Help selecting satellites?

TECHNOKID

mdaudioguy wrote: »

Sounds like you are making progress. Yes, the surrounds belong behind you or "put away." I would definitely try putting the 40s where the satellites are in the second picture. You might also want to put something under the 30 to raise it up as much as possible, and another thought would be to try it upside-down.

The harshness at higher volume is probably distortion. Of course, we have no idea what's loud to you. iTunes EQ, huh? How is your computer connected to your receiver? Could be an issue there. It also sounds like you might be realizing the limitations of compressed music files. Have you tried a CD player as a source?

maudioguy has some really good points.

As far as those surrounds, I'd put them away.

The 40s where the sat are presently would look much better and who knows hopefully the SQ would improve a little more?

That 30 really bugs me...

Now, I agree with the harshness potentially being distortion. m.a.g.'s concern about your computer input is quite relevant. Just keep in mind "Garbage in = Garbage out". If for example the computer is feending too large of a signal at the AVR input, you are clipping (distortion) your signal even before amplfication so it wouldn't matter what quality your gear would be after that as the damage would already have been done. As M.a.g's points out a CD player would perform a lot better.

Also, go back to your OSD and try set the gain even a little lower (you have mentioned -2db I believe, so maybe try -4 and see what the end result is?)

thetawave2

mdaudioguy wrote: »

Sounds like you are making progress. Yes, the surrounds belong behind you or "put away." I would definitely try putting the 40s where the satellites are in the second picture. You might also want to put something under the 30 to raise it up as much as possible, and another thought would be to try it upside-down.

The harshness at higher volume is probably distortion. Of course, we have no idea what's loud to you. iTunes EQ, huh? How is your computer connected to your receiver? Could be an issue there. It also sounds like you might be realizing the limitations of compressed music files. Have you tried a CD player as a source?

I have heard that people prefer their 30's upside-down. I'll definitely give that a shot.

I don't think the harshness is distortion. It isn't a screech and it doesn't sound like clipping, it's just a bit of an edge.
The computer is connected through the headphone jack via a headphone-to-rca cable. It's a pretty decent-quality one from what I can tell. Not ideal, I know. An external soundcard would probably be better but that's not an investment in which I'm interested at the present time.
I also have heard that digital music and MP3s in general can be a bit harsher-sounding.
So, In short, no, I haven't listened to CD's recently. But aren't CD's also a digital format?

thetawave2

TECHNOKID wrote: »

maudioguy has some really good points.

As far as those surrounds, I'd put them away.

The 40s where the sat are presently would look much better and who knows hopefully the SQ would improve a little more?

That 30 really bugs me...

Now, I agree with the harshness potentially being distortion. m.a.g.'s concern about your computer input is quite relevant. Just keep in mind "Garbage in = Garbage out". If for example the computer is feending too large of a signal at the AVR input, you are clipping (distortion) your signal even before amplfication so it wouldn't matter what quality your gear would be after that as the damage would already have been done. As M.a.g's points out a CD player would perform a lot better.

Also, go back to your OSD and try set the gain even a little lower (you have mentioned -2db I believe, so maybe try -4 and see what the end result is?)

I make it a point to keep both the iTunes volume and the computer volume at or below 80 or 90 percent, so I don't think it's clipping due to maxing out either the program or the computer.
Turning down the treble more hurts more than it helps :frown:

mdaudioguy

thetawave2 wrote: »

I have heard that people prefer their 30's upside-down. I'll definitely give that a shot.

I don't think the harshness is distortion. It isn't a screech and it doesn't sound like clipping, it's just a bit of an edge.
The computer is connected through the headphone jack via a headphone-to-rca cable. It's a pretty decent-quality one from what I can tell. Not ideal, I know. An external soundcard would probably be better but that's not an investment in which I'm interested at the present time.
I also have heard that digital music and MP3s in general can be a bit harsher-sounding.
So, In short, no, I haven't listened to CD's recently. But aren't CD's also a digital format?

The 40s can reportedly sound remarkably nice with a good source and good, high-current power. The connection is definitely a weak point. An optical or coaxial digital connection, which I believe your receiver supports, would be much preferred.

CDs are digital, but uncompressed - big difference.

thetawave2

mdaudioguy wrote: »

The 40s can reportedly sound remarkably nice with a good source and good, high-current power. The connection is definitely a weak point. An optical or coaxial digital connection, which I believe your receiver supports, would be much preferred.

CDs are digital, but uncompressed - big difference.

Alas, I don't have an optical or coaxial cable or a player that supports either. I'll check on the capabilities of my DVD player when I go home for the summer.