Improving turntable sound quality on AV receiver

StartWars · 28 Sep 2019 at 15:14

I recently bought a Project Primary E turntable, which is connected to a Project Phono Box MM,
a Pioneer SX-323 AV receiver Tannoy TFX 5.1 speakers, and a BK Gemini subwoofer.

Most vinyls I've listened to sound good but I've noticed that heavier sections can sound a bit muffled. Are there any tweaks I can make to my current setup to improve sound quality? I usually keep the AV receiver in auto surround mode.

StartWars · 28 Sep 2019 at 17:36

What does direct bypass change? Is it better to use this mode for just music or surround sound movies as well? My AV receiver also has a direct and pure direct mode. There's also a stereo mode but this didn't make any difference to the quality.

StartWars · 29 Sep 2019 at 20:00

Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't tried tweaking the turntable yet, but the Proejct Primary E was designed for plug in and play with minimum fuss.

I don't see an option for straight decode, do you know where I would find it? Also, is it better to use auto surround when watching surround sound movies?

StartWars · 29 Sep 2019 at 21:05

This is the only manual I could find online: http://www.pioneerhongkong.com.hk/file/product539-228-download.pdf

On page 28 it mentions straight decode as a surround mode but doesn't say how to select it. I pressed Stereo ALCT to cycle through the different modes on my receiver but straight decode didn't come up.

As for my other question, I was wondering if it would be better to use the direct mode instead of auto surround but it sounds like direct and pure direct are only for stereo sound?

StartWars · 30 Sep 2019 at 00:03

Yeah I've tried those buttons to cycle through all the different modes but straight decode doesn't come up. Pressing auto/direct switches between auto surround, direct and pure direct. ALC/Stereo toggled between stereo, stereo alc and PCM and the advanced surround button has preset modes such as action, concert etc.

I primarily use my receiver for gaming and watching blurays and have always left it in auto surround.

StartWars · 30 Sep 2019 at 23:52

lucid said:
Two thoughts on this...

#1 - 'Straight' is typed in a lightweight font in the user manual compared to the other settings in the list (see page 28). Does this denote that the display doesn't show anything for a decoding mode? i.e. does it simply show you what the source signal is; PCM, Analogue etc?

#2 - Does DIRECT mode keep the sub playing? The manual says that if you want to hear the sound in its truest form then Direct and Pure Direct are the modes to use. (see page 29)

Can confirm that Direct mode still keeps the sub active but pure mode disables it. Still sounds flat and lacking detail to me like you're hearing it underwater. Stereo mode sounded a bit punchier but still distorts during heavier sections. It's more noticeable on some records more than others. Should the phono box I bought not have made a bigger difference?