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Box #1 is your mixer. It exists to let you balance multiple input devices for level, and then control the output with the single master slider (so some of your sources aren't stupidly loud in comparison to other sources). Box #2 is a Peavey Kosmos. This box's has the ability to split the subwoofer signal out of the main signal path and feed it to a separate amplifier dedicated to the subwoofers. This can also switch whether that sub-bass is sent only to the subs, or to both the mains and subs. It also generates phase matched sub-harmonics an octave below the source material bass. I am guessing this means you need some pretty serious amplifiers and sub-woofers to benefit from it. Also, this box is *intended* to be used without other equalization - i.e. your box #3. Peavey specifically warns that using post equalization can really mess up your bass sounds after they have been modified by the Kosmos. I've never used one of these thingies, they didn't exist way back in my past life when I did professional sound reinforcement stuff. Box #3 is, as you know, an equalizer. The curves on the front look really whacky to me, but without using a test source and a spectrum analyzer, who knows. When I did this stuff back in the day, we would tune the system with an equalizer, and then put clear, very difficult to remove (i.e. 8 or 12 screws) covers over the front so that people wouldn't gently caress with them. Given their location where any minimum wage dude at the counter can play with them, I'd be amazed beyond all belief if these are set anywhere remotely near what they were set at when the system was set up originally. If equalizers are set up properly, the only control your average dumb operator needs over the bass/mid/treble levels should be handled at the mixer. Boxes #4 are, as already stated, your amplifiers. Based on the equipment, I'm guessing that you run one amp out of the left channel of the other equipment, and one amp out of the other, so are probably not running dedicated subwoofers, which means the Kosmos is outputting full spectrum to all of your speakers. Hopefully someone in the past at the very least installed filters on the speakers appropriate to them, otherwise your high-frequency drivers are all probably destroyed by the 'enchanced bass' from that system, driving them way beyond their power handling capability. The unknown black box is a dbx 266XL compressor. This box can be adjusted to control high level spikes in the signal. It can be adjusted for speed and 'aggressiveness', i.e. how fast and hard it will compress a high signal. When set up wrong, a compressor can really make audio sound like garbage. When set up correctly, nobody should notice that it's doing anyfuckingthing at all. It is sort of hard to make out in your picture, but it looks like it's set up really badly, with max attack speed (i.e. instant response to peaks), very slow release speed (i.e. doesn't allow the signal to come 'back up' quickly after the spike is compressed). Also, the gain on the left channel is maxed, so if it was in the signal chain, it would probably be massively over driving the input stage of either the Kosmos or the EQ, depending on what order it was in the chain. I'd start with the most simple chain possible - Mixer --> Amplifiers. See how it sounds/works (you'll need a pair of those RCA -> XLR cables, or 1/4" -> XLR, or if the mixer has XLR outputs, XLR -> XLR connection). If things are much cleaner, then add either the Kosmos or the EQ back into the chain, set them 'flat' and then adjust them from there. If it still sounds like crap, try one amplifier at a time - see if one of them is bad. Also try the different outputs from the mixer (i.e. L/R) with different amplifiers, make sure the output stage of the mixer is good. You can also plug headphones directly into the mixer (directly above the master level slider) to make sure the horrible sound isn't deep in the mixer itself. Chances are very good that if the master level pot on the mixer is bad (this isn't terribly uncommon) your sound through the entire system will be terrible, and sometimes the pots will fail only for one channel. The compressor is line-level, so it could not have ever been plugged directly into your speakers that are currently not connected, only the boxes 4 L/R can connect to the speakers. The Locator fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Jun 15, 2013 |
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Jun 15, 2013 06:58
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Look at that post. Just look at the beauty of it.
