Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Audyssey calibration problem

Why is it that once I perform a calibration on my Onkyo 875 that the maximum volume has been limited. Before the Audyssey calibration it was not limited but now the receiver will only go up to about -8db whereas the maximum volume goes up to +18db. Most of the time I find that -8db is enough but sometimes the input source is low and I need to extra power in the receiver.

Drew, if you really mean that there's a difference of 26 on the volume scale, that's very unusual. Whenever a calibration is done, whether it's manual or auto, the maximum volume setting possible is reduced by the same amount that the level on the trim setting in the receiver was increased. For example, on one of my receivers the adjustment on one channel was +4 and this resulted in the maximum +79 volume setting possible being reduced to +75. There's no actual difference in the maximum volume possible since +4 on the trim setting and +75 in the regular volume scale still results in the original +79 maximum setting. Your numbers are far outside the adjustment limits.

John, What do you mean when you say "on one of my receivers the adjustment on one channel was +4...". What do you mean by channel? Is this one of your speaker outputs? So this means if my rear speakers have a gain of 15 db and the fronts have a gain of 0 db then I will lose 15db of output from the front even if I switch the listening mode to stereo?

Drew, in the particular case that I mentioned it's the left surround that was calibrated at +4. If I set the receiver to show no surrounds the +4 adjustment isn't relevant. The +2 calibration on the right front speaker becomes the controlling factor and the maximum setting on the volume control is now 77.

Again though, if you're seeing a difference of 26 on the maximum volume setting, this can't be explained by the calibration adjustments. They can't be that big.

The funny thing is that my fronts are set to the highest value and this is -3.5db, so this should if anything increase the maximum volume. I should point out that the maximum setting on my volume control does not decrease. It always has a maximum of +18db regardless of what the channel gains are set to. The problem is that once I reach -8db maximum output is achieved. Increasing the output beyond -8db has no effect upon the output from the speakers. This is very frustrating.

Interesting (to me) that -3.5 dB is your highest set trim. With my Denon 1909 with old 90dB sens. bookshelf spkrs all (7.1) around (except in-wall sides), my max trims were fronts and sides 6+ - 7+. When I got my new (95dB) M80s they showed +7.0 & +7.5. I had assumed the better sensitivity would lower the trims.

Of course the trim levels don't really matter, but I am curious what factors do affect trim levels? Now I am guessing it may be room size and acoustic properties. It would be interesting to understand what affects trim levels. My room is 31'L x 23'W, with Aud. mic 12' from front speakers.

Drewy, do you have a smaller fully enclosed listening room?

Is it just the number that concerns you or is it actually quieter? Have you measured with an SPL meter?

For each speaker, list the trims that were set after running Audyssey. Also describe how you ran Audyssey setup (how many positions, did you use a tripod, etc.).

My Denon has a "maximum volume" setting that has nothing to do with Audyssey. Are you sure you didn't accidentially change something like that? You might post a question on the AVSforum to the master Audyssey thread.

When I run Audyssey it sets my M80's channel levels to +7.0 and +7.5. But if I use my RS SPL meter to set them manually at 75db I get +3.0 for both. This hold true for all my other channel trims also, about 2.5 times higher with Audyssey.

Might Audyssey trims set by two different brand (or even model?) AVRs in the same room differ (with mic. pos. and all else unchanged)?

Drewy, what brand/model AVR do you have?