You say you hear a difference then it is so, who in the heck can say it isn't. They are not in the room with you. They do not use your ears to hear with. Don't let the measurement geeks get to you, it's been this way since I've been here and I suspect it will always be.

Oh, nothing said here will ruin my listening experience, not to worry. I don't have a technical answer and I understand what you're asking or seeking. What I do know is that with both units set at 75db with an SPL meter (Yammi & Emotiva) there is a difference, maybe not in volume, but in the other aspects of SQ. I would much rather listen to the Emotive gear than the Yamaha.

That's them 'know-it-all's' Rick, you've seen 'em before.

I'm sure that is exactly what is happening which goes back to my original issue of getting better equipment so I can have better sound. "Better" is a nebulous word and needs definition but to keep it simple the SQ is much stronger at the same levels.

I have 60s and a 150 in the front and QS8s for surrounds with a SVS PB12 sub. Small room-1200 cu. ft. that opens into a breakfast area and kitchen so there is no back wall.
We are sitting 14' back. I set my mains at 14' and center at 14.5'

Ok. So I am assuming that you had only the 60s on when you read 75dB. So according to my very rough calculations, you are putting in less than a watt into each 60. If you had all your speakers going, you had far less than a watt going into each speaker. Now granted, you may have cancellations due to your room geometry and maybe it's not a watt, maybe it's two or three. But I doubt it because I used the anechoic sensitivity for the M60s (89 dB rather than the in-room sensitivity of 93dB).

So the power level certainly doesn't begin to explain why you are hearing a difference. We are again no further ahead on this puzzle .

Charles, Rick and Rick, I'm with you on this one, and jumped on the seperates bandwagon back in January. I've been around music most of my life, play many instruments, sing very well (my dad was better he will tell ya), and can honestly say that my Odyssey mono's make my 80's come to life compared to when I was just using the Denon. You can throw all the engineering and math you want at this, but if your happy and your ears tell the difference, as do mine, then that is all that matters. Sit back and enjoy.