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Jun 15, 2013 07:11
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I just looked up the EQ - Those 4 bright LED's in the center of the EQ? Yea, the top two indicate that the EQ is cutting all frequencies at 40hz and below on a 12db/octave rolloff - i.e. all that enhanced bass from the Kosmos is getting poo poo-canned by the EQ. Except that... The bottom two indicate that the bypass is on, meaning that the EQ is simply passing the signal through, all equalization and gain controls are being bypassed. It's a big electronic box of power consumption that is doing nothing but adding electronic noise (not much, but still) and extra connections to the signal chain. The fact that all of the LED's at the top of the frequency sliders are on.. Here is what the manual says about those LED's - quote:AUTOMATIC FEEDBACK LOCATING LEDS (2) The fact that any of them are illuminated, let alone ALL of them, makes me think that your EQ has probably poo poo the bed. Yank that sucker out of the signal chain and see what happens. ------------ Edit: Looking at the mixer now. It's actually a nice little mixer that's still sold by Peavey - the PV8. I'm trying to figure out how your inputs are set up, but it's hard to tell from the picture. Are you running stereo signals into the 1/4" jacks in channel 5 & 6 using two 1/4" jacks, or do you have a single signal source plugged in, one to channel 5 and one to channel 6? In this picture, what equipment is plugged in where (I assume a microphone in channel 4), and what position are those A/B switches in? Also, is anything plugged into the rear of the mixer, in the Tape In, or Computer/Digital Audio Port?  Based on what you have plugged in where, I can maybe give you some suggestions to clean things up and how to baseline set up the mixer. The Locator fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Jun 15, 2013 |
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Jun 15, 2013 07:19
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The Locator posted:Lots of You... Yeah, I could kiss you right now. You've turned a day long session of fiddling and breaking poo poo into what will probably take me half an hour to solve. You are loving awesome. Input 5/6 is hooked to the video coming from the computer, while 7/8 are hooked into a dvd player that probably hasn't seen use in years. Both buttons are in the A position. Channel 4 is indeed a microphone. Nothing is plugged into the back.
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Jun 15, 2013 08:06
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neogeo0823 posted:Input 5/6 is hooked to the video coming from the computer, while 7/8 are hooked into a dvd player that probably hasn't seen use in years. Both buttons are in the A position. Channel 4 is indeed a microphone. Nothing is plugged into the back. Step one - get a 2 -> 1 (i.e. Y connector) for the audio signal from the computer. The way you have it wired right now, you are sending all of the left channel to 1 amplifier and set of speakers, and all of the right channel to the other amplifier and set of speakers. I'm pretty much 100% positive that your speakers aren't set up for stereo sound at each alley, so you need to turn your incoming signal into a mono signal before it gets to the mixer, since you are using the mixer to split the signal to the pair of amplifiers. Plug the single 1/4" plug you will now have coming from the computer into the jack labeled "L/Mono". Don't plug anything into the "R" jack. The mixer will take the L/Mono signal (when nothing is plugged into "R"), and split it between L & R internally, so that it will output the same signal to both the L & R outputs (i.e. both amplifiers). Here is the layout of the individual channels, and the knobs:  1- This is your input gain. It controls the input level of the mic or computer signal before it hits anything else in the mixer. If you see the red LED #8 coming on, turn this down, as that LED indicates the input signal is too hot, and you are 'clipping' the signal (the top of the wave form is getting chopped off). Clipping sounds terrible. 2, 3, 4 - These are your tone controls. Treble, Mid-range, Bass. Set them all to 0 (center position) to start with. You can adjust them for 'sound' later once you get clean sounding audio. 5 - Monitor level. You aren't using a monitor, just leave it at 0 or turn it down all the way, doesn't matter. 6 - Effects send level - controls the output to an external effects box (normally used for reverb). You aren't using this, leave it at 0 or turn all the way down. 7 - Pan - also known to most normal people as 'balance'. In your case, this will control the level of that specific channel (i.e. microphone or music) to the L/R channels, which will affect the balance between your two amplifiers, and therefore to whatever speakers each amplifier is driving. Start with this in the middle, you can adjust it later if you need to (if the load on the amplifiers is unbalanced, you may have one set of speakers that is much 'hotter' than the other set) if the gain controls on the amplifiers aren't enough to deal with any imbalance. 9 - Level/Gain - this is the volume of each channel that is sent to the master volume slider. This is how you'll control the relative volume of the microphone vs. the music. The main section:  10/11 - LED indicates that 11 - Phantom Power is on. This means that the mixer will send +48vdc to the microphone via the XLR jack. You aren't using XLR, so you definitely are not using a microphone that requires phantom power. This should be off. 12 - Effect return - master reverb level from #6 on the channels - not used in your application. 13/14 - Controls what happens with the Tape/USB inputs in the back, you aren't using, so make sure these switches are off (up position). 15 - Power light! 16 - Monitor send master. Controls the output level for a monitor circuit. You aren't using this, leave it off, at 0, whatever. 17 - Master effects send - again part of the reverb/effects circuit you aren't using, ignore it. 18 - Contour - This adds both Bass and Treble. For trouble shooting, leave this off (up position). Once you have clean audio, you can try it in both positions and see if it makes the sound better or worse. 19 - Low Cut - Rolls off the signal at 80hz. Probably not recommended to have this on if you are actively trying to boost the bass, start with it off, and if you have issues with low frequency rumble/noise, try with it on and see what happens. 20/21 - Headphone jack, and level control for the headphones. So the minimum wage dude at the desk can listen to the music really loud and ignore the customers yelling at him. 22 - level indicators. If your output level is hitting the red LED's, you'll start clipping the output side. Turn the master slider down some to prevent seeing red lights. Red lights are bad - boost the signal with the Kosmo or the amplifiers, don't make the mixer clip. 23 - Master volume, fairly obvious.  It's a pretty simple/basic mixer, not really a lot to screw up. Fix your inputs to use the mono jack, and start with everything zeroed, and work from there. Good luck!
