Bit of a newbie here.. need some help.. [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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nameth
11-14-2007, 09:04 AM
Hey there..

I recent obtained a HK Av 320 AMP and his Nuance Baby Grand speakers.. and going through the setup process, I have been unable to fully set up the speakers correctly.

They do provide sound, but my buddy tells me that they should be 10 times louder (as I told him the bass sucks and he needed a sub woofer). He told me that if you can not control the volume of the speakers from the back of the speakers themselves, then they werent set up right, and thats why the subs in the speakers arent working properly.

At any rate, I played around the all the connections for about an hour yesterday, and nothing. Obviously the tower speakrs are used as the fronts, and from what I can understand, the one red/black connection that goes to each speaker helped give the speakers a proper power source as the led indicator shows that power is going to the speakers, but I think the problem is I can not find the right port to place the opposing ends of those connections into the amp.

And I tried every hole :) And yet no added speaker volume..

Im hoping someone can help me out.. and Im also hoping Ive provided enough information to make sence of this problem :)

Thanks for any help..

basite
11-14-2007, 12:07 PM
Hi, Welcome to AR.

I'm sorry to say you this, but if I remember correctly, nuance speakers are a scam.
that's probably the reason why they sound like crap.

elapsed
11-14-2007, 12:57 PM
Thread on Nuance Speakers: http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5875

markw
11-15-2007, 05:04 AM
They do provide sound, but my buddy tells me that they should be 10 times louder (as I told him the bass sucks and he needed a sub woofer). He told me that if you can not control the volume of the speakers from the back of the speakers themselves, then they werent set up right, and thats why the subs in the speakers arent working properly.The highlighted part proves to me that your "friend" is an idiot. The jury's still out on you. Did you even bother to look at the receiver's manual to see how to connect the speakers or even investigate how to connect speakers to an amp in general?

There's only one way to connect speakers. You have one wire with two sides.Each amp channel has one matching pair of output terminals, one red and one black. They go together. You cna't use the red from one channel with the black from another channel and expect it to work.The red amp terminal goes to the red speaker terminal. The black amp terminal goes to the black speaker terminal. Repeat for wach speaker as needed for each channel.


At any rate, I played around the all the connections for about an hour yesterday, and nothing. Obviously the tower speakrs are used as the fronts, and from what I can understand, the one red/black connection that goes to each speaker helped give the speakers a proper power source as the led indicator shows that power is going to the speakers, but I think the problem is I can not find the right port to place the opposing ends of those connections into the amp.

And I tried every hole :) And yet no added speaker volume..I bet I can name one hole you haven't tried.

I repeat: You have one wire with two sides. There's only one way to connect speakers. Each amp channel' has one matching pair of speaker terminals, one red and one black. They go together. You cna't use the red from one channel with the black from another channel and expect it to work.T he red amp terminal goes to the red speaker terminal. The black amp terminal goes to the black speaker terminal. Repeat for wach speaker as needed for each channel.

Of course, you have to look at the back of the receiver and make sure you use the corrosponding red and black terminals. If you can't get this straight, all bets are off. Hire a pro. ...or call yer buddy over.

nameth
11-15-2007, 08:10 AM
Thanks for the reply..

Yes my friend is an idiot.. a very big one. Why he shelled out cash for these things in the first place is beyond me..

That being said, I am not an idiot :) He moved out of his place and needed somewhere to put these speakers/amp while he found a new place.. so I took them of his hands because I have nothing but space in my new house, and I didnt have a decent home theatre system (turns out I still dont.. lol). I didnt buy them from him, just putting them to use while they are at my house.

I understand what youre saying about the terminals.. a red and a black.. gotcha. There is a post for each on the back of each speaker and both ends go onto the posts on the amp.. now, on top of that, a single input jack that is used, I assume, to provide power to the subs in the speakers. The speakers are loud, but they have very little bass, which is why Im thinking that the single wire that connects that jack to the amp is the problem.. and after asking him about it, he gave me some song and dance about how he had the same problem, but worked it out.. but he cant remember how..

That led me to these forums, because Im betting he will never remember what he did to fix it :)

So my problem is that single (I think it is labelled input) jack, and where the other end must go.. the obvious answer is the multi-output jack on the back of the amp.. but that didnt work.

topspeed
11-15-2007, 10:05 AM
I didnt have a decent home theatre system (turns out I still dont.. lol). Good to see you have a sense of humor about this. It's also good to see you didn't pay for these atrocities.

