Starting home theater/sound system

[ht beginner]

Just wanted to know if I can get some opinions on whether I should bi-wire my speakers or not? And opinions on whether I should go with Dh Labs T14 on front speakers and ST100 on surrounds? I'm using a Yamaha RXV1400 receiver and Klipsch RB5 II's in front, RC3II center, and RS3II surrounds. I have these components, but nothing is set up yet. What little input I've gotten is that my choice of speakers and reciever are going to be very, very bright on the highs......period. If this is the case, will the DH Labs cables make it that much more prominent? Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

[GMichael]

Just wanted to know if I can get some opinions on whether I should bi-wire my speakers or not? And opinions on whether I should go with Dh Labs T14 on front speakers and ST100 on surrounds? I'm using a Yamaha RXV1400 receiver and Klipsch RB5 II's in front, RC3II center, and RS3II surrounds. I have these components, but nothing is set up yet. What little input I've gotten is that my choice of speakers and reciever are going to be very, very bright on the highs......period. If this is the case, will the DH Labs cables make it that much more prominent? Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Hi HT, welcome to HT.

I don't think that bi-wiring will make much difference unless you are adding a second amp. The auto setup on the Yamaha will balance your system out nicely. Don't worry about how bright others say it will be. You be the judge. The Yammie has three settings for the auto set-up. Try them each and use the one you like most.

[ht beginner]

Hi HT, welcome to HT.

I don't think that bi-wiring will make much difference unless you are adding a second amp. The auto setup on the Yamaha will balance your system out nicely. Don't worry about how bright others say it will be. You be the judge. The Yammie has three settings for the auto set-up. Try them each and use the one you like most.

Hi GMichael,
Thanks for you input. I am not adding another amp. Not anytime soon anyway. The only reason that I even asked about bi-wiring, was that I read the reviews on this site of DH Labs T14 cables and it seemed like a lot of people were getting better results after bi-wiring. Maybe most of them are using Floorstanders (unlike me), so it makes for a better broader response range.

[GMichael]

Hi GMichael,
Thanks for you input. I am not adding another amp. Not anytime soon anyway. The only reason that I even asked about bi-wiring, was that I read the reviews on this site of DH Labs T14 cables and it seemed like a lot of people were getting better results after bi-wiring. Maybe most of them are using Floorstanders (unlike me), so it makes for a better broader response range.

Not sure what the benefit is to bi-wiring if you're not using a second amp to drive the lower end. You'd just be using the amp's crossover instead of the speaker's. The same amp would still be driving everything.
Anyway, I'm sure you're going to enjoy your new toy. When are you setting it up?

[ht beginner]

Not sure what the benefit is to bi-wiring if you're not using a second amp to drive the lower end. You'd just be using the amp's crossover instead of the speaker's. The same amp would still be driving everything.
Anyway, I'm sure you're going to enjoy your new toy. When are you setting it up?

The only thing I need to get is cables I guess, but I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to get. By the way, for whatever it's worth I think I forgot to mention that I also have a Klipsch RW-10 sub and a Monster HTS-3600 power center.

What kind of cables are you using? Did you try different brands? As soon as I can decide on cables, I'm setting it up. Hopefully that will be no later than this weekend.

[GMichael]

Should sound nice. I didn't know any better and used Monster cables when I set mine up. I've recently found out that Monster is over priced and under qualified. I would have suggested Dayton cables from Parts Express but you may not get them in time for the weekend. Here is their website.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=40

I have seen good deals on Ebay if you're into buying from the largest "flee market" on Earth.

Maybe others on this site know of better sources.

[ht beginner]

Should sound nice. I didn't know any better and used Monster cables when I set mine up. I've recently found out that Monster is over priced and under qualified. I would have suggested Dayton cables from Parts Express but you may not get them in time for the weekend. Here is their website.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=40

I have seen good deals on Ebay if you're into buying from the largest "flee market" on Earth.

Maybe others on this site know of better sources.