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Jun 15, 2013 08:34
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After all of my waffling, I'm getting the Sony SS-F6000 floor-standing speakers and SS-CN5000 center, using them with a Denon AVR-X1000. Still undecided on a sub. The Sony speakers all say that they have "push-type" connectors; googling seems to indicate that you just put in the bare wire and push down a pin? No banana plugs? But I'll need banana plugs for the receiver, correct? Edit: Also, people seem to take the covers off of their speakers a lot... is there a reason or is it just for the picture/aesthetics? tarepanda fucked around with this message at 10:06 on Jun 15, 2013 |
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Jun 15, 2013 09:59
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tarepanda posted:The Sony speakers all say that they have "push-type" connectors; googling seems to indicate that you just put in the bare wire and push down a pin? No banana plugs? But I'll need banana plugs for the receiver, correct? You can always use these if you think that bare wire in there looks tacky. No functional difference, unless you're constantly unplugging the speaker wire over and over, but they look a bit nicer. There are claims that it may change the sound signature, but in my own experience, there isn't a difference at all unless the cloth is so heavy and dense that it is wobbling when music is playing.
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Jun 15, 2013 13:15
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tarepanda posted:The Sony speakers all say that they have "push-type" connectors; googling seems to indicate that you just put in the bare wire and push down a pin? No banana plugs? But I'll need banana plugs for the receiver, correct? According to Sony's web site, the speakers have: Speaker Terminal Type : Binding Post You can hook up bare wire to binding post connections, and most are large enough to accept a banana plug. Some binding posts have a removable 'cap' that exposes a banana plug connection, but the Sony manual for these speakers is completely useless and doesn't indicate if that is the case. You never *need* banana plugs, they are as much for appearance as anything, and make it nice and easy to connect/disconnect your speaker wires. The Denon unit has what appear to be typical multi-way binding posts that accept banana plug connectors or just bare wire. I'd suggest just hooking everything up with bare wire, then once you have everything you'll know exactly which binding posts will accept a banana plug vs. the plug type linked by Wasabi, and you can decide if you want to use spiffy looking connectors instead of bare wire. As Wassabi says, this is mostly for making things 'pretty', it's not going to change your sound at all.
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Jun 15, 2013 15:39
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So the last piece of my home system that needs to be replaced/upgraded are the surrounds (running 5.1, no room for 'rears' to go to 7.1). Currently I'm running some small Polk speakers that came in a 5.1 kit I got probably 8 years ago. They are ok, but I'd like to improve them, as they are pretty small and Audyssey crosses them at 120hz, so they have pretty much no lower frequency ability at all. Looking at various sites for 'surround' speakers, they all appear to be specialized units with odd trapezoidal shapes designed to mount to a wall. Is there a specific reason to use this sort of speaker for the surround channels, or could I just pick up a pair of center or bookshelf speakers and some stands to elevate them, and just replace the current ceiling mounted speakers? For that matter, would there be a downside to replacing my current front speakers (Polk R50's) with some upgrades, and using the R50's on some sort of short stand as the surrounds? Seems to me like they would make pretty awesome surrounds, but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks!
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Jun 15, 2013 18:54
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The Locator posted:For that matter, would there be a downside to replacing my current front speakers (Polk R50's) with some upgrades, and using the R50's on some sort of short stand as the surrounds? Nope, that's the way to do it if you want better fronts.
