Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions AV receivers for music?

Hello all. I guess this is a bit of a newbie question, but it seems AV receivers aren't so great for music, right? I just got a used Pioneer VSX-915 AV receiver, and although movie soundtracks sound pretty impressive on my monitors, music is quite dull and disappointing. Too bright, lacking in bass, and simply not full. How is it possible that a movie soundtrack can sound so full, but not music? By the way, I have just two monitors, and no other speakers at the moment.

Is my best option then to buy a good 2-channel amp for music, and use the pioneer as a preamp when listening to music?

What are the settings on the receiver. Have you went through them at all?

What was the music source? CD? I've always found the better your amp/reciever and speakers the more hollow or harsh a bad recording will sound. Maybe it was the particual CDs or every music source sounds not so full?

I've used cds and have connected my pc as well. It's true, that some cds are much better sources than others. I'm listening to beck right now, and it sounds pretty good.

Still seems like something's missing on the low end though.

I'm running DM603 S3s by the way.

Outlaw Audio RR2150

My Denon AVR sounds great for BOTH music and home theater listening, as should the Pioneer.

What denon avr do you have? My pioneer is more or less an entry level avr, that cost $400 when new...

It shouldn't matter. That Pioneer should do a great job.

Could be you are just accustomed to bass heavy systems like so many car audio enthusists build. have you heard your present speakers with 2 channel amps in your present room? It could also be the room is sucking the life out of the music or your present speakers are too hard(low sensitivity) for the amp to drive to good levels as bass is the hardest to reproduce.

With a Sensitivity rating of 90dB I can't see it being the Pio not being up to driving them to serious levels. Could be positioning, the room itself, the settings on the avr and a host of other reasons.

I doubt it's the Pio unless the room is a cavern.