help me get the best sound

jghglofer

please help me with my set up the movies sound great but the music sound like sh_t i have
onkyo tx-nr809 av
polk fronts rtia5
polk center csia6
polk rears fxi3
polk sub psw505
panasonic dmp-bdt310 blu-ray
hdmi cables
and monoprice 12awg cl2 speaker wire
when i watch a blu-ray the sound is awsome but if im listening to music on radio or cd it sounds
bad when i crank it
please what can i do it cant be movies or nothing

thanks jghglofer

disneyjoe7

Is there a pure audio mode on that Onkyo? If so you may enjoy listening to music better.

jghglofer

yes there is but i think its more of the EQ setting and i cant seem to find the happy settings are the rtia5 realy just for HT

rooftop59

Ok first off its hard to know what to tell you without more info on setup. Three things do come to mind however:

1. What are you using for cd playback? the bdp? If so, a dedicated (quality) cd player or squeezebox will make a huge difference. Just because bds sound good doesn't mean cds will.
2. Are your mains set as large or small? If large, bds would sound good still because of the LFE track, but the bass will be missing from cds as those rti A5s aren't full range. I would make sure the mains are set to small and crossover to 80 or so.
3. Are you listening to cds in stereo or some simulated surround format? If the latter, it ain't gonna sound like a bd. Simulated surround can be fun, be it will never sound as good as stereo (or discrete surround sound), and stereo is how it was recorded and intended to be heard.

Other than that like I said hard to say without more info...

rooftop59

jghglofer wrote: »

yes there is but i think its more of the EQ setting and i cant seem to find the happy settings are the rtia5 realy just for HT

I think it is sometimes called "pure direct" (at least on yammies). I will not be an eq mode but the lack of any eq, crossover, or processing whatsoever. Analog signal in, amplified and passed on to the speakers. You usually have to be connected analog for this setting to work.

jghglofer

yes its in stereo and yes its the dmp i have herd that before that cds dont play good on bluray or dvd players
bamn budget keeps growing
thanks for the info rooftop59
and i think i need to change my crossover

disneyjoe7

It's a rabbit hole for sure. Enjoy the ride down sir.

jghglofer

@ disneyjoe7 its supposed to the music that sooths the savage best

rebuy

I have an Onkyo 608. I have always thought the music side of the Onkyo stinks when used in a sound processing mode. Lately I have been listening to music in 2 channel from the Onkyo and the AVR sounds a lot better for music in 2 channel. In 2 channel the top end of the AVR signal is a LOT CLEARER than using DSP, try it.

jghglofer

thanks rebuy im playing with it right now ill get back and give update or ask another

jghglofer

thanks to all that replied on this post the sound is allot better but i do want to ad a cd player
any choices

rooftop59

One option if 3d isn't a priority is the bdp in my Sig. for the money hard to beat as a dual purpose player. other than that it REALLY depends on your budget. A One bill player isn't gonna improve things much, but u can go all the way to several thousand bucks. If u have a computer I would seriously consider a squeezebox. But first we need to know budget.

jghglofer

rooftop59 yes i have a budget 250 to 300.... i hear good thing about marantz

gp4jesus

I agree w/rooftop.

OP: can you borrow a CD player? Polk contoured the RTi A series for HT and could have $pent a little more on XO parts.

I can't speak for your 'A5s. W/my 'A7s I've pulled all the stops to make 2 ch music listening more enjoyable. I've gone so far as to make my LR the only variable (for those that would hawk ICs or cables) using a really sweet sounding player coming to the conclusion: RTi A 7s unmodded don't do music really well. That said seek out the "VR3 Fortress mod" thread. Trey's XO upgrades speaks volumes for making 'A7s do music & HT well. Im working towards tri-amping my LR & bi-amping my CC.

Shalom, Tony