avr not enough power for speakers?

[get_zwole]

Ok guys i have a bout 10 year old HK avr 65 its rated at 75 watts per channel 5.1 i believe. I have Ascend acoustics L/R/C Sub isnt here yet. Just calibrated my system and im at only 20 sometimes 19 if im not still on master volume. On test tones im right at 75 maybe a tad lower 74 very very close though. Listening to a jack johnson cd right now at reference level with 93 db peaks mostly 86 87 or so. So master volume is at 19. My question is when the music pauses i have a airy scratchy sound coming through the speakers like a wind noise or something. Is this because my reciever is having to work too hard to push the speakers? I plan on getting a onkyo 805 in the next week or so. But i dont wanna push it hard enough its clipping or whatever and hurting my speakers. Is this normal? I havent heard this sound before just kinda sounds like wind or well hard to explain im sure some of you have heard it before. Anyways thats basically my question is about the airy or wind sound. The explanation was to make sure i did everything correct. Thanks for any help. Sorry about my grammar or punctuation i just got home from work and it hurts my arms just to type lol thanks again.

[get_zwole]

also ive checked and double checked speaker terminals and avr terminals everything is connected good. Using 12 gauge speaker wire from monoprice thanks guys.

[davef]

Listening to a jack johnson cd right now at reference level with 93 db peaks mostly 86 87 or so. So master volume is at 19. My question is when the music pauses i have a airy scratchy sound coming through the speakers like a wind noise or something. Is this because my reciever is having to work too hard to push the speakers?

To confirm, you hear this only when the music stops playing, correct? Quick question, do you hear this on this CD only?

[get_zwole]

well its kinda when it gets quiet in the songs too just harder to hear then. Oh and no not just this cd just about everyone when i get up in volume a bit. Never go to the extreme though.

[davef]

well its kinda when it gets quiet in the songs too just harder to hear then. Oh and no not just this cd just about everyone when i get up in volume a bit. Never go to the extreme though.

Sounds to me like noise or possibly even a ground loop. If this was related to power (not enough etc.), you would be hearing distortion at the loudest parts of the song, not the quiet parts.

Hit pause on the CD when you hear this noise, does it go away?

Remember, loudspeakers are only going to reproduce what they are being sent. Is it possible you are hearing a subtle instrument in the background that you hadn't noticed before? Perhaps a brush being dragged across a cymbal?

[davef]

Ahh -- one more thing -- you mentioned it sounds like wind. Does it oscillate or change in pitch? If so, it could very well be transistor noise, in which case -- your receiver could very well be on its way out.

[get_zwole]

not really its more like a hiss now that i think about it like a very light test tone behind the music. Ok its not lack of power no distorting is going on. Doesnt really change sound unless i turn it up louder then it gets louder etc.
edit thanks alot dave really appreciate your help.

[get_zwole]

yes when i hit pause it stops. I know its not an instrument i think its just noise from the receiver, ground loop could that be this culprit? If so how can i check that.

[DougMac]

It could be that you're hearing tape hiss from the original master that your prior speakers weren't reproducing as well. I've found that my Ascends reproduce subtle musical details I wasn't hearing with my other speakers. That's the good news. The bad news is that they also reproduce any faults with the original recording, including tape hiss, better.

The fact the noise stops when you pause your CD player leads me to believe the problem lies elsewhere, either with the source material or with electronics in your CD player. Do you have the CD player hooked up using analog connections (RCA) or do you use an optical or coax digital connection? Given the age of your receiver, I'm betting you're using analog. Also, is your CD player the same age as your receiver? If so, you might start by getting a newer CD player. Even fairly inexpensive newer players will have better DACs.

Doug

[get_zwole]

hey man thanks for the reply. I have a ps3 hooked up optical to my reciever thats what i use for music storage cd player and dvd etc.
edit link to my receiver i use http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-AVR65-Surround-Receiver/dp/B00000JCRO

[curtis]

Do you have anything else besides the PS3 hooked up?

[dallas]

FWIW, I have a PS3 also, and there's a bit of audible hiss/white noise whenever a CD is being played. I had assumed it's low level sound on the recording, since it's not there when in the XMB and movies.

