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cannot make sound, sound right.
#388629 01/21/13 06:54 PM
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I have a Pioneer Elite 84 receiver. I also have a Nad power amp to run my front speakers. My speaker set up is M80 front, VP150 center and QS8's for rear. My room is 15 wide by 21 long with 8foot ceilings. I cannot get the sound I am happy with.

- what speaker settings do you recommend ? I have fronts at large and the rest at small.

- every setting Ive tried, music sounds like its coming from a ... speaker, if that makes sence. Im trying to find that ( close your eyes and having the sound, sound REAL or live ) if that makes sence. Also... watching a Nazareth Live DVD last night... drummer hit the cymbal a few times to start off the song and I did not hear the cymbal through my system.. WTF ??? I have cheaper sub and have the cross over set at 60, same as my fronts.

Any suggestions on what Im doing wrong or what I should be doing ? Vague question I know... but maybe its something simple Im missing. The symbol crap is bothering me.

Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388633 01/21/13 07:41 PM
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Check the binding posts on your M80s. Is the copper tab that electrically joins the upper posts with the lower posts missing by chance?

Along with the above. Play some music at safe levels and put your ear next to each driver to make sure each individual driver is functioning.

Report back here for even better advice from those smarter than I.


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Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
Murph #388634 01/21/13 07:47 PM
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Nope. All looks fine.

Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388635 01/21/13 08:01 PM
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Oops, I edited my above post but it was actually after you replied.

Your major problem is an odd one but to answer your other questions (although none of this would likely cause something so drastic as cymbals 'disappearing...) here are some other tips.

Since you have a subwoofer, general consensus is that all other speakers (including the fronts) get set to small so that they don't have to work at trying to deliver the lower frequencies that your sub can do a better job of. Otherwise, you have a scenario called "double bass". You will find a few people who like this though for thier individual scenarios.

Also, check your crossover settings on your receiver. If you are already setting a crossover there, no need to set it again on the sub itself. It should only be set on one device or the other.

60 should be a very good crossover choice with M80s but it never hurts to experiment to see what works best in your individual room.

Some other things you might try for sound quality.
-- Calibrate your speakers so they are all equally loud via the auto-setup in the receiver or purchase a db meter and do it manually. You might be running the surrounds or the center too hot for instance.

-- Turn off any further auto-EQ calibration you might have done with the receiver. See how it sounds. If it sounds better, run it again. Choose which way sounds better.

-- turn off any EQ sound modes in your receiver. I'm not sure what they are called in a Pioneer.

-- Make sure all your speakers are wired "in-phase." That is to say positive on your amp needs to connect to positive on your speaker. In your case, you need to check the polarity between the Pioneer and the Nad as well.

-- Try a direct-stereo mode so that all you are listening to are the M80s. Process of elimination, if nothing else.



Quality can be a subjective thing but it puzzles me that cymbals are completely missing. Does it sound like you are missing all of the higher frequencies or was that just a single anomaly?

It could be a problem with the processor in your receiver or source device as well. Do you have access to other devices to start swapping out gear to isolate the problem?


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Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
Murph #388637 01/21/13 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: Murph
...
Quality can be a subjective thing but it puzzles me that cymbals are completely missing. Does it sound like you are missing all of the higher frequencies or was that just a single anomaly?

Good post by Murph. This one is a real puzzler given that you have two speakers with two tweeters each contributing to this sound. I would put this track on and listen carefully at each speaker. Maybe one set of tweeters is not getting any signal causing that sound to mostly disappear.


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388638 01/21/13 08:22 PM
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Are you sure the cymbal was actually in the mix throughout the song? There are an awful lot of variables here. Have you listened on headphone to confirm that they just haven't gotten lost in the rest of the mix? After all, if you heard those frequencies in the beginning, your system can obviously reproduce them.

First thing I'd say is turn off MCACC if it's turned on. I'd also see if you can hear the soundstage you want with a well mastered CD, playing only stereo. that may help you isolate if any of the other speakers or particular surround modes are the weak point (which I find to be more likely than the M80s being the culprit.


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Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388670 01/22/13 05:52 PM
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Ken is correct - what you see may not be what you think that you should hear. I have a lot of live concert DVD & BDs & often you will see a drummer/percussionist for example doing something but it is not audible or is perhaps very low in the mix - at other times it will be fine.

There are so many channels fed into the mixing board in these recordings that I believe that mixing is often the culprit & things get missed. Not saying that this is your situation, but it is something to keep in mind...

TAM

Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388671 01/22/13 05:57 PM
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You notice this a lot with Celtic Woman, Songs From the Heart DVD. They didn't seem to place mics close enough to most of the percussion instruments.

Re: cannot make sound, sound right.
72mustang #388745 01/25/13 02:57 AM
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I think it unlikely that the subwoofer crossover point has anything to do with the problem. Have you tried repositioning the speakers? Turning off automatic room correction? Different sound modes like direct or stereo? adjusting tone controls?


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