I was going to use Monster also, but it seems that a lot of people don't hold them in high regard. Thanks for the link to Parts Express, those Daytons are a lot less expensive than DH Labs, but I have no idea how either would sound.

I've never bought anything on line, let alone off Ebay.

The price I got from the only local place I know of yet for DH Labs T14 was $112.00 for a pair of 8 ft. speaker cables he will terminate with bananas.

Might you know if there is any difference between using optical cable or digital coax as my audio from my DVD player?

[GMichael]

Might you know if there is any difference between using optical cable or digital coax as my audio from my DVD player?

Uht oh, there have been some major flame wars on this site over optical cables and whether or not there's a difference between cheep and expensive ones. But most of the brighter members on this site seem to feel that coax is the way to go. In fact my receiver's manual states that if both optical and coax cables are hooked up it will defualt to the coax.
I've heard good things about the Dayton cables. Parts Express has Dayton coax cables as well. Bananas available too. They range from $0.65 each to $60.00 each. I use these http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-334

[ht beginner]

Uht oh, there have been some major flame wars on this site over optical cables and whether or not there's a difference between cheep and expensive ones. But most of the brighter members on this site seem to feel that coax is the way to go. In fact my receiver's manual states that if both optical and coax cables are hooked up it will defualt to the coax.
I've heard good things about the Dayton cables. Parts Express has Dayton coax cables as well. Bananas available too. They range from $0.65 each to $60.00 each. I use these http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-334

GMichael,
Just thought I'd tell you about this in case you're interested. I went to the Audioquest website and clicked on "Cable Theory". I think it has some interesting info, especially about bi-wiring and why it helps. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but the bi-wiring stuff I've seen so far starts with "Magnetic Interaction" on page 5 and continues on 6 and there is a paragraph on bi-wiring on page 11.

[Woochifer]

So many other things you can invest in with your system aside from cables. Generally speaking, cables make the least audible difference among the many changes you can try. The biggest variables in your audio system will be with the room acoustics, the speakers, and your processor settings. Start with those parts of the system. Cabling cannot change the tonal characteristics of subpar speakers, they cannot overcome acoustical problems with your room, nor can they negate problems with the settings on your processor.

The first thing that you should do is make sure that the settings on your receiver/processor are optimal, and then make sure that the speakers are properly positioned. Best thing about this is that it won't cost you a penny, yet it can yield very noticeable improvements in the audio performance -- typically, much bigger than anything that you will notice with cabling. The YPAO feature on your receiver can also help, but you should double check your settings using a test disc and a SPL meter.

Once you've done that optimization, then you can check on the room acoustics and if anything should be done there. Simplest thing to do with that is to clap your hands together. If you hear a slap echo, then the reverberation in the room can make the sound harsh and unfocused. It can make ANY receiver/speaker combination sound "bright." You tame that by either absorbing or diffusing the reflected sound that bounces off the hard surfaces in the room. Cabling won't do a damn thing about a "bright" sounding combination, especially compared to speaker positioning and room treatments.

Don't get too wound up about the articles on Audioquest's website. Irregardless of whether those claims result in audible improvements, the magnitude of change for the money that you spend is where you should focus. And on that measure, cabling typically represents very poor value for whatever improvements that it might produce, if any.

[Woochifer]

Uht oh, there have been some major flame wars on this site over optical cables and whether or not there's a difference between cheep and expensive ones. But most of the brighter members on this site seem to feel that coax is the way to go. In fact my receiver's manual states that if both optical and coax cables are hooked up it will defualt to the coax.
I've heard good things about the Dayton cables. Parts Express has Dayton coax cables as well. Bananas available too. They range from $0.65 each to $60.00 each. I use these http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-334

I think coax is the way to go, but for more pragmatic reasons than anything. Coax has higher bandwidth capacity, is less susceptible data loss if you pinch the cable, can have a more secure connection, can work fine with any well constructed 75 ohm RCA interconnect (basically a composite video cable), and it generally costs less. The bandwidth required for PCM, DD, and DTS audio signals is way below what either coax or toslink can carry.