Hi Group. . .

Okay, so I do, I do, I need a little hand holding here. Thanks. (I've attached a picture of my listening area with the new Triton 5s.)


Purchased the Triton 5 towers this past Friday and have no regrets. . just some questions. (I must say the dealer from whom I purchased the Tritons was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and patient. . .but sometimes questions don't arise until you get home and hook up everything.

So, for full understanding, I also purchased a 120-watt Rotel RA-1570 integrated amplifier on the same day. My system is comprised of the Triton 5s, the Rotel RA-1570, Oppo 105D-BDP, Pioneer PL-550 Direct Drive Turntable with Denon-110 MC cartridge.

My questions:

1. The Rotel has a digital volume screen display. I have to turn the Rotel up to 20 to even here anything faint, for both the turntable and the Oppo. Is this normal?
2. Is it normal to have to turn up the Rotel all the way up to 45 just to get a decent (in my view) listening level?
3. It seems my volume listening range is between 45 and 65, on the digital volume output level on the front screen of the Rotel.

a. Above 65, I seem to get distortion through the speakers at many different frequency levels.
b. When I'm that high in the volume level, aren't I reaching levels where distortion normally starts creeping in, no matter what? It kind of disappoints me that I have to go so high on the volume to reach a listening level that a like. . .but just a touch further and I'm into noticeable distortion areas.

Okay, I must admit that I have only about 10 hours listening time on the Tritons and the Rotel, and that things will "smooth out" a bit at about 60 hours, as my audiophile friend tells me. But I'm still going to have to turn the Rotel up to about 55 to get a decent listening level, and that worries me because it would seem on the edge of distortion.

4. On my Oppo 105, under speaker configuration, there is a trim option, which I have at 0, and a distance level, which I have at 9 feet. Does anyone have any thoughts on how adjustments to trim or distance might help smooth out distortion at the 65+ level, when the Oppo is my listening source.

5. On the Oppo's output volume, I used to listen comfortably with the output at 85. Now when I go past 80 on the output level on the Oppo to the Rotel to the Triton's, I get a muddling of sound.

6. Finally. . .and I understand the Triton's have passive bass radiators, not woofers, per se. . .but I can't seem to listen to loud rock 'n' roll music without a lot of distortion and muddling of sound at all levels. I tried listening to El Camino by the Black Keys on the Oppo at any level, and it just isn't happening.

Let me close on a positive. When I listen to, say, CSN by Crosby, Stills and Nash on vinyl or The Best of Tracy Chapman on CD, and keep the volume level at about 54-55, the sound is full, great soundstage, no distortion or muddling of sound, and a very warm and inviting experience. I am happy with my purchase, but, heck, it was quite a bit of change - both monetarily and spiritually, as spiritually relates to how we listen to our music - I and I don't want to be limited to a quality listening level between 45-65 volume level and want to be able to listen to my entire music catalog, which includes hundreds and LPs and thousands of CDs.

I thank you all in advance for taking the time to answer any or all of my questions.

Markinrockford

Markinrockford,

Congrats on the new gear! That was fast. I guess you decided on the Rotel to replace the Kenwood? I think I may have a few ideas to solve your problems.

First, your Denon cartridge is a moving coil cartridge and only puts out 1.6 mV. The Rotel has a moving magnet input phono stage with a minimum of 2.25 mV. The impedance is also fixed and doesn't appear to be adjustable. Your best bet would be to get a moving magnet cartridge and that should fix your issue. Maybe your dealer has a spare cartridge you could try if you don't have another one laying around. Having a low input voltage on your phono input could certainly cause what your describing.

Regarding your Oppo, is the volume on that set to 100? If you turn down the volume control on the Oppo, that would mute your volume as well. It should be set to 100 and then your Rotel will be used for volume control. I did something similar with my Oppo 103 at one point.

Hopefully these will fix your problems. It should sound pretty sweet once you have these glitches figured out. Let us know what you find out.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Thank you for your suggestions. I really feel grateful to have found this group and have become a part of it.

So, I understand your suggestion about the Denon. . .notwithstanding the fact that it's marketed as an MC cartridge that it produces enough mV to easily sound more-than-acceptable when the turntable is connected to a MM input. I may switch out with my Shure m97xe and see how much that affects how high I have to turn the volume up on the Rotel and not produce unwanted distortion.

Regarding the Oppo: very interesting suggestion. I never thought of upping the Oppo volume to 100, keeping it there, and having that result in being able to reduce the volume on the Rotel. . .and thus the Tritons. (Makes perfect sense. . should've thought of that. . .been enjoying stereo equipment for 40 years. . .but that's why I feel so fortunate to have you guys! Sometimes when I'm in the middle of such joy/fear of buying new, relatively expensive equipment, my thinking becomes less than perfectly clear!) My only fear in this regard - this being at this writing, this moment, and before I've implemented your suggestion - is that a 100 volume level on the Oppo would produce Oppo-generated distortion. This is solely based on my experience that the higher one turns up the volume and/or output on any device, distortion naturally occurs. But this very well may not be true in this case. . .especially given the quality of the Oppo.

So, I am going to implement your suggestions and let you know how it goes.

Many thanks for taking the time to offer your suggestions. They are extremely plausible, and I'll let you know early this week of the results.

Gratefully and with open ears always,

Markinrockford

Markinrockford,

Glad to offer a few suggestions and I hope they are helpful. Regarding the Oppo, I thought the same thing as you, that having the volume at 100 would cause distortion. Moderator Dude and Wayne set me straight and I looked it up as well. Being at 100% on my 103 causes no distortion whatsoever.

Regarding the MC cartridge, the Denon is a high output MC cartridge but 1.6 mV is still quite low compared to a MM cartridge that typically outputs around 5 mV. I looked up the manual for the Rotel and found the info regarding the MM phono stage. Your Shure Cartridge looks like it puts out 4 mV, so that should make a significant improvement. That's well over the specified 2.25 mV.

I look forward to hearing your impressions once you're firing on all cylinders. Hopefully my suggestions pinpoint the problem. They're both easy solutions since you have another cartridge. Please let us know how it goes and again, congrats on the new setup!

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi Markinrockford,
You are putting together a really good system, one that should sound GREAT!!!!
You just need to set things up a little bit better, that might take a bit. Don't get discouraged.
T. Cobe has given you the exact same thoughts that I had when reading your first post.
He is exactly right, The only reason there is a volume control on your Oppo is for a FEW people who listen
without a pre-amp. Everyone else keeps it at 100% same as any other source component.
And that advice of T. Cobe's about your MC cartridge is exactly right too. Your Rotel is made for MM cartridges and will not
have to be cranked up so far.
These fixes may not be everything that needs to be adjusted, but starting there is a must.
Please let us know how you get on and see how good it sounds?
Me love to help here!!!!
God Bless, Wayne

Mark,

I noticed your post on the GET Facebook page. Did you ever get your speaker wire sorted out? If I may, I would recommend the 10gaige Belden wire linked below. At only $1.30 per foot, you wouldn't need to spend very much money. Belden wire is highly regarded from what I have read. I had 16 gauge AudioQuest cable for a while but prefer the bigger wire. It also has a black casing which tends to blend in better. In all reality, if you have spent the money on the AudioQuest cable, that will be good as well.

www.parts-express.com/belden-5t00up-10-a...per-ft-usa--102-1190

What is the rest of your cabling situation? How do you have everything hooked up? That may be a source of some of your issues as well but I think the previous recommendations will go a long way towards getting things on the right track. You've got some great gear!

Cheers,

T Cobe