HT upgrade situation (long) --comments appreciated

[trentwebb]

Hey everyone,

This site has been a tremendous help to me over the past few days. My wife and I just relocated from Atlanta, GA to Boise, ID and in the process of setting up a set of 12 yr old floor standing speakers, realized that most of the cones were dry rotted. Also, for some reason my Kenwood KRV6080 Receiver was shutting off when I ran my front speakers through the subwoofer and loud inputs from a DVD or music came through (never happened before in previous home). My wife's Sony Receiver STR D-715 also did the same thing.

I figured I might as well replace the receiver while upgrading speakers to one that accepts a direct subwoofer connection and new digital formats. We have two older systems between us and decided to relocate all the older stuff to the master bedroom and upgrade the living room system.

Here's what I already have:
-JBL Northridge E150P Subwoofer
-Eosone Center RSC300 (I think--no sticker on it, about 6 yrs old)
-Sony DVP N5400D DVD Player
-Kenwood DP-K5080 CD Player

Ordered:
-Pioneer VSX-1016TXV Reciever (through my company award points--really only decent option)
2-Axiom M22 Bookshelf Speakers
2-Axiom QS4 Surround Speakers
2-Axiom FMS 16 stands

I spoke with the Axiom Tech Rep and he said the subwoofer would be a good match and to evaluate the sound with my Eosone in the mix to determine if I need to upgrade to an Axiom center as well.

Since I would like to maximize the performance with this upgrade, I have a few questions (I have searched the forum but haven't found specifics for my situation):

1) I plan on using my thicker Monster Speaker Cable for this system. I have never used any of the banana connectors or soldered/heat shrinked speaker wire connections. My ugly method in the past to lengthen wire has been to strip the insulation and tie the wire in a square knot (to prevent separation) and wrap in electrical tape. Does my method degrade performance? I'm not sure how to solder/shrink wrap. I see where individuals here use banana connectors at the receivers and speaker plug-ins. I would need to purchase several pairs to accomplish this...is it worth the price?

2) Any comments on this planned setup or experience running this combination?

Thanks for all your help,

Trent

 

[Kai]

Electrical tape glue wears out over time and will begin to unravel. Not the best method and butt ugly as well.
Soldering is easy. Buy a cheap solder iron and some solder, get solder with flux in it...makes it easier, at Radio Shack. Buy some heat shrink sleeves as well. They come in different sizes per wire gauge so buy the right gauge.
Cut a bit of wire to use as practice...practice makes perfect. Cut the wire ends, to be joined, to length, about 1/2" each is fine, slide the heat wrap over one end and up a bit of the wire length so it is out of the way. Twist the wires together, hold the heated solder iron against the twisted wires. Hold the end of a length of solder to the twisted wires, not the solder iron or you may get a "cold" solder joint which won't hold well. When the wire is hot enough the solder will melt and "flow" into the twisted wire. Let enough flow to penetrate the wires and turn the area "silver" but not so much to create a blob of solder. Now let the wire cool and wipe off the soldered wire with a damp rag to remove any flux, it is corrosive but not a danger problem. Slide the heat wrap over the new joint and use a heat gun to melt the wrap. If you don't have a heat gun a small propane torch, what plumbers use to heat pipe joints, just use the heat not the flame hehehe.

I like banana connectors and use a type that has a screw top so it is reusable. They are by Monster and are $20 for 2 pair and are a bit pricey but I like them. There are other similar types and brands and they generally all work and are worth the cost in my opinion.

Good luck

 

[trentwebb]

Thanks Kai. I'll give it a try.