Help with Emotiva Basx A5 & Yamaha A870

[rgbbhat]

Dear Team- Need advise please

Current Set Up

1. LR - B&W 702 S2 ( set to Large)
2. CN - HTM71 S2 ( set to Large)
3. Rear Surround - B&W 603 S2 ( set to Large)
4. Atmos - Polk OWM3s ( set to SMALL)
5. AVR - Yamaha A 870 , No Sub & Mainly for Movies
6. I added a Power Amp - Emotiva BASX A5 - 5 Channel power Amp. Connected Pre Out on Yamaha to Emotiva for LCR & Surrounds

Before Adding Power Amp - The volume was louder. I watched movies with volume showing -35
After Adding Power Amp - The volume has reduced and I have to crank it up to -25
The Treble sounds less sharper or is it in my mind as I thought the Power Amp just kept the sound signature same but increased the Details and Volume.

Pls let me know
a. Whether there any adjustments or Settings to be reconfigured on the Yamaha ( I am yet to rerun the Calibration) as there are no buttons on the Emotiva
b. When I am rerunning the calibration , any adjustments to make.

Thank you.

Rajesh

 

[edjamesx]

Pls let me know
a. Whether there any adjustments or Settings to be reconfigured on the Yamaha ( I am yet to rerun the Calibration) as there are no buttons on the Emotiva
b. When I am rerunning the calibration , any adjustments to make.

Not sure your Yamaha A 870 have any special configuration for pre-out volume settings. Generally volume settings are same for both pre-outs and AVR speaker connections. I have denon AVR and there's no special volume settings for preout and it works good with Emotiva power amp i connected. Generally i set volume at 55db (max 98 db volume) , it sounds pretty good.

Power amp generally increase the volume slightly 2 to 4 db than your AVR volume and the clarity +Treble + mid bass should sound punchier than default AVR connections. And the sound should be pretty good and punchier at high volumes.

What type of connection you did from AVR to power amp ?. XLR cables or normal coaxial cables?. Both the way it should not affect the volume but XLR connections are better. Check you are using the good quality cables whether its coaxial or XLR cables.
From Power amp to speakers - check the connections are correct and polarity is not mismatched.

One more thing is set all speakers to "small" in AVR speakers configuration , set Cross over at : 80 hz and check whether your treble sounds sharper and louder.

I think Emotiva BASX A5 set auto power impedance to match the speakers , whether speakers are 2/4/8 ohms. You need to check both emotiva and speaker manual to find this. If this mismatch is there then also there could be issue.

 

[rgbbhat]

Not sure your Yamaha A 870 have any special configuration for pre-out volume settings. Generally volume settings are same for both pre-outs and AVR speaker connections. I have denon AVR and there's no special volume settings for preout and it works good with Emotiva power amp i connected. Generally i set volume at 55db (max 98 db volume) , it sounds pretty good.

Power amp generally increase the volume slightly 2 to 4 db than your AVR volume and the clarity +Treble + mid bass should sound punchier than default AVR connections. And the sound should be pretty good and punchier at high volumes.

What type of connection you did from AVR to power amp ?. XLR cables or normal coaxial cables?. Both the way it should not affect the volume but XLR connections are better. Check you are using the good quality cables whether its coaxial or XLR cables.
From Power amp to speakers - check the connections are correct and polarity is not mismatched.

One more thing is set all speakers to "small" in AVR speakers configuration , set Cross over at : 80 hz and check whether your treble sounds sharper and louder.

I think Emotiva BASX A5 set auto power impedance to match the speakers , whether speakers are 2/4/8 ohms. You need to check both emotiva and speaker manual to find this. If this mismatch is there then also there could be issue.

Oh ok. Thanks. I am using the BlueRigger RCA Cables- https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07PK7DBG9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
I will run the calibration and check what it sets the Speakers at. I will then set it to Small and check.
Thank you once again. Got a lot to learn now

 

[rgbbhat]

Hello sir. Did the Calibration and the output is much much better. I did a multi point measurement n the results as below
LCR - Large
Rear Surrounds- Large
Atmos Spkrs - Small 100 Hz
Once I chk on Movies, I will bump up the centre for dialogues.
Thank you.

 

[efernand1]

Hello sir. Did the Calibration and the output is much much better. I did a multi point measurement n the results as below
LCR - Large
Rear Surrounds- Large
Atmos Spkrs - Small 100 Hz
Once I chk on Movies, I will bump up the centre for dialogues.
Thank you.

Glad it worked out! Usually whenever there are changes or additions to the system, re running the caliberation helps. Also manual tweaking / adjustments can be made to each speaker / source volume etc. Refer to the owners manual for details.

 

[edjamesx]

Hello sir. Did the Calibration and the output is much much better. I did a multi point measurement n the results as below
LCR - Large
Rear Surrounds- Large
Atmos Spkrs - Small 100 Hz
Once I chk on Movies, I will bump up the centre for dialogues.
Thank you.

Good to know. Generally Speakers can be set to "small" and Cross over at 80 hz that is THS standard and it will work out good for all speakers.
If you are happy with above settings then keep it going. Cheers..!

 

[rgbbhat]

Good to know. Generally Speakers can be set to "small" and Cross over at 80 hz that is THS standard and it will work out good for all speakers.
If you are happy with above settings then keep it going. Cheers..!

Thank you so much. I will also experiment for 80 Hz cut off.

 

[insane79]

Good to know. Generally Speakers can be set to "small" and Cross over at 80 hz that is THS standard and it will work out good for all speakers.
If you are happy with above settings then keep it going. Cheers..!

The OP doesn't have a subwoofer so 80hz cut off is not recommend, as the freq below 80hz will be cut off completly.

If a subwoofer is present then Yes i agree with setting speakers to Small & setting crossovers to 80hz.

Cheers.

 

[spirovious]

Before Adding Power Amp - The volume was louder. I watched movies with volume showing -35
After Adding Power Amp - The volume has reduced and I have to crank it up to -25
The Treble sounds less sharper or is it in my mind as I thought the Power Amp just kept the sound signature same but increased the Details and Volume.

Yamaha avr preouts will have 1v output whereas marantz will have upto 1.2v out. Now do check how much Basx needs. CD players usually output 2v.
That may need more volume on avr.

Poweramp handles speakers well and so sound may appear softer than earlier as noise can be less.
Still trying different RCA can give desired or clost results.

When l have added different poweramps to Yamaha or Marantz avr, sound used be softer only. So prefer avr output than poweramp.