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Jun 15, 2013 19:05
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The Locator posted:So the last piece of my home system that needs to be replaced/upgraded are the surrounds (running 5.1, no room for 'rears' to go to 7.1). Currently I'm running some small Polk speakers that came in a 5.1 kit I got probably 8 years ago. They are ok, but I'd like to improve them, as they are pretty small and Audyssey crosses them at 120hz, so they have pretty much no lower frequency ability at all. Firstly, The surround speakers have very little duty placed on them. Sound mixers generally don't put much bass into the surround tracks either. It's possible that a speaker upgrade won't really make much of a difference for movie watching. With that said, if you use multi-channel stereo mode for music listening to fill the room (for parties and such) like a PA system, the upgraded surrounds will make a difference. Same with videogames. Generally videogames will send full volume sound effects to the surrounds depending on viewpoint orientation in the game. The odd shaped speakers you see for surrounds are bipole and dipole speakers. As well as the Klipsch WDST speakers. http://resource.klipsch.com/Educati...differences.htm You will find arguments on the Internet praising Monopole speakers, and then those praising the other types. I personally like the Klipsch WDST speakers because they are a good compromise between the monopoles and bipoles. My suggestion: Upgrade your fronts to something awesome and use the current fronts as surrounds. OR, get a pair of these: http://www.klipsch.com/s-20-surround-speakers-pair or any other Klipsch wdst style surround. Or, buy 2 more subs!
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Jun 16, 2013 02:40
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jonathan posted:My suggestion: Upgrade your fronts to something awesome and use the current fronts as surrounds. OR, get a pair of these: http://www.klipsch.com/s-20-surround-speakers-pair or any other Klipsch wdst style surround. Haha! That's what I need, more power consumption on my already loaded circuit. Luckily I really don't listen to it all that loud normally. I do use all channel stereo heavily, which is why I was thinking using my current fronts as surrounds would be kind of nice. Is there a downside to elevating 'floorstanding' type speakers? Do they have any sort of interaction with the floor if they don't have down-firing vents? These would probably be ok without any elevation, but there would certainly be some end tables between them and my main listening location, so I'm thinking elevating them about 18" or so would be better, unless there's a downside I'm not aware of. It's been sort of interesting playing with sub locations. With them next to the front mains, and aiming directly at the couch, I have to turn up the subwoofer signal about 4db compared to simply turning them 90 degrees (pointing 'out') in the same spot. There is a really strong point right in the center where I sit too, so when they are set to sound awesome in my normal spot, there isn't much bass at all if I'm wandering around the room. This isn't something I really dealt with much in my past doing theatre/concert work, as typically the speaker location was fixed by the architect in permanent installations, and by stage logistics in concerts, and we dealt with everything via equalization and brute power. I sometimes miss working with that stuff, especially live mixing, but I didn't want to travel back then. On the plus side, I'd probably be functionally deaf now if I'd kept doing that. Concerts are pretty loud.
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Jun 16, 2013 03:57
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The Locator posted:Haha! That's what I need, more power consumption on my already loaded circuit. Luckily I really don't listen to it all that loud normally. I like to elevate my surround speakers so that there is line of sight for all listening locations. I also set them back slightly versus the THX and Dolby recommendations. I find if they're about 25 - 35* behind the listener, they also double as surround rear speakers. For height, I like to have the tweeter atleast 2/3 towards the ceiling. This is because other peoples heads, and chairbacks get in the way if the speakers are down low. This will effect measurements and sound. I figure as long as you can get the tweeters up above ear level you're doing okay. At some point it becomes impractical with a full size speaker. As for the subs, when people run duals they usually put them up front because it looks cool, but that is also usually the worst spot to have them. You will probably find that the bass is really bloated right against the back wall? If you can, try putting on in the corner up front, facing the listener, and one in the corner opposite side in the rear. People also have good luck with one on each side of the room midway between corners. Do you have a picture of the layout or can you MS paint your floorplan ?
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Jun 16, 2013 04:43
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jonathan posted:I figure as long as you can get the tweeters up above ear level you're doing okay. At some point it becomes impractical with a full size speaker. From back on page 41. Add the 2nd sub on the left side where only 1 R50 is in the paint layout.  The problem I have is that there is no way to get the 2nd sub even close to equal distance from the 1st sub if one is in front, and one is in back, on the left side where it should probably go. I can move the first sub to the left front, and the 2nd to the right rear corner, but the distance will still be very unequal. I was originally intending to do it that way, but from earlier comments in the thread about equal distance, and the fact that I don't have a way to set unequal distances for the two subs in the Onkyo setup, I figured I would try it with both of them up front. Sounds great as long as I'm sitting in my primary listening position! Also, I can't really get the sub in the front into the corner, as the stupid sliding glass door to the back yard opens up from the left, right against the corner. I am planning to move the surrounds further out to the sides when I replace them, whether with ceiling mounts like the current ones, or just using the R50's or whatever. Nothing is really in the way of moving them both about 4' away from their current locations (the right speaker is about 4.5' from the right wall, but they are only 15" off the back wall), which should hopefully widen the central listening area a bit. No real way to get them much more 'behind' me, without moving the sofa forward, and it already seems too close to the TV for me at around 11.5-12' from the screen. Maybe I'll try moving it up a foot or two. 95% (or more) of the listening is just me, but I do occasionally have someone else over, so it would be nice to have movies and such have a wider listening area without sounding too out of whack. Thanks.
