low sound on Onkyo sr608 - help!

[admin_exported]

Can someone explain why the volume needs to be so high on this amp. I have to have this amp at 70+ volume to get even reasonable surround sound. I have this hooked up to Pioneer BDPLX52 and into B&W M1 speakers.

I've connected all cables up as per instructions with good quality HDMI cables

my previous amp - a trusty Denon 2805 - sounded better, if not quite as clean

any advice on set up greatly appreciated. I'm getting better sound direct through the tv at the minute!

 

[Paul.]

Did you use the Audissey microphone to set up? If so, set your speaker setup to manual, add 10db to all channels and see what happens. If that goes some way to sorting it out, you may need to invest in a cheap spl meter and do the setup manualy.

 

[Anonymous]

still no joy.I have to have this on 70+ to achieve anything like decent sound and it packs far less of a punch than my old denon

i must have something wrong. any more tips would be great

could it be anything to do with the DVD settings or the B&W M1's? with the denon i could shake the timbers the onkyo is quieter than a mouse fart

 

[Wavod]

If you haven't sorted already try this :

I think it has to do with these new receivers being THX certified - Reference Level on the master volume set to 82 (Absolute) or 0 (Relative).

One thing that helped a lot for me was to turn 'Dynamic Volume' on. I have mine set to 'Light'. When I turn this on, the volume immediately gets much louder.... 35 on the dial sound like 50-55 with it turned off.

You will need to turn THX 'Loudness Plus' to "Off", and set 'Preserve THX Settings' to "No" in order to use Dynamic Volume with the THX listening modes. Otherwise, Dynamic Volume will be automatically turned off when you switch to any THX listening mode.

I also noticed Audyssey set the speaker Levels a little low. I used a Radio Shack SPL meter to set them to 75db.