In fact, make absolutely certain everything is connected in the right way.

    What kind of receiver is it? What kind of speakers do you have?
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
  • cindy100
    cindy100 Posts: 256
    edited May 2006
    Early,

    I'm almost positive everything is hooked up correctly although can't say 100%. I did use banana plugs due to the fact that the speaker cables were hard to get in; everything is kind of close together on the back of the receiver and it was easier for me. I have a Yamaha RX V2600; the old speakers are Polk Model S10. I've had them for at least 8 years if not a little longer. The new ones are RTi10's.

    Cindy
  • Midnite Mick
    Midnite Mick Posts: 1,591
    edited May 2006
    Maybe your receiver if it is an avr is not in 2 channel stereo. Maybe the positive and negative is switched on the speaker wire. Just some thoughts.

    Mike
    Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Consonance cd120T
    Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Usher CP 6311

    Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited May 2006
    I know I need to adjust the treble and bass; I have messed with it a little and haven't found anything I like yet. I have seen from reading posts here about setting speakers to large, small. I am not doing surround sound so not sure if this pertains to this or if the small/large has anything to do with my question. Again, I know there is nothing wrong with these speakers.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you're trying to set up a 2 channel music system with an AVR. Have you set the AVR to for 2 channel only? You should not need to adjust the tone controls, always run them flat.

    Another thought, it could be that your old receiver was actually a better unit than your new AVR.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Midnite Mick
    Midnite Mick Posts: 1,591
    edited May 2006
    F1nut wrote:

    Another thought, it could be that your old receiver was actually a better unit than your new AVR.


    If your old receiver was just a stereo receiver then the odds of that are pretty good.

    Mike
    Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Consonance cd120T
    Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Usher CP 6311

    Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote
  • amulford
    amulford Posts: 5,020
    edited May 2006
    Couple of hints.

    Most Speaker wire will have some sort of marking on one of the strands. Use this as positive, and put the red bananas on them.

    Check the receiver and be sure it is 2 channel mode. If you have one of the DSP's engaged, it will be directing info to other channels that aren't there.

    You shouldn't have to mess with the tone controls. If you feel you do, something else is lacking. It may be the room, the way you hve the speakers set up, etc.

    Yammies are "bright". So are the RTi series, by some opinions. Maybe you have a mismatch of equipment. Is the Yammie under return time? Try some others, such as HK or NAD.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited May 2006
    Lots of good advice being offered here.

    Yet another thought, new gear/speakers need to burn in. Run everything for 50 to 100 hours before actually listening.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Midnite Mick
    Midnite Mick Posts: 1,591
    edited May 2006
    F1nut wrote:
    Lots of good advice being offered here.

    Yet another thought, new gear/speakers need to burn in. Run everything for 50 to 100 hours before actually listening.


    Great point. Do not attempt to turn them up excessively during this time.

    Mike
    Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Consonance cd120T
    Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Usher CP 6311

    Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote
  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited May 2006
    Read your manual carefully. With my HK, It tells me Not to Turn the Volume Past the Zero and into the Plus Numbers. Mine says that you would be possibly clipping the amp and running the risk of Speaker Damage.

    Double Check the manual for this.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited May 2006
    Aside from the suggestion to read your owners manual, there has been no great advice offered.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • cindy100
    cindy100 Posts: 256
    edited May 2006
    "Another thought, it could be that your old receiver was actually a better unit than your new AVR"

    I do hope that is not true; one reason being I have already given away my old receiver. The old one was a Yamaha RX V690. Yes, I just want to set up a 2 channel music system. I am looking through the manual to find out how to do that.

    I am going to put the tone control back the way it was originally set like some of you have suggested and I did make sure I had the positive and negative wires in the correct place.

    "Yet another thought, new gear/speakers need to burn in. Run everything for 50 to 100 hours before actually listening"

    Please excuse my ignorance but in order to do this, would it be okay to leave it on during the day just to get in the hours? Since the speakers are old and going to be moved to another room, should I go ahead and hook the new ones up so as to do the burn in thing? I have read in other posts here about breaking in new speakers; is that the same as burn in? I have been reading through a lot of the old messages here to try and answer some of my own questions; problem is you all know so much more than I do and a lot of it I just don’t understand.

    I'm going to go see what I can find in the manual and will check back in a bit to see if anyone has had time to help. Before I do, does setting the speakers to large have anything to do with this since I am not doing surround sound? That is something I have not messed with either but I did get it set up so that things can be set up onscreen.

    Cindy
  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited May 2006
    dorokusai wrote:
    Aside from the suggestion to read your owners manual, there has been no great advice offered.

    You resemble that remark.

    It's hard to make more specific recommendations with the limited amout of info given. If the volume is not at a normal level and she can turn the volume so high that it runs into the positive numbers then something is wrong.

    Hey, it is an electrical componet and could be defective right out of the box.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited May 2006
    The point was to open the manual Captain Obvious.

    When she has taken the time to read it, perhaps she would be able to more carefully inform you, and/or everyone, on how to answer.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited May 2006
    dorokusai wrote:
    The point was to open the manual Captain Obvious.

    You really are an ****.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited May 2006
    Don't shoot the messenger.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited May 2006
    dorokusai wrote:
    Don't shoot the messenger.


