Mordaunt short carnival 8 performance optimization

sl4y3r

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Hi All,

I purchased a pair of Mordaunt-Short carnival 8 from a fm.. And when i went to audition them he was playing them through a car amp. But it sounded much better.. The bass was pretty good too. I use a Onkyo 608 and have tweaked it all possible ways but still the Speakers seem under powered.I was contemplating getting a Norge amp for it for stereo. Would you guys suggest that? What norge model should I get?

Thanks.
 
Maybe the first thing you need to check is if the speakers are in phase. In fact without wasting time just reverse the leads to one speaker either at the speaker or at the amp and see if it sounds any better. If it was out of phase it will sound full now. If it now went out of phase a whole lot of things about the sound will be wrong especially the loss of bass.

The amp appears to be a decent amp and at 240 watts it certainly should be a decent match. The speakers are rated 'decent' with good bass capability. Your room acoustics and speaker placement are also a big factor !
Onkyo makes good audio amps. I doubt your amp has anything to do with what's lacking.
Don't buy or change anything until you are sure you know what's really wrong !
 
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Maybe the first thing you need to check is if the speakers are in phase. In fact without wasting time just reverse the leads to one speaker either at the speaker or at the amp and see if it sounds any better. If it was out of phase it will sound full now. If it now went out of phase a whole lot of things about the sound will be wrong especially the loss of bass.

The amp appears to be a decent amp and at 240 watts it certainly should be a decent match. The speakers are rated 'decent' with good bass capability. Your room acoustics and speaker placement are also a big factor !
Onkyo makes good audio amps. I doubt your amp has anything to do with what's lacking.
Don't buy or change anything until you are sure you know what's really wrong !

Hi, Thanks for your reply, Yes, the AMP is a 5/5 rated What-HiFI amp. But I know FS usually require good raw power. And I mean a lousy car amp was making it sound lousy. And Don't get me wrong, when i sent the Frequency range of my Fronts to "Full Range " The FS can certainly sound good enough to be use without a sub. They do go pretty low. But IDK.. Just something more fuller is what I had felt with the way he played it. It was distorting at high levels..but at Meduim levels it sounded Fuller. I did try the swapping of the leads..dint seem to make a huge difference.
 
HDMI on my Video Card. (GTX 770).

Thanks

Great.. I too use PC playback with Zotac GT 610 video card... I use XBMC (WASAPI Mode) to playback video & audio from my PC...

When listening to stereo, i use the "Pure Audio mode" and it sounds real good.. I never felt the need for a separate stereo set-up's...

So what media player do you use?
 
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Great.. I too use PC playback with Zotac GT610 video card... I use XBMC (WASAPI Mode) to playback video & audio from my PC...

When listening to stereo, i use the "Pure Audio mode" and it sounds real good.. I never felt the need for a separate stereo set-up's...

So what media player do you use?

Thanks for your reply. I use Winamp/ WMP for MP3s and MPC for FLAC annd MKV's, PDVD 14 for 3d Blurays.

I'm sure stereo sounds good for you, your 818 is a powerhouse ;)
 
Check your crossover setting on the AVR . Make sure sub is off amd speakers set to large . Turn off all other bells and wishes. Put your AVR into stereo mode or direct . Plug in a usb drive with a track you are familiar with directly Into the AVR and see if the speakers play any better . If it does the issue is your source . Or some under underlying issue. Like gains etc

The onlyo 6xx series is more that adequate to drive the carnivals.
 
Check your crossover setting on the AVR . Make sure sub is off amd speakers set to large . Turn off all other bells and wishes. Put your AVR into stereo mode or direct . Plug in a usb drive with a track you are familiar with directly Into the AVR and see if the speakers play any better . If it does the issue is your source . Or some under underlying issue. Like gains etc

The onlyo 6xx series is more that adequate to drive the carnivals.

@Flash - Thanks for your advice.I have checked the crossover frequencies etc.To all, let me clear out that the speakers do not sound bad.

Im going to make a noob comment here, but the cone excursion during the demo the FM i bought the FS from gave me was quite a bit. The bass sounded VERY tight.