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Jun 16, 2013 06:02
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The Locator posted:So the last piece of my home system that needs to be replaced/upgraded are the surrounds (running 5.1, no room for 'rears' to go to 7.1). Currently I'm running some small Polk speakers that came in a 5.1 kit I got probably 8 years ago. They are ok, but I'd like to improve them, as they are pretty small and Audyssey crosses them at 120hz, so they have pretty much no lower frequency ability at all. Don't be afraid having unequal distance from the sub, it can hurt performance or help it. Problem is you need a way to measure to be sure. Corner loading helps get you a bit of room gain, allowing you to turn down the amps a bit. Not a big deal if you have lots of headroom which you do. What about running the subs near field. One on each side of the couch ? Also do you have an Audyssey mic ? jonathan fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 08:16
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Moving in to a new apartment that actually has space, I got myself a set of the Pioneer Andrew Jones speakers for a 5.1 setup. Went for the floor-standing models for the front L/R and the bookshelf pair for surrounds. Got myself an Onkyo NR-616 for a receiver (accesories4less.com has it for 260 refurbished, great deal). Anyway, didn't really use this thread for research or anything but I thought I'd chime in. Once I get it all set up and ready I'll post my thoughts. As it is I'm super excited. I've never been able to set up a 5.1 system due to lack of space.
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Jun 16, 2013 09:11
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Damo posted:Moving in to a new apartment that actually has space, I got myself a set of the Pioneer Andrew Jones speakers for a 5.1 setup. Went for the floor-standing models for the front L/R and the bookshelf pair for surrounds. Got myself an Onkyo NR-616 for a receiver (accesories4less.com has it for 260 refurbished, great deal). I did an Onkyo 509 with the Andrew Jones tower fronts, center and bookshelf rears, and got an Onkyo sub on sale. It's pretty great. I'm sure there are better (costlier) set ups, but I'm super happy with this.
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Jun 16, 2013 14:32
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Are there any good sound bar recommendations? I tried looking online but am just completely overwhelmed. Especially without being able to hear them. I guess my budget would be around $300. Maybe more if it's substantially better. I just don't have room for the receiver or the 5.1 speaker setup in my den. I have an LG 47LA6200, reviews said the speakers were great, which they do for a flat screen LED, but I am still missing having some bass on this thing.
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Jun 16, 2013 17:25
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jonathan posted:Don't be afraid having unequal distance from the sub, it can hurt performance or help it. Problem is you need a way to measure to be sure. Corner loading helps get you a bit of room gain, allowing you to turn down the amps a bit. Not a big deal if you have lots of headroom which you do. Moved the right sub into the right rear corner. It was significantly 'louder' than the front one in that location, so I had to set it at a lower power setting on the sub than the front one (or is this a dumb thing to do?). This really did smooth out the base response around the room, and even into the other rooms of the house if it's turned up now. I ordered a long cable to get signal to it, since the longest one I have now only reaches diagonally across the floor, but it's good for letting me play with positioning. I do have the Audyssey mic that came with the Onko 616, which is what I've been using to set everything after each reposition. I've got it on top of a camera tripod that I move to the 3 locations for measurement. I'll probably wait a few paydays before doing something with the surrounds, as my current thought is to go with replacing the fronts. I think I'm going to be dumb and spend too much money on them, I'm sort of leaning towards the Polk TSx550t, but they are so new (introduced just this year), that they don't even appear on Newegg, and have no history of being on sale. In that price range - $500 each, what would you guys recommend? Consider that I'll probably not be able to listen to them in a shop before purchasing because of where I live (but I might make a journey on a weekend if a highly recommended speaker is one of those "Do not buy these without listening to them first!" deals), and I've been really happy with the sound of my Polk speakers so far. I'd prefer not to get a speaker that is a lot brighter, but would like to improve the lower frequencies above the subs (hence, looking at the 550's with their dual 8" drivers). Astro7x posted:Are there any good sound bar recommendations? I tried looking online but am just completely overwhelmed. Especially without being able to hear them. I guess my budget would be around $300. Maybe more if it's substantially better. I just don't have room for the receiver or the 5.1 speaker setup in my den. If you just want more bass, does it have an output for a subwoofer, rather than going to a sound bar? I've never heard a sound bar that really does much for your bass anyway (although a good one can probably improve on the internal speakers). If you have a sub-out, maybe just get a PSW-10 (below $100 online fairly frequently) if you aren't looking for extremely high sound levels. The Locator fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Jun 16, 2013 |
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Jun 16, 2013 18:37
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Are there any speaker stores online that allow filtering based on speaker sensitivity, ohm, and other stats used for matching a receiver?
