Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Noise! Noise! Noise!! Arrgg

I sold my old onkyo 525 and upgraded to the new TX-SR601. I am running M60ti, VP100, M22ti(surrounds). I have coax digital connects from DVD to Receiver. Problem is this. . .out of the volume range for the receiver 1 through 99 I end up listening at an average of 65. To crank stereo stuff I end up in the 80's sometimes. I am scared that this is way too high for the receiver and of the threat of clipping my lovely 60's. With my old receiver I never had to put the volume up past one third and it was PLENTY loud. Now I am up at 3/4 plus!! ONKYO does not respond and has a worthless helpline. They say everything is normal. But the problem is also that there is noise that is clearly audible past a volume of 50 or so. And I can even hear a freakin click each time I increase or decrease the volume level one notch (when I am in the upper volume levels). This seems ridiculous to me that you can hear a noise with a volume adjust and that I have to turn my volume up to 80 to crank my tunes. Anybody else have a Onkyo 601 and have similar problems?

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. It is so amazing that you can post some question and people out there respond to it. Again THANK YOU

i have always complained that my onkyo 600 was under powered. normal watching is between 58 and 68 for me a little higher for music. no clicking on mine though.
Jake

I'm currently running a 602 with M50s, and a quick check shows normal listening while watching cable to run from 27 on PBS to a high of about 65 for some fun movies.(yeah! quite a variation ain't it?) For DVDs the avg seems to be about 55. For stereo the numbers are somewhat lower, although to let the speakers exercize a tad, I've let it out to the mid 70s, and while the m50s were happy, the grandkids weren't!

Our listening room is about 16X27X9, and the mid 70s were what the wife and I would consider to be about(almost)concert levels. Also, to avoid neighborhood subwoofer wars, we mainly use the sub more for augmentation than for foundation ratling, so the mains produce the lions share of the sound. The M50s are crossed at 60hz so the receiver is asked to do more work than the sub amp.

My last receiver was an Onkyo 494 and in this same room with the same speakers, it wasen't unusual to hit 50 (out of 75) on some of the more boisterous movies, while the avg was about 40, stereo was around 30.

As far as the clicking sound is concerned, nope, haven't heard it. Yet!! Nor any other unusual sounds for that matter. But now, human nature being what it is, I'll be listening, and studying the sound, and listening some more and imagining I hear it, and so on, and on....

Anyway, our numbers don't seem to be wildly far off from each other as far as listening levels are concerned, but the noise problem might indicate something,(don't know what) although some of the other members of this forum may be of more assistance on that account.

Thanks for your input snakeyes. I'll bet that you will notice the volume clicks if you have it loud but at a quite part of a disc and you adjust the volume. Once you hear it on a quite part, you can hear it on a loud one as well. (If all the new ONKYO's are doing this)

It does seem that your numbers are a fair bit lower than mine, but that could also be room size and other factors. I have a fairly large room 16X20 but with vaulted ceiling from 9 to 13 feet.

I also set my crossover at 60hz after much testing. I ended up with the smoothest response overall with this setting. Although I still get insane foundation rattling with my Hsu research VTF-3 MK2 subwoofer. It's hard to keep it tame!

I actually took some readings today on the level that was produced at certain volumes and I guess I shouldn't complain that much. My radioshack meter read 100db at the listening position (about 8 feet back) at a volume level of 82. It was certainly loud but I just think, man. . I am almost maxed out here where with my old receiver I truly never was able to get the volume knob to past 1/2 way. The volume wasn't expressed in numbers on my old model though.

Not sure if I want to change receivers at this point. Or to try out a nice high power amp. Might be costly for not enough improvement. I was also thinking of trading my 601 in for the 602 (would be real easy due to a no questions asked extended warranty from CompUSA) but I read a bunch of posts about some of the 602's and in fact the whole x02 line having some problems with noises and channels going out and stuff. (not to worry you)

Anyway thanks for your post, It will be interesting to see what others are thinking.

Hi: I have an older(2000) Onkyo TXDS-777 receiver, this is a THX receiver and their "reference" is 62 on the volume display, but I have never had it this high before! My listrening level for analogue cable is 15-20, digital cable is 10, F.M is 30, dvd is 40(Incredibles). I was checking if there was an amber light which comes on just before the clipping red light on my BFD, so I was using only the sub... I turned the gain on my sub to number 1 and turned the sub gain on the receiver slowly up... so as to get the lights to turn on without deafening myself... and my Onkyo made like a squealing kinda noise( I didn't notice where the volume number was).
I have all my gear plugged into a Furman line conditioner which has a volt meter and an amp meter. I will check it again and see if there is a "increase" at this spot on the dial! Maybe this receiver has a fan...but I doubt it.... I thought maybe the fan was making the noise just at that spot where the big volume number was.
Mine does not "click", but makes a squeek, like a door would make! Anyway, I will check my amp meter on my Furman later! Huck

Thank you for your input, Huck. I'm also interested in your opinions and settings levels.

I do have a simple question; where is your x-over set? being THX, is it set to 80hz? That may be transfering some of the load from the receiver to the sub. (I mean, if it works that way-I don't know, does it?)

I also notice that the vol reference is a bit lower on your receiver, it's listed as 82 on the 602 vs 62 for yours. In that respect, I've not hit reference either. Now I wonder if the 600 is also referenced to 82?

So...Now I don't just hafta listen just for clicks; but for "squeeks" too!!

Wow, not just clicks, and squeeks,and noises and channels going out, but....("What, Me Worry" He said in his best Alfred E Newman voice...)

Now I'm really listening,
Rich.

