Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Room acoustics

I see you have the speakers slightly toed in, I would try running them straight out and see how they sound this way, then in very small increments toe them back in till you achieve a stisfactory sound quality. I remember mojo talking about how his M80s sounded much better with much less toe in.

I will try messing around with the toe in...as for moving the system around it's a bit difficult to do. I'd like to avoid that, because there really isn't another good place for the TV. I don't know if I have audessey. Marantz is made by the same owners as denon apparently, but I don't know if it's included on the 5002. I did do a room calibration, but I think it only calibrates how far away the speakers are.

You have M.R.A.C. and all it does is set up the speaker distances and levels, no EQ. Do you have an SPL meter to double check the settings on the speakers? Just in case the receiver set things off a little.

I don't have an spl meter, but if I get one, and adjust the levels of my two speakers, will it really make a difference in the overall perceived fullness of sound? I was under the impression that tuning according to the spl meter was more or less for surround systems.

You want all your speakers and sub to be calibrated to the same SPL in dB's. This is for all listening purposes. Your built in setup mic and receiver should get the distances and levels pretty much as accurate as the RS meter.

Personally, I don't think an SPL meter is nearly as necessary in a 2-channel system, though it CAN help you to balance a subs' level and chart bass response!

WARNING: This might cause you to hate your room! If you are happy with the current sound of your system, walk away! Your mileage might vary. Ask your Doctor. Erections lasting longer than four hours...........

But it is noted many times around the web, that the auto cal systems will sometimes get things wrong, so a check with the meter would confirm everything is set up correctly.

Update: I got a Marantz 6000 cd player connected to the receiver now. The sound is a fair amount fuller than when I had my dvd player playing cds, attached with digital coax. Does this mean that the marantz cd player has a better DAC than the receiver?

Also, I'm starting to wonder if my setup is just too small for my room. I have the Marantz 5002 (90 wattsx7), Marantz 6000 cd player and B&W DM602 S3s for my set up. The sound is quite nice, but seems just too small. Should I fix this by feeding the speakers more wattage (get a receiver with 115x7, i.e.), or look at getting floorstanding speakers?

I'm at a loss, as to which solution would be the best and cheapest. I like the 602s very much, and would almost prefer not to have to replace them with bigger speakers.

Hi,sounds like you have a pretty nice set up going there, I am also running a Marantz the sr4002 with my system along with some Paradigm Studio 60's for the mains, the paradigms are pretty efficient speakers and the Marantz's 75w drove them very well. However I later added a small Rotel amp to the system 160wpc and the soundstage just opened right up. Currently waiting to receive a twin to my amp and try out some bi-amping, should be here this week.

I'm not too familiar with the efficiency of the B&Ws but have heard nothing but good for the line so yea I would try adding an amp to drive them as your Marantz like mine is equipped with multi outs - it's a worthwhile investment.

No, DACs have been a mature technology for quite a few years now. The small measurable differences that still exist between different DACs aren't sufficient to create an audible difference. Also, you don't mention what type of connection that you're using now. If it's still a digital connection, the DACs in the player aren't being used. Possibly the output of your new player is slightly higher than your DVD player at the same setting of your receiver and the slightly higher sound level makes the sound seem more "full" although it's simply a matter of volume.

It's highly unlikely that you need a more powerful receiver than your 5002, especially at a listening distance of only about 8'. You don't mention what sound levels that you're now reaching, possibly since without an SPL meter it can't be judged accurately. The 5002 should be capable of providing peak levels of over 100dB with your 602s. If this isn't enough(although more might cause permanent hearing damage), and that's what you mean by "small", certainly a 115 watt unit isn't going to change things significantly. The difference between 90 watts and 115 watts is only about 1dB more in maximum sound level; e.g., if you now can hit 105dB on brief peaks with the 5002, this would just increase to 106dB with the new unit, a barely noticeable difference.

It isn't entirely clear what you mean exactly by "small", but it may not be anything that can be cured with floorstanding speakers. Bigger speakers don't necessarily mean bigger sound.