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Jun 17, 2013 21:25
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Real general question on home audio system. I have a stereo setup I like using with a marantz 2230 and polk 5jr's with my turntable (braun ps 550), but I'm moving into a small apartment where I can only have 1 receiver/amp really, and it'd be under the TV. I have a nice TV I rescued and recap'ed from being thrown out (actually fantastic 55" samsung) but never hooked up 3 channel audio because my receiver is an old stereo one. For a tiny space where I don't want two separate receivers but would like the marantz and 3 channel audio.. does there exist any micro amps that can handle just the 3 channel, and I'll keep the marantz for phono stereo? Is this a ridiculous idea? An old coworker talked about new digital "t" or "d" class amps and I never looked into it.
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Jun 17, 2013 22:07
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Not an Anthem posted:Real general question on home audio system. What is your budget? What is the size restriction you have? I'm still a bit confused what you're trying to accomplish; what I'm understanding is that you don't want to get rid of that classic amp, but you want to use a modern 3.1 receiver for your TV only (on the same speakers)? If that's what you meant, I would look into a DAC to feed to the inputs for 2.1 instead. If that's not what you meant, and you want a separate amp for 3.1, you'd have to constantly swap speakers or get a completely different set, which would counteract your space requirements.
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Jun 18, 2013 08:05
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I'm having trouble figuring out what receiver to get. I'm looking at a 3.0 setup with the option down the line to add a sub. The only source on the TV will be a HTPC, no consoles, no set tops. The TV is a 1080 Plasma with 3D. I'd like a basic receiver as the HTPC will be doing everything "smart content" wise. Eventually a few years down the line I'd move up to a 5.1 setup, with a 4k TV and I'd hopefully upgrade to a much better receiver to boot. I'm looking at either the Onkyo 509 or the 309, and then pairing them with 2x Pioneer FS52 and the matching center channel. Is this a decent plan? Is there something a little better in terms of a basic receiver and better speakers I should consider?
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Jun 18, 2013 08:28
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zer0spunk posted:I'm having trouble figuring out what receiver to get. I'm looking at a 3.0 setup with the option down the line to add a sub. The only source on the TV will be a HTPC, no consoles, no set tops. The TV is a 1080 Plasma with 3D. Most 5.1 receivers have a 3.1 mode, so I would suggest just getting a 5.1 receiver if you're planning on upgrading eventually. There are an abundance of models and features; have you listened to the models of speakers and receiver in your plan? If the speakers sound the way you like, then by all means, get those. If you plan on changing them in the future, or you have not heard them in real life, I would suggest something you like that you've heard in person -- that being said, those speakers seem to please everyone who's reviewed them. I don't want to endorse specific models, because there are a lot of good options, and nothing can replace your experience hearing them with your own music in person. I bought at the bottom of my budget once, and it's been a painful and slow road to replacing everything as I upgrade, because I bought everything sound unheard.
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Jun 18, 2013 09:07
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Wasabi the J posted:What is your budget? What is the size restriction you have? I'm still a bit confused what you're trying to accomplish; what I'm understanding is that you don't want to get rid of that classic amp, but you want to use a modern 3.1 receiver for your TV only (on the same speakers)? If that's what you meant, I would look into a DAC to feed to the inputs for 2.1 instead. I'm downsizing a lot of stuff so my budget couple be a few hundred or more for this stuff. I'm not even sure what I want is possible. I'll try to be more clear. I have a stereo setup- a Marantz 2230 with Polk 5JRs and a turntable. I have a 55" Samsung TV, that I watch via the internal TV speakers. I do have a receiver that does surround, but its old and doesn't do fancy modern inputs or anything nice. I have a 3 channel speaker setup, little Sony guys leftover from my parents old surround setup, so I have enough speakers. Is there some way to keep my Marantz 2230, but get L-Center-R 3 channel to the speakers from the TV, via some sort of auxiliary dedicated mini amp? Is this stupid, or is there an easier way to accomplish this? I just want to have 3 channel sound from the TV but also keep my lil Marantz. Is the only other option to get a modern receiver to do phono + 3 channel?
