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Fire Safety Doug posted:Is it plausible to build a 3.0 system with bookshelf-size speakers? Is the stuff I've been looking at so far on the right track? Should I just either rearrange the place to fit a proper surround system (that will be a hard sell) or save my money and keep listening to the TV sound? Certainly, a 3.0 system made up of bookshelf speakers would be a major improvement over TV speakers. I think it would make sense to try that. If you're not happy with the bass offered, you could consider subs later. Or, if you want to rearrange the room later, swap out the front righ/left speakers for floorstanding full range speakers and move the fronts to the rear as surrounds. A cheaper option might be to get a soundbar, but I would really not recommend it since you can afford a proper receiver and speakers.
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Jul 31, 2013 16:04
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Thanks for the reply! In the absence of further advice, I have started to lean towards the Q2000i set I mentioned earlier: http://www.qacoustics.co.uk/qacoustics-Q2000-home-hifi-speakers.htm They offer surround sound and a front-firing sub that would actually fit in our living room. The white finish doesn't hurt either. I do like the idea of a good quality 3.0 system, but so far I haven't really come across an attractive receiver + speakers combo that wouldn't cost at least as much as the bundle packages on offer (given the other limitations I have). I noticed that the OP pretty much says nothing about Yamaha, but is there something especially worrying about the RX-V673?
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Jul 31, 2013 17:44
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I don't know about that particular model, but my past Yamaha receivers have all been excellent. I went with a Sony for better input selection and it was a terrible mistake. Sound quality just sucked. I've since moved on to Emotiva and separates.
Philthy fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jul 31, 2013 |
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Jul 31, 2013 18:36
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Fire Safety Doug posted:I noticed that the OP pretty much says nothing about Yamaha, but is there something especially worrying about the RX-V673? Not at all. I have one and it's a very nice receiver for what I paid (~350 US). I think the main complaint one could make is the YPAO system isn't as advanced as units that use Audyssey technology, but I love my RX-V673. Does everything I ask of it, and does it very well.
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Jul 31, 2013 18:43
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My wife and I are finally purchasing our first big TV together in a couple weeks! After that, I'd like to look into setting up a sound system for it. Primary use would be for console games. We do watch plenty of TV and sometimes movies but we want to make sure our games sound great more than anything else. Right now, we're in a decent-sized apartment. We only have one option for placing the TV - it's going above our (unused) fireplace. Since we don't have a lot of room but I'd still like good sound, I'd like to get a 3.1 system and mount the speakers just below the mantelpiece. Whenever we move to a house, I'll go with the strategy of eventually upgrading to new front speakers and relegating the old ones to surround. Right now my budget is only $400, I can probably inch it up to $500 if it's worth it. I know that's probably not a lot of info to go on, but can anyone at least get me pointed in the right direction? Sites I should research, stores I should browse, etc.?
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Jul 31, 2013 22:19
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DizzyBum posted:My wife and I are finally purchasing our first big TV together in a couple weeks! After that, I'd like to look into setting up a sound system for it. Primary use would be for console games. We do watch plenty of TV and sometimes movies but we want to make sure our games sound great more than anything else. If you only have $400-500, you may want to consider the second-hand market. A 5.1 receiver is going to eat up at least $250, leaving you very little for speakers. For a decent 3.1 system, I'd aim for $600-800. You can probably do a cheap Denon receiver and entry level Polk speakers, if you're willing to go without a subwoofer. That being said, the subwoofer is pretty important with bookshelf speakers, so.... Maybe a 2.1 to start? Dialog will suck in movies, though. KillHour fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 01:36
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KillHour posted:If you only have $400-500, you may want to consider the second-hand market. A 5.1 receiver is going to eat up at least $250, leaving you very little for speakers. For a decent 3.1 system, I'd aim for $600-800. Starting with 2.1 might not be a bad idea, actually. I know I want that subwoofer - I've tried without one and it's just not great. If 2.1 is good enough for most games, I'm fine for now. Is it easy enough to upgrade from 2.1 to 3.1? Just get a good center speaker and plug it in? I'd be willing to do second hand. Guess that would be a Freecycle/Craigslist adventure, unless there are any dedicated sites for used audio equipment. EDIT; Wow, there are a lot of people around here trying to get rid of audio equipment on the cheap. I actually can't get anything right now (setting aside some cash for my wife's surgery next week), but it's great to see what's available. I'd easily be able to get a receiver and a 3.1 setup for under $500. DizzyBum fucked around with this message at 13:15 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 13:02
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It also might be worth checking out the second hand/pawn shops as well. Those older box speakers you see everywhere aren't too shabby for the cost, and might be worthwhile piecing a Frankenstein system and slowly replacing it as needed over the years. Keep a list of stuff you might like in your smart phone and take pics. Philthy fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 15:12
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I'm always super wary of pawn shop audio gear. Test EVERY INPUT AND KNOB! Its weird but I trust people a lot more on Craigslist, I have no idea why, usually you go in and see the item working in an environment which they've been using it so you can see if they smoke, if its beaten on, etc.
