New amp and receiver, what to tweak first?

McCelery

Hi all,

I just hooked up my new/used 200 wpc Carver M1.0t and H/K AVR-235, everything else staying the same. This is a swap out for a 110wpc Sony AVR I've been using that I've actually been quite pleased with.

I hooked it all up last night and did some tweaking with the H/K and it sounds good......but really not too different from before. I haven't equalized anything yet nor listened to anything too loud, but I was hoping for more of a difference.

I assume this is normal in the first 24hours/week/month of a purchase, so here I am. What are the first and most dramatic things I should do to get that increased fullness/depth/etc that a high powered separate amp can and should create over a medium-end Sony AVR? My interconnects are fine...I'm hoping more for advice on setup/menu/EQ things I can change for free

Any help would be appreciated. I am confident this is going to sound amazing when I get it dialed in!!

AndyGwis

I would think if you put in some familiar music and listen to it in stereo at decent volume, you should notice some type of difference.

I put in Hotel California when I got my first amp(s) and noticed greater bass output, more dynamics, and more clarity. Basically, music seemed better all around.

If you put in crappily recorded music, or other poor material, it will sound bad no matter what it's being played through.

If you think you have a good source with solid DACs, try hooking it up via analog inputs on the 235 and listen to it in direct mode (or whatever it's called on the 235).

If you have a crappy source, connect coax / optical from the source to your 235 so it does the DAC / processing.

Lot of ways to try it to see what works best. It should sound improved.

McCelery

Oh yeah, no complaints for sure. Just wondered what the plan of attack was for tweaking levels and all that when you experts got new gear.

I was listening to some of my "reference materials" last night (i.e. just stuff I'm familiar with, no special stuff) and the highs sounded super airy and crisp (good!) but the bass seemed slightly muddy and not as punchy (boo!). That seemed like an odd change.

Oh, and my best source is a $70 Toshiba DVD player with a coax digital out. Beyond that, it's Ipod w/ stereo miniplug city. Hmmmm, maybe I've butt up against the limitations of my sources?

McCelery

Okay, lots of levels tweaked and crossovers set and bass management corrected and it's sounding pretty damn sweet.

There is a lot more detail and forward presence that wasn't there before. And I have the CHEAPEST RCA connector from the coax out to the digital in on the AVR, that I dug out of the parts bin....looks like that's the next pur-chass!!

heiney9

My guess is the receiver you are using for a pre-amp is holding you back. Sure you should hear some improvements but the pre amp is just as important if not more so than the amp. Others have had similar results as yours. Sometimes it's the subtle changes that are most striking and that takes some listening time to really notice.

Adding an amp is never going to be like switching from AM to FM but I would suspect you'll hear the most difference in 2 ch mode with no processing etc. In multi-channel set-ups the change might not be as noticeable because of all the processing and other junk going on.

H9

ben62670

I had the 235 for a while, and upgraded to an outlaw 990. The HK makes a very good PrePro for the money. The technology out now is so cheap that even affordable receivers can hold there own to processing. My only complaint about the HK was the lack of low end punch. Not muddy, but not hard hitting. An Ipod will limit the dynamics of the music for sure. My friend hooked his up for ha ha's, and the bass was real muddy. Also I strongly suggest looking into some cables like PBJ's between the amp, and the HK. They are pretty cheap($30 on Ebay), and will make a noticeable difference. I would let the HK handle the DA conversion, but it would not hurt to try the RCA outs from your source. I changed my DVD from optical to a decent quality digital cable, and it made an instantly noticeable positive difference all across the board. One's are one's, and zero's are zero's right? Thats what I used to believe.

Have fun, and enjoy!
Ben

McCelery

I figure the HK (which is also brand new to my rig) has to be better than the 8yo Sony it replaces, which didn't have pre-outs, thus the AVR swap. I'm definitely not upgrading past this anytime soon, so I've got to tweak this for all it's worth.

I think upgrading to the Belkin RCA on Bluejeanscable from the tiny diameter, unshielded piece of crap I'm using now will make a huge difference, since I'm spinning CDs whenever possible instead of using the Ipod (the Ipod was a limiting factor before so it's all relative). I think I have an old optical cord that I'll use in the interim.

Thanks for all the help!