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Jun 18, 2013 14:21
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I want to buy a receiver sometime within the next 6 months, and have the budget that the NR709 or NR717 is in my range, although I'm not sold on them above the 515 for half the cost. I'm eventually wanting a 3.1 for movies and music, but bigger speakers than my current ones will wait until I've moved in ~4 months. If I'm watching for deals over the next 6 month period am I likely to beat the $399 709 on accessories4less? Is the NR717 really worse than the NR709 and should be ignored? I'm really tempted to go ahead and order that 709 because I bought a decent turntable from Craigslist last night and I have no way to hook it up to my current amp. Rather than getting a $15 preamp I'd love to get a modern receiver with phono input.
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Jun 18, 2013 15:17
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Weinertron posted:I want to buy a receiver sometime within the next 6 months, and have the budget that the NR709 or NR717 is in my range, although I'm not sold on them above the 515 for half the cost. I'm eventually wanting a 3.1 for movies and music, but bigger speakers than my current ones will wait until I've moved in ~4 months. The 709 is superior to the 717 because Onkyo handicapped the 717.
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Jun 18, 2013 16:02
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me your dad posted:Are there any speaker stores online that allow filtering based on speaker sensitivity, ohm, and other stats used for matching a receiver? Even if there were, it would be somewhat meaningless because speaker manufacturers lie about sensitivity and ohms in the same way that receiver makers lie about power output. That isn't to say that the speakers that fall short of their advertised specs aren't good (ie Klipsch RF7), just that you should be weary of any advertised specs from any speaker maker that doesn't include frequency response plots on and off axis. Ohms is another thing, depending on the frequency, you're going to see impedance swing from low, to way way up, like 30 or 40ohms. How a manufacturer decides that a speaker is "8 ohms" is usually up to the marketing department. Because, again, speakers like the RF7 say "8 ohms" but dip all the way down to 3 ohms at some very important octaves. Basically, you can choose efficient speakers, or you can choose full range, you're not going to get both without very expensive commercial grade drivers or a horn loaded cabinet (Lascala, Klipschorn, certain JBL setups etc)
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Jun 18, 2013 17:20
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Anyone want to steer me away from dropping $600 tonight on a pair of TSI 500's ($200 each) and a pair of TSI 200's (200 for both). I think that is the price I saw at Fry's last night. Already have a CS10 and a PSW 505. Buying a 55 inch TV has lead to me spending way to much money.
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Jun 18, 2013 17:35
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HFX posted:Anyone want to steer me away from dropping $600 tonight on a pair of TSI 500's ($200 each) and a pair of TSI 200's (200 for both). I think that is the price I saw at Fry's last night. Already have a CS10 and a PSW 505. I've never listened to those, but I've been pretty happy with the sound of the Polk stuff I've had/heard (and I've listened to some of their older high-end stuff). The pricing on the TSi500 is very good, that's 1/2 off. The TSi200 is decent price, but are $270'ish on Amazon, and have price history from $180 (rare) to $250 (more common), so not a bad deal at all. Fry's doesn't list the TSi500 on their web site - clearance?
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Jun 18, 2013 18:03
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The Locator posted:I've never listened to those, but I've been pretty happy with the sound of the Polk stuff I've had/heard (and I've listened to some of their older high-end stuff). Possibly, although the tag didn't indicate as such.
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Jun 18, 2013 18:34
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HFX posted:Anyone want to steer me away from dropping $600 tonight on a pair of TSI 500's ($200 each) and a pair of TSI 200's (200 for both). I think that is the price I saw at Fry's last night. Already have a CS10 and a PSW 505. I have a pair of TSi200's, and they're pretty great. I've never heard the 500's, but I'd imagine they'd be nice.
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Jun 18, 2013 18:56
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Not an Anthem posted:I'm downsizing a lot of stuff so my budget couple be a few hundred or more for this stuff. I'm not even sure what I want is possible. I'll try to be more clear. I looked at the inputs for your 2230, and it has two extra stereo inputs. Your best option (for keeping the Marantz) is to run the TV line out and run your TV sound in stereo through the 2230; that would have the least involved setup, and you would be able to get rid of that older surround receiver. This is the option I would choose for minimization, because it requires no extra parts to buy, and your TV likely just puts out stereo over RCA (red and white cables). The drawback is that you're not going to use a center channel speaker at all, but you could put everything not needed in storage. If you want a 3.1 system, you would have to run your TV's sources (DVD players, cable box, etc.) line out to a 3.1/5.1 receiver-amp, like the one you have or a new one; this would mean that your 2230 would become exclusively for your vinyl, necessitating its own set of speakers or a switching system. This is the option I would choose for upgrading, because it means you can get a modern receiver with lots of whistles (like web radio, automatic source switching for video/audio, and a better DAC) for when you want to watch movies or TV. The drawback is that you're going to have to get new equipment for your Marantz or swap connections to it every time you want to listen to music on it. There are a lot of other options I may be overlooking, but these are your two primary choices. If it were my money, I would have the Polks run by the Marantz, and run an RCA line to/from the TV's output; this would cost the least and probably be the most headache free. You could put the Sony speakers and extra 5.1 receiver in storage or Craigslist them. An aside question, do you have a powered sub?