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Aug 1, 2013 15:45
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Philthy posted:It also might be worth checking out the second hand/pawn shops as well. Those older box speakers you see everywhere aren't too shabby for the cost, and might be worthwhile piecing a Frankenstein system and slowly replacing it as needed over the years. This a thousand times. I remember buddy of mine finding an old set of speakers that were higher dollar back in the day. They were in need of some new screens and a refinish, so they sold him the set for $75. I cannot remember what they were.
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Aug 1, 2013 15:52
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DizzyBum posted:Is it easy enough to upgrade from 2.1 to 3.1? Just get a good center speaker and plug it in?
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Aug 1, 2013 15:57
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KillHour posted:If you only have $400-500, you may want to consider the second-hand market. A 5.1 receiver is going to eat up at least $250, leaving you very little for speakers. For a decent 3.1 system, I'd aim for $600-800. If the receiver is properly set to downmix to 2.1 or 2.0, the dialog should be fine.
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Aug 1, 2013 18:58
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So I have a new receiver and subwoofer in a 2.1 system. The front speakers work fine but I can't seem to get the sub to output anything. I have it connected to the receiver's pre-out with a single connector cable (this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVYXY0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to the line-in on the sub marked "mono". The sub is enabled in the receiver. Is there something I'm missing? If one of the two pieces is malfunctioning how do I figure out which one? I don't know what I'm doing 
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Aug 2, 2013 01:18
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Yip Yips posted:So I have a new receiver and subwoofer in a 2.1 system. The front speakers work fine but I can't seem to get the sub to output anything. I have it connected to the receiver's pre-out with a single connector cable (this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVYXY0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to the line-in on the sub marked "mono". The sub is enabled in the receiver. Is there something I'm missing? If one of the two pieces is malfunctioning how do I figure out which one? Don't worry! Its a hobby and a learning process. The answer is most likely bass management. Can you list the model of subwoofer, speakers and receiver?
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Aug 2, 2013 02:08
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Yip Yips posted:So I have a new receiver and subwoofer in a 2.1 system. The front speakers work fine but I can't seem to get the sub to output anything. I have it connected to the receiver's pre-out with a single connector cable (this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVYXY0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to the line-in on the sub marked "mono". The sub is enabled in the receiver. Is there something I'm missing? If one of the two pieces is malfunctioning how do I figure out which one? Is your receiver set to direct stereo mode? On some receivers, the 2-channel mode only sends audio to the left and right mains and doesn't create an LFE channel. Since you're on a 2.1 setup, you may want to try messing with the different output modes and see if there's one that leaves the mains unmolested (i.e. not "Hall" or "Dance"), but also creates an LFE channel. For instance, I have a Sony STR-DG710 receiver. The mode that does direct stereo with no sub is called "2CH" and the one that does stereo+sub is called "A.F.D. Auto". (which is actually just an auto detect mode, but it does 2.1 when a stereo source is detected) If you suspect your powered subwoofer's amp has gone bad, you could try connecting the audio output of some random piece of A/V equipment into the input on the sub and see if you get anything that way. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Aug 2, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 02:10
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jonathan posted:Don't worry! Its a hobby and a learning process. The answer is most likely bass management. The receiver is a Yamaha RX-375. The sub is a Dayton Audio SUB-1200. The speakers are some monitors. I think they're Polk 35b? I have the receiver connected to my computer's Asus Xonar DG via an optical cable. Zorilla posted:Can you at least get it to output test noise when adjusting the levels of various channels on your receiver? If so, the connection is fine and there probably aren't any other physical problems present. I went into "try every combination of settings possible" mode but between the sound card and receiver there's a lot and I'm sure I missed a some. Tomorrow I'm going to try it with a TV. I was hoping to avoid doing that because it means I'll have to carry everything across the house (or the heavy rear end tv here) but oh well. I'll report back tomorrow either way. Thanks to both of you!
