help with connections

[speedy]

i have a denon avrx2000 receiver.....and need to know how to connect my satellite to the receiver so i dont have to turn it on to watch tv...i think there is a hdmi passthru....so i think it works in stand by....but can this be done with bypassing the reciver..so it dont have to be plugged in...i usually leave receiver unplugged untill i need it...if this makes sense....

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

Do you leave the receiver unplugged due to the power draw in standby mode? In normal standby, that Denon is rated to draw 0.1 W. When you have it setup to pass an HDMI signal in standby mode, it's somewhere between that and 2.7 W (I'm not sure if the HDMI setting causes the highest power draw, which is 2.7 W). So, it might be worth leaving the Denon plugged in and using that standby pass through capability.

If you want to bypass the receiver completely (which I believe that you need to do if you unplug the Denon), then I think your best bet is to get an HDMI splitter or switch. You'd run an HDMI cable from the satellite receiver to the splitter, run one HDMI cable from the splitter to the Denon, and run the other HDMI cable from the splitter to your TV. You would have another HDMI cable running from the HDMI output on the Denon to a second HDMI input on the TV. When you don't want to use the receiver, you pick the input on your TV that is connected to the splitter. When you want to use the Denon, you use the HDMI input on the TV that is connected to the Denon.

Did that make sense?

 

[speedy]

ok..thats sounds good...so have a few options.....thanks for the fast response maybe just leave it plugged in....lol.......could i also try the satellite to the tv (hdmi ) and then the tv to the receiver...i dont have the arc hdmi so have to use the optical cable to the receiver too....just in case i want to have saeillite in surround sound...would this work....

 

[Adam]

Connecting to the TV first and then using the optical connection will work, with one caveat. A lot of TVs won't pass surround sound from an HDMI input through to the optical audio output - they down mix it to stereo. Your TV may not do that, but you can either check that out online, ask here, or just try it and see.

 

[speedy]

if can ask another question....now i need to know about the calibration part of it.....should i let the audessy do its job .....is there something i need to know before i do that ...anything with the subwoofer...ive heard you have to turn it down half way or something.....what about the frequencies or is this all done by receiver....sorry for all the questions....

 

[Adam]

if can ask another question...

Well, this is just getting tedious. J/K!

The few times that I ran Audyssey, I pretty much just let it do its job. Regarding the sub, the receiver should tell you if it's having trouble setting the level for the sub, which would be your cue to turn the volume up or down on the sub itself. If you don't get any errors/warnings, then I wouldn't worry about it.

As for the crossover frequencies, the receiver will set those. Personally, I manually set all of mine to 80 Hz because of the speakers that I'm using, even though Audyssey would set slightly lower frequencies for various speakers. Certainly experiment - there's no harm in that! See what you like. The THX recommendations is 80 Hz, but that's not necessarily the best crossover for every speaker.

 

[speedy]

ok thank you for all the help........

 

[speedy]

well....i did all the connections..and did the calibrations....it set the speakers to large and set the crossovers to 40 hrz... and it dosent really seem to have to much bass.......so i set the speakers to small....do i need to calibrate again....??...also should i set the hrz to 80hrz........

 

[Adam]

Which speakers and subwoofer are you using? I can look them up and see if I have a recommendation for the crossover.

I use bookshelf speakers, so I set all of mine to small and use an 80Hz crossover. Depending on your speakers, that may or may not be the best. 80Hz is the THX recommendation, though.

 

[speedy]

sorry i should of posted that...im using polk audio tsi300 for the fronts.... cs10 fro center ..psw10 sub.....r150 for the surrounds.....all polk audio...

 

[Adam]

Okay, I think that 80Hz is a good place to start. So, yes, set your speakers to small and set the crossover on the receiver to 80Hz. Make sure to turn the crossover dial on the sub as high as it will go (160Hz) just so that the sub isn't doing any of the filtering (the receiver does all of that).

I might go as low as 60Hz on the TSi300s, but I think 80 is good for the center and rears. Just my suggestions - it's always good to experiment for yourself!

 

[speedy]

i appreciate your advise ...i will give that a shot....

 

[speedy]

well just one more...lol....i noticed that in my receiver settings under speaker levels...that all the speaker db are at a negative number...-5.0 for center and left and right speakers...-2.5 for surrounds and -11.5 for the sub....does this sound right......it shouldnt be at a negative number should it......

 

[Adam]

I wouldn't worry about that. When you run Audyssey, the receiver is going to set speaker levels and the master volume so that 0 dB on the volume setting equals a reference volume (e.g. 75 dB). The offsets aren't all that important, I don't think. If you are using an auto-on function on your sub, though, you may want to turn the volume down on the sub and rerun Audyssey. The reason for that is to increase the signal strength going from the receiver to the sub (in other words, changing it from -11.5 dB to something more positive) in order to try and make sure that the sub's auto on stays triggered.

 

[speedy]

ok i hear you .......when i did the audyssey i did turn the volume on the sub to about half way....and it was set to on....so i think i did that right......should i just bring it up manually to a positive number ..or just rerun the audyssey....

 

[Adam]

If your sub isn't turning off in the middle of watching movies or listening to music, then you don't have to worry about it (sorry, I should have said that last time). It's only if you are using the auto-on feature and you notice that it's turning off while you're listening to material that you'd want to do what I suggested.

 

[speedy]

well i guess i should of ask this in the beginning .....but....how critical is the placement of the audessy mic......maybe i got this wrong...or not just right....it shows 8 positions....but its not really clear how far apart they should be...or where..really...it shows 3 in center and then 3 in front and then 3 in back....or should i not worry that i got it exact.......thanks...again...

 

[Adam]

Sorry for the delay. I think that placement is important, but you certainly don't have to get it down to the millimeter. You do want the mic to be at ear level.

To the best of my knowledge, the first position sets the speaker distances (technically, the speaker timing delays) to center the sound at that location. All of the other locations are used to try and get the best overall equalization for the entire listening area. So, you'll place the mic around the locations where people sit. At least, that's my interpretation of how it works.

 

[speedy]

hey adam....its been awhile and everything is sounding great....thanks to you ...but.......lol.....ive noticed that sometimes the sub sounds muddy...or maybe distorted...not all the times tho....the bass is really good and deep ...but somwtimes in movies at some action it seems to sound funny...but most of the scenes are greet ...can this be that i dont have a powerfull enough sub....its a polk psw10 sub i think its rated at 50 watts continuous...and 100 watts total....or can i controll this with my new receiver.....gary...

 

[markw]

I'm not Adam but if you don't mind an interloper, I'd like to offer a comment here.

I've recommended that particular sub to friends (and will continue to do so) but their demands were much, much less stressed than yours. I use it as a "common bass box" for a small stereo system geared towards music to be played at low to moderate levels in small rooms, not a LFE generator for HT. I got them because they were readily available at your local big box store for a song.

I think a lot of your problems would be alleviated by saving up for a more powerful sub from one of the major ID sub specialists.

But, you can experiment with placement in the meantime.