RF-82 Poor Audio Quality

[daedalusen]

I've noticed really terrible audio coming from my RF-82's and I'm trying to figure out where the weak link is. The audio sounds like gain being over ran on the speakers and everything in the mid to highs being run together and its gets crunchy and distorted. The problem is I'm not hearing it in surround audio only when I run the pair in stereo. I'm not running them at high volumes. I'm running cds through hdmi on my ps3 into a Onkyo 805 , it doesn't matter what mode the Onkyo is in, preferably pure audio mode to just the front channels, but even in dolby mixes from 2 channel audio it produces junk. Suggestions? Anybody have advice on how to diagnose the problem?

[Hifi jim]

Perhaps the gain levels on the front channels are set too high either by automatic calibration (not sure if the 805 has that) or the manual setting. I usually try to keep the L/R mains at about 0 and definitely not above +3db. Then I adjust the rears and center around that. The input (in this the HDMI) may also have a gain setting.

[daedalusen]

Yeah I took a look at the eq on my Onkyo and mad sure the settings were set to 0.0db, the funny thing was it was set for -5.5 db, so moving up to 0.0 increased the gain. I also turned off the Audeyssey eq. The mid freqs. are either getting clipped or all run together, it sounds really muddled, I'm now noticing it on dolby truehd stuff. I tried out the Dave Matthews at Radio City bluray and was noticing audio on my left and right channels sounding muddled. Maybe I'm listening to music with more detail, I have been listening to other folks B&W systems and suddenly I crave more clarity in my music.

[stormin]

Maybe I'm listening to music with more detail, I have been listening to other folks B&W systems and suddenly I crave more clarity in my music.

One thing about Klipsch. They are clear. There is something wrong. Either the hdmi cable, ps3 or the receiver. Or maybe even a frayed wire touching where it shouldn't be.

[daedalusen]

Clarity has been my general experience with Klipsch also. So i suppose I'm either experiencing issues with my receiver or 2channel audio from the ps3. I'll try posting over at Onkyo and see if anyone has seen this before? Has anyone had any issues with the PS3 audio over HDMI?

[wuzzzer]

I also have an 805/PS3/Klipsch combo. Beautiful sound, never any issues with audio over HDMI to the 805. One question, do you have the audio from the PS3 set as Linear PCM or Bitstream? It should be set to Linear PCM.

There are a ton of settings that could be set incorrectly on both the PS3 and the 805. I'll be happy to help with any issues you have, shoot me a PM or email and I can walk you through a few things if need be.

[daedalusen]

Thanks wuzzzer. I may contact you. I discovered last night that the cd player software on the ps3 has a volume control and mine was set to +1, I didn't get a chance to crank up the volume because my wife was sleeping so I'll see if that was causing the clipping smearing issue, having the artificial gain set high. I'll report back if thats the case.