Manual speaker level question

[drumace]

Hey folks,
I have both balanced and unbalanced amps in my setup. LCR used to be balanced and the rest is unbalanced (rear and surround). After a calibration is done, the LCR channel speakers (T2+, C2+) would get a -9db drop while the other channels (B1+) gets maybe -1/-2db drop. Recently my center channel speaker was switched to an unbalanced amp (A-500) joining the rear and surround, after the XPA-1L that used to drive it stopped working (LR channels are still powered by XPA-1Ls).
The main reason I prefer to have my towers as the reference level (0db) rather than the stay with the calibration levels is because I don’t want to crank the volume to near max to get the required SPL, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.

Questions:
1. Is that massive drop is due to the difference in gain between the balanced and unbalanced amps?
2. I normally reset the levels to 0db after calibration and add a slight bump in db to the rear and surround. Now I have to add about 6-7db to the center channel so it has the same SPL as the LR channels. Does raising the levels above 0db (and especially when adding a significant bump) can introduce distortion or damage to the speakers/amps?

Thanks

[geebo]

Nov 14, 2022 22:30:58 GMT -5 drumace said:

Hey folks,
I have both balanced and unbalanced amps in my setup. LCR used to be balanced and the rest is unbalanced (rear and surround). After a calibration is done, the LCR channel speakers (T2+, C2+) would get a -9db drop while the other channels (B1+) gets maybe -1/-2db drop. Recently my center channel speaker was switched to an unbalanced amp (A-500) joining the rear and surround, after the XPA-1L that used to drive it stopped working (LR channels are still powered by XPA-1Ls).
The main reason I prefer to have my towers as the reference level (0db) rather than the stay with the calibration levels is because I don’t want to crank the volume to near max to get the required SPL, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.

Questions:
1. Is that massive drop is due to the difference in gain between the balanced and unbalanced amps?
2. I normally reset the levels to 0db after calibration and add a slight bump in db to the rear and surround. Now I have to add about 6-7db to the center channel so it has the same SPL as the LR channels. Does raising the levels above 0db (and especially when adding a significant bump) can introduce distortion or damage to the speakers/amps?

Thanks

It might help if you tell us what processor you're using and if you're running Dirac or some other RCS.

[drumace]

Nov 15, 2022 11:43:57 GMT -5 geebo said:

Nov 14, 2022 22:30:58 GMT -5 drumace said:

Hey folks,
I have both balanced and unbalanced amps in my setup. LCR used to be balanced and the rest is unbalanced (rear and surround). After a calibration is done, the LCR channel speakers (T2+, C2+) would get a -9db drop while the other channels (B1+) gets maybe -1/-2db drop. Recently my center channel speaker was switched to an unbalanced amp (A-500) joining the rear and surround, after the XPA-1L that used to drive it stopped working (LR channels are still powered by XPA-1Ls).
The main reason I prefer to have my towers as the reference level (0db) rather than the stay with the calibration levels is because I don’t want to crank the volume to near max to get the required SPL, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.

Questions:
1. Is that massive drop is due to the difference in gain between the balanced and unbalanced amps?
2. I normally reset the levels to 0db after calibration and add a slight bump in db to the rear and surround. Now I have to add about 6-7db to the center channel so it has the same SPL as the LR channels. Does raising the levels above 0db (and especially when adding a significant bump) can introduce distortion or damage to the speakers/amps?

Thanks

It might help if you tell us what processor you're using and if you're running Dirac or some other RCS.

Correct, my bad.
My pre-pro is Marantz AV8801 which uses Audyssey calibration.

[geebo]

Nov 15, 2022 11:47:13 GMT -5 drumace said:

Nov 15, 2022 11:43:57 GMT -5 geebo said:

It might help if you tell us what processor you're using and if you're running Dirac or some other RCS.

Correct, my bad.
My pre-pro is Marantz AV8801 which uses Audyssey calibration.

I'm not familiar with the operation of that processor but there are others here that are. Maybe one of them will chime in.

[knucklehead]

I wouldn't worry about how much you might have to crank the Marantz up to get to the level you want. It's all relative to the settings that Audyssey uses, and the amps will get the same juice at the same levels you like it at regardless of where the levels are set by Audyssey, or what you set them at.

[leonski]

Electrically, the difference between single ended and balanced is 6db.....if all to standard.

Differences in AMP GAIN and Speaker Sensitivity may account for more of the change, too.....