basic wiring questions from newbie

larrykwiat

i just bought:

2 monitor 70's for my fronts $340 from newegg
1 cs2 center channel $129 from newegg
sony str-dh800 7.1 receiver $259 from amazon
psw111 $120 from ebay

i have heard a bunch of stuff on bi-wiring and bi-amping. i am probably somewhat stupid but it is totally confusing. so i have the following questions.

1. how did i do? i bought sony because my tv and ps3 are all sony. i tried to match the speakers and sub from ideas on this site.

2. does it pay to explore bi-wiring or bi-amping on this setup?

3. i noticed on the psw111 subwoofer setup that it:

a. allows for going to the sub with a single cable from the reciever. I think they called it LFE.

b. allows for going to the sub with the front speakers from the receiver and then going to the front speakers from the sub.

which is better and can you explain what this is doing?

Thank you so much...

louhamilton

1.) that is a very nice setup. The only thing I think may be the weak point is the sub. For that price point, I think only an AA sub could some close in price, but performance may be better.

2.) I do bi-wiring with 12/4 speaker wires for aesthetics only. I don't like the look of jumpers. I feel it does nothing sonically.

If you do look into bi-amping, they say that it is best to run separate speaker wires for each pair of binding posts. This can enhance the dynamic range of the speakers since each high pass and low pass posts are getting a full signal from a dedicated amp.

3.) get an RCA cable and connect the sub from the receivers SUB OUT to the input on the back of the sub. I got an inexpensive 'Y-cord' from Radio shack to have both the right and left inputs on my sub get a signal. I've heard it may boost the sub signal by a couple db's, but again, I did it for aesthetics.

Another thing you may want to invest in is an SPL meter. These can be purchased from Radio Shack for about $50 dollars. it doesn't matter if you get the analog or digital, they both perform the same. It comes down to which is easier for you to read. It is recommended to level 5 speakers (2 fronts, center, 2 surrounds) to 75 db and the sub to 78 db. I run mine a little hot at 80db for the 5 speakers and 83 for the sub.

kp1706

From everything I have read over the last six months on this forum, bi-wiring your Monitor 70's is not going to make much difference in the quality of the sound you get. Bi-amping is a more complicated project than just running a couple more speaker cables. Consensus seems to be that it is not worth the effort. However, the B&W website seems to think bi-wiring is effective so go figure.
http://www.brilliancehifi.co.uk/how-to-bi-wire-speakers.htm

larrykwiat

one other question. does this receiver str-hd800 have enough power to drive the monitor 70's? if it does not can i add an additional amplifier to the str-hd800? are there amplifiers you would recommend if i can? where would the amp plug into the str-hd800?

i am really stupid at this stuff..... sorry. someone told me the str-hd800 would not do justice to the monitor 70's and i think the str-hd800 has already shipped.... thanks

louhamilton

larrykwiat wrote: »

one other question. does this receiver str-hd800 have enough power to drive the monitor 70's? if it does not can i add an additional amplifier to the str-hd800? are there amplifiers you would recommend if i can? where would the amp plug into the str-hd800?

i am really stupid at this stuff..... sorry. someone told me the str-hd800 would not do justice to the monitor 70's and i think the str-hd800 has already shipped.... thanks

UNfortunately, the Sony ST-DH800 does not have the capability to support an external amp. Based on the manual, it does not have Pre-out connections.

Sorry.