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So I just got some equipment I ordered in the mail! (Thanks for the recommendations goons!) I ordered: Front Speakers: Klipsch RB-61 II Center Channel: Klipsch RC-62 II Reference Sub: VTF-1 MK3 Receiver: Yamaha RX-V581 I need a new TV stand before I can hook this all up to my TV, but so far it sounds great just playing music! I had some questions about setting this all up. 1. Right now I'm streaming most content through the LG B6 smart TV using LG's Amazon/Netflix/Vudu apps. Is it better to use optical output or ARC to the receiver for sound for these? Are those the only options? 2. My tv supports dolby vision, but the receiver apparently doesn't. If I get an nvidia shield or a UHD blu ray player, is it possible to split the output and send video straight to the TV and audio to the receiver, so I can get lossless audio and dolby vision video? I can still return the receiver and get one that does support dolby vision. The RX-V681 is apparently getting a firmware update to support it and it's not much more. I probably should have done more research on this before I bought. I'll post pics once everything is set up 
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Jul 20, 2017 15:18
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Most (all?) UHD disc players have separate video and audio outs for that reason. Not sure about the shield, don't know anything about it. Use ARC if you can get it working right but optical is probably just as good, none of the streaming services support anything that requires better than optical, and ARC on most TVs offers the same options as the optical out anyway. Just less cables if you can get it working.
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Jul 20, 2017 16:36
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Dogen posted:Most (all?) UHD disc players have separate video and audio outs for that reason. Not sure about the shield, don't know anything about it. Thanks for the info! Sounds like it would be a waste of time and money to upgrade the receiver just for this reason, when I could just get a second HDMI cable instead. I just read that the xbox one x won't do dolby vision either. I should probably stop getting so concerned about this stuff.
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Jul 20, 2017 18:27
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Looking for some advice. I used to have a Sonos Playbar but I sold it for cheap to a friend who needed it. I'm an Apple whore, and will absolutely buy a HomePod or 2 when they come out later this year. In the meantime, I only have laptop speakers. I'd like to get a soundbar, 2.0 or 2.1 system in the interim. I'm looking for something decent, reliable, and cheap that I can freecycle in a few months. Should I just surf Amazon and pick out something that catches my eye, or are there any standing recommendations?
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Jul 22, 2017 23:18
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If all you want is cheap pc sound go for this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002...F8mL&ref=plSrch Surprisingly decent.
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Jul 22, 2017 23:24
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I realize I forgot to mention I would also like a system with a remote so I can incorporate volume control (and input switching, if necessary) into my Harmony activities.
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Jul 23, 2017 01:57
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Butter Hole posted:So I just got some equipment I ordered in the mail! (Thanks for the recommendations goons!) Update: Everything is set up, and it sounds awesome!! I watched some stranger things and mad max and the sound makes it so much more immersive. However, my sub stopped working after about 20 minutes of use. It stopped turning on and the LED (which should always be on when plugged in) will not turn on, despite trying multiple outlets and power cables. I contacted support and they are sending me a new amplifier to install. Assuming I'm not electrocuted, I will post a further update once that is done....
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Jul 24, 2017 21:31
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It's just a one piece module. About all you need to do is unscrew it and move the speaker leads. As long as you unplug it first you should be fine 
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Jul 24, 2017 21:36
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Are power conditioners an actual useful electronic doodad or just woo, like monster cables? I've got a APC J10BLK power conditioner that I got a few years back (check my post history for more) and I never set it up. The wife wants to clear stuff out and I'm not sure if I should set it up with their rest of our AV system or sell it.
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Jul 26, 2017 01:51
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It’s woo
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Jul 26, 2017 04:27
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Sell that poo poo for sure. Free money to buy something that'll actually make a measurable difference to your setup.
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Jul 26, 2017 11:44
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Welp, the battery in it is dead and replacements are $200.
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Jul 26, 2017 14:30
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Welp, the battery in it is dead and replacements are $200. You sure? What's the model number on the battery? You can just take them out of the cart and replace the batteries, not the whole carriage.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:57
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I am trying to find a spot for a 200W Bluetooth audio receiver in my house to drive speakers outside. I am near the operational limits for this thing with four speakers attached. We were thinking of putting it in a closet that we don't ever close all the way. Alternately we would use a room a little further away that is not much larger than a closet. Failing that, the (hot) garage. I fear overheating either way. Also, I want to stream Bluetooth but I know I am range limited. Well, WiFi is a problem too but that is a more traditional problem. I was wondering about a standalone, portable audio device with a strong Bluetooth antenna. An old phone came to mind, but I want on high-quality stereo input. Is there some portable media PC thing for cheap that can manage this?