Is the single jack an RCA type? I'm guessing it is, which means it's the input for the sub. On the back on the HK, if it's an AVR (home theater receiver), there should be a "sub out" single rca jack. Run a RCA interconnect between that and the speaker. Since you have two speakers, you may need to get a Y splitter from RatShack.

Or just dump them back on your idiot friend and save yourself the hassle :).

nameth
11-15-2007, 10:57 AM
Correct.. its has a single (purple color coded) sub jack on the back of the amp. Ive tried that connection, but no dice.

Granted I do have 2 RCA cable's (one red ended, and one black ended - one from each speaker) and I do not have a splitter.. but wouldnt the speaker I plug into that jack work atleast?

Also, he has never had a splitter, so he must have had it set up another way. Im certain it was some combination of Video in's and out's.

All in all, its just sad :) Ive got these huge speakers, producing inferior sound. I wanted to watch Transformers or something similar and actually hear the movie properly.. but that has yet to happen..

Needless to say, Im still at a loss.. Lol

markw
11-15-2007, 11:00 AM
How many red/black terminal pairs are there?

If there are two. connect both reds together with a short piece of wire. Then do the same for the blacks.

they may have beem desighend for "bi-wiring" (don't ask) and jumpering the two respective terminal pairs together, you should be all right.

Of course, if there's only one pair, well, sorry... it's the speakers.

nameth
11-15-2007, 11:23 AM
The odd thing is this.. the RCA single jack at the back of each speaker only has the one jack.. One of the speakers has the red jack, and the other speaker has the black jack.. the wire's are completely seperate lines.

(Again, this is on top of each speaker having red/black wire combination with thick wires screwed to the posts of each speaker and the other end posted to the back of the amp)

I will also now mention that at the back of each speaker, there is a series of, Id say 5 or 6, sets of additional (red/black duo) posts to connect stuff to, in addition to the obvious Main posts that are currently connected.. but I dont think those have ever been used for anything.

Its wacky man :)

I would say screw it, but he HAS had things thing operating properly in the past, with the wires that I currently have. And he can not remember how to set it up, because he basically fluked out doing it the first time. (And yes, weed is a factor in both his memory loss and idiocy.. lol)

markw
11-15-2007, 11:33 AM
apparently, this is a configuration I've never encountered in my 40+ years in this hobby. I can offer no further advice, sorry.

Good luck.

basite
11-15-2007, 11:43 AM
The odd thing is this.. the RCA single jack at the back of each speaker only has the one jack.. One of the speakers has the red jack, and the other speaker has the black jack.. the wire's are completely seperate lines.

(Again, this is on top of each speaker having red/black wire combination with thick wires screwed to the posts of each speaker and the other end posted to the back of the amp)

I will also now mention that at the back of each speaker, there is a series of, Id say 5 or 6, sets of additional (red/black duo) posts to connect stuff to, in addition to the obvious Main posts that are currently connected.. but I dont think those have ever been used for anything.

Its wacky man :)

I would say screw it, but he HAS had things thing operating properly in the past, with the wires that I currently have. And he can not remember how to set it up, because he basically fluked out doing it the first time. (And yes, weed is a factor in both his memory loss and idiocy.. lol)

probably active speakers (still crap, active doesn't nessecarily stand for good), just plug them in with a simple RCA cable...

GMichael
11-15-2007, 11:50 AM
One RCA jack on the back of each speaker? Well, at least you don't have to worry about getting the polarity right. But I bet the wire is so thin that you'll never get any base through them.

topspeed
11-15-2007, 12:26 PM
You have one black and one red sub for the extremely rare occasion where the AVR has stereo sub out's. If the HK actually has this, then good on ya!

Dive into the menu system of the HK and make sure the sub out is turned on in the first place. If that's not it, I say take an axe to the flippin' things and use them for kindling.

Good luck.

nameth
11-15-2007, 01:24 PM
Will do.. I dont like my odds but thats all I have left to try :) lol

BurnTheOil
12-08-2007, 05:47 PM
:idea: reading through all the posts, i think i know what your problem is, but not knowing exactly what everything looks like is like Hellen Keller (Blind, Deph, Mute) Walking Through a Active Mine Feild. Pictures Would Help Us All Out. Could You Take Detailed Pictures Of All The Plugs (Close enough for the plug names to be read) on everything, and a basic picture of what you have for cords.


But i can say this now from experiece. the fact that there is a single RCA plug on each speaker, one red, one black, those are the imputs. put the speaker with the red single plug on the right, and the white single plug on the left. those 2 single RCA cords you were talking about are the cords you should use to hook it up. plug the other end into the pair or red and white plugs you were using before as outputs. try that for now, if not post or send me the pictures :idea:

Thanks