# onkyo tx sr600 volume problems



## rnult13 (Nov 17, 2010)

I have an onkyo tx sr600 receiver hooked up to a dvd player and tv.
Both are using optical cables for audio into the receiver.
The dvd is using optical 1
The tv is using optical 2

When I watch a dvd, the normal volume is around 55 (on the receiver)
When I watch tv, I need to crank up the volume to 75, just to get a decent volume.

Why do I need to crank up the volume so much when I watch tv?

Help Please.

Thanks,
Rick


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

It could be because your sending audio from the TV, is the tv volume output set to variable in the tv user menu? also optical from the TV will only be 2.1 digital as it is limited by copy-write laws and such.


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## rnult13 (Nov 17, 2010)

I checked at lunch. There is no volume output setting on the tv user menu.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Are you using the tuner in the TV or is it from a sat receiver or something like it? If you are then you may need to check that menu as well for a fixed or adjustable output


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Hello!

I used to run a TX-SR600 in my first HT system, as did my parents in theirs, per my recommendation for the unit and Onkyo's stuff in general. Perhaps I can help.

First of all, no two media "sources" are going to sound alike in terms of sheer output -- all DVDs/CDs/TV shows are mastered at different levels, so you are going to have to get used to raising the volume for certain sources and lowering it for others; from my experience with the 600, which is rated at 80 watts a channel, I always needed to crank this thing's master volume way up to get any sound out of it, and that was with positively-trimmed speaker channel values and high IntelliVolume settings...but, after all, this thing is "rated" by Onkyo at 80 watts a channel...

Now, I will get into IntelliVolume in a moment -- but first, let me ask: Have you adjusted the 600's channel levels? Have you gone into the speaker calibration menu of the AVR and adjusted each? I know the 600 doesn't have automatic setup (this appeared in the model afterwards, the 601) so you will have to do this manually -- many suggest an SPL meter, but if you want to just give some settings a try, give these a spin (they're my recommended settings): 

Front Left: +6dB
Center: +8dB
Front Right: +6dB
Surround Left: +6dB (IF this channel is equidistant from your seating position in relation to the other surround channel)
Surround Right: +6dB (IF this channel is equidistant from your seating position in relation to the other surround channel)
Sub: This one is tricky; depends on your room, sub, bass enthusiasm...play around with it

Let me get into IntelliVolume now -- this helps most people just getting into Onkyo products a great deal, assisting them with the inherent "low volume output" issue most of their receivers exhibit in the lower range of a volume scale...under your 600's setup menu, look for an option called "INTELLIVOLUME" (should be for "Source Setup"). Try raising this level to, say, "+10dB" or so for whatever source you think doesn't have enough "push" to it -- TV, DVD, etc. The specifics of why this works although how it's not really intended to be used by Onkyo is too in depth right now, but by doing it the way I suggested, it kind of makes this control act like a power amp's "input sensitivity" feature, in which it kind of "wakes up" the amps inside the receiver...

Let me know if you try any of these out and about your channel level adjustments...


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## rnult13 (Nov 17, 2010)

The cable box is hooked up to the tv. I have an optical out going from the tv into the receiver.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

rnult13 said:


> The cable box is hooked up to the tv. I have an optical out going from the tv into the receiver.


What "inputs" do you have these digital cables connected to at the receiver -- are they plugged into "Aux," "DVD," what? You have to "assign" these digital inputs for the sources connected to them. Then, you can play with the IntelliVolume I told you about, raising the volume for each of these sources.


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## rnult13 (Nov 17, 2010)

The dvd is plugged into the dvd input for optical 1.
The tv is plugged into the video1 input for optical 2.
The digital inputs are assigned correctly.

Is it possible to raise the volume independently, using IntelliVolume, between the dvd and video1?

Thanks


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

rnult13 said:


> The dvd is plugged into the dvd input for optical 1.
> The tv is plugged into the video1 input for optical 2.
> The digital inputs are assigned correctly.
> 
> ...


Yes -- first select the source you want to adjust (DVD, etc.). Then go into SETUP MENU, and under SOURCE SETUP, find INTELLIVOLUME, and raise that INDEPENDENTLY to about +9 or +10dB for each source selected...

Also, what about your speaker calibration numbers? How are these adjusted?


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## rnult13 (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks for all your help!!!

The IntelliVolume did the trick.

Thanks again,
Rick


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Great!

Glad I could help.


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