AVR calibration..

jakelm

As some of you know, I just refreshed my Hafler amp. While I was in the process of refreshing it , I had my 7's hooked to my HK AVR. I ran the speaker callibration. The HK set the level of the 7's to +4.

After refreshing the Hafler, I hooked the 7's back to it. Reset AVR and ran another speaker callibration. The Hk set the 7's back to +4.

Does this mean that the Hafler has the same "power" as the HK?

The Hafler is rated @100 watts @ 8ohm.

The HK is 75 watts @ 8ohms.

The 7's are 6ohms (tested).

I would think, since going with an external dedicated amp (that is supposed to be more powerfull), the level for the Hafler would be lower.

Does anyone else compare a SPL callibration and came to the same conclusion, with a more powerfull amp?

Sorry for such a non intelligent question...my brain is just not working properly..

jayman_1975

i'm by far an expert on the subject but i have read that you should use an spl meter and manually calibrate your system when you use seperate amplification for your mains and the avr for the center and surrounds. Don't ask me why but this is what I have read in other threads.

Face

I agree, manually calibrate the system.

My HK's auto setup made my system sound like garbage.

jakelm

I did recheck the settings with my SPL mter...it was pretty darn close. As a matter of fact close enough not to touch if someone wasn't an absolute perfection. The meter was only 1 click from perfect. All I had to do was raise the center 1 click, then everything match perfect. I cant speak on anyone elses HK, but mine does an awsome job at callibration and Eq'ing.

It was just alittle baffling to me, since I thought the Hafler was such a solid amp and that it would easily out power the HK, that the gain (level) settings for the 7's would be much lower than what they are.

Systems

jakelm wrote: »

Does this mean that the Hafler has the same "power" as the HK?

What it means is that the input sensitivity and gain of the Hafler and HK are very similar.So if you feed each the same voltage from the preamp they will amplify it by equal amounts but the Hafler will have more power in reserve.So it (Hafler)could be fed more voltage before it starts to clip.

Does that help:)

jakelm

GV#27 wrote: »

What it means is that the input sensitivity and gain of the Hafler and HK are very similar.So if you feed each the same voltage from the preamp they will amplify it by equal amounts but the Hafler will have more power in reserve.So it (Hafler)could be fed more voltage before it starts to clip.

Does that help:)

GV..your always there with the answers...thanks. That makes alot of since. I wish there was a way to increase the gain within the Hafler.

The HK goes from -80 to +10 in its volume scale. When I'm, listening to 2 channel stereo, my volume has to be turned up to almost zero before a good listening level could be reached. So if I could increase the gain on the Hafler, I would not have to turn the volume so high on the AVR. Between -10 and +10, the volume doesnt increase, but it sounds like the mids get louder but the dynamics stay the same. I find alot of stereos do this. What causes this?

Can you over drive the AVR, by trying to make it send too high a voltage to the amp? I ask this because, in reading o about sub callibration, it is better to raise the sub's amp to a higher level rather than increasing the output voltage from the pre, too close to its max.

Systems

jakelm wrote: »

Can you over drive the AVR, by trying to make it send too high a voltage to the amp?

Possibly but not likely.Because usually(but not always) the gain stage for the preamp section in an AVR follows the volume control therefore the volume control should provide enough attenuation to the incoming signal so as to not overload it(preamp).

However it is possible that if the volume control is opened up most of the way clockwise and you where listening to a very highly dynamic DVD or CD that you could overload the preamp section.The actual design of the preamp stage is an important factor here as some are more prone to overload than others.

BTW how is that revamped Hafler sounding?Congrats on successfully doing the upgrades.

Serendipity

GV#27 wrote: »

What it means is that the input sensitivity and gain of the Hafler and HK are very similar.So if you feed each the same voltage from the preamp they will amplify it by equal amounts but the Hafler will have more power in reserve.So it (Hafler)could be fed more voltage before it starts to clip.

Does that help:)

+1

I also think this is the case because when I had an Adcom GFA-535 hooked up to my AVR, the gains were similar but the Adcom had more power in reserve...

jakelm

GV#27 wrote: »

Possibly but not likely.Because usually(but not always) the gain stage for the preamp section in an AVR follows the volume control therefore the volume control should provide enough attenuation to the incoming signal so as to not overload it(preamp).

However it is possible that if the volume control is opened up most of the way clockwise and you where listening to a very highly dynamic DVD or CD that you could overload the preamp section.The actual design of the preamp stage is an important factor here as some are more prone to overload than others.

BTW how is that revamped Hafler sounding?Congrats on successfully doing the upgrades.

Thankls GV, I always thought the higher the level (not the volume) was set, the more prone to distortion it would be. But I see now, that there are like 2 attenuations going on, the volume and the individual level.

The amp sounds awsome, the lowes have cleared up alot with the bass tighter and now more promounced than ever, the highs are as clear as a bell, not flat and stale like before. I truely believe the amp sounds better than it did years ago with the originals parts. It deffinatly sounds better than it did a month ago. The interconnects were also upgraded to gold plated inputs and outputs, which I found made a big difference also.