Just Retired

[Silverfoxvtx]

I was a trucker for 40 years just retired and loving it. I have the time now to hang out and watch tv and listen to good tunes. I have a missed match system and do not know what to do with it. I haven't a clue what to buy.
I have 2 Klipsch forte speakers which are 4 ohm and 2 older Definitive BP-8 tower speakers which are 8 ohm. So I went to Best Buy picked up a Sony str-dh750 which didn't cost much 350$. The reason I bought Sony is my tv is a newer 4K Sony.
Hooked everything up Doesn't sound to great. I just want 4 speakers instead of the home theater thing. The only music at this time is on my iPad and what's on my comcast demand channel. So any advice would help.
My budget is 4K.
Chuck

 

[Bucknekked]

I was a trucker for 40 years just retired and loving it. I have the time now to hang out and watch tv and listen to good tunes. I have a missed match system and do not know what to do with it. I haven't a clue what to buy.
I have 2 Klipsch forte speakers which are 4 ohm and 2 older Definitive BP-8 tower speakers which are 8 ohm. So I went to Best Buy picked up a Sony str-dh750 which didn't cost much 350$. The reason I bought Sony is my tv is a newer 4K Sony.
Hooked everything up Doesn't sound to great. I just want 4 speakers instead of the home theater thing. The only music at this time is on my iPad and what's on my comcast demand channel. So any advice would help.
My budget is 4K.
Chuck

Silverfoxvtx:
Welcome to retirement. I aspire to retire. Not there yet, but its good to have goals.
So you went and bought some hardware and aren't happy with the result? This is a great place to get answers as to why.

I am familiar with heritage Klipsch speakers. I have listened to a fair number of the big ole bruisers like the Heresy and Lascala and the Klipschorns themselves. Ditto for the older Def Tech BP series. I really liked those back in the day. Both choices were pretty solid and unless there's something wrong with them they still have the ability to deliver quality sound today.

QUESTION: you said you want to have 4 speakers set up instead of the home theater thing. How are you deploying 4 speakers? in what configuration?

QUESTION: can you describe your listening room? dimensions? placement of the audio equipment?

Many of the folks who may respond to this thread are data driven. They will want all the basic information you can provide because the answers they give will be based on a fact based background. In other places you will get responses like "sony receivers suck", or "you should have bought one like my xyz receiver". I think what you will get here is a much more fact based approach to figuring out why the sound isn't up to standards.

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

I want just a 4 speaker deal with me sitting in the middle. My family room is of decent size. Looking to get the music going first then the movie sound should be ok. Was thinking my receiver is lacking going to take it back and get a Yamaha RX-A2060. Not ready to give up on my Klipsch forte big bruiser speakers yet

 

[Bucknekked]

I want just a 4 speaker deal with me sitting in the middle. My family room is of decent size. Looking to get the music going first then the movie sound should be ok. Was thinking my receiver is lacking going to take it back and get a Yamaha RX-A2060. Not ready to give up on my Klipsch forte big bruiser speakers yet

Silverfoxvtx:
I don't know if you can post a drawing or not, but that might be helpful. At least to me. One of the difficulties of offering assistance is trying to get a true understanding of how things are right now.

If I understand you correctly, you have placed a Front Right, Front Left speaker. Also, you have placed a Rear Right and Rear Left speaker. Depending on how you have those hooked to your receiver, what mode its running in, and how the speakers are positioned : you could be taking great sound and cancelling it out simply by how you've laid it out.

I know others will weigh in, but perhaps a quick experiment would be in order. Disconnect one of the two pairs and simply try a straight up 2 channel stereo setup. Set the front right and front left speakers about 8 feet apart and set yourself an equal distance from each speaker. Thats a generic setup for a stereo image. Put on a piece of music that you know well and see how it sounds. Then, try the other pair of speakers in the same fashion. The pair that sounds the best gets to be the front right and front left speakers.

After that, we'll need more information. Hopefully by then, the cavalry will have arrived and some of the great diagnosticians can weigh in.

 

[lovinthehd]

While Sony avrs aren't at the top of my list, it should work fine. I too am curious how you've set the audio up and in what modes you're trying playback. Is it surround with a phantom center or are you duplicating stereo channels....

ps congrats on joining the ranks of retirees!

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

Going to do a lot of experiments today before I get out the wallet....I did notice I can't adjust the volume on the back speakers must have them hooked up wrong. I have the receiver on 2channel stereo the treble and bass adjustment on this Sony receiver doesn't do much sorta lame. Here's the specs on the receiver....

 

[lovinthehd]

Take a pic of the connections you've made on the back of the avr or describe them in detail....

ps Having two sets of speakers in stereo will likely yield some audible issues. I'd suggest using the multi-channel setup, does your Sony have the DCAC feature?

 

[Bucknekked]

Going to do a lot of experiments today before I get out the wallet....I did notice I can't adjust the volume on the back speakers must have them hooked up wrong. I have the receiver on 2channel stereo the treble and bass adjustment on this Sony receiver doesn't do much sorta lame. Here's the specs on the receiver....

I would take your wallet and put it in your desk drawer or someplace safe. I agree. Do some experiments. As many as it takes. Check your setup and send pictures of you can of how you have the speakers wired and what mode the receiver is in (2channel mode, 5.1, ?)

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

Yes it has DCAC ......STR-DH750 SONY

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes it has DCAC ......STR-DH750 SONY

Did you use it to setup your speakers?

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

Let me play with this thing....I will be back

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

check the speaker wiring - if you messed up polarity (red to red, black to back) it could sound bad.

 

[lovinthehd]

Let me play with this thing....I will be back

It may not be the best such setup/room eq routine available in avrs, but for setup rookies should be better than a manual setup.

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

The wiring looks good...the Klipsch speakers are very old might not have enough power to run them...
I what to run 4 speakers no sub.....so where do the go...
Front left
Front right
Center
Sur left
Sur right
Sur back
Sur back left
Sur back right
Front left high
Front right high
Sub woofer

 

[lovinthehd]

I would put your Klipsch (which should be quite efficient, don't need much power) as front L/R, and other two speakers as surrounds as surround L/R.

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

Yes that's the way I have them....when they are like this you can't adjust the level on the sur on the right and left....the front determine the sound level..

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes that's the way I have them....when they are like this you can't adjust the level on the sur on the right and left....the front determine the sound level..

That's somewhat odd. What sound mode is that in when you can't adjust the surround level? You're not using 2ch modes, are you?

ps What were the resultant levels and delays (distance) set to after running DCAC?

 

[shadyJ]

You should think about getting a center speaker for that setup. I do like Klipsch Fortes, but most movies and TV shows are mixed for the dialogue to go through the center speaker. The ideal center is another Forte, but it probably wouldn't be easy to get a single, if you even have room for it. But if you do, the best place to look for a single Forte would be Klipsch forum's classifieds.

 

[Silverfoxvtx]

Not using 2ch modes have it on Multi.........have a choice of A.F.D AUTO MULTI STEREO OR 2CH STEREO____i am a problem child...

 

[lovinthehd]

Not using 2ch modes have it on Multi.........have a choice of A.F.D AUTO MULTI STEREO OR 2CH STEREO____i am a problem child...

Multi stereo is a 2ch mode. AFD Auto IIRC just mirrors the source input. Are you using a multi-ch source such as a movie in 5.1? Or a 2.0 music source only? If you want to use a 2ch source and want to matrix it into multi-ch audio I'd try Dolby PLII Music mode (PLII MS apparently is what is displayed).