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Post by dwkdnvr on Dec 25, 2014 13:31:33 GMT -5
Not sure anyone will be around on Xmas, but just in case.
Picked up a new Fusion 8100 that arrived yesterday. Hooked it up this morning in case we wanted music or possibly movies over the next couple days with family here. Very simple setup initially - just L/C/R and a blu-ray player hooked up via hdmi1 and optical 1. L/R speakers are Statement Monitors and C is the cheapie Pioneer Andrew Jones center.
The problem I'm having is that I'm only getting very quiet audio output even with the volume cranked all the way to 80 (the highest it will go). It's hard to tell, but it also sounds like there may be distortion creeping in when the volume is above about 74. this is occurring via both the hdmi and optical inputs when playing a CD in the player. I havent' tried the pre-outs to see what they're putting out. I didn't have any problem with the Panny XR55 that was in place previously when running over optical, so I doubt the problem is that the source is attenuating the digital signal.
Searching the forums I dont see anyone else complaining about this. Is it necessary to do a calibration before getting reasonable levels? Or, does this point to a problem with the unit?
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Post by unsound on Dec 25, 2014 13:37:09 GMT -5
Have you performed the speaker set up and checked the playback options?
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Post by knucklehead on Dec 25, 2014 13:41:49 GMT -5
IIRC from my UMC-200 days the trim levels in the speaker setup runs a full 24db. I don't know if the Fusion has trim levels on the remote - if it does crank them all the way up and see what happens. If they are set at -12db that would lower speaker output by quite a ways. If you have an external amp you might give that a try.
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Post by broncsrule21 on Dec 25, 2014 13:43:19 GMT -5
Does the Panny perhaps have a volume control?
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Post by broncsrule21 on Dec 25, 2014 13:45:11 GMT -5
IIRC from my UMC-200 days the trim levels in the speaker setup runs a full 24db. I don't know if the Fusion has trim levels on the remote - if it does crank them all the way up and see what happens. If they are set at -12db that would lower speaker output by quite a ways. If you have an external amp you might give that a try. just looked at my Fusion remote...it does indeed have trim controls.
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Post by dwkdnvr on Dec 26, 2014 11:19:22 GMT -5
Well, something odd was definitely going on which will require a bit more research. I hooked up the 8100 to my office system this morning, and had HDMI running to my monitor so I could go through the OSD menus rather than just using the front panel which was rather confusing. I had my squeezebox connected via coax. Changing nothing other than switching the input to CO1, I promptly blasted myself out of the room as the unit was set to a volume level of 60 - fortunately I had turned it down at least a bit from 80 during my testing yesterday, or I'd probably be looking at blown speakers and possibly damage to the receiver.
So, apparently the unit does work. I will have to wait until early next week when the family is gone to re-insert into the system downstairs and see whether the problem was a transient glitch, or is related to the Sony blu-ray player. I didn't change any internal settings, and the only real difference is that I had a display connected which I did not yesterday, but that's not something I would have expected to matter. I obviously had it unplugged overnight as well, which I suppose might have reset something internally.
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Post by MusicHead on Dec 27, 2014 11:22:50 GMT -5
I got my 8100 two weeks ago and it played loud and clear out of the box, once I hooked up my sources (a mix of HDMI, optical and good old RCA analog).
Just in case, you may want to do a factory reset: setup -> load default.
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,213
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Post by novisnick on Dec 27, 2014 20:18:12 GMT -5
Your original post sounds as if there was a bleed over which means that the wrong input was selected. Simpler things happen to all of us.
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Post by dwkdnvr on Jan 6, 2015 9:41:26 GMT -5
Following back up on this to put it to bed. I finally got a chance to move the Fusion back down into the theater space, and have watched a couple movies and everything appears to be working fine. Volume levels between 50 and 60 work with my speaker setup. I haven't played with any EQ or auto-setup, but even so it sounds pretty darn good - even with a mismatched center. It doesn't seem to have any trouble driving the 4-ohm Statement Monitors, although I'm still a bit concerned that adding a 4-ohm center might be a bit much, but I guess we'll see. The original problem might have been bleed-through from incorrect inputs, but given that it occurred via both HDMI and Optical I'm not convinced. Bleed-through at a level of only -30dB from digital inputs would be a pretty serious defect IMHO. Unless I can reproduce it though, it's all just speculation.
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Post by MusicHead on Jan 6, 2015 13:55:31 GMT -5
...I'm still a bit concerned that adding a 4-ohm center might be a bit much, but I guess we'll see. Even if you do not have a sub, chances are you are going to set your center as "small", right? Depending on how high you set the crossover and considering that the center typically has mostly voices, it should not be too much of an additional load on the 8100 power supply, which is really what it comes down to. The 8100 power rating is with all seven channels driven, which never happens in real life. I'd say there should be enough reserve left to drive a 4 Ohm Center. Even more so if you have a 5-channel set-up (you mentioned only your initial tests with three front speakers). I have a 5-channel set-up, with 6 Ohm Front L/R and 8 Ohm Surround L/R and Center. However, with the exception of the Center all other speakers are full range, therefore set to "Large" (I have no sub). The 8100 has so far shown no problem whatsover in driving all of them to pretty loud levels, and I haven't even gone past 65 on the volume scale, because it starts becoming uncomfortably loud for me past that with material recorded at decent audio level. For what is worth, in my 17x13 room at around 10ft distance from the front speakers I listen most of the time at the same level you do, between 50 and 60, although this kind of statements are intrinsecally not accurate. The opening scene of Star Wars II, with Padme Amigdala spaceship rumble when re-entering the atmosphere and then blowing up on the landing platform, was a quite "enlightening" experience after I run the ARC, even without a sub......... The 8100 has definitely way more muscles than what the size may convey.
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