2 channel receiver to power surrounds?

[keithant]

I have a 2001 Yamaha HTR-5280 that for some reason the surround channels have never been very loud or pronounced even at +10 rear surround volume level,and was wondering if anyone pre-out's there surround channels into a 2 Channel receiver to boost the surround volume?Thanks for any advice,Keith.

[PAT.P]

I have a 2001 Yamaha HTR-5280 that for some reason the surround channels have never been very loud or pronounced even at +10 rear surround volume level,and was wondering if anyone pre-out's there surround channels into a 2 Channel receiver to boost the surround volume?Thanks for any advice,Keith.

First of all did you do a test tone of your speaker ,did you set them to large?Pat.P

[s dog]

I have a 2001 Yamaha HTR-5280 that for some reason the surround channels have never been very loud or pronounced even at +10 rear surround volume level,and was wondering if anyone pre-out's there surround channels into a 2 Channel receiver to boost the surround volume?Thanks for any advice,Keith.

I dont know anything about yamaha receivers, i have denon stuff but there must be something set wrong, there is no reason your surround speakers would not have much volume, read your manual very carefully , you should not have to run a outboard amp for surround speakers with a 5.1 receiver. btw im guessing it is a 5.1 and not pro- logic

[Woochifer]

As the others already asked, have you checked and matched the levels using a SPL meter? Once you match the levels using test tones and the SPL meter, then your system is properly calibrated. Any other observations you might have about the surround activity will then have more to do with the sources than anything on your system.

I use the same receiver (the RX-V version) and it should provide the same amount of power to the surrounds as the mains. If you're not using a timbre matched set of surround speakers, then the speakers you're using might have a lower efficiency. If the surrounds are a lot less efficient than the mains, then the setup menu on your receiver has a -10 db trim setting available for the mains. This setting is specifically for cases where the surrounds and/or subwoofer cannot easily match the main speakers.

Of course, the other explanation is that most soundtracks simply don't have a lot of surround activity, especially 2.0 Dolby Surround soundtracks. Even most 5.1 soundtracks don't steer a lot of the surround information into the surround channels.