Receiver Advice

oleon621

I checked and nothing. Plus I honestly can't justify spending that much money on speakers at the moment. Full time student with no job so I'm very limited on what I can do.

josephzetti75 wrote: »

Newegg just had Rti A9 on sale for $399.00 each. Dont know if they are still on sale.

oleon621

I sure wish I lived in Chicago. I would have definitely jumped on that deal:eek:

tonyb wrote: »

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/ele/3311995795.html

Looky what I found

sponger

oleon621 wrote: »

I sure wish I lived in Chicago. I would have definitely jumped on that deal:eek:

With bed bugs being a national epidemic, I'm sketchy about buying used items nowadays. When I do, I thoroughly inspect the item with a flashlight, carefully going over every crevice and sometimes taking the item apart if I have to. Even then, it's impossible to be absolutely sure that I've covered every possible hiding place.

So, it's also about gut feeling. If something doesn't seem right, then it's not worth taking the risk. Just one bed bug can lead to a total infestation in a matter of months. $600 for that set-up is an unbelievable deal. I won't disagree with that. But, the cost of treating a home for bed bugs can easily reach into the thousands with no guarantee that they won't return.

It should also be noted that NIB items can also pose a risk of bringing bed bugs into your home if the factory has an infestation or if the source materials originated from an infested area. But, IMO, the risk from purchasing used items is much higher.

It's a myth that only people with poor hygiene or people that live in low income areas are susceptible. No person or place is immune, which i why I avoid movie theaters and perform meticulous pre-inspections of hotel rooms when traveling. Just a word of caution.

jbooker82

100 bucks more I would have went with the DSW Pro 550WI for the sub.

You could always leave items in the freezing garage this winter to kill them off.

oleon621

I think the DSW Pro 550WI would have been good if I had a bigger place. My room is 14x18 and I think it should be more than enough. Plus those extra $100 are going toward my rears.

jbooker82 wrote: »

100 bucks more I would have went with the DSW Pro 550WI for the sub.

You could always leave items in the freezing garage this winter to kill them off.

oleon621

So I got my Sub how should I set the crossovers?? I'm at a total loss lol!!! Help!

sponger

oleon621 wrote: »

So I got my Sub how should I set the crossovers?? I'm at a total loss lol!!! Help!

It really depends. If you're setting the Main L/R speakers to the "Large" settting, then you want to set the subwoofer crossover probably at around 80HZ, but not above 100HZ.

If you're setting the Main L/R speakers to the "small" setting, then you will to set a crossover frequency for those speakers. I'd suggest somewhere around 80HZ but not above 100HZ. When the mains are set to "small," then the subwoofer crossover within the receiver is engaged. That's when you want to set the crossover on the subwoofer amp to its maximum setting -- probably around 250HZ or so I would guess. The manual should say this somewhere. It's either in the receiver manual or in the subwoofer manual. I forget which.

Also, you'll probably want to experiment with the phase switch on the subwoofer amp. Whichever sounds better is the setting you want.

jbooker82

Subwoofer doesnt have a cross over. It has a low pass filter. It needs to be set to 120hz. The .1 in 5.1 is the LFE sound track. It is specifically dedicated to Low Frequency Effects from 120 HZ and down. Since it is a low pass filter any setting lower than 120 hz will be an empty hole. It will not re route sounds from the LFE track to your mains, you simply wont hear them.

Here is more info on the Low Pass Filter on the LFE track.
https://audyssey.zendesk.com/entries/321931-lpf-on-lfe

As for hooking it up. Use a single RCA calble from the sub out on your avr to the LFE input on your sub. If there is a switch that says LFE make sure you turn it to yes or over to LFE. Then turn low pass filter on the sub all the way up. Set the frequency in your AVR to 120hz.

sponger

jbooker82 wrote: »

It needs to be set to 120hz. The .1 in 5.1 is the LFE sound track. It is specifically dedicated to Low Frequency Effects from 120 HZ and down. Since it is a low pass filter any setting lower than 120 hz will be an empty hole. It will not re route sounds from the LFE track to your mains, you simply wont hear them.

Here is more info on the Low Pass Filter on the LFE track.
https://audyssey.zendesk.com/entries/321931-lpf-on-lfe

That was interesting. Thank you for posting that. I'm going to have to rethink my settings now.