I've heard it on more than one CD too, so it's possible the PS3 has some noise in it's CD player "software". Maybe double check for PS3 settings to see how it's outputting the signal, bitstream, PCM, etc.

Now you have me curious....

[get_zwole]

Do you have anything else besides the PS3 hooked up?

no just to the receiver my cable box etc. goes to my tv till i get a receiver that does hdmi in and out. checking out my sound settings right now doug thanks.

[get_zwole]

hey doug can you post up your ps3 settings for music? what is your audio cd import set at? mines at 128 kbps is that good it can go too 320?

audio cd output frequency? is at 48 khz or 44.1/88.2/176.4khz? way too high on the second isnt it?

bitmapping dont even know what that means. type 1,2,3 or off. Sorry man but i dont know much about hrz's or any of this lol. thanks for all the help guys really your great.

[davef]

Just to confirm a few items.

1. You only hear the hiss when using a CD source, correct?

2. The hiss changes in volume when you change the volume level of the receiver. This means that this hiss exists before the pre-amp section of the receiver.

3. The hiss stops when you hit pause on your CD player.

Based on these items, it is reasonable to conclude that the hiss is coming into the receiver, rather than being generated by the receiver. I suspect your PS3 is the culprit, however, as others have mentioned, you could be hearing master tape hiss. Older CD's are recorded from master tapes and definitely have tape hiss. If you have a modern CD that sounds perfect, no hiss - then your PS3 is fine and you are simply hearing the complete source material (hiss and all). If you hear hiss on every CD, something is not quite right with your PS3...

Hope this helps!

[davef]

hey doug can you post up your ps3 settings for music? what is your audio cd import set at? mines at 128 kbps is that good it can go too 320?

audio cd output frequency? is at 48 khz or 44.1/88.2/176.4khz? way too high on the second isnt it?

bitmapping dont even know what that means. type 1,2,3 or off. Sorry man but i dont know much about hrz's or any of this lol. thanks for all the help guys really your great.

Based on the receiver you are using, I must assume you are running analog out from the PS3 to the receiver. I am not sure if these settings would matter in your case (since you are running analog out)

[get_zwole]

Based on the receiver you are using, I must assume you are running analog out from the PS3 to the receiver. I am not sure if these settings would matter in your case (since you are running analog out)

no im running optical to the receiver its old but was very nice back in 99 when my dad bought it. think it ran him like a grand or so. Do i wanna add cd's to the library with aac or mp3 isnt mp3 compressed? and if aac at 128 or 320kb or whatever lol.

[get_zwole]

Just to confirm a few items.

1. You only hear the hiss when using a CD source, correct?

2. The hiss changes in volume when you change the volume level of the receiver. This means that this hiss exists before the pre-amp section of the receiver.

3. The hiss stops when you hit pause on your CD player.

Based on these items, it is reasonable to conclude that the hiss is coming into the receiver, rather than being generated by the receiver. I suspect your PS3 is the culprit, however, as others have mentioned, you could be hearing master tape hiss. Older CD's are recorded from master tapes and definitely have tape hiss. If you have a modern CD that sounds perfect, no hiss - then your PS3 is fine and you are simply hearing the complete source material (hiss and all). If you hear hiss on every CD, something is not quite right with your PS3...

Hope this helps!
i bet your right dave thanks for helping me figure out the problem ;) Thanks to everybody else that posted as well really appreciated.

[davef]

no im running optical to the receiver its old but was very nice back in 99 when my dad bought it. think it ran him like a grand or so. Do i wanna add cd's to the library with aac or mp3 isnt mp3 compressed? and if aac at 128 or 320kb or whatever lol.

Ahh -- good. I suggest trying to use the analog out of the PS3 into the CD input on your receiver. Chances are that the D/A converter in your PS3 is far superior to the D/A converter in your older receiver.

In other words, in your setup your receiver is converting the digital signal to analog and you might be much better off having the PS3 take care of this, especially since the A/D converters in your PS3 are the latest generation, as compared to your receiver.