The loudness of DVDs & CDs played through my Denon 2105 varies between the TV, DVD player & listening to FM radio. It seems to vary more between the DVD player & all other sources. I have to turn the volume up around -15 to -5 & sometimes 0 for DVDs but back it off to -20 or even lower for everything else. Is this normal or is there some setting that needs to be changed? Or could it be my DVD player? I've only manually set up the speaker levels-haven't used a rat shack meter or any other technology. I was in Tulsa yesterday on business and went into a high end AV store and heard one of their systems and it blew me away. Kinda made me wonder about the calibrations on my system and what I needed to do to get to that level. I know it isn't my speakers but it might be the level settings ,etc.

Any suggestions??

I don't know offhand of amps/receivers that offer "level trim" on various inputs but will mention this:

Remember that FM and TV are highly compressed to make them "louder" overall, while DVD is likely to offer a superior dynamic range (but will seem quieter overall). The real question is: Are the loud explosions on your DVDs as loud as the TV and FM?

I have a sign above my edit suite that says "Can we have everything louder than everything else?" which is a quote from Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull...evidently to their sound man. I keep the sign there because I have clients in here all the time that don't understand that a gunshot does NOT sound loud if it's mixed at the same level as dialog. (I mean this as an example...my corporate productions usually don't involve gunshots, though some have!)

I'm not insinuating that YOU don't understand dynamic range, I just mention the sign since I put myself on that topic!

Appreciate the input and it makes sense. Range is one of those terms that has alot more meaning behind it than we usually give it credit for. Explosions, etc. are usually louder and I do hear various levels of mix so there may not be anything wrong that a better amp wouldn't fix!!

Just FYI, mine is the same way. TV and CDs are about 10 db quieter than DVD.

Ditto on the 2805, depending on the DVD, CD, etc. I may have it anywhere from -40dB's for a nice background sound to around -5dB's or so. My 2805 has Room EQ, which I've decided not to use, I do however like you use the Auto Setup, which sets the Delay and Levels. It has been my experience that they are pretty accurate. I'm sure the recording levels of CDs/DVD's vary, that is why you see a difference on material.

I commented on this forum the other day about how different input have me adjust the volume. When watching tv you can tell if you hit a channel with stereo sound.

DVD is quieter here as well and is on every receiver I've had and I've tried quite a few of them so no reason to worry it's completely normal.

Yup;

Same on my Onkyo

Oops, got it backwards. I have to turn up the receiver by 10 db for DVDs. Dur!