However, the PSW505 manual states the following:

PSW505 Manual wrote:

Connect a single RCA cable from the ?SUB OUT? of your receiver to the LFE input of
the subwoofer. This connecting method bypasses the subwoofer?s internal filter and
relies on the filter built into your receiver. Make no other signal connections.
Do not use speaker wire to make the connection to the subwoofer.
? Connect all speakers directly to the receiver. When using method #1, adjust
your receiver?s speaker configurations as follows: Set Front, Center and Surround
speakers to ?small.?
? Depending on your speakers? bass output capabilities, set the crossover frequency
on the receiver to 80Hz for tower and bookshelf speakers (speakers with a woofer
5 1/4" in diameter or larger) and 100-120Hz for satellite speakers.

Is that assuming a non-5.1 configuration only?

oleon621

I have TSI400 for the mains and CSI5 for the center with two small satellite speakers in rear.

Also my receiver gives me the option to set subwoofer to LFE or LFE and Main? Which do I choose? L

BTW- the sub is more than I could have asked for. I think I made the right choice. Just trying to fine tune now.

jbooker82

The 80 to 100-120 that they are talking about is for the Left Center, and Right speakers not the subwoofer. When you use a single sub cable you set the switch on the sub for LFE. That is how 99% of them are hooked up. But they give you a pair of RCA inputs incase your AVR doesnt have a single sub LFE out. In that event you would need to run dual RCA cables from your AVR to the sub. When you have the switch on the sub set to LFE it bypasses the interal Low Pass Filter, so it shouldnt matter where it is set, but most people turn it all the way up as a just in case precausion. That way the subs LPF isnt blocking any sound. Then you set the LFE setting in the AVR to 120hz. This will allow sounds from 120hz down to be played by the sub. It is a low pass filter so it is blocking frequencys above the value that you set it at. Kind of opposite as all the other frequency settings.

jbooker82

oleon621 wrote: »

I have TSI400 for the mains and CSI5 for the center with two small satellite speakers in rear.

Also my receiver gives me the option to set subwoofer to LFE or LFE and Main? Which do I choose? L

BTW- the sub is more than I could have asked for. I think I made the right choice. Just trying to fine tune now.

The LFE or LFE + Mains is how you want the bass to be played. If you chose LFE then 100% of the LFE track is played through the subwoofer, along with any sound that is below the frequency setting for the Left, Center, Right, or Surrounds (if the towers are set to a given frequency or small size).

If you chose the LFE + Mains (which is normally only avalable to chose when the L&R frequency is set to full range or large speaker size) Then you will get a double bass. The towers, and the sub will play bass together. Where as if you had the towers set to full range or large and the sub set to only LFE you will get no bass from the sub unless the AVR is recieving the .1 LFE track (HD cable tv broadcasted in 5.1 or dvd movies with a 5.1 sound track or better). If your only getting a 2.0 source from standard deffinition tv channle you wont have any bass out of the sub because there is no .1 LFE Track.

Bass takes the most power to produce so you can lighten the load on the AVR by not setting your towers to full range, and let the sub do the low end. That way your AVR will have more juce avalable to produce cleaner mids and highs. Polk lists the lower -3db point of your TSI 400's as 44 HZ. That means at 44hz the speaker has dropped 3 db volume. As the sound gets lower the speaker gets quiter. Most AVR's have fequency settings that go by 10hz so really the absolute lowest you should ever have them set to is 50hz. (60hz would be more realistic.) If you set it at 40 then your going to be missing out on that frequency because it is going to be quiter and harder to hear. There is no need to send sounds to your towers that they cannot reproduce at the same volume level.

Sorry for the long winded responce. Just trying to give an idea of why settings do what they do.

oleon621

Ok so I think I found the sweet spot. At least to my ears. All speakers have been set to small and the front and center channel have been set to 80hz while the rears are 120hz. The sub is set to LFE mode at 80hz. I love my set.

Thank you all for the help. I really appreciate it.

CSI5
TSI400s
TS15(just got these yesterday)
PSW505

oleon621

My setup.

tonyb

Is that sub faceing away....into the window ??

sponger

jbooker82 wrote: »

Subwoofer doesnt have a cross over. It has a low pass filter. It needs to be set to 120hz. The .1 in 5.1 is the LFE sound track. It is specifically dedicated to Low Frequency Effects from 120 HZ and down. Since it is a low pass filter any setting lower than 120 hz will be an empty hole. It will not re route sounds from the LFE track to your mains, you simply wont hear them.

So it's pointless to low pass a subwoofer below 120HZ unless it's a 2.1 set-up? I'm confused.

sponger

It looks like there's an object sitting right on top of the receiver. Am I seeing that right? I can't tell if it's an actual object or some kind of optical illusion having to do with reflections from the glass table top.

Is the center channel firing at the ceiling?

jbooker82

sponger wrote: »

So it's pointless to low pass a subwoofer below 120HZ unless it's a 2.1 set-up? I'm confused.

