Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Add power amp for "fuller" sound?

I realize the power readout may be misleading as even though they achieved the same sound level with HK -21dB (cal 0dB) and Denon -15dB (cal +5dB) either could introduce distortion at any level. This is obviously not an indication of max output.

Just let me say that the sound difference between these two is not subtle and they are both run flat, with no EQ of any kind. On the Denon I had to adjust the bass by +3dB and treble by -2dB to come close to sounding the same as the HK.

I had thought it was maybe DAC related since I let the receiver decode all my sources, so I dug out an old Audio Alchemy off board DAC and hooked that up. The same sound characteristics were still present so the tonal difference is from within the receiver, whether it be the preamp, amp, or some kind of hidden EQ in either.

Dave