Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Movie voices sometimeseem raspy or too "bright"...

I have Axiom setup with a Harmon Kardon AVR635. M22's, QS8's, VP150, and a EP500.

When I watch HD-DVD or DVD movies at loud volumes sometimes the voices come across with a raspy-ness and harshness during conversations. I've read that it might be the receiver being too "bright". I often find myself turning the treble way down to alleviate the problem.

Anything I can do/check to help this out?

Thanks for any help!

Can you quantify "loud"? Are you sure you're not over-driving your HK?

Hm.. Well if you ask my wife it's WAY TO LOUD. But in all honestly I wouldn't think at the volume I'm talking about would push the reciever to the max. Loud enough to give the theater effect. But still alot of volume to go on the reciever knob. Does that answer the question? And how would I know if I was pushing the reciever to much?

Thanks!

I'm running a VP150 with an HK 635 and have never had any of the issues you are describing, nor have I ever felt the need to tweak the tone controls on the 635. I also believe there are a few of us with AVR635s around these parts and I don't recall ever reading problems such as yours on the board. To me it doesn't sound like a power problem ... I presume everything is connected correctly and properly calibrated? Have you nailed the problem to the 150 center and if so, have you checked the drivers in the speaker to make sure they are working like they should be? Also, do you have this issue whenever you are in 2 channel stereo mode?

If you want to check if it's a problem with the receiver you can connect one of your 60's as your center.

"You said "sometimes" which leads be to believe that your HK's 75W are being taken to task during movies that have large dynamics. Or, maybe you have a damaged tweeter or amplifier channel."

We've (I!) have had our 635 cranked to some extremely loud levels over the past couple of years with the 150 and have never felt as though the receiver was ever peaking. Unless JB is turning the volume level to the utmost extremes, which from the way he is describing I wouldn't think so, I wouldn't believe it's a power issue with the 635 ... I'm betting it's something else.

Thanks everyone.

I definitely don't turn it up to the Max volume. I really don’t think I’m straining the receiver. If the volume was more close to full tilt I would definitely feel that may be the cause.

When I say sometimes I mean it depends on the movie and the person talking I guess. Depending on the deepness of the voice of the person it could sound like they are whispering. Hope that makes sense. I want to make it clear that it's not every movie or voice. And it's usually only noticeable when there is a conversation without much background noise. I distinctly remember a scene in the latest Mission Impossible movie when Tom Cruise is talking to his wife near the fridge in the kitchen. It was very evident something was strange with the sound. It sounded like he was whispering with a “hissing” at the end of the words.

Adjusting the Treble helps but does not solve the problem. And obviously hurts the sounds overall.

So if this is a possible bad tweeter what other tips are helpful in locating it? What else could it possibly be if not a tweeter or strained receiver?

JB I had a driver go bad on one of my 80s not too terribly long after purchasing them and I located the bad driver by playing music while placing my ear within an inch or so to each driver until the culprit was found...you won't need to turn the volume up loud in order to locate a bad driver in this manner. You should definitely tell a discernible difference between the good drivers and the bad driver, if that is indeed the problem.

Other than maybe some sort of digital processing issue within the receiver in a particular mode (DD, PLIIx, DTS...etc) I wouldn't know what the cause may be.

Someone with a lot more knowledge than me will show up sooner or later, good luck!

If it is just for some movies, it could also be that you are victim of extra highs in the sound material itself added to compensate for movie theaters size and number of people. Does your receiver have a "re-eq" feature to compensate? With many movies meant for big, big screens (Harry Potter, X-Men and so on), I have exagerated "s" until I turn the re-eq to on.

That's a great point. It's called "cinema equalization" on most pre/pros and it should be turned to "on" to tame the highs.