Onkyo 876 lacking oomph....

Your running a lot of speakers for that AVR. Those A9's will use all the power that your AVR can give, and still want more. You should really run at least a 2 channel amp with those speaker, 200 watts or more. You won't hurt the CSI A6 if you amp it either.

Big speakers need big power.

I agree get an amp for the 9's. It won't increase the volume like jeremy says but they will sound like they are supposed to. You're expecting your AVR to drive a lot of speakers. Look for an amp, new or used, it will make a big difference. There was a nice Rotel here this past week that had a great price. Oops, sorry just saw your post count, but still look for an amp.

Welcome to Club Polk Bigtent!

Welcome to the reality of the lack of power receivers have for more than 2 speakers. To have your speakers operate to their full potential get a 3-5 channel 200wpc amplifier.

Good bang for the buck new amps are Outlaw Audio & Emotiva XPA series. Or if you don't mind buying used check out Audiogon for Sunfire, Rotel, Parasound, Nad, B&K, Adcom.

Recalibrate all of your speakers then sit back and enjoy.

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

Thats the way they all are on avr's. The volume is designed on a scale that relates to its mastered playback level. Most soundtracks are supposed to be played back at 85db. This is considered reference level. Your volume level at 85, if calibrated would be reference level.

I have an 805 whose amp section is almost a clone of yours. And JMCinko is right. 70 or so is close to "reference" level and I'm running more efficient speakers in M-70s up front. These loudness scales are not linear--they don't increase the loudness in constant increments, as you get higher the dbs jump more and more till the amp clips. So That last 20-30 on the scale is more than you think.

That said. Rti towers can use more amplification, as noted above. Get a good power amp and you'll be fine. For me the 805 rocks the M series fine. But I do run it at 69-74 out of 99 on movies.

cnh

BlueFox wrote: »

Since the SPL (sound pressure level; volume) is dependent on the speaker efficiency and room size, the volume settings on any device is only a reference for your eyes. Other than that, it means nothing. A setting of 40db on my system will give a completely different SPL than with your system. You need power to give high, distortion free volume, and speakers to handle that power. Buy a SPL meter to measure the actual volume. You will see that the actual volume (SPL) has no resemblance to the volume setting.

Not after calibration. His Onkyo uses audyssey to measure spl and sets the speaker levels to a pink noise equivalent of 75db at 85db on the dial. It is set 10db under 85 iirc because of a 10db gain in dolby soundtracks. Giving you an accurate mastered reproduction at 85db or reference level. If your system is calibrated it will be exactly the same spl as any other calibrated system despite room size, efficiency etc. That number on the dial isn't just a reference for your eye's it actually means something. It tells you how far under or over reference you are listening. If you go into the setting and choose the relative volume scale as I use. It will invert the scale with -85db being the quietest because its 85db's under reference and 0db being the loudest because it is 0db under or over reference. Go further +1 to +16db over reference. Now if you would measure the spl of a soundtrack it would not match the db on the dial because of the dynamics of the soundtrack very greatly, well under and over 85db. This of course does require the minimum power capabilities to be met, to avoid a clipping situation. So again more power means better sound quality, it won't be any louder unless it's setup wrong.

I feel this has more to do with being a setup issue first and power second. You can't rely on the automatic calibration to get it right, you have to check the settings and adjust to your satisfaction.