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Aug 2, 2013 03:58
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Check that your speakers in the receiver are set to 'small' if there is a setting for small/large for the mains. In a lot of receivers, if the main speakers are set to 'full range' or 'large', the receiver will not output anything except LFE specific sounds (i.e. Dolby Digital movie track stuff) to the subwoofer, so nothing will go to it on regular music.
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Aug 2, 2013 05:35
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They are, unfortunately. I'll do some experimentin' tomorrow and see what I can deduce. This is actually the second sub I got because the first arrived beat up. I wish I had tried that one while I had it sitting here.
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Aug 2, 2013 06:16
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loving Chinese build quality, I dropped quite a bit on a DefTech 1000 5.1 system today and one surround and the sub are DOA. Really happy with the center channel and the working satellites, but it's such bullshit that even a fairly high end speaker has such lovely QA.
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Aug 2, 2013 06:45
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Yip Yips posted:They are, unfortunately. I'll do some experimentin' tomorrow and see what I can deduce. Use a different line out RCA if the receiver has one (i.e. not sub, but full frequency) and see if the sub does anything. That way you can rule out the sub and concentrate on receiver settings.
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Aug 2, 2013 07:10
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Ok so I was thinking about getting a pair of Focal chorus 714v ( ) coupled with a Denon 1713 receiver. It fits budget-wise, but I'm concerned I might be going complete overkill here considering I live in a 50mē appartment.For some more details : - I'm currently rolling with the tv built-in speakers so basically anything would be an improvement. - I'm not convinced a sub would be a good idea (and my neighbors share this opinion), so I went with good floor-standing speakers instead. - I would mainly use that setup to play games and listen to music (with the occasional movie or tv show) Am I overlooking something ? This is my first real audio setup and at this point I've read so much stuff everywhere that I kind of feel at a loss.
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Aug 2, 2013 11:10
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Do any of yall have a DN840, and as a followup have you updated said DN840? As a followup to the followup is it supposed to take 25 minutes?
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Aug 3, 2013 01:37
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I'm a home audio noob looking to get into my first setup. There is a Kenwood system for sale on Craigslist and I'm trying to figure out if it's a decent deal or not. It consists of: KM-992 power amp KC-992 Stereo control amp KT-592 Quartz synthesizer am/fm tuner KX-W892 double Cassette deck DP-R892 5 way CD player KD-491F turntable (2) JL-1002 speakers I figure I can buy higher quality replacements in time, but this may be a good way to get into something decent sounding quickly. Seller is asking $200 for the lot. Is this a decent deal or not so much?
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Aug 3, 2013 02:20
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Iucounu posted:I'm a home audio noob looking to get into my first setup. There is a Kenwood system for sale on Craigslist and I'm trying to figure out if it's a decent deal or not. It consists of: If you want a stereo system for music listening, you can't go wrong if its in good condition. Make sure to demo it before purchasing.
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Aug 3, 2013 04:48
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jonathan posted:If you want a stereo system for music listening, you can't go wrong if its in good condition. Make sure to demo it before purchasing. Drove out to check it out and a woofer was blown.
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Aug 3, 2013 06:28
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Does a speaker stand have noticeable acoustic functionality, other than bringing the speaker to ear-height? Our TV stand doesn't have room for speakers and I don't want stands for a couple reasons - A) the bookshelf speakers replace bulky floor speakers, and a stand would occupy roughly the same footprint, and B) we have a toddler in the house. I was thinking of building a T shaped structure out of 1" galvanized steel pipe behind the TV. Here's a lovely sketch:  pink square is the TV, green squares are the speakers. The stand is the same width as the TV I'd use this B-Tech mount to attach the speakers to the fixture. Is this a terrible idea? The alternative would be to place a sheet of wood on top of the entertainment center to increase the surface enough to sit the speakers on. This seems like it may possibly do harm to the sound though, due to vibration in the wood. me your dad fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Aug 3, 2013 |
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Aug 3, 2013 11:45
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me your dad posted:Does a speaker stand have noticeable acoustic functionality, other than bringing the speaker to ear-height? That's really it. You want your tweeters at ear level. I would mount those B-Tech things right to the wall, though. Even though a one inch steel pipe sounds solid, it will still flex and vibrate a bit as the speakers play. Not ideal for sound quality. Also, if your speakers are ported in the back, they'll sound better if they're closer to the wall, which I imagine they would be mounted directly to it.
