ausastronomer
11-20-2004, 03:02 AM
Hi All,
I am new to this forum and a bit of a novice with home theatre/surround sound. I can appreciate that in hindsight I should have found this forum and asked the questions 1st but that didn't happen and whats done is done. I have just put together my 1st AV system (5.1) which consists of the following components:-
Sherwood Newcastle R-865 AV Receiver
Paradigm Reference Studio 60 Front Speakers
Paradigm Reference Studio CC-470 Centre Speaker
Electrovoice S40 mini monitors for the rears
Yamaha YST SW800 Subwoofer
Panasonic DVD CV52 DVD Player
Sony KVHR32M31 CRT Television
My room is 20 feet x 15 feet with a tiled floor but I have rugs all over the place, a lot of soft furnishings and thick curtains on all the windows so the acoustics in the room are reasonable.
All the components are new except for the DVD player which I have owned for about 2.5 years.
I have used good quality cable and interconnects throughout although nothing is bi-wired which I dont really understand much about anyway.
I am very satisfied with my setup, whilst I can appreciate thats its not "top end" it walks all over the home theater in a box packages. Also be aware that everything in Australia costs about 2.5 times what it costs in the USA, so good gear aint cheap here.
I have several questions about my setup:-
1) When I switch from 2 channel mode to 5.1 surround I notice a bit of a drop off in the volume level. Normal listening level in 2 channel mode is
say -30db whereas I need to go to -20db in 5.1 mode to get the same overall volume level. Having said that the system has plenty of headroom to play the loud sounds in 5.1 mode so its really only numbers on the dial. I can appreciate that there must be some dropoff as you have the same power supply now trying to drive 5 amplifiers when it was previously only driving 2, my question is, is the drop off level I am experiencing normal of most AV receivers at this price level?
A friend has also suggested that my DVD player could be the weak link here as it may be providing a lower input signal to the receiver in 5.1 mode compared to its input signal in 2 channel mode, any thoughts on this ?
2) A different friend (who thinks he's an expert - questionable IMO) has suggested that I bi-wire the front and center speakers, will I gain anything by this? The dealer I bought the system from said that bi-wiring and bi-amping is only beneficial in high end systems running separates and I would not notice any benefit at this level, your thoughts ? I suppose this depends on what cable I am already using ? Assume its reasonable quality and in keeping with the rest of the system. I think its Soundlink 11SWGA 99.95% OFC. The runs to the front speakers and center are also fairly short all being less than 2.5 metres.
3) The same bi-wiring friend suggested that I may benefit from using the pre-outs on the front 2 channels and running separate amplification on these. What benefit do I gain by doing this when my wife says the thing is already way too loud and asks me 2 turn the volume down?
4) Any other suggestions anyone can make that can improve the system without spending an arm and a leg would be appreciated.
Regards and Thanks in advance
I am new to this forum and a bit of a novice with home theatre/surround sound. I can appreciate that in hindsight I should have found this forum and asked the questions 1st but that didn't happen and whats done is done. I have just put together my 1st AV system (5.1) which consists of the following components:-
Sherwood Newcastle R-865 AV Receiver
Paradigm Reference Studio 60 Front Speakers
Paradigm Reference Studio CC-470 Centre Speaker
Electrovoice S40 mini monitors for the rears
Yamaha YST SW800 Subwoofer
Panasonic DVD CV52 DVD Player
Sony KVHR32M31 CRT Television
My room is 20 feet x 15 feet with a tiled floor but I have rugs all over the place, a lot of soft furnishings and thick curtains on all the windows so the acoustics in the room are reasonable.
All the components are new except for the DVD player which I have owned for about 2.5 years.
I have used good quality cable and interconnects throughout although nothing is bi-wired which I dont really understand much about anyway.
I am very satisfied with my setup, whilst I can appreciate thats its not "top end" it walks all over the home theater in a box packages. Also be aware that everything in Australia costs about 2.5 times what it costs in the USA, so good gear aint cheap here.
I have several questions about my setup:-
1) When I switch from 2 channel mode to 5.1 surround I notice a bit of a drop off in the volume level. Normal listening level in 2 channel mode is
say -30db whereas I need to go to -20db in 5.1 mode to get the same overall volume level. Having said that the system has plenty of headroom to play the loud sounds in 5.1 mode so its really only numbers on the dial. I can appreciate that there must be some dropoff as you have the same power supply now trying to drive 5 amplifiers when it was previously only driving 2, my question is, is the drop off level I am experiencing normal of most AV receivers at this price level?
A friend has also suggested that my DVD player could be the weak link here as it may be providing a lower input signal to the receiver in 5.1 mode compared to its input signal in 2 channel mode, any thoughts on this ?
2) A different friend (who thinks he's an expert - questionable IMO) has suggested that I bi-wire the front and center speakers, will I gain anything by this? The dealer I bought the system from said that bi-wiring and bi-amping is only beneficial in high end systems running separates and I would not notice any benefit at this level, your thoughts ? I suppose this depends on what cable I am already using ? Assume its reasonable quality and in keeping with the rest of the system. I think its Soundlink 11SWGA 99.95% OFC. The runs to the front speakers and center are also fairly short all being less than 2.5 metres.
3) The same bi-wiring friend suggested that I may benefit from using the pre-outs on the front 2 channels and running separate amplification on these. What benefit do I gain by doing this when my wife says the thing is already way too loud and asks me 2 turn the volume down?
4) Any other suggestions anyone can make that can improve the system without spending an arm and a leg would be appreciated.
Regards and Thanks in advance