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New home theatre kicks ***, but 2ch stereo not greatest


Danomite

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Hello there friends. Kinda new to the game, so Im looking for some input from some of you old pros out there. I wanted a home theatre that would be great for movies, tv, and loud music. The movies are top notch, but the stereo sound is just so so. Sounds great at normal listening volumes, but go to crank up my favorite song (which is pretty well my entire music library) and it just doesn’t sound great. Seems distorted to me at high volumes. Would this be because I am powering my towers from an avr and not a dedicated stereo amplifier? My system consists of:

- Marantz SR7012

- Klipsch RP8000f x2

- Klipsch RP504C

- Klipsch SLM5400 x4

- Klipsch RP112SW

I was expecting great things from this system, but overall Im a little bit disappointed. Am I missing something (dedicated amp for towers?). Or am I just crazy to think this system should sound better than it actually does? Thanks in advance folks.

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I'm new to Klipsch - not new to the game.  I'm running a set of RP8000's and recently took delivery of an RP504C like yourself.  Power is coming from my Marantz SR7013. 

I can guarantee something is amiss, because right now I'm running stereo only (pure direct) and the sound is epic.  I mean 'Maxell Blown Away Guy' levels.  It's fantastic.  Great musical quality to the receiver as well. 

 

What's your source?  I'm playing mostly Tidal masters or FLAC off USB, so quality is better than not.  But anything I seem to throw at it is pretty impressive.  Lots of things to consider when it's not going right, but maybe a tech from here can chime in?  Best of luck.

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Just now, johanness said:

I'm new to Klipsch - not new to the game.  I'm running a set of RP8000's and recently took delivery of an RP504C like yourself.  Power is coming from my Marantz SR7013. 

I can guarantee something is amiss, because right now I'm running stereo only (pure direct) and the sound is epic.  I mean 'Maxell Blown Away Guy' levels.  It's fantastic.  Great musical quality to the receiver as well. 

 

What's your source?  I'm playing mostly Tidal masters or FLAC off USB, so quality is better than not.  But anything I seem to throw at it is pretty impressive.  Lots of things to consider when it's not going right, but maybe a tech from here can chime in?  Best of luck.

Interesting thanks...

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Thanks billybob. Glad to be here. I have tried the pure direct mode and it sounds pretty good for classic rock, but horrible for hard rock and heavy metal which is what I normally listen to. Ive found that the audyssey reference mode sounds best for loud music

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11 minutes ago, billybob said:

Could be AVR, but how loud?

Not sure exactly how loud as I dont have a decibel meter, but it sounds good until 60 out of 98 on the volume control. 75 out of 98 would be a better listening volume for me, but it becomes far too distorted to listen to

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17 minutes ago, johanness said:

I'm new to Klipsch - not new to the game.  I'm running a set of RP8000's and recently took delivery of an RP504C like yourself.  Power is coming from my Marantz SR7013. 

I can guarantee something is amiss, because right now I'm running stereo only (pure direct) and the sound is epic.  I mean 'Maxell Blown Away Guy' levels.  It's fantastic.  Great musical quality to the receiver as well. 

 

What's your source?  I'm playing mostly Tidal masters or FLAC off USB, so quality is better than not.  But anything I seem to throw at it is pretty impressive.  Lots of things to consider when it's not going right, but maybe a tech from here can chime in?  Best of luck.

I used to use apple music via AirPlay2, recently upgraded to tidal which I also use Airplay2. Also recently purchased a project debut carbon esprit which sounds great, but is lacking volume and sonic performance with the SR7012 phono preamp. I just ordered a Cambridge Solo phono preamp, so hopefully that will make a big difference.

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25 minutes ago, johanness said:

I'm new to Klipsch - not new to the game.  I'm running a set of RP8000's and recently took delivery of an RP504C like yourself.  Power is coming from my Marantz SR7013. 

I can guarantee something is amiss, because right now I'm running stereo only (pure direct) and the sound is epic.  I mean 'Maxell Blown Away Guy' levels.  It's fantastic.  Great musical quality to the receiver as well. 

 

What's your source?  I'm playing mostly Tidal masters or FLAC off USB, so quality is better than not.  But anything I seem to throw at it is pretty impressive.  Lots of things to consider when it's not going right, but maybe a tech from here can chime in?  Best of luck.

Im curious... at what volume level do you listen to music? Also what genre of music do you listen to?

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I believe that with your music choices you're getting little dynamic range with hot signal levels (it's the way it's recorded) and you're just running out of steam with the amplifiers.  More available power would undoubtedly sound better, but only to a point.  Poor recordings themselves are difficult to overcome, sorry to say...