One Question, I have read people saying that the FS should not really be put to Full range /40 Hz as it doesn't make a difference since you have a sub, and the one thing is it will tax/strain the AVR. How true is this. (WRT movies)
 
Thanks for your reply. I use Winamp/ WMP for MP3s and MPC for FLAC annd MKV's, PDVD 14 for 3d Blurays.

I'm sure stereo sounds good for you, your 818 is a powerhouse ;)

What is the Audio output mode in MPC ? Juz checking...

Yes, 818 is a modestly powerful AVR...stereo is very good...

One Question, I have read people saying that the FS should not really be put to Full range /40 Hz as it doesn't make a difference since you have a sub, and the one thing is it will tax/strain the AVR. How true is this. (WRT movies)

I have been using my FS full range for stereo & HT for more than 2 yrs time....I haven't had any issues so far with AVR (or) speakers...

My FS easily handles the bass in absence of sub.....

When you use a stereo amp with FS, it runs full range all the time.... So you can use them full range without any hesitation...
 
Im going to make a noob comment here, but the cone excursion during the demo the FM i bought the FS from gave me was quite a bit. The bass sounded VERY tight.

Well if the same speakers sounded tight at the FM's place and not at yours . It could be your room or speaker placement that is wrecking havoc. About the cone excursion this is something I cant comment on there are lot of otehr factors that come into play such as damping factor, tone controls etc

One Question, I have read people saying that the FS should not really be put to Full range /40 Hz as it doesn't make a difference since you have a sub, and the one thing is it will tax/strain the AVR. How true is this. (WRT movies)

Elangos has already answered this question , But to add to it . I have heard the Aviano 8 driven by the Onkyo 609 at really insane volumes so the devil is def not your AVR..

However what you have read is correct . If you are using a subwoofer then yes it makes no sense sending full range signal to the Carnival 8. However if you are using it without a Sub then send them full range .
Its not going to tax the amp . The carnival 8 are easy to drive speakers.
 
What is the Audio output mode in MPC ? Juz checking...

MPC is media player classic, i set it to pass through on hdmi for movies so the AVR automatically detects the DTS-HD or whatever im playing. Music goes as PCM

Elangos has already answered this question , But to add to it . I have heard the Aviano 8 driven by the Onkyo 609 at really insane volumes so the devil is def not your AVR..

However what you have read is correct . If you are using a subwoofer then yes it makes no sense sending full range signal to the Carnival 8. However if you are using it without a Sub then send them full range .
Its not going to tax the amp . The carnival 8 are easy to drive speakers.

Thanks for the explanation buddy, so i can run the entire setup at 7.1 keeping the fronts as full range without taxing the 608?

A big thanks to you all for assisting.
 
MPC is media player classic, i set it to pass through on hdmi for movies so the AVR automatically detects the DTS-HD or whatever im playing. Music goes as PCM

Not sure if the pass-through in MPC is equivalent of WASAPI mode in other media players like Kodi & Foobar... From googling, WASAPI mode is meant to be near bit-perfect playback without any processing... Try using other for stereo to check for any difference...

Thanks for the explanation buddy, so i can run the entire setup at 7.1 keeping the fronts as full range without taxing the 608?

A big thanks to you all for assisting.

You can set the closest frequency that your FS can handle as crossover for your fronts in your AVR.... Your AVR will not be taxed...
 
Not sure if the pass-through in MPC is equivalent of WASAPI mode in other media players like Kodi & Foobar... From googling, WASAPI mode is meant to be near bit-perfect playback without any processing... Try using other for stereo to check for any difference...

Thanks for the info, will try it out shortly.


You can set the closest frequency that your FS can handle as crossover for your fronts in your AVR.... Your AVR will not be taxed...
My FS spec sheet say it goes down to 34hz. Should i set AVR to full band or next available option, 40?
 
What are your guys thoughts on Auydessy Dynamic EQ? The bass is unbelievably good on the towers with it on. Is it recommended/ok for listening at high volumes?
 
What are your guys thoughts on Auydessy Dynamic EQ? The bass is unbelievably good on the towers with it on. Is it recommended/ok for listening at high volumes?

Other than stereo playback from PC, Audyssey EQ & Vol are "ON" all the time on my AVR....

With Dynamic EQ engaged & if you increase volume in AVR, there might be slight increase... Moreover with Dynamic EQ, there wouldn't be a need to push for high volume levels...
 
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