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Hi. My wife got me this Sony surround sound system for my birthday and I'm trying to get it all up and running. I'm almost there but I've got a question. When I play a DVD or just run cable tv audio thru it, I have to turn it up to nearly max level to get a good room filling sound. But when I play my cd player through it or just use the tuner in the reciever, I don't have to run it nearly as loud. I'm worried that sometime after watching a movie the volume level will be set high and then the next day or something, somebody is going to turn on the radio or play a cd and blow the speakers.
So, why is there such a difference in levels? Shouldn't the output levels from the DVD and TV be hotter? FWIW, I've checked and I don't have the compression feature on so that's not the problem.
Thanks,
Greg
Follow Ups:
He has an Aiwa a/v receiver. The volume from the built-in tuner and the digital inputs (S/PDIF toslink or 75 ohm coax) seems to have lots of "gain." The SPLs are very filling with the volume on 15 out out of 30 max. With those, 20 out of 30 will knock you on your ass. :-). With his DVD player, VCR, or TV outputs, it seems like you have to crank the thing to 22 out of 30, before you get any decent SPLs. Normally he'll watch movies on 25 0r 28 out of 30. This is with either the DVD hooked directly up to the receiver's analog inputs, or thru the TV. When the DVD player is hooked up via S/PDIF, you get the high SPLs noted above (20 out of 30 being louder than loud).I wonder if this is the 'AGC' input level, in the VCR world. could it be the VCR and TV like to only output 1V max? That would account for the reduced "gain" compared to a 2V capable CD player, no? Maybe this Apex DVD player of his has this "reduced gain" as well?
For kicks I brought my DVD player (Panasonic DVD-RP82) over. We had plenty of SPLs with the receiver on low volume. I don't think the problem is the receiver, at least in my brother's case. We also plugged the analog audio outputs of the Apex DVD player into the TV. You had the crank his Philips TV to 50 out of 50 just so dialogue is clear (and no, it wasn't blasting at that point). We tried it with my DVD player directly into his TV set, and the same SPL was generated at about 25 out of 50.
And ,yes, he does have reduced SPLs when running in full surround (5.1) mode as opposed to only 2CH stereo. But that is only a little slight. But what I'm describing is a much bigger differnce than just the amplifier drain on 5 channels driven. The difference is big, and you notice it in stereo and surround modes.
typically on Sony receivers the stereo output is sometimes 20W higher than in surround mode... check your specs.Also, did you calibrate the output levels to your surround speakers??? get the Avia DVD and a SPL meter from Radio Shack to properly setup the levels.... it can make a big difference in output and the actual smoothness of the surround effect.
Sam
Well, I used the built-in test tones on the reciever to set the surround levels and they're plenty loud. But it's not the surround speakers themselves that are the issue. It's just the drastic level difference between DVD/Cable and CD/Radio.
I just looked at the specs and see nothing indicating a difference in output between stereo and surround.
did you try listening to your DVD/Cable NOT in surround mode to see if you get similar levels as with the CD/Radio? if the apparent volume decreases when your surrounds are on during playback, it could be that some of your speakers are out of phase.... double-check the wires behind the speakers and receiver to make sure they are hooked up correctly.Sam
Man, this thing is driving me nuts!
Well, there was no difference if I switched it to 2ch mode w/ cable. I guess I can live with it if it's a shortcoming of this receiver. The thing that is really driving me nuts is I can't get surround sound from the cable box. The display on the reciever reads Pro Logic and it has these indicators that show which spkrs are operative. These are boxes w/ letters in them. If you can imagine boxes around these letters, it looks kind of like this:
SW
L C RSL S SR
What I get w/ cable is the letters SW, L, C, and R all with boxes around them. On the bottom line I get boxes but no letters for SL and SR and the single S is there but has no box. That S according to the manual means "Surround (monaural or the surround components obtained by Pro Logic processing)." The manual is very lacking in it's descriptions. Maybe I AM, in fact getting some sort of surround but I'm just not realizing it? All these different formats confuse me. I don't really hear anything from the rear spkrs though.
Right now I'm using the left and right audio outs of my cable box into the receiver. But this morning based on some advice I received, I snagged the digital audio coax cable from my DVD and ran it from the cable box to the receiver and I still got the same result no matter what channel I went to.
I know I've spun the topic off into another area but I'm just really frustrated by this mess.
you will only get the SL/SR to light up when you have DISCRETE surround being broadcasted....like in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1, but most programs being broadcasted will be in Stereo or Prologic.... if you have surround turned-on on the receiver.... most of the times you WILL get Prologic (like you are seing, the back channels are not discrete, but same channel) and only will get the 5.1 when watching some pay per views or some programs on some channels! (or HDTV)Sam
Okay, thanks Sam!!! Driving myself nuts over nothin'!
Well, let me ask you this then. In order to get 5.1 when it's available, do I have to have either the digital coax or optical line hooked up from the cable box? Or will the left and right outputs by themselves do?
Thanks for your help,
Greg
you need the digital (optical or coaxial) to get 5.1, otherwise you will only get ProLogic... On some Sony receivers you can select the type of input you are using for a specific component... make sure you are selecting optical or coaxial..Sam
: )
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