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Jun 18, 2013 18:58
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No powered sub, and thank you! I spent all day looking at the Onkyo's that people like in this thread- honestly I wouldn't mind getting a new receiver because I feel totally deaf watching TV/movies/netflix because I don't have a center channel and strain to hear conversations. The "networked" receivers look cool and I love the idea of having an app on my android that can control stuff from the couch. I have a Synology NAS that does DLNA, stores audio etc that I can run through the receiver. I am wary of buying a sub just because my new place is subletting a condo and I don't want to make enemies. I've never even owned a sub.
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Jun 18, 2013 20:52
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My Onkyo TX-SR607 finally arrived today after 9 days in transit. I have it hooked up, but video input switching appears to be messed up five ways from Sunday. I've observed the following:
Zorilla fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jun 19, 2013 |
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Jun 19, 2013 01:23
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How much is it possible to "future proof" a receiver by buying a really nice one? I know that with PCs, for example, it's largely worthless, in that advances come fast enough that once you hit diminishing returns beyond your basic needs, there's no point spending on the nicest equipment since it will be obsolete in a few years anyway. I don't have a good gauge on how fast a receiver becomes outdated, though. I guess anything without HDMI is obsolete at this point, but that standard's been around a while. I'm just getting back into the research game, hoping to score a great deal on craigslist while I'm in a big city for the next few weeks before heading back to a smaller town. I'm starting to get the impression that there are just about as good deals on Amazon used/refurbished as there are on craigslist around here (Philadelphia). Have people had good luck finding deals on the second-hand market, or is this really just something to buy online if you want quality and value?
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Jun 19, 2013 04:26
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Zorilla posted:[*]Ensured input assignments were correct. Observing that component-to-component works, at least when I do the monkey dance it wants me to do, seems to confirm this. Did you do both of these at the same time? berzerker posted:How much is it possible to "future proof" a receiver by buying a really nice one? Depends how much you value features in a receiver. I don't much care for them, so my Denon 1610 is just fine despite being bare-bones and having only a few inputs. Stereo receivers are good for decades: my first stereo receiver from almost 20 years ago is still in daily use. The biggest thing is HDMI: will that change to something else in the future? If it does, it makes new receivers much more convenient. Network features will keep changing but I find a HTPC or $100 media player box are better solutions to that particular problem, at least for the time being. Generally speaking I wouldn't worry too much about future proofing. That said, upgrading receivers is costly: if the $100 more expensive model has a feature you want get it right away. There's very little point in getting "temporary" setups. Hob_Gadling fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Jun 19, 2013 |
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Jun 19, 2013 04:53
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Not an Anthem posted:I just want to have 3 channel sound from the TV but also keep my lil Marantz. Is the only other option to get a modern receiver to do phono + 3 channel? For what it's worth, I don't think a modern receiver with phono in is worth it if you have a nice vintage piece you like. It won't sound the same: you'll have to judge yourself how much that makes a difference. You might want to consider a sound bar if clear audio is all you want from your TV experience? Barring that, you need to decide whether vinyl or TV matter more to you.
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Jun 19, 2013 05:12
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The Locator posted:I've never listened to those, but I've been pretty happy with the sound of the Polk stuff I've had/heard (and I've listened to some of their older high-end stuff). They were indeed all clearance. It ended up being $159 for the TSI200's, and $180 each for the TSI 500's. The 500's ended up being open box, so I talked them down an extra $20 bucks per speaker. Wow what an amazing upgrade from what I have before. Audyssey calibration barely even has my sub working anymore. It is a pretty amazing upgrade from the lovely mixed set I had before. Just wish I had a CS20 rather then a CS10.
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Jun 19, 2013 05:58
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| # ? May 19, 2024 09:45 |
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HFX posted:They were indeed all clearance. It ended up being $159 for the TSI200's, and $180 each for the TSI 500's. The 500's ended up being open box, so I talked them down an extra $20 bucks per speaker. Wow what an amazing upgrade from what I have before. Audyssey calibration barely even has my sub working anymore. Going to have to stop by the Fry's here tomorrow! They probably won't have them, but it's worth a look.
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Jun 19, 2013 06:06
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