    Just gotta have the last word, eh?
  • cindy100
    cindy100 Posts: 256
    edited May 2006
    I do apologize for bothering anyone. I won't be back and so I do want to thank everyone for all the help you have given in the past. If I understood the manual, I wouldn't ask.

    Thank you,

    Cindy
  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited May 2006
    It's really not a bother, most here are glad to help
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited May 2006
    Cindy,

    I'm certainly not saying you should leave, far from it. I'm suggesting, since you didn't allude to any information from the manual previously, to read it. If you don't understand something from the manual, a quote from it would help the us....help you.

    Is the forum supposed to guess at what could be the problem, as was posted previously? If that's the case, hey good luck, because before you know it you'll be upgrading the crossovers in your speakers and buying seperate amplifiers.

    "The speakers don't sound right?" Do you know how broad of a question that is?

    "I know I have to adjust the bass and treble?" How did you come to this conclusion? Was this the effort to compensate for the first question?

    As a couple ppl mentioned previously, use the manual, from pg. 1 to pg. 144. If after that you don't understand, at least you can reference some things for the folks. Here's the downloaded manual for you high speed folks....

    Yamaha RX-V2600

    You're questions are simply too wide ranging for any specific, and semi-quick help. That's my take on it, use it, lose it, whatever....good luck, but don't leave on my account.

    There are some capable folks in the thread, and forum, I'm sure you'll get setup eventually.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2006
    nice going guys.. again we are driving people out of Club Polk. Are you happy now?

    Cindy,

    stick around, we want nothing more than to help you set up your receiver and speakers correctly.

    Talk us thru it step by step.

    Start by hooking up your new speakers. A common problem people find out once they get a new reciever.. is that the volume control is WAY different than their old one. Most new receiver go from like -65 to like +15 of course the closer to the + side you get.. the louder is becomes.

    It's not uncommon for your receiver volume to be around - 20 or -15, according to your receiver and the speakers you have hooked up to it. But believe me, this is a very common problem.. new receiver owners first notice. I did too.

    Once you find all your speaker connections are right.. + goes to red positive and - goes to black negative. Then turn on your receiver... and play a cd and see if the display says it's in 2 channel or stereo or something like that and not Dolby Pro Logic II (DPLII).

    Your treble and bass should both be set to zero (0). to start with.. most purists will say always leave it at zero.. but in the real world.. sometimes it makes sense to lower (-) or raise (+) the bass and or treble. Set to zero for now.

    Then see how things sound from there.. since you are using two new items at least.. 1. being your new receiver.. and 2. your new speakers.. things may sound a bit off at first. After listening to it for a few days.. see how things sound to you.. if you are missing bass.. then we can go from there.. If things sound muddy and not very clear.. there are some things to check also.

    But please don't give up on the folks here or on setting up your stereo gear. Both pay off in good rewards. the reward is a stereo you can listen to and show off and be proud of.

    AL
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • Midnite Mick
    Midnite Mick Posts: 1,591
    edited May 2006
    Well said Danger. I hope she comes back. I feel bad now!:(

    Mike
    Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Consonance cd120T
    Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
    Usher CP 6311

    Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote
  • MSALLA
    MSALLA Posts: 1,602
    edited May 2006
    I stopped logging on for a while due to lack of time. It seems thing have gone alittle "cut throat" since I'v been away. We are bullying off the women now?
    Egos seem to be running alittle high these days.
    Michael


    Samsung 50" HD DLP
    Yamaha RX-V2500
    (2) Outlaw 200
    Adcom GFA 555
    Sony BDP300
    Denon 2900 DVD
    Lsi9's mains
    Lsi7's rear
    Lsic center
    12.1 SVS driver in 4.53 cuft. tube
    Harmony 880
  • speakergeek
    speakergeek Posts: 555
    edited May 2006
    Some of you guys are real asses! :p
  • MSALLA
    MSALLA Posts: 1,602
    edited May 2006
    cindy100 wrote:
    I do apologize for bothering anyone. I won't be back and so I do want to thank everyone for all the help you have given in the past. If I understood the manual, I wouldn't ask.

    Thank you,

    Cindy

    Don't let people (anyone) stop you from learning ANYTHING that you might be interested in. Everyone had to start their hobby from the bottom. Ask any question you need to ask and don't worry about what other people think.
    Ask people at the audio store, ask on this and other sites. If they give you a hard time, just move on and ask someone else.
    You need to be alittle "thick skinned" on these sites and don't let people scare you away.
    Michael


    Samsung 50" HD DLP
    Yamaha RX-V2500
    (2) Outlaw 200
    Adcom GFA 555
    Sony BDP300
    Denon 2900 DVD
    Lsi9's mains
    Lsi7's rear
    Lsic center
    12.1 SVS driver in 4.53 cuft. tube
    Harmony 880
  • gcs
    gcs Posts: 2
    My Sherwood 8090 speaker settings need to be reset to let 2nd front speaker operate and then balance both fronts (at this moment only using 2 speakers) Help pleez! gcs
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,965
    Not sure responding to a twelve year old thread will help
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    gcs wrote: »
    My Sherwood 8090 speaker settings need to be reset to let 2nd front speaker operate and then balance both fronts (at this moment only using 2 speakers) Help pleez! gcs

    I found this online. Read through speaker setting section, does seem kinda clunky. BTW welcome to the forum!
    https://manualzz.com/doc/1727980/sherwood-rvd-8090r-troubleshooting-guide
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
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