Problem with setting up surround sound system with an old AV receiver

[lovinthehd]

Yeah I'd at least try a converter, seems worth the small expenditure to see if you can get some basic functionality....

 

[JLorenzo]

Wouldn't I be able to connect the speakers straight to the 5.1 converter?

 

[lovinthehd]

Not unless they are active/powered speakers, which they aren't. They need the amplification your avr provides....

ps and even if they were such speakers, the output from the converter may/may not be sufficient.

 

[Trebdp83]

You work with what you have and can get your hands on very cheaply sometimes. A new modern receiver will do the trick but may be out of reach. That analog amplifier can work. Some would love to have it to connect to an Oppo and be very happy with a 5.1 setup with the Oppo handling everything but powering the speakers. The optical cable and converter should get you a 5.1 signal to the amplifier from the TV if a 5.1 signal is in the stream. But, it may only send a two channel signal and there is no way to know it until you hook it up.

 

[JLorenzo]

Honestly, I don't really need the surround sound but would be happy if just all the speakers work.
Is there a way to get all speakers to work in a stereo way, on a 2CH connection?

 

[lovinthehd]

In a stereo way? If you mean not actually providing a 5.1 surround upmix, but rather an all-ch stereo mode....depends on avr.....most modern avrs have that feature. Go through the available sound modes and see if yours offers such....did you find a manual that might help?

 

[JLorenzo]

Ah no there is not such an option on the AVR, I was thinking maybe there is some hardware or even software for this. Cause I got the front 2 speakers to work now, but the center, 2 speakers in the back and subwoofer don't work at all now.

But all in all I think I'll just try the converter first and otherwise I'll keep watching on some second-hand only shops to see if someone will sell an useable avr. Cause I don't think there will be any new avr's that cost ~100,- euros right, they all seem to be 500+ eurps, or am I just looking at the wrong sites.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah yours not having any on-board processing to upmix 2 ch to 5.1 ch isn't particularly surprising. Here in the US I'd generally look at craigslist for someone selling an older avr, there's usually something being offered. Maybe the classifieds in audio fora like this....maybe hifishark.com....not sure what might be best where you live, tho. The prices of used avrs is still on the high side not only due Covid but also the pricing on new units....

 

[Trebdp83]

The D-9 has no digital signal processing. You'll get out what you put in it. This is where a Samsung TV of just a few years ago would come in handy as they could convert all signals to DTS 5.1 for outputs using the DTS Neo 2:5 feature. The converter may simply fill each cable with available info. If it is two channel info, then that is all that may be output as it is a decoder but not an up mixer.

 

[JLorenzo]

I looked around for a little bit, and found a site with cheap second-hand AVR's.
For example I can buy an "Reciever Onkyo TX-SR307 5.1 (100W)" for 80 euro's, is that something that would work for me?

Only thing is, the inputs for the speakers look a bit different, so I'm not sure if they can connect with my speakers.

 

[fmw]

I am guessing you are only talking about the avr right? And not about the speakers.

I reached out to some friends and they got some different kind of converters, and of them has the 5.1 converter and another one has hdmi to tulp converter etc.
I will try those ones first and if that doesn't work I might just consider buying a new avr or selling the speakers.

I just spoke of the AVR. The speakers will connect to anything. Good luck.

 

[lovinthehd]

I looked around for a little bit, and found a site with cheap second-hand AVR's.
For example I can buy an "Reciever Onkyo TX-SR307 5.1 (100W)" for 80 euro's, is that something that would work for me?

Only thing is, the inputs for the speakers look a bit different, so I'm not sure if they can connect with my speakers.
View attachment 58570View attachment 58571

Just different types of speaker connections, bare speaker wire ends will work fine with the spring clips as well as the other terminals.

ps and you'll need to connect audio from your tv via an optical connection.

 

[lovinthehd]

A good place to get the manuals and related info https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/onkyo/tx-sr307.shtml

 

[JLorenzo]

Just different types of speaker connections, bare speaker wire ends will work fine with the spring clips as well as the other terminals.

ps and you'll need to connect audio from your tv via an optical connection.

Ah yes but would that one work for me? Cause it says its 100W and I've seen some with 80W till 165W.
On the back of my big front speakers it says 30-150W so I thought maybe need one with a minimum of 150W.

 

[lovinthehd]

Ah yes but would that one work for me? Cause it says its 100W and I've seen some with 80W till 165W.
On the back of my big front speakers it says 30-150W so I thought maybe need one with a minimum of 150W.