 

How is the sound quality at slightly reduced volume?  At what point as you slowly back down the volume does it become more acceptable?

 

Movie soundtracks are meticulously recorded and comparing the sound quality to your preferred music is apples to oranges.

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39 minutes ago, Danomite said:

hard rock and heavy metal which is what I normally listen to

I listen to a good amount of heavy stuff and the recordings are commonly not the greatest. Turning it up can make it sound worse as it's already compressed and tweaked. Still.....I listen to many bands that enjoy distortion.

The new Tool release is refreshingly not loud/compressed sounding. You can crank that one.

If your setup is capable of sounding awesome with movies it can do the same with music. Don't have a suggestion as to how with your receiver....not familiar with Marantz receivers.

Do you have any room treatments? Something to tame the first reflection coming off your mains.

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1 hour ago, Danomite said:

Thanks billybob. Glad to be here. I have tried the pure direct mode and it sounds pretty good for classic rock, but horrible for hard rock and heavy metal which is what I normally listen to. Ive found that the audyssey reference mode sounds best for loud music

Thinking meanwhile this is being sussed out here...cool

Recommend Vincibus Eruptum lp... Blue Cheer

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34 minutes ago, glens said:

I believe that with your music choices you're getting little dynamic range with hot signal levels (it's the way it's recorded) and you're just running out of steam with the amplifiers.  More available power would undoubtedly sound better, but only to a point.  Poor recordings themselves are difficult to overcome, sorry to say...

 

How is the sound quality at slightly reduced volume?

The sound is pretty darn good at lower volumes. Unfortunately once I go past 60 out of 100 it starts sounding distorted. The thing about heavy metal music is the louder the better (with a great setup of course). Im not ready to give up on my heavy metal just yet, so I guess Ill have to invest in some more power.

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Or perhaps a different sub. Your mains are pretty efficient and IMO that Marantz should provide more than enough juice. I know metal guys like to shake the room. Crossover might be a place to start which wouldn't cost you a nickel. If that doesn't  do the trick, snagging a pair of used mono blocks to run through the system in stereo mode might be just the ticket.

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I'm a fan of heavy metal before it morphed into what's now termed heavy metal.  Original CDs of even older work pressed in the '90s typically have a quieter, more dynamic, cleaner sound than their "remastered" later releases, which are often far too "bright" sounding if nothing else bad could be said about them.  

 

How many channels are you running while jamming out?

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I can't imagine you need, or could even use more power.   An outboard power of 600 wpc will add a little more than 6 dB. 

 

You probably have a calibration issue.  Does your subwoofer run in Stereo?  Have you run Audyssey in stereo?  How big is the room? 

 

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21 minutes ago, YK Thom said:

Or perhaps a different sub. Your mains are pretty efficient and IMO that Marantz should provide more than enough juice. I know metal guys like to shake the room. Crossover might be a place to start which wouldn't cost you a nickel. If that doesn't  do the trick, snagging a pair of used mono blocks to run through the system in stereo mode might be just the ticket.

Yes I could try experimenting with the different crossover settings. Thanks for the suggestion

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Get an affordable standalone DAC, you'll be amazed at the difference.  I listen to TONS of metal/hard rock.  I listen quote loud occasionally and there is ALMOST nothing in my library that is unlistenable as your describe or "too distorted".  What are you using as your source for music?  Cds?   If so, rip them to the computer in FLAC or WAV with a program such as EAC (exact audio copy) on error free method and run it through a DAC.   Best thing I did many years ago and haven't looked back since.   Using Cds 10 years ago or so sounded pleasing, but the method I use currently elevated audio to another level.   The truth is spoken above about the recordings IN GENERAL, but like I said, most sound fantastic on my system IMHO.   When you say "distorted", what are you hearing?   Be careful nto to smoke your tweeters via clipping your AVR.   The number on the receiver is irrelevant, you MAY be running out of gas if you are attempting to overdrive the amp.   Plenty of Marantz units can run fire hot as well.   If you experience this, may want to look into some cooling as well.   I second the crossover points.   Take the load off of your mains to free up unclipped power via the lowwe bass which may be eating up your AVRs power.   Good luck, have fun. 

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36 minutes ago, glens said:

I'm a fan of heavy metal before it morphed into what's now termed heavy metal.  Original CDs of even older work pressed in the '90s typically have a quieter, more dynamic, cleaner sound than their "remastered" later releases, which are often far too "bright" sounding if nothing else bad could be said about them.  

 

How many channels are you running while jamming out?

You nailed it. The music is too bright at loud levels. I run 2ch stereo mode and sometimes multi channel stereo mode (7.1) which almost sounds better than 2ch.

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