Help a poor noob!

[julesx]

I recently purchased a Denon AVR-788 and two Energy C-200's to use as computer speakers.

However, I don't know to set them up correctly!

At first I plugged my front L and R into the "H" (top) speaker ports on the back of the energies, but my sound was all tweeter. I switched them up, and now its all the bass speaker.

My receiver says ANALOG on the right side, and i have a hunch thats incorrect??

How am I supposed to configure my 2.1 speaker system? Help!

 

[Adam]

Hey. Your speakers have two sets of speaker wire inputs on the back. That's to allow you to either bi-wire or bi-amp, if you choose. The result is that, if you connect a single speaker wire to them and plug them into the top (for the tweeter) or the bottom (for the woofer) without the gold shorting straps, then you'll only hear sound from the one cone that is connected.

So, here's how you fix it - leave the gold shorting straps connected. If that doesn't sound familiar, you can look on page 31 of your owners manual (you can download a copy from Energy's website here - just do a search for "C-200" and click on the link).

You mentioned a "2.1" system. Do you have a sub that also needs to get connected? That's generally what the ".1" stands for. Just asking to see if you need help with another connection.

Please let us know if that helps out, or if you need anything else.

Adam

 

[julesx]

Page 31 is just a bunch of pictures?

The gold shorting strap...is a metal bracket thingy that joins both sets of jacks? Also, mine aren't gold. Stainless steel or something. Hehe.

It is connected, two on each speaker on the left and right

Yes, i have a sub and it's not working either.

Edit: those pictures on page 31 have the cable running directly into the jack, as opposed to threaded through a hole in the unscrewed screw shaft. WHen i attempt to plug in my cables like pictured they just fall out. How do you tighten them in? Please excuse my noobiness. I suppose I should mention I am using cable "terminators".

 

[Adam]

Page 31 is just a bunch of pictures?

Yep, that's the right page.

The gold shorting strap...is a metal bracket thingy that joins both sets of jacks? Also, mine aren't gold. Stainless steel or something. Hehe.

It is connected, two on each speaker on the left and right

Yes, those are the metal brackets. I just called them that because the manual refers to them as "gold shorting straps". Stainless steel, huh? Did you buy these brand new?

Yes, i have a sub and it's not working either.

Okay, we'll get to that in just a little bit.

Edit: those pictures on page 31 have the cable running directly into the jack, as opposed to threaded through a hole in the unscrewed screw shaft. WHen i attempt to plug in my cables like pictured they just fall out. How do you tighten them in? Please excuse my noobiness.

Ahhh, you would need to have connectors on the ends of your speaker wires (called "banana plugs") for them to just plug in. Putting the bare wire through and screwing the posts down is just fine.


Let me think about this for just a minute...and grab a beer...

 

[julesx]

I edited my post a couple times, looks like you missed an edit.

I bought speaker wire "terminators" which lets me plug the speaker wire into an adapter thing that gives me one thick solid gold wire. Can I not thread those through the speaker jacks?

No, I didn't buy these speakers new, however I demo'd them in store and they certainly didnt seem to have this problem.

 

[Adam]

I want to double check something, and I'll be more specific about this. On page 31, there is a diagram with the number "4" next to it. It shows the metal straps on both sides of the binding posts - one metal strap connects the two "-" posts, and the other metal strap connects the two "+" posts.

Is that how yours look? If not, set them up so that they do. Also, make sure that the straps are on securely and that they are making metal-to-metal contact with the binding posts. It's important that they form a complete electric circuit.

 

[Adam]

I edited my post a couple times, looks like you missed an edit.

I bought speaker wire "terminators" which lets me plug the speaker wire into an adapter thing that gives me one thick solid gold wire. Can I not thread those through the speaker jacks?

Yeah, I missed that one. Can you provide a picture of those terminators and the adapter? Or a link to a website that shows it? I'm having trouble visualizing it. I'll look around a bit, but if you can show me, that would help a lot.

EDIT: Do any of the pictures in this file look like what you have? File: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/Speaker_cable_termination.pdf

 

[julesx]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2747/img00561wm3.th.jpg

http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00571fg1.jpg

 

[Adam]

Thanks for the picture, but it shows up really small in my browser. Is it possible to load a larger one to that site (if that's your own picture)?

EDIT: The first link, I mean. You added one since I posted this. Thanks.

 

[julesx]

http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00561jl4.jpg

 

[Adam]

http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00571fg1.jpg

Gotcha. I know what those are. They are what your manual refers to as "pin type connectors." Yes, you could put those through the posts and screw them down.

Because you are getting sound out of one cone or the other, the issue isn't that your speaker wires aren't being connected. The issue is that the shorting straps aren't doing their job. That's one reason why I'm interested in a larger version of that first picture for which you gave a link.

 

[Adam]

http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00561jl4.jpg

Thanks! Hard to be completely sure, but I'd say that you have it connected up right with the speaker wire.

 

[Adam]

Two thoughts about what to do if, for some reason, you simply cannot get the speakers to work this way:

1. Contact the seller and ask them about it
2. Bi-amp the speakers. Your receiver is capable of bi-amping, and because you are running a 2.1 system, you won't be giving anything up in terms of surround sound to pull that off. If you are using your receiver to power a set of speakers in a second zone, though, you couldn't do that and bi-amp.

 

[julesx]

To Bi-Amp them, I run the second set of jack to the "B" speakers?

 

[Adam]

To Bi-Amp them, I run the second set of jack to the "B" speakers?

Not the way that I'd do it. Your receiver allows you to assign how two sets of speaker outputs on the back of your receiver will be used. On the back panel (shown on page 5 of the owners manual), they are the speaker terminals on the right side of the picture labeled as "SURR. BACK/AMP ASSIGN".

Assigning a function to those outputs is discussed on page 28 of the manual, with page 54 giving a bit more information about bi-amping (although that may end up being confusing).

If you choose to bi-amp them, be sure to remove those metal straps from between the binding posts. You do NOT want to have a complete electrical circuit created by those straps between the two sets of amps in your receiver.

 

[Adam]

Well, time for me to call it quits for tonight. Good luck with all of that. I'll be back on in the morning to follow up, and there's others around here who can help you further.

Have a great night.

 

[mike c]

If you choose to bi-amp them, be sure to remove those metal straps from between the binding posts. You do NOT want to have a complete electrical circuit created by those straps between the two sets of amps in your receiver.

merits repeating and a bigger font.

jules, or you can skip the bi-amp thing since it won't make an audible difference anyway

 

[Adam]

merits repeating and a bigger font.

Agreed. Thanks, Mike!

jules, or you can skip the bi-amp thing since it won't make an audible difference anyway

The audible difference would come from both the tweeter and woofer making noise. It was just a suggestion for if the shorting straps continued to not work and jules wanted to get some sound before contacting the store.

Okay, now I'm off. Got some more Eureka to watch before bed.

 

[mike c]

i see, if the shorting strap is the suspect - replace it with ordinary speaker wire

 

[Adam]

i see, if the shorting strap is the suspect - replace it with ordinary speaker wire

That's a very good idea! Wish that I would have thought of that.