Axiom Audio Epic 80...not too great for stereo.

[TABCON]

Oh yea, I almost forgot, when Kong exhaled, i could feel his breath on my arm hair...AWESOME! Thanks goodness it's not smellavision.

Tabcon

 

[cyberbri]

Great, glad to hear it!

One thing, though. Running your mains as large is okay for music, but for movies you may want to run them as small. Movies with massive amounts of bass often have lots of bass running through the different channels, not just the LFE channel. You can probably get more bass and better bass using your sub. Plus you'll take a load off your speakers and receiver/amp.

 

[TABCON]

I tried that, but to me it sounds better set to large with movies.

I will take your advice and try it again though. After all, I am a newbie to all this and you guys rock!

Tabcon

 

[cyberbri]

I tried that, but to me it sounds better set to large with movies.

I will take your advice and try it again though. After all, I am a newbie to all this and you guys rock!

Tabcon

When you tried it, was it before you tweaked everything as a result of this thread?

If you have your sub and speakers integrated well, you should be able to play music and switch between Mans only/Large, and Mains-small+sub and only notice a difference in depth of extension. If there is a disconnect between the speakers and the sub with bass in music, etc., it could be a setup issues (ie., cancellation due to phase, or placement issues, etc.).

Just to reiterate, running speakers as small lets the subwoofer handle the bass, what it was designed to do (and has its own dedicated amp for), and lets the speakers and receiver/amp work less hard (the lower the frequency, the more watts needed to reproduce it). This frees up watts/headroom, and means the drivers in the mains are pressed to reproduce sounds down to 20Hz or lower (including distortion if pushed too hard). When they don't have to reproduce that bass, they can theoretically play cleaner with less distortion. Ie., in my case, my sub has a 350w/1400w amp for frequencies below 200Hz or so, while my receiver pushes 50-100wpc max for the whole frequency spectrum.

For music, bass isn't necessarily as demanding, unless you listen at extreme levels, so running mains at full range isn't a problem, and many people prefer it that way on music - mains only and no sub. For me, I like the extra extension (to below 20Hz) and the authority and power my VTF-3 adds to the sound of my Ascends.

Just to see, pop in WoTW with your fronts set to large, and
turn off the sub. Turn it up to -10 or so on the DTS track and see how your speakers are performing (up close).

 

[PENG]

What is the differance between direct and pure direct???:

Direct does not shut off the video circuits, Pure direct does. If DVD movies sound good to you, then the way to find out if the poor Stereo sound is due to settings or not, use Pure Direct and analog inputs only. Run a pair of analog interconnects from your DVD, preferably CD player to the analog inputs of the 4806, select Pure Direct on the Denon and your speakers should sound better if the problem was settings related.

 

[TABCON]

Just to see, pop in WoTW with your fronts set to large, and
turn off the. Turn it up to -10 or so on the DTS track and see how your speakers are performing (up close).

Will do. Do you think it could harm my speakers set this loud?
I'll try it and get back later.

One more thing, the Denon manual states that if your front mains are capable of handling bass, then the large setting is okay. Bookshelf speakers should be set to small.

One more question, when setting the levels of the speakers, the receiver allows me to set the db output. Without a meter, should the db output be the same level for all the speakers, even the sub? I reset the system last night with all outputs the same, and it sounds even better.

Tab

 

[Rik]

One more question, when setting the levels of the speakers, the receiver allows me to set the db output. Without a meter, should the db output be the same level for all the speakers, even the sub? I reset the system last night with all outputs the same, and it sounds even better.

Tab

From your primary listening position all the speakers should be set to the same dB level, except for the sub which should be set slightly higher. That's to start with, adjust from there to suit your taste.

 

[cyberbri]

Will do. Do you think it could harm my speakers set this loud?
I'll try it and get back later.

One more thing, the Denon manual states that if your front mains are capable of handling bass, then the large setting is okay. Bookshelf speakers should be set to small.

One more question, when setting the levels of the speakers, the receiver allows me to set the db output. Without a meter, should the db output be the same level for all the speakers, even the sub? I reset the system last night with all outputs the same, and it sounds even better.

Tab

Bass in music is much different than in movies. Bass in movies goes much deeper, and you will be watching movies at much louder volumes. Of course it's up to you how to set the speakers up.

For the settings in the receiver, you are supposed to measure the SPL with a meter and adjust the level control for each speaker/sub in the receiver so they each play at the same measured volume. Ie., if your surround speakers are pretty close to the listening position, they may be louder than the other speakers at the "all speakers = 0dB" default settings. So the surround speakers may need to be turned down say 4dB in the receiver settings in order to play at the same volume as the other speakers.

 

[Sheep]

video hdmi cables to an expensive set of monster cables thus eliminating the 60 Hz hum completely. Nice hdmi's really do make a dif.

Derr..... What? How would that change the subwoofer.....? And Monster?! Expensive?! Derr.... What?!

SheepStar

 

[TABCON]

Derr..... What? How would that change the subwoofer.....? And Monster?! Expensive?! Derr.... What?!

SheepStar

It's called a 'video hum'. The guys at Axiom told me about it, and sure enough it worked.

Yea I know, Monster does not have the snob apeal some other cable companies do, but these were $149 for a 4' section and there is absolutely no hum and the video quality seems better.
I know I spent to much on cables, but it worked, so stop being so snobby about it.

Tabcon