Yamaha A820 and Mordant Short Aviano 6 question

[shogun123]

I recently bought Yamaha 820 and Mordant Short Aviano 6, Yamaha is 100 watts rms and Mordants are 150 watts rms but the volume seems too low, the guy in Richer Sounds said to keep the Vol just less than halfway for optimum sound and that going any higher will put pressure on the Mordants but as I said, it is too way too low, lower even than my old Gale monitor and Cambridge audio hifi set up (they were 50 watt and 70 watts)

Do I need to manually adjust the settings instead of automatic YPAO? Or should I get standmount speakers instead? (I was looking at the Tannoy revolution dc6)

Are the Mordants too high a wattage for the Yamaha to drive them properly? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[dante01]

The position of the volume dial has no bearing upon the volume level. The volume is calibrated in relation to a set reference level of 85db and the relative scale used by the A820 means that 0db equals 85db. What level is the receiver at when you are using it? The 85db level that equates to 0db is very loud and the receiver can quite easily achieve this in a moderately sized room. Forget where the dial is and use the scale to determine how loud to play the receiver.

 

[shogun123]

Thanks for replying. The gist is that I have read and been told that playing music through a 100 watt amp driving 150 watt speakers can damage the speakers if played too loud.

Depending on the cd I am playing, rock music/funk etc seems to be ok at -28 db or so but if it is soft stuff like Sinatra, James Taylor, classical etc etc then it is too low, for that kind of music -21.5 db seems to be the right volume. Is -21.5 db too loud for my amp/speaker set up? Could I damage my speakers?

I am not going to play anything any higher than -20.5.

Edited to add: My room is on the small side, it isn't tiny but it is no way a large room.

 

[dante01]

Sorry, but watts are not an indication of volume. Watts are a unit of power. Your receiver can happily power your receiver to and beyond home cinema reference levels within a moderate sized room and as measured from the listening postion you used for the YPAO calibration. You'd more probably damage your hearing before causing any harm to your speakers.

If you are listening to audio at about -21db then you are well below what could potentially cause damage to either you or your speakers. Although this is without knowing the size of your room and how far away you are from the speakers?

Play the receiver at 0db (relative to 85db in real terms) if you want and you'll still cause no damage. In fact, this is the level associated with home cinema, although not many play audio at this level due to concerns about disturbing their neibours.

 

[shogun123]

That's great, now I can listen at the preferred volumes without worrying about damage, thanks.

I am sitting quite close to the speakers (the room is quite narrow) The volume will be adjusted according to what type of music I will be listening to (movies should be fine)