Generally avrs will have amps ranging from 50 to 150 watts per channel (wpc). Usually the 8 ohm spec is compared at full bandwidth (20 Hz to 20kHz) with a THD spec (usually a low one, typically under 1% or less) with 2ch driven....but some use 6 ohm or 4 ohm ratings to make the wattage number look bigger. Your Onkyo 307 avr's manual specifies 65 wpc into 8 ohm from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at .7% THD (90 wpc into 6 ohm at 1kHz at .9% THD). Most likely this amp will do fine with your speakers, but without knowing impedance and sensitivity specs for your speakers, hard to calculate particulars. This is a nice tool to help estimate amp needs http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

Speaker wattage ratings can be very vague, they can be a useful range or a max before damaging them type of figure. Try this article as to speaker wattage ratings. https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/loudspeaker-power-handling

 

[Trebdp83]

Use what you have and save up for a new model. That Onkyo is hardly much better than what you have for your purposes and there is no way to know what is wrong with it. Just save up for a more current model.

 

[fmw]

Ah yes but would that one work for me? Cause it says its 100W and I've seen some with 80W till 165W.
On the back of my big front speakers it says 30-150W so I thought maybe need one with a minimum of 150W.

Amplifer power and speaker current handling capability are two completely unrelated things. Amplifer power rates the power available for speakers at the terminals. Speaker power rates the maximum power the speakers can handle prior damage.

Listening to music normally takes a watt or two for efficient speakers. Movies require more, most of which is handled by the subwoofer. The dialog and music in the movie require a watt or two or 10. Loud sound effects will require much more but not 80 watts or 100 watts. Much of the loud sound effects and all of the LFE (low frequency effects) are handled by the subwoofer. So the speaker rating can handle all the AVR can put out and the AVR can put out more than you will use. In other words there is nothing to worry about.

The unit you pictured has connectors that take bare wire into spring loaded clips. You can twist the wire or tin it with solder or even solder on connectors to the wire that fit the connectors on the AVR. Higher end AVR's have binding posts which still use the bare wire but are more secure because they are tighted with a screw rather than bing held by a spring clip. My persona preference, by the way, is to strip the speaker wire properly and tin the ends with solder. In other words the stuff has you covered. Nothing to worry about.

 

[JLorenzo]

I went to the store and saw that getting the converter + cables etc. still would cost me around 60 euros (with the possibility that it does not work), while getting that AVR would be 80 euros. So I decided I will get a new AVR instead. (then I can at least also connect my laptop or in the future other devices on it)

Now I have been looking around a little bit and gave myself a budget of around 150 euros. (I'm a poor student don't judge me )
I got a few options and if any of you have some time could you help me with selecting the best one out of those?
All of them have HDMI cause then I won't have to buy a 5 meter long optical sound cable. (and for some reason I feel like HDMI ARC is better then the optical sound out?)
I will also add the links but the site is in dutch.

Option 1:
Onkyo Reciever TX-SR507 7.1 (75W) chanals, with 4xHDMI + Radio
Price: € 99,99

(Link: https://www.jouw2dekans.nl/product/7036811/onkyo-reciever-tx-sr507-7-1-75w-kanaals-met-4xhdmi-radio)

Option 2:
Yamaha Htr 3072 Receiver
Price: € 90,00

Option 3:
Receiver Marantz SR4003 7.1 (80W) 3xHDMI, DTS, Radio
Price: € 179,99

(Link: https://www.jouw2dekans.nl/product/6738768/receiver-marantz-sr4003-7-1-80w-3xhdmi-dts-radio)

Option 4:
Denon Reciever 5.1 (120W) - Full HD, 6xHDMI, USB, Airplay, Internet Radio (Super Sound)
Price: € 159,99

(Link: https://www.jouw2dekans.nl/product/...-6xhdmi-usb-airplay-internet-radio-top-geluid )

Option 5:
Amplifier Marantz NR1501 7.1 (as good as new) 5xHDMI
Price: € 179,99

(Link: https://www.jouw2dekans.nl/product/8219231/mooie-versterker-marantz-nr1501-7-1-z-g-a-n-5xhdmi )

 

[JLorenzo]

I don't see a difference in any of them, so I would go for the cheapest one (Option 2).
This one is also from a "less commercial" site where people just put their stuff when they want to get rid of it.
But since you guys have more experience with AVR's you can probably see differences in them and you probably know more about good prices. If there is any good reason I should take one of the better ones, please let me know .

Also, should I just throw the old one away or should I place it on a second-hand store and would it possible still be worth a little money?

 

[Trebdp83]

The Yamaha has the most current capabilities of the bunch and is the best value provided it actually works. Your current amplifier will be worth something to somebody so you can try to sell it. Don’t apologize for being a poor student. People with more income sometimes have no more money in their pockets than poor students because they don’t shop like poor students and hunt down bargains.