TX-NR828 Speaker Setup Question

[BriDown]

Hey All, second post here... lets hope this one has more success than the first .

I am the proud owner of an TX-NR828. I am loving it. Out of the box, I hooked it up as 7.1 with Surround Backs. I experimented with PLx and PLx THX Cinema as well as THX Select2 Cinema. I was a little underwhelmed by the THX Matrix's. I had enjoyed on my previous receiver Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Volume- Light. I am only allowed to enjoy reference volume while watching movies. So Audyssey was a good solution for my needs.

After testing THX, I moved my speakers to the Audyssey DSX Setup with Front Wides. I ran the wires down through the basement and hooked everything up. I really enjoy the Front Wides setup! I read in The Official Audyssey Thread that when DSX Mic Setup is completed, it seemingly decreases the surround channels by 3db. I made that correction as well as increasing the fronts by 0.5. Sounds great. It was at this point that I read in the manual that Audyssey EQ and DV could be applied to THX. Now, lingering in my mind is what would THX sound like with Audyssey applications... So-

Is it possible to hook up Surround Back channels as well as Front Wide? My, possibly delusional, thinking is if I could also hook up back channels, I could switch between DSX x Front Wides and then switch to THX on the receiver and use the Surround Backs. This graph under the one 9 speaker column shows that Surround Backs and Front Wides can be connected at same time. However, underneath it, you will notice it reads "Front high, surround back and front wide speakers
cannot be used at the same time."

Graph:

Does that mean I can do what I want?

Thanks so much!
Brian

 

[afterlife2]

I use surround back and front high and I love it. I never liked how THX mode sounded, so always used Aud. DSX, PLIIz Height, Dolby D EX and PLll Music DSX for stereo only stuff.

 

[BriDown]

Hey AfterLife2, thanks for response! Does that mean you have multiple speakers setup and their use is determined by mode? In the graph, I see front high and surround back cannot be used at same time, that is with DSX. So, are u using one of the other modes you mentioned to utilize them? Are u able to switch like I am hoping. Or.... how does it work .

 

[afterlife2]

I've never tried wide, but from reading here and there and my small apt I opted for the High and surround back cause it was a better surround for my space limitation. Yes those modes like DSX are only available if you use the back surround and high. I thought I read you can do them all with wides as well? I think Fuzz will chime in as he had an Onkyo with back, wides and high.

 

[BriDown]

I was asked if I had any pics of my setup. I tried to share pics in private messaging but they didnt post. So I thought I would do here.

Thanks for asking for pics, just took a few. Hard to get a good perspective. My system is Samsung 55", Onkyo TX-NR828, Polk dsw550wi Sub, Polk TSx250c Center, Polk RTiA1 Fronts and Polk Monitor 35b's for surrounds. I just upgraded my AV System so I was performance and budget conscious. I liked the Polk's Quality to Cost ratio.

This image shows all 4 hanging satellites and you can see the one Wide on the right beside the dog viewing bench. The Center is above the TV in the nook and sub is off right.

This one shows straight on and you can see the left wide peeking beside the clock.

If I am able to add an additional two like I want to switch back and forth between DSX and THX, one would go beside the darker curtain on the right in pic 1 and the other would go to the left of the 'dresser' in the other photo- these are directly right and left of head level. I would connect those as surrounds and then change hanging rears to surround back.

Please excuse the mess, lol, hard to keep things neat with 4 rowdy dogs.

Brian

 

[afterlife2]

Did you just change it or this how you had the setup?

 

[BriDown]

Pretty much how I had it setup before. The pictures really skew distances and perspective. The rear hanging satellites are no where near as far away as they look, lol. I had 7.1 before and had all hanging speakers. The right surround was beside the darker curtain closest to camera eye and then across the way the left surround was on the left side of the desk thingy. That put those speakers at ear level maybe one foot behind. I was never really impressed with the 7.1 I had. I always ran it in PL IIx and felt the rear speakers were wasted. This is also how I had it setup to test the THX modes. When I switched it to Adyssey DSX, I moved the speakers to where you see them for front wide. Again, the perspective is skewed. I drilled through floor to run the speaker wires through basement to where they are now.

This is why I want to find out if I can re-add the back speakers to switch between 5.1 DSX Wide (7.1) and a true 7.1 for THX. If I did that though, I would have to switch the rear hanging to Surround Backs and re-introduce the Surround Left and Right to where I had them before. Which is no biggy.

I did go to Onkyo Support and and use their 'Call Back Reservation' for 4pm, but like a Doctor's office, they are late .

 

[afterlife2]

The way you have it, it seems like you have the speaker as a high, but they are regular left and right I assume and the ones you have on stands are the wide correct? Anyway you can set it up like the pics I sent or would it be a problem? albeit I have a smaller place, but you can use stands in back of couch? I think if you put the others on ear level it will sound better.

 

[BriDown]

I agree, ear level all the way around would be optimal. I had a bit of a hard time talking my wife into the left and right wides sitting on a stand. You are right, those are the wides. Having them higher is not preferable, but a necessary evil. Imagine if I can add 2 additional ear level speakers for the switching I hope for... that is not a conversation I look forward too, lol.

I took a day off work (while she was away at work) to set the wides up where they are... when she came home, I got a look that froze me in my tracks... as I mumbled sorry, but....

 

[afterlife2]

lol that was funny. You should have done it on your bday. Well you can leave it as is just change the wires, so you can have the setup as high and the other 2 as L and R. Then wait for your bday and set the surrounds. Surprise honey!

 

[maclerensefti]

like it

 

[BriDown]

Bump... No thoughts or ideas?

 

[BriDown]

I spoke with Onkyo Tech Support. Was a little hard to explain exactly what I wanted to do, but once we got on the same page we made good headway. I explained I wanted to separately run both Audyssey DSX and THX. I currently have my receiver set up in Audyssey DSX- Fronts, Surrounds and Audyssey's Wides. I explained I wanted to add a pair of Surround Backs which would make my speaker count 9.1- but not all used at once. He asked why, lol. Told him I wanted to be able to run DSX and THX, not together of course. Was this possible. He excused himself saying he was going to the lab to test it. When he returned, he said it was possible. However, I could not just select DSX or THX and have the speakers switched automatically. I had to first go into speaker settings and disable the wides then enable the rears, then select THX and the opposite for DSX. Perfect !

In case anyone was wondering . Now, how am I going to get two more speakers by my wife .

 

[afterlife2]

lol glad you got your answer. Time to buy the wife a nice present.

 

[BriDown]

Your right, Afterlife2!!! Think I will get her a new set of speakers .