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Aug 4, 2013 03:21
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Tiger Sushi posted:Ok so I was thinking about getting a pair of Focal chorus 714v ( No such thing as overkill, at least until your neighbors start complaining. Those tower speakers will have plenty of bass. No need for a sub. The Denon is a solid receiver--can't go wrong there. I love the Focal speakers I have in my car. I've only heard their home audio stuff once--it's not very common here in the states--but it sounded great. They have a very precise, neutral, uncolored sound. If at all possible, I'd recommend listening to the speakers before you buy them. Other than that, go for it.
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Aug 4, 2013 03:29
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I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a source, but I've been leaning towards using a computer hooked up to a DAC. If I went that route, are there any recommendations as far as what to get on the computer side? I was talking to a guy who was swearing by J River Media player, for instance, but honestly I don't know what matters as far as playback of computer files goes, and what kind of hardware in terms of getting the digital signal out of the computer and into the DAC. Anyone here have any recommendations?
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Aug 4, 2013 05:20
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Listerine posted:I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a source, but I've been leaning towards using a computer hooked up to a DAC. If I went that route, are there any recommendations as far as what to get on the computer side? I was talking to a guy who was swearing by J River Media player, for instance, but honestly I don't know what matters as far as playback of computer files goes, and what kind of hardware in terms of getting the digital signal out of the computer and into the DAC. Anyone here have any recommendations? I am pretty sure Apple laptops have an optical out, which could go into any portable DAC with an optical in. That would be a hell of a portable rig, actually.
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Aug 4, 2013 06:13
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Listerine posted:I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a source, but I've been leaning towards using a computer hooked up to a DAC. If I went that route, are there any recommendations as far as what to get on the computer side? I was talking to a guy who was swearing by J River Media player, for instance, but honestly I don't know what matters as far as playback of computer files goes, and what kind of hardware in terms of getting the digital signal out of the computer and into the DAC. Anyone here have any recommendations? I may have missed the original question. Why do you feel you need a DAC ? Why won't a basic receiver do the job ? JRiver is a very feature rich media player, but if you're simply looking for bit-perfect output, Foobar2000 does the job, as does XBMC. What connections and gear do you have and what are you trying to accomplish ?
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Aug 4, 2013 06:18
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me your dad posted:Does a speaker stand have noticeable acoustic functionality, other than bringing the speaker to ear-height? A good speaker stand does it's best to elimination vibration of the speaker cabinet. This is the same reason tower speakers include floor spikes, to couple the cabinet to the hard floor under the carpet. It can (but not always) make an audible difference. I agree with the post below that metal bars could cause some sort of reverb at certain notes that would be audible. Probably at frequencies with wavelengths equal to or multiples/fractions of the bar length. If these are tubes, you could fill them with sand to dampen the vibrations.
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Aug 4, 2013 06:24
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Yip Yips posted:The receiver is a Yamaha RX-375. The sub is a Dayton Audio SUB-1200. The speakers are some monitors. I think they're Polk 35b? I have the receiver connected to my computer's Asus Xonar DG via an optical cable. Your PC's soundcard should be set so that it doesn't alter the signal in anyways. Any enhancments should be turned off. If you're using a media player such as XBMC, use the Wasapi output option if possible. Your receiver's speaker settings menu should be set to the following: On the subwoofer itself, turn the crossover to max (140hz I believe) Phase set to 0 degrees Turn the gain 1/2 way up. Refer to your manual to do a factory reset of the receiver to clear any settings you might have unknowingly messed up. then run YPAO so that everything is level matched. then go into the menu and make sure -Speakers set to "small" (or the opposite of full range). -Subwoofer crossover set to 80hz within the receiver menu Look at the speaker "trims" or levels. If the subwoofer is trimmed very high or low, adjust the subwoofer gain and then re-run ypao. For example, if the trim for the subwoofer is +10db, turn up the subwoofers gain 1/4 turn and run ypao again. If it's -10db, then turn the gain down. Repeat this until the trim is no more than +5 or -5db. You should be able to hear below 80hz content being routed to the subwoofer with 2 channel music and multi channel digital content.
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Aug 4, 2013 06:40
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Wasabi the J posted:How many channels do you need? I know this is from a few pages ago but thanks so much for the link man. I ended up getting a Pioneer VSX-1022-k for about 150 shipped from Amazon warehouse. I suggest anyone looking check them out. They had it marked as "used - very good" condition but it looks like an open box return. Nothing had been opened, the receiver still has the stickers on it, batteries for remote were still shrink wrapped, etc. Going price on eBay seemed to be about the same (~150) but generally had 20-30 for shipping and Amazon warehouse qualifies for prime and super saver shipping. Also, apparently Pioneer honors warranties for non-elite models purchased from Amazon warehouse which is nice.
