Polk Audio RTI A7 and Onkyo TX NR808

aloha_mingalar

Aloha all,
I bought the Onkyo TX NR808, 2 Polk Audio RTI A7, Polk PSW 505, sony Bluray player and Samsung LCD. I setup last night after updating the latest firmware and did the audio calibration. Then i played the Dark Knight movie. THe picture looked great. However, the sound was not what i expected like watching it in the movie theater and i had a hard time hearing the vocal sound. The bass was not that powerful. Then i tried different listening modes. Pure audio only gave me mostly vocal sound but not the bass. Stereo gave more bass than vocal. Do i need more watt? Should i bi-amp the speakers? Is that anything i didn't setup correctly? What kind of setting do you recommend (+-db, Hz, etc... for both fornt & subwoofer speakers)? Any suggestion/advise would be appreciated.

Mahalo,
AM

BluBitRates

make sure your speakers are set to small. Make sure the subwoofer is actually working. I would set the subwoofer around 65% of its gain. Your problem is most likely subwoofer placement. If your cord is long enough set your subwoofer in your prime listening/watching position and then physically move around the room and find where the bass is the loudest. This is where you will want to move your sub to. Your tx-nr808 should have enough power for the 7s to player loud clear and with some midbass.

tonyb

Check your settings in the blu-ray player too. Give us some more detail,as in how is everything connected, how is the bdp connected,the subwoofer connected, etc.

Erik Tracy

Just to add to the already good starting advice....

Pure Audio mode is a 2-channel mode only for front left and right speakers and the output to the sub will turn off - that is why you heard nothing from the sub in this mode.

If after following the advice given above you still think dialog is not what you want - you may need a dedicated center speaker.

sandworms

A better home theater set up would include a center channel speaker which carries the bulk of the dialogue. The Csia6 would be your best bet. Like Blu said, keeping your fronts set to something other than full range, probably 60 to 80h is best, that would give your sub most of the LFE and take some load off the avr. Looks like we have another hawaiin here Keiko
Mahalo


oops , Erik beat me to it

tonyb

Would be nice to know what is all in his setup. If he has only the 2 front speakers and a sub, he most likely has things setup wrong in the receiver and is loosing the information in the other channels thus not sounding good to him.

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!!

+1, if you're only running 2 speakers and a sub you need to set those speaker to full range and use the Double bass feature on the Onkyo for HT. You would then select something like Theater Dimensional (sound) on the Onkyo to simulate surround sound? I use that option in my bedroom with two Rti-4s (of course I don't use the full speaker setting on the bookshelves), an Onkyo and an 8" sub and it does a nice job for movies!

cnh

aloha_mingalar

Thanks all. I have bi-amp the A7s, They sounded better especially the woofer. However, i am still having hard time hearing the vocal sound.
I use HTMI (10 gbs) to connect Blu Ray, receiver, and TV. Monster wires to connect RTI A7s (bi-amp - SURR Back L/R to the High and Front L/R to the Low) and monster THX cable to connect the Subwoofer.

My room size is about 12ft x 12ft. I have left 6 inches gap between speaker and the wall.
The speaker placement order is Left speaker, TV, Right Speaker and then Subwoofer.

Below are the receiver configration:
Speaker Impedance: 6 ohm (4 or 6 ohm)
Speaker Type: Bi-amp (Front)
Front Speaker: 40 Hz
Subwoofer: Yes
LPF of LFE 120Hz

Level Calibration
Left: - 5db
Right: - 6.5db
Subwoofer: - 3.5db

THX setup
THX ultra2/select 2 Subwoofer: NO
Loudness plus: ON

Audio Adjustment
Dolby
Panorama: OFF
Dimension: 0
Center Wide: 3

Neo 6 Music
Center image: 2

Theather dimension
Listening Angle: Wide

Please advise if there is anything that i need to change to make it sound better.
Does the center speaker help with the vocal sound? But I never heard of 3.1 setup ??? Do you mean i need 5.1?

Mahalo,
AM

Upstatemax

The two things that jump out at me:

1- change the speaker impedance to 8ohm
2- Change the front crossover to 60hz and let the sub handle anything below that.

Yes, a center speaker makes a big difference...

I ran a "3.1" system when I first got into HT... Just front towers, center, and a sub.

cnh

The Onkyo only has setting for 6 (8ohms) or 4 ohms. So 6 ohms is the correct setting for Rtis.

Try the TDimensional surround option I mention above, see if that helps with the midrange, vocals. You can also go into the EQUALIZER settings and pop up those frequencies?

Finally, Onkyos have a CINEMA FILTER...try to find that option and try it both ON and OFF and see what that sounds like. This is a filter that tones down the brightness associated with mixes made for Large Commercial Theaters that may sound too bright in your house! But perhaps you need that PUSH with your set up.

