Why do my active speakers sound better with my PC as a source compared to a Denon AVR-E300?
PC motherboard is a Gigabyte G-Z170N-Gaming 5. Line out from the PC is a 3.5mm to RCA breakout cable. The RCA ends plug into a Dayton Audio DSP-408. Speaker wires run from DSP-408 to active speakers. (JBL 305P MkII, also tested with a DIY set of active speakers.) With this setup the speakers sound fantastic.
However, if I use my Denon AVR-E300 the active speakers -- both sets -- sound terrible. Attaching passive speakers to the AVR-E300 sounds much better, but not even close to the quality of the PC to active speaker combo.
As an alternative to the Gigabyte motherboard I have also used a Topping E30 to bypass the motherboard DAC through a USB connection. I did not notice a difference between running active speakers on either the PC motherboard or the dedicated DAC. Sounds the same to my ear.
Does anyone know why a PC motherboard would sound so good and an AVR would sound bad with active speakers?
PC motherboard is a Gigabyte G-Z170N-Gaming 5. Line out from the PC is a 3.5mm to RCA breakout cable. The RCA ends plug into a Dayton Audio DSP-408. Speaker wires run from DSP-408 to active speakers. (JBL 305P MkII, also tested with a DIY set of active speakers.) With this setup the speakers sound fantastic.
However, if I use my Denon AVR-E300 the active speakers -- both sets -- sound terrible. Attaching passive speakers to the AVR-E300 sounds much better, but not even close to the quality of the PC to active speaker combo.
As an alternative to the Gigabyte motherboard I have also used a Topping E30 to bypass the motherboard DAC through a USB connection. I did not notice a difference between running active speakers on either the PC motherboard or the dedicated DAC. Sounds the same to my ear.
Does anyone know why a PC motherboard would sound so good and an AVR would sound bad with active speakers?
Don't do that anymore. Active speakers have an amplifier built in and should not be connected to another amplifier, they only require a line level input so you could connect them directly to the computer outputs or via the DSP if you want some EQ that isn't available on the computer. And use shielded interconnect cables not unshielded speaker cable to minimize the potential to pickup noise.
The reason they sounded so bad when connected to the AVR is that the speaker inputs were overdriven.
Last edited:
Forgot to explain that. DSP-408 controls an individually amped CBT array. Yes, I did connect the receiver to the DSP-408, then the DSP-408 to the active CBT array.
It sounds exceptionally good with PC => DSP-408 => CBT array. I didn't understand what I was doing when I built it so I got lucky but I don't understand what I did right. I'd like to understand what I did right so I can adapt future projects.
They use unshielded now but there's no pickup noise.
3.5mm/RCA from PC out to DSP, four sets of speaker wires running from DSP to each individually amped CBT array. Doorbell wire from amplifiers to transducers. Very slight hiss if you place your ear an inch from the array. Audio from CBT is as good as JBL 305P except like an array soundfield. When I move close to JBL 305P it sounds louder as I get closer. CBT array sounds like it is the same volume level as I get closer.
Maybe the twisted doorbell wire is acting like a shield. Or maybe it's because the speaker cables are only carrying a low power DSP signal to the amplifiers.
Attachments
Last edited:
Also, the black wires coming into the array amplifiers is just 24VDC power. Follows along the same path as the four sets of speaker wires for ten feet. Which means the switching power supply is far away from the amplifiers. However, the power supply is inside the JBL 305P speaker.
So I'm not sure which pieces of this puzzle wound up making the speakers sound good.
So I'm not sure which pieces of this puzzle wound up making the speakers sound good.
DSP accepts line level not speaker level.
With the PC setup, you have connected line level out from mobo to the DSP in, so it works fine.
With AVR, the speaker level signal may have more distortion with lower volume, which will be the case here. Connect the line level pre-outs of your AVR to DSP input ie use your AVR as a pre-amp/processor not as a power amp.
With the PC setup, you have connected line level out from mobo to the DSP in, so it works fine.
With AVR, the speaker level signal may have more distortion with lower volume, which will be the case here. Connect the line level pre-outs of your AVR to DSP input ie use your AVR as a pre-amp/processor not as a power amp.
With regard to the Denon AVR I think that is the correct thing to do. My model does not have pre-outs because it is a low priced model. The closest thing I have is a headphone out on the front of the receiver. I bought it off Facebook Marketplace a week ago to bypass my PC to see what it sounded like.
Time to get on AliExpress and start looking for a simple 7.1 decoder with line level outputs. (for the Amazon Fire TV streaming box.)
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.