Fluctuating volume levels on HK receiver

1sctrojan · September 2004

I have a HK receiver, Polk speakers, and digital cable. Changing the channels is an experience. Some stations, especially the lower # ones have too little volume, but then switching to most of the other channels the volume is too loud resulting in a "protection" warning on the receiver. So if i increase the volume and then change channels i have to "mute" so that the next channel won't freak out the neighbors. Did i not adjust something correctly on the receiver?

nemos2 · September 2004

There is a solution to this problem. If your TV has a "fixed volume out" (sometimes its called a line level out I think) hook that up to your reciever and not the "variable level out" The fixed volume out supplies a constant volume level to the reciever despite how loud you have the TV turned up. That should take care of it..

good luck

Ian

gidrah · September 2004

Some cable channels are just louder than others. This is especially apparent with community access channels. My TV has a feature called "equi-sound" (or something like that) that put all channels at the same volume. Maybe your TV or cable box has a similar feature that you have yet to discover.

Good luck.

1sctrojan · September 2004

The only thing i have hooked to the receiver from the TV is an s-video cord. My digital cable box has an RF cable to the TV. Then i have a digital coaxial cord from my cable box to the receiver. This problem is really bad now, not only does the volume fluctuate channel to channel, which causes the receiver to shut off, but now when i watch a station the volume fluctuates while watching the same channel. The same thing happened to me with the Pioneer receiver which is why i brought it back. This should be so easy since i only have a digital cable box hooked to the receiver. I am now watching ESPN and the volume is so low i can hardly hear it but if i turn it up the receiver says "protection" and shuts off.

nemos2 · September 2004

A reciever showing "protection" to me says that there is something up with the reciever.

Is the reciever in a vented area? Does it seem to get hot?
What speaker models are you driving? Do you have a sub in the mix? Lastly, what HK model do you have so that we can try to help a little more.

Does your cable box show a "fixed volume out" at all?

let us know.....

1sctrojan · September 2004

I have the HK AVR 230. It's right next to the window with a nice seabreeze coming in and has 6 feet of clearence on top. My TV or Digital Cable box has nothing on it signifying a volume adjustment. It is not hot at all. The speakers are Polk 7200's and i had the sub hooked with speaker wires and fronts set to large with sub=off. I have unplugged the sub and will get a sub cable and use the unfiltered LFE on the sub to the sub out of the receiver. The shutoff also happened with the Pioneer receiver although since replacing it with HK i also have both volume and overload problems as well as my digital cable picture freezing then breaking up every 10 minutes. Do i have the hookup right? I only have a cable box hooked up to the receiver (digital coaxial out to the receiver) The s-video cord from my TV does nothing as well as some red, white, and yellow cables. Am i supposed to have anything else running from cable box to receiver?

1sctrojan · September 2004

Forgot to mention that the digital cable from the cable box to receiver is audio. Also, i have no video cables running from my Tv or cable box to the receiver. The RF and outside cable wire go from TV to cable box. I wanted the digital audio out on cable box(which is hard to get) specifically for 5.1/6.1 sound which i get when working. But this seems to be a Video problem (volume and pixelation) which happened as soon as i got the HK.

Tour2ma · September 2004

nemos2 is right, you are driving your HK into protection trying to compensate for an abnormally low audio input level by jacking the volume up.

Couple things...

First, take the receiver out of the equation and route the audio and video to the TV directly. If the picture and volume problems persist, it's a cable issue (probably a bad coax termination, e.g., one of the shield threads grounding the signal). If not, it's an issue with the HK.

Second, digital cable has an "audio" section in its settings menu. In it should be sections for setting mode (DD vs. stereo) and "compression" among other things. The compression default should be "Full" or "Highly" compressed and this setting should equalize channel to channel somewhat at the cost of full dynamics while watching movies. If compression is set to "none", then you will get more channel to channel volume differences.

Reading your posts I am not sure what your interconnect set-up is. For best picture I'd use the S-Vid out of the cable box to the TV. If you have other S-Vid sources, e.g., a DVD player and only one S-Vid input on your TV, then I'd route the cable S-vid through the HK. For audio I'd use RCA's from the cable box's L/R stereo output to the HK.

Oh, and while it probably has had no effect this soon, long-term, that "seabreeze" may not be good for your rig... salt air and all that...

1sctrojan · September 2004

I do have s-video from my TV to the receiver, this allows me to use the full OSD. I mistakenly meant the red, white, and yellow audio cables. The seabreeze was just meant to emphisize that my receiver breathes very easily. The audio settings in my cable menu says "none' "light" "heavy". I did have it on light. My cable box doesn't have s-video, although it does of course have digital coaxial out. What's interesting is the default volume on the receiver is -25db, but sometimes when i turn the receiver on a channel will come on much louder.

Tour2ma · September 2004

Got ya... Did you take the AVR out of the picture and see if the TV's sound varies?

1sctrojan · September 2004

Yes, actually the problems i have been having (volume level, receiver shutting off) have ceased once i changed the sub hookup to the LFE In as opposed to the speaker wire. I am really liking my HK/Polk combo plate, it seems to be settling in nicely. I will soon be getting an HDTV, then my Home Theater will be complete. Thanx for all the help.

Tour2ma · September 2004

Excellent... Not sure I understand, but glad to hear the problem has passed on.

Are you running the HK with all speakers set to "small" now?

1sctrojan · September 2004

Yes, all speakers are set to small, the sub is on. I readjusted the sub volume and crossover settings to a comfortable level. The best way i can explain the situation now as opposed to then is when i had the sub hooked up via the speaker wire it was like a hyperactive kid screaming, now, with this current hookup, it's like giving that hyperactive kid a valium, LOL. The kid's not screaming anymore but can be heard loud and clear.

Tour2ma · September 2004

Not that it matters any more, but I have to believe that your sub has a problem in its line level cross-over circuitry, which is not in play when the LFE input is used...

All's well that ends well...

Fluctuating volume levels on HK receiver

Comments