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Jul 26, 2017 23:14
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I would recommend a Chromecast Audio for streaming. Much better range than bluetooth since it uses wifi and better sound quality as a bonus. I have my receiver in a closet and it does fine. You could add a fan if heat is an issue. Do you have power in the closet in question? Scrapez fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Jul 27, 2017 |
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Jul 27, 2017 03:41
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Wouldn't a 200 dollar UPS work just as well as a power conditioner? I have one for my projector and the rest of the AV rack. I get 9 solid minutes of play if my power goes out!
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Jul 27, 2017 20:16
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Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.
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Aeka 2.0 posted:Wouldn't a 200 dollar UPS work just as well as a power conditioner? I have one for my projector and the rest of the AV rack. I get 9 solid minutes of play if my power goes out! My understanding is that UPSes don't run off the battery unless they need to. That said they will work just as well as a power conditioner because power conditioners don't really do anything of value.
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Jul 27, 2017 20:34
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I just got a Denon AVR-S720W which is working amazingly well from a logistics perspective. However, so far the sound quality is not as good as my previous stereo receiver and there doesn't seem to be any way to significantly tweak the audio. On AirPlay, there isn't even any option; you're stuck with iTunes' equalizer settings. I have two existing JBL bookshelf speakers that I've connected. I bought a center speaker but I haven't hooked it up yet (I can't find my speaker wire stripper) and it's disabled in the configuration. Bass going through to my bookshelf speakers seems way less than with my other receiver, even on audio sources where I am allowed to tweak bass up to +5dB. The major thing I'm noticing is things like snare drums in punk rock tracks are super quiet, and synth in trance tracks is quieter than I'd expect, too. It has a "Sound Mode" but the differences seem slight and more based on speaker configuration than anything else -- the best seems to be "Pure - Direct". Is this just a case of "you should have listened to it before you bought it?" Will hooking up the center speaker and/or buying a subwoofer help? edit: And bassoons?! Where are the bassoons?! vote_no fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 01:44
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Did you run Audyssey? Also use a knife or some scissors to strip the speaker wire and get that center hooked up dammit
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Jul 28, 2017 01:53
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Matt Zerella posted:Did you run Audyssey? Also use a knife or some scissors to strip the speaker wire and get that center hooked up dammit I did not run Audyssey. It seemed kind of gimmicky. I'll hook up the center speaker and do that, thanks.
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Jul 28, 2017 02:02
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got my alexa going, man, cannot wait for sonos/spotify integration
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Jul 28, 2017 02:12
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vote_no posted:I did not run Audyssey. It seemed kind of gimmicky. I'll hook up the center speaker and do that, thanks. This didn't really help. If anything it made it slightly worse because the vocals are slightly boosted and whatever that range where snare drum, synth and bassoon lies is relatively harder to hear. I'm messing with graphic equalizer frequencies in iTunes but nothing actually seems to isolate those sounds... edit: It's still a great improvement overall because I can actually use AirPlay, or bluetooth, or my Chromecast, or PS4 through proper speakers so hopefully I don't sound like a whiner. edit2: Actually, it did help with the bass quite a lot -- that part seems back to the way I'd expect it. vote_no fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 02:55
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Go into speaker config and see if they’re set to small, probably the problem. Though without a sub I guess they’re stuck on large?
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Jul 28, 2017 03:02
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vote_no posted:This didn't really help. If anything it made it slightly worse because the vocals are slightly boosted and whatever that range where snare drum, synth and bassoon lies is relatively harder to hear. I'm messing with graphic equalizer frequencies in iTunes but nothing actually seems to isolate those sounds... Nope. It might take a bit for you to tweak it to your liking. There's a few modes of Audyssey you might want to fool around with. Also maybe try some of the other settings like all speaker stereo. Center channels matter more for movies and tv over music unless you're listening to multi channel audio. I'm also sure other people in the thread know way more than me.
