Back surrounds, static sound/distortion

Last night the wife and I where watching The Polar Express, loud. The movie was giving my QS8 a real working out.

about half in the movie when the tom hanks is on top of the train yelling right/left to get back on the tracks and when it hits the tracks it makes a loud bang.

That is about when the static sound/distortion but more like static on loud parts and a little on quite parts.

I find that it is worse when I watch movies in THX Cinema then the DTS/DD.

I even tryed music in Neo 6 then THX music and THX sounds like crap.

I have the Onkyo 806 and have had it for only a half year, does anyone else have this trouble. I just wanted to ask you guys before I try the customer service that Onkyo offer...

Does my Onkyo need a update or somthing, or is it broken? if it is broken then would none work of the sound settings work eg. DTS/Ect not just THX?

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Did more testing and it seems to be on THX did a a/b test on the music intro of fight club and DTS=fine THX cenima=Distortion

Is it through all the speakers, only the mains, only the surrounds? it is possible one driver/tweeter in a speaker is blown.

Just the backs and when I stand on a stool and listen to them and switch THX cuts in and out and is popings and distorted. All most like a digital distortion if that makes any sence

Also did the white noise test for all speakers and it sounds fine from the backs, also setting the level calibration it sounds fine.

To rule out the speakers, hook a different pair up to the rear terminals. If the static follows, it is not the speakers.

I will test my old speakers on Sunday, I hope I did not blow them does my warranty cover such an event?

When you say "old", not sure I understand. Are the rear Qs8's the only Axioms you own? All you have to do is move the wires from your other speakers to that terminal. Or, move your Qs8's to another terminal to see if the static follows the Qs8's.

Axiom's warranty is not going to cover your old, other brand speakers.

Of course, I could be not understanding what your saying.

Going to get the old bookshelf speakers (JVC) from the basement and put them in place of the Qs8 to see if the distortion still is there. If it is still there then it must be my receiver or my HTPC but I did not change any settings and looked over them twice.

how can I tell if one of the tweeters/woofer are blowen on the Qs8

Is it easier to take a QS8 down and connect it to a front main wire? This way you will now for sure if it is the speaker. If the Q still sounds fuzzy at that point the speaker is bad and you can try to tell which drivr is gone, if the Q sounds good then the wiring to the surrounds could be loose or the amp section for the surround is causing an issue and the Onkyo would nedd to go in for repair $\:\($

To tell which driver you should be able to tell with your ear listening closely to each driver. If they all sound bad it could be a crossover issue as well.

Hi rage,

Along with the other advice given, check your "Small/Large" speaker settings to make certain the back surrounds are set to "Small", no matter which processing mode you're using.

If the back surrounds were inadvertently set to "Large" in the THX mode, deep bass might overload the drivers at very loud playback levels or drive the Onkyo's surround-channel amps into distortion.

Regards,
Alan

Yeah. Before swapping speakers and such it could be something as little as having the QS8's set to "large" in the thx mode. The QS8's are not full range speakers and should be set to small with a crossover of 80hz or 90hz. Double check "large" or "small" and the crossover settings when the thx mode is activated on the receiver.

Interesting on how something so simple sometimes slipes our minds.

I tested out the speakers and thank god they are fine(not blown). I also set my back surrounds to 90hz, I tried to find the speaker size but all I can find is normal/ Bi-amp and a set 6 or 8 ohm setting no large or small speakers on my Onkyo 806

It seems to be working as of now but I will be keeping a eye on it. I talked to my brother in law who said it could have been a drain on the CPU which in turn could mess up the sound/codec, I us a HTPC for everything. Guess this will be a way to convince the wife to get a new CPU and more hard drive space.

If you set the crossover to 90hz, it means "small". Small/large are terms used by receivers with a fixed crossover.

I find it hard to believe the Onkyo does not have small/large speaker settings in the setup section. It is possible that by setting the crossover to 90hz, tells the receiver the speakers is "small", just have never seen that...

If you set the back surrounds to 90hz, what was it at before you changed it? Also, all your speakers should be set to small, or 80hz for starters, depending on their specs.

ah now I understand thanks I thought spesker size (large, small)where different then hz.

Had the backs set to 80hz (all speakers/sub also set to THX 80hz)now put the back surrounds to 90hz, they seem not as loud anymore but backs are not meant to stand out like the fronts do, not that they where that before, there just not as noticeable now.

I would recheck the SPL out from those speakers, you should still have a similar noticeably loud sound to them, with less bass coming out of them they could very well be a few db lower.

I have my center at 0.0 Db the left/right front are -5 Db and the back surrounds are set to -1.0 to -1.5 Db, depending on the movie. oh and before I forget the sub is set also at 0.0 Db, I read that you should also set you receiver to 0.0Db and do all your adjustments to the controls on the back of the sub, to much or to little power could damage the sub.

I like to have the center stand out more, better for dialogue in T.V/movies.

You're right about the sub. It's best to try to get your receiver close to 0. Too little, and the sub, when set to auto-sense, may not turn on. Too high, and the output of the receiver may clip during heavy bass events when the volume control is also turned up.

The other channels should be set so each speaker reproduces pink noise at equal levels. That is, you use the test tones to select each channel in turn while adjusting the trim up or down to get them all to play at 75 dB.

I meant checked with an SPL meter not just what the settings are on the receiver.

Yes, Onkyo doesn't use the rather confusing large/small terminology now, but instead sets a speaker for either full band or a choice of crossovers.