New guy with new speaker setup question

Razer

Hello all, I am a newbie here and recently purchased a Polk HT setup and had some questions.

First my setup,

RTi A7
CSi A6
RTi A3

Klipsch RW-12d sub

Denon 3808ci Receiver

After setting up with Audyssey and tweaking a little it is sounding great, but noticed that the RTi A7's don't seem to be putting out as much as I thought they would.

The woofer's and mid's aren't moving at all. I hear a little sound from them and they have a slight vibration but literally don't move. Why did polk put ports on these speakers if they aren't needed?

It sounds like all the bass is coming from my sub. the crossover is set at 80 for all. I tried to set the A7's at 40, the A6's and A3's at 60 but it sounded worse. I would like some bass production from the A7's, am I doing something wrong?

Thanks all!

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!

While it is true that the A-7s can use more power than the Denon can put out, you should first check all your connections and make sure they are all tightened down, especially the two sets of terminals on the back of the A-7s. Sometimes loose connections are responsible for some problems.

The good news is that your Denon has pre-outs so you should consider getting an external power amp...at least a 2 if not a 3 channel to supplement the Denon. That will make a HUGE difference for you.

Also, try running your system in PURE DIRECT STEREO and turn off the sub and see what the A-7s sound like. That should give you a truer sense of what kind of power the Denon can actually give the A-7s.

Set the A-7s to Full-range with no LFE cut off to perform that test, then reset the system after you are done! For home theater one expects the SUB to take most of the bass not the L/R.

cnh

Razer

Thanks for the advise cnh, I will try it out and see how it sounds. I just have to figure out how to do that lol. I have seen the pure direct setting but dont see how to turn off the crossover for the A7's. Is it possible that I would have to change the phase on the sub if I start pushing the A7's with more bass?

cnh

The menu system in the speaker set up has crossover settings in it. Use your remote to find it. I know Denon menus are a 'pain' to deal with?

For HT you don't want to send more LFE to L/R but keep all that going to the SUB so as to relieve the supporting speakers of needing too much power from the AVR to do their job.

Hence, most people advise setting all your speakers to small or at least the crossover to around 80hz for most speakers...even the fronts?

cnh

tonyb

Also check the speaker levels in the setup, sometimes the auto calibration sets them pretty low, like -4.0 which you then have to turn up the volume to get them pumpimg. Turn the front 3 speaker levels to 0.0 and see if that helps at all,you can always adjust to your taste.

Razer

WOW!!! pure direct mode with the sub turned off really helped isolate those speakers. They sounded great! The woofers were moving some and alone they sounded impressive with nice lows. I am very happy now. With the sub turned back on and listening in pure direct for music, it was definitely a very nice sound. I will still leave it with a xover of 80 all around, it seemed to sound the best. I can see where the external amp will really make these shine. It is now going into the budget, prolly a 3 channel!

Also, thank you for the quick response I am very happy and glad I chose these over the klipsch!!

Razer

tonyb wrote: »

Also check the speaker levels in the setup, sometimes the auto calibration sets them pretty low, like -4.0 which you then have to turn up the volume to get them pumpimg. Turn the front 3 speaker levels to 0.0 and see if that helps at all,you can always adjust to your taste.

Your definetely right! Audyssey does some funny things but is a great baseline to start from. I put L/R ar +1.5, center 0.0, surrounds +1.5, sub +2.0 and set the volume on the sub at +0.0. This system is amazing and really shakes things up nicely.

Thank you aswell for your help!

This site is different than the other audio sites, you all respond and respond quickly! Will have to hang around here. Thanks for that!

TroyD

Glad you got it sorted out, enjoy your rig! Very nice, btw.

BDT

tonyb

Glad you got your grove on with the speakers. Don't be afraid to tinker with settings a bit either. Welcome to the club too.

Slinger182

They probably need to break in some more as well.

Razer

Slinger182 wrote: »

They probably need to break in some more as well.

Oh yeah!! I forgot about that! How long is that usually?

Thank you all!!