Quote Originally Posted by dolt
thanks for the responce.

my current DVD player doesnt have HDMI facilities. i bought it before the technology was released, but it does have a coaxial output. ive got my eye on the marantz sr3001 (currently the greatest value for what im wiling to spend in my country) currently and that dosent seem to have HDMI either.

http://www.musicdirect.com/products/...=58253&h=80641

i cant seem to find any descriptions on the features of bass management for the product. but whats bugging me is the fact that the SW preamplifier output is colour coded with the 7.1 channel SW input and all the other speaker channels for that matter. should i be concerned?

* No, I think what you may be seeing is the 7.1 analog input where there is an input for each channel. This will be handy with SACD or Blu-ray. With just DVD you most likely will not use these and just use 2 cables, one a digital audio cable and the other a video connection, well component video is actually 3 RCA's on each end, but who's counting.

heres another silly question.

what i understand by 7.1 channels is that the ratio of the power distribution is equal amoung all channels. so when they say 60W/CH, all of the speaker channels should deliver such.

If a receiver is 7 channels, 7x60 wpc, there will be 60 watts of amplification for each channel. When watching movies all won't be on at the same time. It depends on what the soundtrack calls for. When listening to stereo, unless using some sound field setting, only the two left/right main channels will be on.

if i use a stereo input and all 7 channels are powered (ignoring the SW for now) the signal should hopefully be the same on the 7 different channels. (i.e. it doenst go through the DAC's of the reciever, and theres no digital filtering) so instead of using the surround package that have very small speakers connecteced to the "claimed" 60 W surround and centre channels, couldnt i use 7 main speakers? I know it seems a bit over kill, but I currently have 4 sets of main speakers that I use with my stereo amplifier. theres nothing wrong with them and they all have good crossover networks so i get a full range of frequencies from them, and ill be very sad to see them go when i replace my amplifier and have to replace my speakers with a package that looks like it consists of one subwoofer, 2mids and 7tweeters.

what im really asking is that is there any analogue filtering after the ouput section of the amplifier circuit that would prevent driving larger speakers. since you say that the digital to analogue conversion is done in the reciever, i assume that there is digital filtering in the reciever before the DAC stages (particularly with regards to the surround and centre channels), and that this digital filtering would reduce the bass frequency components so that they wont pop the mids and tweeters on the surround channels. i cant seem to find a free schematic online and my shop assistants and neighbors are not qualified enough to answer this.
i know it seems "overkill" but if it really is 60 W/CH then the center and surround speakers that come in the speaker packages seem to be a good waste of watts.

* The signal from your DVD will come into the receiver in digital, the DAC decodes it to analog, depending on what it is, will then direct it to the proper channel. If listening to a movie for example the dialog goes to the center channel speaker unless the person speaking is off to one side, a car may start in your right speaker, pass to center, then to left and fade away. Music from CD could be 2 or more channels, depending on how you have your receiver set. Most receivers include some "DSP" or sound field settings, such as "Jazz", "concert hall", etc. There are some that will take a 2 channel signal and matrix it to 5 or more.

* There is no reason you can't use your existing full range speakers. In fact, it's preferred for best sound. Optimum home theater sound should have all the speakers be voice, or timbre, matched. This is usually done by buying from a manufacturer's same series. For instance, if Acme speakers has a series called XYZ and XYZ includes a center and a range of speaker from bookshelf size to full range large floorstanding speakers. A person could buy XYZ center, XYZ floorstanding for front left/right and either the same for rear or opt for a smaller XYZ bookshelf for rear. Mixing up brands and series will cause frequency peaks and valleys, as well the sound will be noticeably different as it passes or plays through them.

i would also like to learn about these alternative methods of hooking up my subwoofer without using the desingated output. Also, do you have any tricks for passive subs and no external sub amp? (i have a lot of them lying around, but maybe thats asking too much of the AV reciever)
* If you use the sub out you would have to have an amp with a passive sub. If you had a crossover you could run passives to do the low bass for your main front channels. I think using passives should probably be put on the back burner for your first set up. Maybe down the road as you learn more about your receiver, and it's ability, then if you'd like you could revisit the idea. Same with alternative sub hook ups. Let's see if you need to do anything different first.