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Jul 28, 2017 03:03
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Dogen posted:Go into speaker config and see if they’re set to small, probably the problem. Though without a sub I guess they’re stuck on large? Yeah, they were set to small and it did help a little to set them to large. But uh... I figured it out. Just because of the novelty and convenience, I was using my laptop. Once I switched to playing music from a desktop with a good sound card, I'm pretty close to what the old stereo receiver sounded like.
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Jul 28, 2017 03:45
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Come to think of it, I think pure direct mode would have the same effect anyway.
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Jul 28, 2017 04:40
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qirex posted:My understanding is that UPSes don't run off the battery unless they need to. That said they will work just as well as a power conditioner because power conditioners don't really do anything of value. For the most part this is right. But there are different types of UPS
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Jul 28, 2017 18:16
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Is this an okay place to ask for a product recommendation? I'm trying to find some reasonable quality active bluetooth outdoor speakers. Not a fake rock. It's for my patio, they'd be mounted on the wall on the bottom of the deck above. It's a few hundred square feet and I'd like them to be able to push through the lawn as well, so something like 50-80 watts should do. I can find options, but they're all in--according to my googling--junk brands that are hit or miss at best with lovely customer service on defective products. I can't seem to find anything that meets these specs in stronger brands. I'm open to non-BT wireless options, but my receiver (onkyo ht-rc360) doesn't support wireless speakers as-is, so I found a BT transmitter to put on the zone 2 lineout, which I plan to then pair with a couple BT speakers as described above. If there's a better approach, I'm listening. Not interested in portable battery powered junk, unless it's magic I guess.
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Jul 30, 2017 21:48
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Scrapez posted:I would recommend a Chromecast Audio for streaming. Much better range than bluetooth since it uses wifi and better sound quality as a bonus. Hmm Chromecast seems like that'll do. I could just use my phone to interface with it, right? I don't have power in the closet, but I'm going to be running speaker wires into it already. I might as well finish the job and drop electrical.
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Jul 31, 2017 00:59
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Dude my Sonos play 3 + Spotify connect is the future and it's rad. Apple Music doesn't do any sort of direct connection sans the sonos app eh? 🤔 I have the playbar and sub I need to mount for my TV. Is kinda silly how many modern features they lack but w/e Hopefully Sonos and Alexa becomes a thing. I have two sonos bridges why would I want to use them? My playbar had a terrible connection but it's fine now on the play 3, but I did get a new router on the interim 🤷🏽♀️
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Jul 31, 2017 02:57
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I LOVE my sonos stuff. He playbase was underwhelming but once I added two plays it was game changing.
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Jul 31, 2017 03:00
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My setup doesn't really allot the possibility of getting proper rears or anything I suppose I can incorporate the play 3 when I finally set it all up or just put it in my bedroom 🤔
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Jul 31, 2017 03:02
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Me either, mine are set horizontally to my couch but still worth it. Plus playing music through it makes it sound amazing.
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Jul 31, 2017 03:06
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So is the bridge just if you have a poo poo connection or big place...?
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Jul 31, 2017 03:10
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E; I was wrong, the bridge is just a wireless bridge for the speakers I guess.
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Jul 31, 2017 03:17
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I have two zones paired through chromecast audio and it's pretty killer for $35 a puck.
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Jul 31, 2017 03:35
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:Hmm Chromecast seems like that'll do. I could just use my phone to interface with it, right? Yes phone interfaces with Chromecast Audio. If you have a Google Home you can also voice control by telling it to play on a specific Chromecast.
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Jul 31, 2017 03:56
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Is $139.99 a good deal for this sub?
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Aug 1, 2017 20:53
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Is $139.99 a good deal for this sub? Probably? But I couldn't tell you for certain. I never really hosed around with lovely subwoofers. One thing you will never regret is spending the money on a proper sub like an SVS
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Aug 1, 2017 21:12
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Is $139.99 a good deal for this sub? Probably? But the bar is pretty low at this point, and you'll probably upgrade later, which brings us to this: GnarlyCharlie4u posted:One thing you will never regret is spending the money on a proper sub like an SVS I bought an SVS SB12-Plus a while back and immediately regretted not just buying an SVS sub when they became available in Norway a few years ago, they knock pretty much everything else out of the water in their price class without breaking a sweat.
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Aug 1, 2017 22:42
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