[Jim Mueller]

I recently had my system hooked up by the GEEK squad.

I'm confused as to decreasing and increasing volume.

As I understand from my audiology background, an increase in dB results in the correlate of increased volume.

My Yamaha gets quieter as dB increases, and visa versa.

When I questioned the GEEK squad installers, they mentioned that the minus sign before the dB # was just a referent.

Why? More importantly than why is how do I fix it.

Thank you in advance for your expertise

 

[rulerofthemoon]

Basically, the system should be calibrated so that 0 db is "movie theater" volume. That's probably really loud in your room. So, most stuff you listen too will be at levels below 0 thus you'll see negative numbers. Rather than try to change it, enjoy the fact that you are now a home theater geek. It's not like the old days, when we used to crank our gear up to "10".

 

[MichaelJHuman]

dB is a math formula which compares one value to another (reference value) by division, and then takes a logarithm. Which means it will usually be negative as the reference value will likely be greater.


We don't know what the reference value is. In general though, the reference value is such that 0 dB is close to the loudest your system can play without clipping. The exact volume at 0 dB is dependent on what you are playing, and how the system is calibrated.


All you need to know is that the closer you get to 0 dB the louder. Don't worry about it.


p.s. You can ignore the comment about movie reference. Some receiver do calibrate to THX reference level, but this is in no way necessary