Rich: When I have the speakers set to THX,the x-over is automatically set for 80hz.When I play the test tones on the receiver,it goes to the 62Ref on automatically,no matter where the volume is at the time.62 is about 80db,according to my Rat Shack meter.Later, Huck

Thanks again for the info, I can see why you'd want to stick with am 80hz x-over with M22s. That plus the fact that M22s are pretty efficient in the first place should give you a reasonably high SPL at a low vol level.

Makes sense at that.
Thanx,
Rich.

I hit my reference of 82 quite a bit when testing CD's in stereo listening mode. All be it, not all discs would warrant this level of volume, but with many I will reach this level and above. I even hit 90 a couple of times without blowing my eardrums. Loud but scary that I only had eight volume "clicks" left.

Onkyo 601
M60's
VP100 soon to be 150
M22's
HSU research VTF-3 MK2
Pioneer DV-C503 DVD changer

i have an Onkyo 701 refurb, that i have had for about a year now. i have a little more wattage than you(100wpc), but that shouldnt make that big of a difference.

for normal cable watching, i keep it between 50-55. i like dvd's at around 65-70(wife complains thats too loud). for easy listening of music, its usually between 50-65, and when i want to really crank it, i get it in the upper 70's to low 80's. but i gotta tell ya, when its in the 80's with a good source material, its incredibly loud. i have wondered up into the 90's a few times, but it is literally painful at that point. i cant keep it there but for more than a few seconds, then i gotta bring it down. its fun to impress the friends with, but not at all logical to keep it at that volume.

i have not had the problem with the volume "clicks". i do not think i would be happy with that either. you might have a bad unit? i hate to speculate, but i do not have the same probs that you mention.

good luck in whatever you do.

bigjohn

Sorry to hear that you are having issues. I am not sure about the clicking issue but from what I have read it may be that you are overtaxing the unit. But again, I am not too sure. Let the unit play for a hour and put your hand on the top of the unit. Is it hot to the touch? If this is the case you may be pushing it too hard or you do not have proper ventalation. You may want to look at two Outlaw M200 amps to power your fronts (200 watts at $299 ea). Just a thought.

Thanks for your post bigjohn. The levels that you describe are exactly what I would list. What are you running for speakers with your 701?

Makes me feel a little better. I could probably live with the clicking for now. (its not loud or anything, most probably wouldn't even notice).

Thanks for your post lomb7. I checked out the outlaw series and they look sweet. Too bad my receiver has no preoouts except for the sub. (Wouldn't really want to do line level either).

i have M60 fronts, VP150 center, QS8 surrounds, and a Cerwin Vega LW-12 sub(150watts).

i have noticed the few times i get the volume in the upper 80's to 90.. that each more number you move up, it gets significantly louder. i dont know if that is the receiver, or just my ears pleading for mercy, but it gets way more intense with each number. and you will also notice that the overall volume will increase or decrease with the source material.. in other words, the quality of the recording you are playing is a large variable. you will turn up an old crappy recording much louder than you will a better engineered cd. and you can tell the difference pretty easy.

bigjohn

That is the exact same with me as far as the one click means alot more between say 82-83 than between 62-63. And yes some albums you can get to the high 80's easily but with some static, others your ears are nearly bleeding in the upper 80's. (quality newer discs)

Thanks for all your input. This forum is really great!!

Well, I cheated and it seems to have worked for me. After reading another post that listed somebody's levels for each speaker most of them being +4db, I thought hmmmm . .

I have now tricked my onkyo into playing louder for me at lower volume settings. I bumped all my settings in my speaker levels up 5db. Now as far as volume numbers go when I used to listen at 65 is now 60. May seem silly, I know. I fully realize that nothing has changed and that it is simply a matter of relativity. But, my mind does rest easier that I now have much more difficulty reaching the reference of 82. It just feels like now I have some breathing room in the top end and that I am not maxing my system out.

Still have the clicks and a fair amount of static noise with lesser quality cd's, but I am more comfortable for the moment.

By the way, if you have axiom's and especially if you have M60's, you have got to play Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds Live at Luther College. The M60's were made to play this album. Even if you don't like Dave Matthews you will like the sound of this album, guaranteed!

Thanks again for all your replies.

I have the 601 as well. When I turn the volume knob to max there is absolutely no noise at all, so you definitely should look into that. You may have a bad unit, but more likely it's due to dirty connections or electrical interference. Make sure there aren't any power cables or surge protectors near the speaker lines.

As for having to turn it up high to get satisfying listening levels, that's not unusual on decent equipment. You'll find with lower-level receivers and boom boxes, there's a big increase in sound between 0 and about 50%. From 50% to max, it's not a huge difference in volume. It's a marketing ploy to make you think you have more powerful equipment than you really do. ("Gee, if it's this loud at only half-volume, this sucker must really rock!!!"). With better equipment, what you want is sensitivity. Yeah, during the day, I have to turn my Onkyo up to about 75% volume to get it where I want it. But at night, when my wife goes to bed, I can have it at 25% and still hear every detail and nuance. It's just a little quiter is all. And no way would I ever actually turn it up to max and run a signal through it! Ear drums, speakers, house foundation, neighbor's house foundation--they would all take a pretty nice beating.

Basically, don't worry about the volume level. As long as it can get loud enough for you, that's all that matters. The Onkyo 601 is one of the most reputable receivers in its price range.

Alright then!! Thanks for reminding me about what I think I already knew-a long time ago(but must have forgotten!)

I knew that stuff!! Yeah!!!

No complaints about my 602 either. Thanks again for the REmind!

Rich.