How to properly setup Polk 6005's

Camster

Hi I recently purchased a set of Polk 6005's with a PSW010 Sub that I got on-sale on Boxing Day as a package. I have it powered by a Yamaha 5950 receiver. I have wired the speakers as per Polk's recs. (Fronts coming out of the Sub-woofer). I have set Front to Large, Center to Small, Surrounds to Small.

I have the Sub Crossover at around 150 Hz & my Yamaha Crossover setting @ 160 Hz for the Center & Surrounds as I understand the Sats don't do Lows very well. I have noticed the Center Speaker seems a little weak so I have in increased the "volume" from the receiver to it to boost this channel a little higher than the other speakers. Its seems to help. My 5950 has an Equalizer for the Center Channel too so it gives me a little more tweaking room.

My question is what should I set the output to each speaker from the receiver? Should they be equal or set to preference or is there any magic formula for this? Raising the output seems to give me more volume without turning up the Receiver as much. Is this okay or is a Line boost to the Speakers harmful in any way?

Sorry for the Newbie questions but I am really new to this HT stuff.:o I appreciate any feedback.

Cam

shawn474

I suggest you get an spl meter from radio shack and calibrate the system. I had the 6005 set-up and wasn't happy with the sound. I went with larger speakers to better fill my room. When I had them, though, I wired the sub and speakers directly to the receiver. I thought the Polk recommendations didn't sound as good with my set-up at the time.

Shawn

Camster

Thanks! How did you wire the Sub direct? I only have a R&L input not a single Sub wire as I would expect. I'm a little disappointed with these too. However I think I'm stuck. Even though Futureshop here in Canada has a liberal return policy I already turfed the packaging so I don't know if I can return these. They were on sale & I jumped at them. I did some research online about them & reviews were really quite good overall. A lesson learned perhaps.:rolleyes:

thanks,

Cam

shawn474

You should have a subwoofer output on the back of the Yamaha. Get a Y-adaptor and plug it into the back of the receiver. Use RCA cables to connect the Y adaptor to the sub. Then, wire the speakers directly to the back of the receiver.

If you're looking for ok sound, this will do the job for a little while. "Upgraditis" is sure to hit you in 30 days or so. I went from floor towers to this due to having a small baby in the house that liked to climb. I quickly sold the 6005 and went with 3 way bookshelf speakers. The 6005 set just didn't do nearly enough for me.

The reviews for these are great, but probably come from people with relatively little expectations and not using them as often as most of us around here.

Try it out and see how you like it. You could always sell these on e-bay if you're not happy. You can pretty much get back what you paid for these as people look for them often.

Camster

So you think wiring the sub directly is better? I have read of people doing this. Why do you think it improves the sound if you don't mind me asking? And yes my Yamaha has a sub-out as you mention. Polk seems convinced going through the sub first is best for some reason.

I agree about the "upgraditis" LOL as you put it. Thats my fear actually. The other thing I would assume I would use a single RCA cable out of the receiver and then put the Y connector on the end of it and into the R&L inputs on the sub. Do I need a fancy cable from the sub? I have a spare digital Coax cable around I know or would a plain RCA wire suffice? Sorry for all the questions. I really appreciate your advice so far.

Thanks,

Cam

shawn474

I can't explain why I thought it sounded better going directly to the sub; all I can say is that IMO it just did.

Cables are a topic of much debate. What I can tell you is that it would become counterproductive to sink a lot of money into cables on that system. The cost to benefit ratio just wouldn't add up. If you are planning on doing upgrading and have the funds to sink into cables, maybe. Otherwise, don't bother.

You could use a digital coax from the sub out to either the left or right channel of the sub. I have always used a y adapter and rca's to left and right of the sub. It might not make a difference, but my rationale was that I thought the sound would be better if both channels were used (probably way off on that one, but it makes me feel better).

Hope this helps.

Shawn

Camster

Thanks for all of your replies & help. I may give this a try for the hell of it.

Cam