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Unregistered guest | I'm the proud new owner of a Marantz SR5400, so have a dumb question: am just curious about the volume control. It starts at -70 then goes into the + range as you turn it up. Why does it do this and how far in the positive range does it go to? Am currently only running some cheap bookshelf speakers as a temporary measure until I decide on new main speakers, so I'm not getting the full volume appreciation that I should be from this amp, but it seems I have to really wind the volume up to get a decent volume level. |
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Silver Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 835 Registered: Feb-05 | Someone else will likely give you more detail but most folks listen to movies at between -20 and -12 on that receiver. I believe it goes to +18. Anything between -70 and -30 is pretty much useless. I beleive this is done because it is the THX standard. I have that receiver for my second room system and it is very good. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 168 Registered: Sep-04 | "Am currently only running some cheap bookshelf speakers as a temporary measure until I decide on new main speakers" Boy does that sound familiar. Just wait until you get a good set of speakers for that Marantz! I've read that it's supposed to relate to the max output, but that's hearsay. I tend to listen at -30 to -20 (don't want angry neighbors in the next apartment). |
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Silver Member Username: PetergalbraithRimouski, Quebec Canada Post Number: 826 Registered: Feb-04 | It's a decibel (dB) scale. Every 10 dB increase is a factor of 10 increase in power, which translates to a factor of 2 increase in power every 3 dB. For example, when Chris listens at -20 he is using 1/100 the power that would be output at 0 on the dial. When he listens at -30, he is using 1/1000 of the power. As you can see, it makes very little difference to Chris whether his amplifiers are rated at 100W or 3 dB lower at 50 W. I also listen to jazz at -30 to -23 or so, and rock up to -15 or a bit more. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 4163 Registered: May-04 | What the hell is "volume appreciation"? Go to an unused input where there is no signal and run the volume control up until it stops. That's how far it goes. Never get to that point again. Now turn it back down before you switch inputs. The numeric scale is displayed because you do not have a volume control where the position relative to 12 O'Clock and 6 O'Clock is visible or of consequence. This allows you to set the volume at approximately the same level each time you listen to a source. What numbers are displayed is irrelelvant as long as the receiver can reach full power. If you turn the volume up and you hear distortion, that's all you need in the way of volume - actually too much; turn it down before you damage the system. The "+" scale is there should the situation arise where you have a low input voltage since the amount of voltage in will determine the amount of voltage out. I repeat, as long as the receiver plays to the point of distortion you do not need anything else in the way of "volume appreciation". If your present speakers do not play loud enough for you, choose speakers with higher sensitivity when you buy the next pair (which will be soon if you play the current set with the amplifier distorting). Look up sensitivity: http://lp2cd.com/audio_terms/a/index.html |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 4165 Registered: May-04 | That's a lousy description of sensitivity now that I look at it again. It is correct but not totally relevant to your situation. For your purposes, sensitivity implies how loud a speaker will play with one watt of power applied to the speaker's terminals. The louder it will play with one watt in determines how loud it will play overall. The higher the sensitivity spec, the louder the speaker will play with any amount of wattage. If you want loud - look for high sensitivity specs. Sensitivity is often interchanged with the word efficiency when discussing speakers. |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 132 Registered: Apr-05 | Kiwi if your 5400 is like my 8400 in the sound range it will go to +17 in case you are still interested. The volume seems to kick in to high gear in the -teens. You will almost never go into the positive territory. |
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Unregistered guest | Hi everyone, thanks for all your informative posts, very helpful. Jan Vigne, Volume Appreciation is technical term that means "this thing isn't going as loud as I expected it to go due to my sh#tty speakers..." I would be interested in hearing what speakers you fellow Marantz owners are running. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 4170 Registered: May-04 | That's what I thought. The comments regarding sensitivity are important to you in that case. |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 133 Registered: Apr-05 | Kiwi you can click on my name and see my AV setup in the profile. Some people have theirs listed |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 170 Registered: Sep-04 | Oops, I didn't mention I also have a 5400. I'd be perfectly happy to crank it up more, but out of consideration for the neighbors I keep it down. OK, so on race day it goes up a bit for a couple of hours, but that's a weekend afternoon. ;) |
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Silver Member Username: PetergalbraithRimouski, Quebec Canada Post Number: 830 Registered: Feb-04 | Stof wrote: Kiwi if your 5400 is like my 8400 in the sound range it will go to +17 in case you are still interested. The volume seems to kick in to high gear in the -teens. That's subjective since the volume should be linear with the dial setting (in a logarithmic way, you know what I mean). So there is no point where it kicks in. |