possible sound problem with RTi6 set-up as surrounds

jenbzen

Hi, I'm new to this home theater thing and have just gone from a simple set up of two front speakers (older Polk Monitors) to adding a CSi5 center channel, PSW505 subwoofer and a pair of RTi6 speakers as my surround sound. I am using a Yamaha RXV-659 AV receiver and have the front speakers routed through the subwoofer. Everything sounds pretty good except that I've noticed the sound coming from my right RTi6 surround is muted and lacks fullness. It sounds like I am only getting sound from the tweeter. In watching a movie, the sound of "rain" came through well, but the fuller sounds in the movie did not come through this speaker. When I checked speaker levels through my receiver all speakers have about the same volume except this single speaker which sounds faint. Does this sound like a problem with the speaker, with my set-up, or ??? By the way, I have used 14 gauge wiring and it is connected to the top pair of hook-ups in the back of the RTi6 speakers. Any help folks are able to offer is much appreciated! Thanks!

McLoki

Hello and welcome to Club Polk. A few questions to help narrow down the possible issues.....

• Are the jumpers in place on the back of the speaker? (connecting the top and bottom terminal)
  
• Do you have any stray wires touching each other? (where the speaker wire connects to the speaker or the amp is there even one strand of positive touching the negative or vice versa??)
  
• If you swap your rear speakers (put the left speaker on the right side, right speaker on the left side) does the problem move with the speaker or stay in the same channel?
  
• Are you using a digital cable (optical or coax) to connect your DVD player to your Yamaha? (reaching here, but could make a difference)

check it out and let us know what you find out. Good luck, we will get there....

Michael

jenbzen

Hi McLoki (Michael),
You're brilliant and have solved my problem already. I hadn't thought to check that the screws were tight on the bottom two terminals of the speaker. I had kept the jumper on but the screws were loose and therefore I guess it wasn't making the connection. Now that they are tightened I have a much fuller sound coming from that speaker. Now... I just need to figure out a better spot for my center channel which does not fit in my cabinet. Thanks so much for your help! Jen
p.s., would the sound be remarkably better if I did the bi-wiring?

McLoki

Glad it worked. Post a picture of your cabinet and ask for suggestons on where to put the center channel....

Bi-Wiring (in my opinion) will not make a remarkable difference. Most agree that you get at least 90% of the way there by just replacing those brass jumpers on the back of your speaker with a short length of quality speaker wire.

It all comes down to your system and your ears. If your system is good enough that the little brass jumper on the back of your speakers is one of the biggest bottlenecks you have - you may notice a good difference. If, like most of us, the bottlenecks in your system dwarf anything a 3" strip of brass can do to effect sound you get - I would spend my money elsewhere. (fix the biggest problems first)

Michael

MillerLiteScott

Try to avoid putting the CSi5 in any type of cabinet. It has rear power ports and they need some space and as much open air as possible to breath.

Enjoy