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Aug 4, 2013 07:07
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jonathan posted:I may have missed the original question. Why do you feel you need a DAC ? Why won't a basic receiver do the job ? JRiver is a very feature rich media player, but if you're simply looking for bit-perfect output, Foobar2000 does the job, as does XBMC. I have a pre-amp and power amp that work fine, my CD player is dying- sometimes it plays discs, sometimes it doesn't, and the discs it decides to play are random. I can't figure it out but I can't depend on it to play what I want, when I want, so it's got to go. I was thinking of ripping my discs to flac and using a digital source instead of buying a new disc player. So I would be looking to replace the CD player; I have a bunch of extra computers lying around but I don't know what I would need for software to play digital files and I don't know what I would need as far as soundcards or whatever for a digital out to a DAC which I would then feed into my pre-amp.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:06
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The Locator posted:Use a different line out RCA if the receiver has one (i.e. not sub, but full frequency) and see if the sub does anything. That way you can rule out the sub and concentrate on receiver settings. jonathan posted:Your PC's soundcard should be set so that it doesn't alter the signal in anyways. Any enhancments should be turned off. If you're using a media player such as XBMC, use the Wasapi output option if possible. I was able to fiddle around with this more. I ended up testing it with a different source (tv) and it worked fine so I moved it back and it's working very quietly now. I'm pretty sure it wasn't doing anything at all before but that was a couple days ago and I might just be dumb. I'm gonna take a stab at calibrating tomorrow using your advice jonathan. Thanks to both of you for the help! I appreciate it.
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Aug 4, 2013 11:47
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Iucounu posted:I am pretty sure Apple laptops have an optical out, which could go into any portable DAC with an optical in. That would be a hell of a portable rig, actually.
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Aug 4, 2013 14:54
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granpa yum posted:I know this is from a few pages ago but thanks so much for the link man. I ended up getting a Pioneer VSX-1022-k for about 150 shipped from Amazon warehouse. I suggest anyone looking check them out. They had it marked as "used - very good" condition but it looks like an open box return. Nothing had been opened, the receiver still has the stickers on it, batteries for remote were still shrink wrapped, etc. Glad to help!  Sounds like you got a sweet deal; Amazon warehouse is pretty sweet.Listerine posted:I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a source, but I've been leaning towards using a computer hooked up to a DAC. If I went that route, are there any recommendations as far as what to get on the computer side? I was talking to a guy who was swearing by J River Media player, for instance, but honestly I don't know what matters as far as playback of computer files goes, and what kind of hardware in terms of getting the digital signal out of the computer and into the DAC. Anyone here have any recommendations? Listerine posted:I have a pre-amp and power amp that work fine, my CD player is dying- sometimes it plays discs, sometimes it doesn't, and the discs it decides to play are random. I can't figure it out but I can't depend on it to play what I want, when I want, so it's got to go. I was thinking of ripping my discs to flac and using a digital source instead of buying a new disc player. So I would be looking to replace the CD player; I have a bunch of extra computers lying around but I don't know what I would need for software to play digital files and I don't know what I would need as far as soundcards or whatever for a digital out to a DAC which I would then feed into my pre-amp. Foobar is the least resource intensive, does bit-perfect playback, and can manage your iPod/iPhone if you have one. I love it, and it's free; with a little know how, you can configure it to be extremely full featured. eClaro makes good soundcards if you want a dedicated solution, but motherboards have good onboard cards these days. Most cards have a decent DAC, so you wouldn't NEED an outboard one.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:34
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So Jonathan, my power was out this morning for a couple hours, and I got bored so I took the laptop and mic I've been using to get my readings out to the car. Here is what I got from the car subs with the mic in the drivers seat..   I think I can safely say that the laptop and mic are not responsible for my home system roll-off at 40hz. Currently using a sealed box. In the future maybe I'll get a ported box and see if I can shift that curve up, since I really don't need a flat response down to 10hz for listening to music in my car!
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Aug 4, 2013 20:03
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Endless Mike posted:They may have in the past (and I don't recall it ever being the case), but they don't now. I'm pretty sure the headphone jacks double as a 3.5mm optical digital out, you just need an adaptor plug and switch your output settings in the computer.
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Aug 4, 2013 20:19
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