Audio Systems: Onkyo Stereo Volume Problem, quad speakers, volume reference

Question
Hi Cleggsan,

I have a 3-month old Onkyo CR 515 mini stereo hooked up to two Quad speakers.  Typically when volume is at 10-11 it is quite loud for my living room.  But recently I had to turn volume to about 25 to get it to the same volume level as before.  And currently at 10-11 volume I can barely hear the music.  This is the case for all inputs (cd, aux, radio, etc.).  I have tried unplugging the power supply, removing the speakers and reattaching them, neither have solved the problem.  

I am weary to continue to listen at the higher volume in case I am unknowingly further damaging the system.

Would appreciate any advice you may have on fixing this.  Thanks very much.

Mike

Answer
This set has some fancy level setting procedures.  Study through the manual and see if by accident you have reset the volume level.  

My first opinion is the set is working properly and for some reason the volume reference has been changed.  If you go to the beginning of the owners manual the first few pages outline the many functions and features. If you were to go through them and reset all the basic settings you might discover the one that has reduced the volume level.  You can try a hard reset to see if that alters the level.  Do this by unplugging the power cord for a full 2 hours (thus allowing all internal voltages to totally discharge) and when you power it up again it will restore all internal memories to factory settings.

If this is not the case and their is not any level reduction that has been set inside the unit then I would have the same alarm that you do regarding a malfunction.   

Swap the speakers from one channel to the other and make sure the balance control is centered.  This will tell you if there may be a bad speaker on one side that has been compensated by moving the balance control way over to one side.

Let me know if there is more to the story.