A whole load of receiver/5.1 problems

T

the_sundnace

Banned
Hi all,

There's a whole number of problems I'm experiencing with setting up a home theater system. First of all, here's my full set-up:

Computer: Dell Alienware X51 (i3, GeForce GT545, Realtek sound)
Screen: Panasonic TC-L58E60
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V573
Speakers: Pioneer SP-PK22BS 5.1
Everything else: C&E oxygen-free wire, open-screw type banana plugs, ferrite-core HDMI cables
The way it's hooked up: computer to receiver via HDMI, audio out to speakers with wire and plugs, video out to screen via HDMI.
Running Windows 7

So, I just wired everything except for the subwoofer because I didn't have an RCA splitter - getting that tomorrow. I did want to test the speakers, though, which is where problems started. Whenever I turned up the volume up to "moderately audible", the receiver would shut off and tell me to "Check SP wiring". I went ahead and made some improvements towards how the wires are placed into banana plugs. I stopped at making sure the center speaker doesn't shut the thing off - for now, I'll just keep on improving connections. Are there any other reasons why there might be short-circuiting going on? The polarity is fine - I've checked and double-checked every plug.

Another problem is that there is no actual 5.1 going on. I played a movie with DTS 5.1 to test the center speaker (using the KMPlayer), and there was no sound. Would it make sense to run the audio via SPDIF instead of HDMI? Is the onboard Realtek sound card good enough? Due to the dimensions of the computer, I won't be able to stick another sound card in there, and there aren't all that many options for an external sound card. One thing to note is that there was sound on the center speaker when I ran the Realtek configuration tool. What happened once, though, is that the speaker started making a noise after running the test, which is yet another thing I have no idea what to do about...

So that's that - hope this isn't a hopeless situation :( Thanks for your time!
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
What is the volume readout when you have problems? Make extra sure that there are no stray whiskers from the wires that could be shorting.

HDMI will be the best way to get audio out. Make sure your computer is configured for 5.1 speakers. I'm not familiar with KMPlayer so the best i can give you are general things to look for in ti's settings: Look for the audio output options. If there is one for "bitstreaming" or "passthrough" make sure they are enabled.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Sounds like you have some shorts across your speaker terminals. Even one strand is enough to cause a short. Like Gardor syas, check all your speaker connections at the speaker and at the receiver.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
One step at a time. First, work out your wiring problems.

You should be able to generate test tones from within your receiver to ascertain that al lspeakers are working properly.

Once that's done, your built-in tuner should provide all the volume you should ever need, at least for test purposes.

Then worry about that 5.1 problem. My gut feeling says it's a computer configuration problem though,

but, a cheap DVD player and a digital interconnect (coax or toslink) would help greatly in your testing.
 
J

jcl

Senior Audioholic
Your AVR has a sub pre-out, why do you need an rca splitter to hook it up? Not that it has anything to do with your issues.
 
T

the_sundance

Audiophyte
Well, that was embarrassing - I totally made a typo in my nickname...

Anyway, the mistake I might've made while putting banana plugs onto the wires was leaving way too much wire sticking out from the other side of the banana plug. Here's what I'm talking about:



Look at the plug on the top, which is wired from the side - what I did was leaving less bare wire on the side where the wire enters the plug, but on the other side, there were whiskers sticking out about 1/4". So, I'm gonna fix that first, upping the volume to test the thing. Are there any other things I should watch out for? Then I'll try to see what's happening with playing movies and stuff - thing is that in the Realtek program, where I can test speakers separately, everything worked well. But it looks liks KMPlayer defaults to stereo for some reason, even though the soundtracks in MKV movie files are definitely DTS 5.1.

@ jcl:
I need an RCA splitter because the subwoofer input is stereo RCA. So I'll run a single cable from the sub out and split it to plug to the woofer.
 
T

the_sundance

Audiophyte
Alright, the speakers are working, and I even found the problem that was causing short-circuits - it was the wiring on one of the speakers, where there was too much bare wire, and the bare parts actually touched each other. Fixed.

So, now I'm still only getting stereo and no 5.1, even though the Realtek test thingy clearly makes all of the speakers sound. What to do? :(
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
If your computer is clearly outputting 5.1 but your videos are not then there are two possibilities: First, the videos your trying to watch isn't actually in surround. Second, it's a setting issue in your media software. Look over the settings carefully.
 
T

the_sundance

Audiophyte
Good news: 2 days ago, 5.1 started working after a couple of tweaks - I enjoyed a whole evening of listening to music and playing games. Gave it an extensive test on different volume levels with different kinds of sound.

Bad news: just now, the receiver shut off by itself once again, went into the "protective mode" and is effectively a brick. Returning it.

So, my question at this point: any good alternatives to Yamaha receivers (mine is an RX-V573) in the same price range? I don't really need 7.1 - my living room doesn't allow it.
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
Give the same model another shot. You probably fried it with the short circuits.
 
T

the_sundance

Audiophyte
Having it replaced. I did like the sound quality when it worked...

So I have read a lot of forums. One point someone emphasized is that the impedance on the receiver is set default to 8 ohms, and it has to match the impedance of the speakers, which it didn't in my case (my speakers are 6 ohms). I don't know if that caused the fatal short curcuit, since the speakers worked perfectly the previous evening. So, what else should I look at to prevent short curcuits before I plug the new unit? The goal is to not have a single short curcuit again...
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
That 6 ohm impeadence thing isn't an issue but I'd be really, really careful to avoid any short circiuits. They ARE an issue.

the only way to preventthem is to be careful when connecting the wires, and double check everything before powering it up. Also, whenever kerfutzing with wires, have the power off.
 

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