Good Luck.

cnh

Gulfstrings

aloha_mingalar wrote: »

Thanks all. I have bi-amp the A7s, They sounded better especially the woofer. However, i am still having hard time hearing the vocal sound.
I use HTMI (10 gbs) to connect Blu Ray, receiver, and TV. Monster wires to connect RTI A7s (bi-amp - SURR Back L/R to the High and Front L/R to the Low) and monster THX cable to connect the Subwoofer.

My room size is about 12ft x 12ft. I have left 6 inches gap between speaker and the wall.
The speaker placement order is Left speaker, TV, Right Speaker and then Subwoofer.

Below are the receiver configration:
Speaker Impedance: 6 ohm (4 or 6 ohm)
Speaker Type: Bi-amp (Front)
Front Speaker: 40 Hz
Subwoofer: Yes
LPF of LFE 120Hz

Level Calibration
Left: - 5db
Right: - 6.5db
Subwoofer: - 3.5db

THX setup
THX ultra2/select 2 Subwoofer: NO
Loudness plus: ON

Audio Adjustment
Dolby
Panorama: OFF
Dimension: 0
Center Wide: 3

Neo 6 Music
Center image: 2

Theather dimension
Listening Angle: Wide

Please advise if there is anything that i need to change to make it sound better.
Does the center speaker help with the vocal sound? But I never heard of 3.1 setup ??? Do you mean i need 5.1?

Mahalo,
AM

The center is the most important speaker in any HT setup, IMHO. I ran my setup (below) for a year without adding the NAD amp and it was very good. But without the center it would be missing too much - in particular, the movie's dialogue.

I don't know your sub, but I ran my setup with two PSW111 before bringing in the Velodyne and it was fine. From what I read here, the 505 is a good sub and I can tell you the A7s aren't puny when hitting the bass on their own!

I have the Onk 707 and (from memory) believe you have your settings similar to mine which I think are "correct," though I've never actually chosen any of the processed options (Neo, etc) when listening or watcing.

I did, before the NAD however, listen to music using the Pure selection. For movies I've always allowed the Onkyo to read the source and automatically adjust.

You have a heck of a foundation there. Please look at either the CSi4 or CSi6as your next investment.

It will have you hearing voices.

The good kind ... like when your at Buzz's in Lanikai.

aloha_mingalar

Thank you all. Let me play with the setting first. If it doesn't work out then i will probably get the center speaker if my wife allows me so.

dorokusai

Just tell her it's life or death....with every center speaker an angel gets its wings.

Snowdogyyz

Without a center channel, it's definitely not going to sound like going to a theater!

aloha_mingalar

I have a couple technical questions.
What does the Hz do in the speaker config? My front speaks were setup by Audyssey as 40Hz. It can be adjusted from 40Hz to 120Hz, Full Range and THX (80Hz) options.

What does +-db do? I tried it the lower the louder. Will it hurt either the speakers or receiver if i tune it to the extreme?

Please advise.
AM

aloha_mingalar

For the center speaker do you all recommend Blackstone TL speaker?

nguyendot

My Onkyo 807 set my sub to -15 when it did calibration, resulting in NO bass. I turned it up to -5 and the car outside had a cracked windshield (no, not really).

I used the supplied microphone on a tripod too.

tonyb

Set all your speaker levels to zero and go up or down from there. In your setup menu for the blu-ray player, did you tell it you don't have a center ? If so, change it to a yes and let the receiver route the signals. Which btw, did you setup the speakers in the receivers menu ? Tell the receiver you have no center or surrounds so those signals get routed to the front 2.

nguyendot

tonyb wrote: »

Set all your speaker levels to zero and go up or down from there. In your setup menu for the blu-ray player, did you tell it you don't have a center ? If so, change it to a yes and let the receiver route the signals. Which btw, did you setup the speakers in the receivers menu ? Tell the receiver you have no center or surrounds so those signals get routed to the front 2.

Setting anything on the bluray other than "bitstream" will have no effect.
The settings for speakers only applies to using the internal decoder and analog outputs.

It should be set to "bistream" for his NR808, so that it sends the untouched audio to the receiver, and from there it will determine what signals to send. If he ran the auto calibration, it will also know if he has a center or not. The first test determines how many speakers there are.

tonyb

Your absolutely right, I missed that somehow, that he ran his auto calibration. Sucks getting old.:biggrin:

rajsen3012

I am in similar dilemma , i like the rti a7 and is sold on it just that not able to decide on the suitable amp for the same as my budget is max $1000 for the amp . Some shops have suggested a AVR which when hooked up does not sound good . All the integrated amps with power of 150 *2 are in the range of $3000 . Someone can share some insights

F1nut

Buy used.

hertz9753

I also buy used and refurbished. It's the only way I can kind of afford my hobbies.