[Coop]

My surround sound includes 7 Aerial Acoustic speakers and 3 Bryston amps.  The three fronts are each powered by 300 watts and the back four each by 250 watts, all balanced.  When installing the new Monolith THP-1, I am to choose a VRMS level.  In communication with Bryston a couple of years ago, I was advised that the 2 volt setting on the 6BSST would match the balanced outputs on the two older amps.  However, this setting provided too low a sound level.  During calibration with DLBC, I used the 2 volt setting, but when playing program material, I had to raise the VRMS to 3.8 for sufficient output.  Even then, the HTP-1 master volume sometimes has to be -5.  The sound is excellent, the best that my 7.4 system has ever sounded.
Does any of this make any sense?  Am I endangering the amps with this setting?  The system does not appear to be straining in any way.  There is no distortion that my wife or I can detect.
Thank you in advance for your help.

[James Tanner]

My surround sound includes 7 Aerial Acoustic speakers and 3 Bryston amps.  The three fronts are each powered by 300 watts and the back four each by 250 watts, all balanced.  When installing the new Monolith THP-1, I am to choose a VRMS level.  In communication with Bryston a couple of years ago, I was advised that the 2 volt setting on the 6BSST would match the balanced outputs on the two older amps.  However, this setting provided too low a sound level.  During calibration with DLBC, I used the 2 volt setting, but when playing program material, I had to raise the VRMS to 3.8 for sufficient output.  Even then, the HTP-1 master volume sometimes has to be -5.  The sound is excellent, the best that my 7.4 system has ever sounded.
Does any of this make any sense?  Am I endangering the amps with this setting?  The system does not appear to be straining in any way.  There is no distortion that my wife or I can detect.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi Coop

Are the other Bryston amps set at the 2 volt setting as well?

james

[Coop]

Hi James,

Thank you for your prompt response.
Actually, the 6Bsst was at 1 volt.  I had placed it there at your suggestion several years ago and it had made a wonderful difference with the Anthem AVM60 I had at the time.  I actually forgot that I had done that and ran the DLBC calibration without changing it back.  Do you think the difference of having it at 1 and the other two at 2 could be the explanation?  I don't think I should change the 16BSST's setting without re-doing the entire calibration.  The sound stage is easily the best I've had in my 20+ years of having these speakers and amps.  If the discrepancy is the explanation, do you think I should re-do the calibration with the correct setting?  If so, what might I gain?
Thanks again for your expertise.
I forgot to add that the other two Bryston (250 per channel) do not have a switch for changing this setting.

[James Tanner]

Hi Coop

The reason that the 2 volt setting is recommended with Balanced systems is it gives the system an overall gain which is the same as if you were using the 1 volt setting with the RCA connectors.

So if you use the 1 volt setting on the 6B you would not have to add gain on your processor.

So try it with all the settings at 1Volt and see what you think.

I personally think the my system sounds better with the 1 volt settings.

james

[Coop]

Hi Coop

The reason that the 2 volt setting is recommended with Balanced systems is it gives the system an overall gain which is the same as if you were using the 1 volt setting with the RCA connectors.

So if you use the 1 volt setting on the 6B you would not have to add gain on your processor.

So try it with all the settings at 1Volt and see what you think.

I personally think the my system sounds better with the 1 volt settings.

james

Hi James,
I apologize for my lack of clarity.  My 3 front channels are each powered by 300 watts which has been set at 1 volt.  The other 4 channels are each powered by 250 watts which are factory set at 2 watts.  This is all in balanced mode.  After calibrating with DLBC at 2 volts, I have had to raise the VRMS to 3.8 to get decent volume.  Do you have any idea why this would be occurring?  Am I running any risk to the amps?  Is there any possibility of distortion at this setting, which we don't hear?  Is there any good reason to change the adjustable setting on the one amp back to 2 volts to match the other 2 amps and then re-run the calibration?   
I cannot change all of the settings to 1 volt because only the 3 channel amp has a switch for choosing between 1,2 and 4 volts.  The other 2 amps are factory set at 2 volts.
Thanks again for you prompt response and expertise.

Coop

[James Tanner]

Hi James,
I apologize for my lack of clarity.  My 3 front channels are each powered by 300 watts which has been set at 1 volt.  The other 4 channels are each powered by 250 watts which are factory set at 2 watts.  This is all in balanced mode.  After calibrating with DLBC at 2 volts, I have had to raise the VRMS to 3.8 to get decent volume.  Do you have any idea why this would be occurring?  Am I running any risk to the amps?  Is there any possibility of distortion at this setting, which we don't hear?  Is there any good reason to change the adjustable setting on the one amp back to 2 volts to match the other 2 amps and then re-run the calibration?   
I cannot change all of the settings to 1 volt because only the 3 channel amp has a switch for choosing between 1,2 and 4 volts.  The other 2 amps are factory set at 2 volts.
Thanks again for you prompt response and expertise.

Coop

Hi Coop

No problem at all with distortion or other issues with the settings you have.

james