My speakers only come to life at high volumes

nightrider1470

nightrider1470

nightrider1470

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25 May 2011
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I have some Tannoy 6.4 speakers and a Arcam 300... . One thing I have noticed at volume, say 62, it lacks detail.

When I fire the Arcam up to 70+ it sounds so much better and my speakers come to life.

The problem is at this volume its just to loud and Mrs and neighbors complain.. . I'm guessing this is a speaker limitation issue rather than the Arcam causing this?

Anything I can do?

:)
 
Have you tried lowering the source volume, and increasing the amp volume? It could be an issue that the amp prefers working at higher level.
 
How did the speakers sound when you demoed them before purchase? Or should I ask if you demoed them, or was it a purchase on a clearance price?

What other amps have you used with the speakers, and did you notice the same tipping point?


As a general observation, I've noticed a similar lack of life with the original KEF Eggs despite being driven by a high-end Denon. The Eggs were dual concentric too. I get the same impression from some of their dual concentric in-ceiling speakers too. I'm not sure whether the driver layout is responsible for a smoothness in the dispersion to the point where the sound seems to lack the attack of conventional speakers.

I have some B&W DM12 monitors that are very power hungry. They only start to come alive at higher volumes with an amp that can deliver lots of current. However, that's because of the low efficiency - 85dB/W/m. Your Tannoys are rated at 90dB, so the total speaker efficiency is okay. That doesn't mean though that the tweeter isn't slightly under-driven at lower power levels.

The other thing to note is our hearing isn't linear. At lower volumes we tend to lose a bit of bass and treble sensitivity. That's why some amps have a Loudness button. It attempts to compensate for our natural roll-off at low volumes.
 
lucid said:
How did the speakers sound when you demoed them before purchase? Or should I ask if you demoed them, or was it a purchase on a clearance price?

What other amps have you used with the speakers, and did you notice the same tipping point?


As a general observation, I've noticed a similar lack of life with the original KEF Eggs despite being driven by a high-end Denon. The Eggs were dual concentric too. I get the same impression from some of their dual concentric in-ceiling speakers too. I'm not sure whether the driver layout is responsible for a smoothness in the dispersion to the point where the sound seems to lack the attack of conventional speakers.

I have some B&W DM12 monitors that are very power hungry. They only start to come alive at higher volumes with an amp that can deliver lots of current. However, that's because of the low efficiency - 85dB/W/m. Your Tannoys are rated at 90dB, so the total speaker efficiency is okay. That doesn't mean though that the tweeter isn't slightly under-driven at lower power levels.

The other thing to note is our hearing isn't linear. At lower volumes we tend to lose a bit of bass and treble sensitivity. That's why some amps have a Loudness button. It attempts to compensate for our natural roll-off at low volumes.
Click to expand...

I bought them used..

This is my setup

Hard drive (movies, music) -----Nvidia shield----- Panasonic 902B , optical out ----- Arcam 300 ---- speakers.

I think maybe its setting on my TV..... Should I set output as PCM or bitstream on TV? ? ... I also see an option for analogue stereo output or digital as well as "pcm optical level" but not sure if I should mess with this

:)
 
I don't have a shield, but for the software player it uses for music (&maybe multichannel movies) do you need to tell the player to force the output volume and thus, not mess with any pcm signal going to the TV ? otherwise it could throw away digital information* ?
(when I use mpchc / tidal on a laptop I need to do this)

Also you don't say, does your Mrs experience the same problem ?


* I mean least significant bits of the pcm data
 
Okay, you bought them used, but did you HEAR them BEFORE you bought them or did you buy blind, so-to-speak?

Also, I know you have or had a stereo amp from info in one of your other thread... so have you USED that AMP with these speakers, and if so WHAT was the RESULT?

These are IMPORTANT questions that need to be ANSWERED otherwise we're all just peeing in the wind by taking second guesses.


As for your TV settings... PCM stereo is the equivalent of analogue stereo. The difference is the connector style.

Analogue commonly goes via stereo phono connections or SCART or 3.5mm jack. PCM is the digitised version of analogue stereo. It goes via optical or a digital coax. These two digital connection methods can also carry a Bitstream signal. This is a signal that can carry more than two channels of sound.

