[RowdyManPS]

I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Rowdy. Gee... this place looks a bit intimidating, all the doodads and doo-hickeys. I'm a simple man and a nubie audiophile. I used to be more on top of these things but life got in the way of stuff and technology got away from me.

So, I need some advice with my home theater system. My old brain is not what it once was. Maybe someone can help me figure out what's going on with my system. The sound is not quite right when I play a CD. Here's what my system consists of:

AVR: Denon S650H (150 W x 5) 5.2Ch with HEOS 4K Ulta HD
CD Player: Onkyo DX-C390 6-disc player
Speakers: Polk Audio
Monitor XT20 Lt & Rt
Monitor XT30 Center Channel
Woofer: Sony 115W 10"
TV: Sony Bravia 50" Flatscreen

And here's my problem... when I play a CD, I'm getting a lot of distortion like the background noise or something. the CD doesn't have any noticeable damage on it. I'm very careful with my stuff. No scratches or dings. I've tried several CDs and I get the same results.

The Onkyo is brand new. I just opened the box today, 8/11/2025. The speakers are also new. And music from other sources, Tidal, TuneIn, YouTube, etc., sound fine. Did I get a lemon?

Any suggestions on what I might be able to adjust, configure, do to make my experience better?
Thanks in advance.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Hi and welcome.
Do you have another receiver to see if it is the CD player that has gone bad.  Also swap cables. 
Is the distortion coming from both speakers?

And have you checked the manual to check the settings?  Did you press the Music button and select 2 ch stereo or multi channel if you have more than 2 speakers and like surround sound?


Larry

[marvda1]

Make sure the rca plugs on each end are in tight.
Try a different interconnect.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC 

[Bodhi]

Welcome to the forum, and hope you get your noise issue sorted

[RowdyManPS]

Thank you all for your replies. I don't have another receiver. I have checked all my rca and other connections, everything seems fine. As for the cd player going bad... it's brand new out of the box yesterday. Granted, there is the possibility I might have gotten a lemon...

I bought it and all the various components from Best Buy and they do have their Geek Squad which offers support. I'll probably give them a call. I hate it when things don't work right.

I spent a couple hours yesterday going through the audio setup menu for the speakers and running audio checks. The speakers seem to be fine. All 3 channels, left, right, and center plus the woofer sound great. I don't have surround speakers...yet.

When I watch a show on tv, the sound is muffled, though. I've tried changing the mode from music to movie to pure and it seems to help somewhat but it's not very clear. I seem to get too much bass. I reset all settings back to the default settings for my system.

When I listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on Tidal, my speakers sound fantastic! This is leading me to think the issue is with the cd player or the disc(s) I've tried so far.

So frustrating...

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC Rowdy   

[Phil A]

Welcome!