n00b alert: What is the best way to wire my speakers?

giant016

So I'm excited and my Monitor 70s just came in yesterday. Awhile back I picked up a cheap Denon AVR1500 reciever. I have only the two speakers, no sub or fronts. I tried hooking them up to the Main Speaker output, but got nothing. They work if I plug them in as rears, but don't sound too good. Oddly enough if I plug one into a rear output and one into a main speaker output they both work. Anyways, where should I stick the wire. Also, I've heard a decent amount about bi-wiring. Is it worth it?

Here is a shot of the back of my reciever and a of on of the towers. Thanks for any help!

Also, is Radioshack wire sufficient?

EDIT: Forgot the photos.

kawizx9r

Personally, I prefer banana plugs on both ends.

Btw, did you try switching the Speaker select on the front panel of your AVR?

Those receivers have A/B switching for running 2 different pairs of speakers. Just a thought, and congrats on the new speaks!

-Freddy

giant016

kawizx9r wrote: »

Personally, I prefer banana plugs on both ends.

Btw, did you try switching the Speaker select on the front panel of your AVR?

Those receivers have A/B switching for running 2 different pairs of speakers. Just a thought, and congrats on the new speaks!

-Freddy

SUCCESS! Thanks. The buttons for the speakers are "A" "B" "Rear" and "Center", but I thought the A and B were for something else. I really need to read the manual for the reciever. Anyways they sound pretty great. Now I just need to tweak. Thanks.

kawizx9r

Glad I can be of help

Now, give them a good 150-200hours of playing time to fully break-in. If you enjoy what you hear now, wait til you hit that mark.

If you really want to make them sing, invest in an external amplifier. You'll thank me later.

helipilotdoug

Welcome to Club Polk +1 on the external amp. If that Denon does not have pre out jacks on it, you would need to get a preamp though. What gauge is that speaker wire? Looks pretty small. If you can do it, I'd suggest at lease getting 14 ga. wire for your main speakers.

giant016

helipilotdoug wrote: »

Welcome to Club Polk +1 on the external amp. If that Denon does not have pre out jacks on it, you would need to get a preamp though. What gauge is that speaker wire? Looks pretty small. If you can do it, I'd suggest at lease getting 14 ga. wire for your main speakers.

12 gauge. What does an external amp accomplish? Despite buying big speakers I don't really need a ton of juice. I just like the "big" sound, and would have gotten 50s if it weren't for the general understanding that you need a sub with them for music.

helipilotdoug

12 Ga. wire is even better. Could not tell by the photo.

There are lots of other more experienced guys on here that can give you a good answer to your question, "What does an external amp accomplish?". I have, within the past year, learned a lot about this, but am not a expert. My experience is going from a Pioneer VSX-84TXSi Receiver, with 145 WPC powering all 7 channels, to using a separate 375 watt Carver TFM-45 amp for my mains, with the receiver powering everything else. The sound, especially when listening to 2 channel sources, is far superior. Much cleaner sound, and the lower end much tighter and present. The best sound for my system, listening to 2 channel, is with a Carver C-11 preamp, and the Carver amp. Everything is just so much cleaner, and more "there", for lack of a better word. The only way you will be able to know what improvements you will gain is to experiment with your own system, and listen to the folks on here that have already been there. Hope you will enjoy the journey.

wutadumsn23

Congrats on the 70's, those speakers are hard to beat for what they can be had for these days, assuming you can even get you hands on them, lol. The guys have you covered above with some solid advice, welcome to the club.

-Jeff