Not pointless but you creat a hole in the sound from what ever you have it set to (80hz in your case) to 120hz. It is also dependent on what kind of source your listening to. Regular standard deffintion tv is ethier mono or 2.0 stereo. .0 means there is no LFE sound track so it's not as big of a deal on what your sub is set to. If you playing video games or watching hd tv, or dvd where the audio source is a 5.1 the .1 is a Low Frequency Effects sound track. The only sounds in this track are from 120hz and down. The setting for your sub in your AVR is a Low Pass Filter. It simply blocks sound it does not cross it over to another speaker. So in order to hear the whole LFE sound track it needs to be set at 120hz.

David R

RTI 8 's have been on sale at Fry's. They will match your center. For the money they are very good. I felt that the sound from the TSI sounded like it was comming from a box.

SolidSnake1988

Yamaha aventage are really with pre outs if you're planning to add an amp down the road.

sponger

jbooker82 wrote: »

Not pointless but you creat a hole in the sound from what ever you have it set to (80hz in your case) to 120hz. It is also dependent on what kind of source your listening to. Regular standard deffintion tv is ethier mono or 2.0 stereo. .0 means there is no LFE sound track so it's not as big of a deal on what your sub is set to. If you playing video games or watching hd tv, or dvd where the audio source is a 5.1 the .1 is a Low Frequency Effects sound track. The only sounds in this track are from 120hz and down. The setting for your sub in your AVR is a Low Pass Filter. It simply blocks sound it does not cross it over to another speaker. So in order to hear the whole LFE sound track it needs to be set at 120hz.

It's my understanding that when the speakers are set to "small" on the receiver, then the low pass for the subwoofer is automatically set at where the high passes for the "small" speakers are set. Is that not correct? According to the manual for my receiver, that would be the case. It says the only way to adjust the subwoofer low pass independently of the speakers is to set the speakers to full range.

jbooker82

sponger wrote: »

It's my understanding that when the speakers are set to "small" on the receiver, then the low pass for the subwoofer is automatically set at where the high passes for the "small" speakers are set. Is that not correct? According to the manual for my receiver, that would be the case. It says the only way to adjust the subwoofer low pass independently of the speakers is to set the speakers to full range.

I do not know with a Denon AVR. My Onkyo has no size setting. You simply set what frequency you want the L&R, Center, Side Surrounds, Back Surrounds, and Subwoofer set to. The size think is more of a general broad setting. If set it to large then they figure it is a full range speaker, if it is set to small then it sets it to a xo point. I would have though that you could have adjusted your LPF for the sub indepndently, but maybe not. I know with Pioneer you cannot have the L&R, Center, Side Surrounds, and Back Surrounds set at different frequencys. With it they are all set to the same value so if you have towers up front, and small book shelfs in the back the large towers will have the same xo point as the book shelfs.

oleon621

I have a 5.1 setup. The center channel is facing up and the subwoofer is facing the window. I take it those are not optimal positions. I do have a 5.1 set up. They're not pictured(the rears T15).

tonyb

oleon621 wrote: »

I have a 5.1 setup. The center channel is facing up and the subwoofer is facing the window. I take it those are not optimal positions. I do have a 5.1 set up. They're not pictured(the rears T15).

Seriously, what determined that was the best possible setup ? The center facing up, the sub facing out and away, that sounds good to you ? Just asking, maybe it does.....have you tried the traditional ways ?

oleon621

tonyb wrote: »

Seriously, what determined that was the best possible setup ? The center facing up, the sub facing out and away, that sounds good to you ? Just asking, maybe it does.....have you tried the traditional ways ?

Honestly I dunno. Ill definitely try the traditional way. I am fairly new at this and I thought the center channel looked cool facing straight up(fail). I'll reposition everything when I get home.

sponger

oleon621 wrote: »

Honestly I dunno. Ill definitely try the traditional way. I am fairly new at this and I thought the center channel looked cool facing straight up(fail). I'll reposition everything when I get home.

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like there's an object sitting right on top of the receiver. Especially if you're powering the speakers with the receiver, there needs to be more breathing room above it.

oleon621

^^ I noticed the picture gave that effect but there isn't anything on the receiver. So it should be ok.

RodneyWoodford

I use RTi 10 also , great speakers , great deal.

oleon621

New Setup. The rears are hanging off the wall(not shown). I don't have much of an option with the rears. Unless I buy some kind mounts.

Oldfatdogs

Hello oleon621,sorry to derail your post.But your system will not sound right until you remove the Packers sign from in front of the Raiders banner!:razz:
Again sorry for the derail.
Carry on.

Dan