Looking for an AVR for an RTi setup

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  • britay
    britay Posts: 33
    edited March 2010
    Peter, thanks for the response. I'm completely unfamiliar with the Zhalou 2.5 DAC, so I'll have to do some research on that.

    I bought the SC-25 a week ago, but haven't updated the thread yet because I haven't been very happy with it and I'm not sure that I'm going to keep it. I think that music sounds better that the Onkyo I had before, but movie audio has been a big step backward so far. I've calibrated and recalibrated, but haven't found any combination of settings that I like yet.

    I think the problem is with the acoustics in my living room, and I think that MCACC is having difficulty with the calibration because of it. When I look at the reverb chart (the before chart), the 63hz and 125hz bars are almost vertical, where the other frequencies flatten out at 30-50 milliseconds (63 and 125 are off the chart before 30ms). If I leave it at MCACC's setting of 30-50 ms, the sound is bright and the mid- and low-range frequencies are anemic. If I change it to 10-30 ms, the mid- and low-range is stronger, but it sounds a little muddy and flatter.

    Another issue that I'm having is that I don't get as much detailed sound from the L/R surround channels as I did with my previous receiver. I don't even have a good idea why that is happening.

    So, I'm still trying to find something that works because I mostly like the receiver. But if I can't find a solution to these two problems pretty soon, it will have to go back and I'll probably be looking at a refurbished NAD T765 or an Onkyo 807 or 1007.
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  • britay
    britay Posts: 33
    edited March 2010
    I don't feel right posting the bad without noting some of the things I really like about the SC-25, so here goes:

    1) This thing really runs cool - very nice
    2) Music is significantly better than what I had before
    3) I love the ability to change the volume of each channel using the remote control while the movie or music is playing (with the Onkyo, I had to go three levels deep into the menu and pause the movie/music while doing it)
    4) I like the amount of configurability that MCACC gives me
    5) The clarity of the dialogue in TV shows and movies is very good

    I'm sure there are things I'm missing, but this is what has stood out to me (so far).
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  • britay
    britay Posts: 33
    edited March 2010
    britay wrote: »
    I think the problem is with the acoustics in my living room, and I think that MCACC is having difficulty with the calibration because of it. When I look at the reverb chart (the before chart), the 63hz and 125hz bars are almost vertical, where the other frequencies flatten out at 30-50 milliseconds (63 and 125 are off the chart before 30ms).

    One thing that just occurred to me is that I've moved my front speakers closer to the corners of the living room (I think it was at the same time that I connected the SC-25), which may be contributing to the 63hz and 125hz reverb characteristics. I'll move them away from the corners tonight to see if it makes any difference. That might help with that issue.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited March 2010
    Speakers in corners are no no's. It will give you boomy bass amoung other nasties.
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  • britay
    britay Posts: 33
    edited March 2010
    hearingimpared:

    Thanks. I was trying to put more distance between them to get better separation L to R. My L and R fronts were about 6 feet apart before I moved them, and the center channel speaker occupied 2 of those 6 feet. Hopefully getting them out of the corners will help the MCACC calibration.
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