SweetScientist's First System!

SweetScientist

hello everyone, i have been looking around this forum for a bit researching for my first system, and this is my first post. i have ordered the denon dra835r with two polk audio monitor 50s and a psw505, and i am hoping for the best! i will mostly be using the system to play digital music and movie files, and i was wondering about a few things while everything makes it way to my place.
are there any other things i will need to get this system up and running?
what is the best wiring scheme to connect the speakers and subwoofer to this stereo receiver as well as a television and a computer or digital music player like an ipod?
thank you in advance for any help!

obieone

Welcome to Club Polk. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any info on that rcvr., so, if you take a pic of the back, we can help you out.
Based on the info I did find, I'd recommend wiring it the 'Polk way', meaning taking speaker wire off the rcvr. terminals, going to the sub inputs, then back out to the Monitor 50's.
Good luck, and let us know how that works out.

SweetScientist

i read about that way, and it seems to be recommended by several sources. does that method negate differences in power and quality of different receivers in a way?

Jim Shearer

SweetScientist wrote: »

i read about that way, and it seems to be recommended by several sources. does that method negate differences in power and quality of different receivers in a way?

In a word, no. But it does help the sub blend better with the speakers.

And welcome!

Cheers, Jim

SweetScientist

Jim Shearer wrote: »

In a word, no. But it does help the sub blend better with the speakers.

And welcome!

Cheers, Jim

do you mean connecting the subwoofer through the preamp connection or the regular speaker connections? i picked this amp because it has 100watts per channel, and i was thinking that that power would be negated if i ran everything from the preamp. however, i suspect that you mean the regular connection.
also, i suppose connecting the speakers through the subwoofer serves to feed the subwoofer the lows and the speakers the rest, right?
here is the picture of the back from the seller.

obieone

Yes, you want to use the left and right, positive(+), and negative(-) terminals on A channel. Take some speaker wire and run it from those terminals down to the sub. 'input' terminals, then back out to your monitor 50's. Just make sure that whatever your speaker wire/ lampchord/ zipchord you use, keep the polarity the sameall the way.
Most wire for this purpose has writing on one side only, so you can designate that either pos. or neg.

SweetScientist

you guys are really on your stuff! i think i have grasped everything except for the wire itself. being that this is just a quartet of equipment, i dont need more than ten feet of wire for any of the runs, and i was considering cutting a bulk of belden 5000 series wire into generous lengths and just connecting without a termination with the bare cable. however, im unsure of the gauge of wire id need. im not sure if this is necessary, but the receiver is 100watts per channel at 8ohms or 230watts per channel at 4ohms. the subwoofer operates at 4ohms and the speakers at 8ohms.
what gauge of wire would be suitable?
would you recommend a termination other than the bare wire?

Jim Shearer

Speaker wire and interconnects area hotly debated topic. You will have to decided where you want to come down in this area. Here is a link which expresses an opinion that I agree with in large part, but not completely:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
My take on speaker wire:
1) You need to use wire of sufficient gauge. My opinion, based on info such as the above, is that 16 ga. wire will be good enough for a ten foot run to 8 ohm speakers.
2) can wires sound different? Yes. All wires exhibit resistance, capacitance, and inductance. These properties will affect the sound to a greater or lesser degree.
3) The upstream electronics will affect the sound of the speakers. One looks to find synergy--i.e. sources, components, and speakers which work well together to produce good sound.
4) Audiophiles seem to be opposed to tone controls. Changing wires is one way to accomplish what I would do with tone controls.

Just my take. Others will disagree violently. Only you can decided where you want to draw the line.

Cheers, Jim

SweetScientist

im leaning toward playing it safe and trying a larger gauge like 12awg depending on the amount ill need as dictated by how i wire everything up. the three ways ive heard i can wire things are:
a) speaker wire from the a terminals to the subwoofer input, subwoofer input to the left and right
b) rca from the preampout to the subwoofer linein, subwoofer input to the left and right
c) speaker wire from the b terminals to the subwoofer and from the a terminals to the left and right
am i missing a better way and of all of them, which would be the best?

SweetScientist

i see two decisions with two choices, connecting the subwoofer through the preampout with rca or through the speaker terminals with speaker wire as well as connecting the speakers through the receiver speaker terminals or through the subwoofer output. as far as the subwoofer connection, i dont know which cable is cleaner between the rca and the speakerwire and whether the subwoofer should receive an amplified or unamplfied signal. for the speakers, i dont know if the subwoofer outputs provide a high pass filtered signal and whether the speakers should be getting a full range or high pass filtered signal for the best blending and delegation of ranges.
what does experience say here?

danz1906

Welcome to the Club

SweetScientist

thank you! i hope i can get everything together soon.

Jim Shearer

SweetScientist wrote: »

i see two decisions with two choices, connecting the subwoofer through the preampout with rca or through the speaker terminals with speaker wire as well as connecting the speakers through the receiver speaker terminals or through the subwoofer output. as far as the subwoofer connection, i dont know which cable is cleaner between the rca and the speakerwire and whether the subwoofer should receive an amplified or unamplfied signal. for the speakers, i dont know if the subwoofer outputs provide a high pass filtered signal and whether the speakers should be getting a full range or high pass filtered signal for the best blending and delegation of ranges.
what does experience say here?

I still think that the Polk officially endorsed method blends the sub better with the speakers. Receiver's speaker outputs to sub speaker level inputs, then from sub speaker outputs to the speakers.

Cheers, Jim

SweetScientist

it seems that there are two officially endorsed polk methods on pages seven and eight.

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manuals/home/PSW303_404_505_Manual.pdf