Hello, I need some help. I recently purchased the equipment above. Here's my problem, my system, (if you want to call it that), sounds extremely muffled. I literally have to turn the receiver up to +2db to get the level of sound I want and it max's out at +12db. When listening to FM stereo, it sounds as if someone is covering the speaker with their hand. Same goes with DVD's. Does anyone have experience with this equipment? Is it normal to have to almost fully crank my receiver to get decent sound? If I turn it to -20db, you can't hear it if my windows are open. I've been in BestBuy and have heard a demo set-up with bookshelfs play louder and clearer. I shelled out $1500 for this equipment and I'm just not happy.
Uh yeah, I was trying to ask if all the speakerwires were ok, no shortcuts or loose connections at receiver or possible bi-wire bridges? are you using bare wires or banana/fork plugs?
Shaun, As an owner of the Elite 45 I can say the volume levels you mentioned would be extremely loud on my Elite/MA system to the point of being dangerously so. For cd listening in direct mode I set my volume between -25 and -18 depending on the cd. For movies it's at -10 to -8. Anything more than that leads me to think your speakers are very inefficient or their is a problem with the receiver, which is highly unlikely. Have you tried the receiver with other speakers to see what that would do?
No, I haven't tried it on any other speakers. That will be my next step. The 45 that I bought was a factory refurbished unit. The salesmen had told me that Pioneer recalled a lot of units due to premature shutdown. He stated that the units were shutting down because the temp chip was falsely reading the actual temp and shutting the unit down.
Thanks for everyones help. The receiver is under warranty, I'll take it to have them inspect it. Another newbie question, are banana plugs better than bare wire?