Bitstream is a single connection but with the up to 6 surround channels plus LFE encoded in a single stream of data bits; hence bitstream.


When you set the TV output to Bitstream you'll get discrete multichannel surround in Dolby Digital from the TV's Freeview tuner on channels that carry this format; that would the HD channels subject to the programme being encoded in discrete surround. You'll also get Dolby Digital and possibly DTS from the TV's built-in streaming apps so long as the programmes carry multichannel sound. Any channels or streaming content that isn't in DD5.1 will come through as PCM stereo.

What you probably won't get is proper DD5.1 from any source connected via HDMI. This appears to be covered by page 12 of your user manual.

The sound from the nVidia Shield reaches the TV via the HDMI connection. Through that connection and the HDCP handshake process the TV tells the Shield about its capabilities. This includes what the TV can accept as audio via HDMI. The TV and the Shield negotiate a set of compatible standards, and in all likelihood part of that negotiation sets the Shield's audio via HDMI as PCM Stereo. If you have the options in the Shield's set up menus for audio downmixing, then set the option to SURROUND. This will create a Dolby Surround version that the ARCAM can decode using Dolby ProLogic II Movie or DPL IIx if you're running a 5.1/7.1 speaker package.


To summarise then, set the TV OUTPUT to BITSTREAM. This will cover all bases.
 
lucid said:
Okay, you bought them used, but did you HEAR them BEFORE you bought them or did you buy blind, so-to-speak?

Also, I know you have or had a stereo amp from info in one of your other thread... so have you USED that AMP with these speakers, and if so WHAT was the RESULT?

These are IMPORTANT questions that need to be ANSWERED otherwise we're all just peeing in the wind by taking second guesses.


As for your TV settings... PCM stereo is the equivalent of analogue stereo. The difference is the connector style.

Analogue commonly goes via stereo phono connections or SCART or 3.5mm jack. PCM is the digitised version of analogue stereo. It goes via optical or a digital coax. These two digital connection methods can also carry a Bitstream signal. This is a signal that can carry more than two channels of sound.

Bitstream is a single connection but with the up to 6 surround channels plus LFE encoded in a single stream of data bits; hence bitstream.


When you set the TV output to Bitstream you'll get discrete multichannel surround in Dolby Digital from the TV's Freeview tuner on channels that carry this format; that would the HD channels subject to the programme being encoded in discrete surround. You'll also get Dolby Digital and possibly DTS from the TV's built-in streaming apps so long as the programmes carry multichannel sound. Any channels or streaming content that isn't in DD5.1 will come through as PCM stereo.

What you probably won't get is proper DD5.1 from any source connected via HDMI. This appears to be covered by page 12 of your user manual.

The sound from the nVidia Shield reaches the TV via the HDMI connection. Through that connection and the HDCP handshake process the TV tells the Shield about its capabilities. This includes what the TV can accept as audio via HDMI. The TV and the Shield negotiate a set of compatible standards, and in all likelihood part of that negotiation sets the Shield's audio via HDMI as PCM Stereo. If you have the options in the Shield's set up menus for audio downmixing, then set the option to SURROUND. This will create a Dolby Surround version that the ARCAM can decode using Dolby ProLogic II Movie or DPL IIx if you're running a 5.1/7.1 speaker package.


To summarise then, set the TV OUTPUT to BITSTREAM. This will cover all bases.
Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks... As I only have 2.0 speaker setup I should still use prologic ll on my arcam for when watching movies?..... I have been using pcm stereo on the arcam for every source at the minute, which I think is correct as prologic from memory is more multiple speakers which I don't have..

What about setting in Kodi?

:)
 
also remembering, how does this tie in with your last month Arcam AVR300 no sound
thread discussing chromecast hookup to this avr300, also your sr7011 & primare i22, both better avs, so could make comparative analysis ... did i get that wrong ?

if you have a shield, I had read you can take optical from it directly to av300 too, with a cheap diglink usb device (since was considering that for my laptop)
 
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