JVC RX-D702B speaker setup, advice needed!

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DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
Hello, I am new here
I am a retired DJ amateur enthusiast looking for help setting up my first 7.1 home theatre.
I have an amplifier at the center of my setup: JVC RX-D702B and it specifys 150 watts per channel output with 6-16ohm speaker impedance.


What's the ideal speaker setup? My theatre room is approx 15 ft x 23 ft with 7.5 ft high ceilings, open concept doorway to the equipment area and no other ways in / out. One window, small and covered with pillows for sound diffusion.

I figure to get best performance I should use 16 ohm speakers 150w each, but what do I know? that's why I'm here. Help is much appreciated!
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Depending on how far you sit and how loud you expect to play a system based around that JVC, I'd say fairly easy to drive speakers would be helpful. Do you have a budget? Current gear that will be used other than the JVC?. Is the JVC a sure fire or open to other ideas?
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
I'd like to weigh the benefits before considering budget options.
Higher ohms and watts offer me what, clearer sound or just louder sound at lower volume levels?
I want clear sound, so I can avoid the painfully aggravating 'barely audible conversations, deafening music and special effects' curse of systems without decent dynamic range compression. I don't even know if this amp offers that, so I want to get ahead of it on the hardware level.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Here's some more info on measured output of that avr's amp section https://www.soundandvision.com/content/jvc-rx-d702b-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures

Not sure you'll find much in 16 ohm speakers, what did you have in mind? You realize the wattage rating of a speaker is only so useful? Sensitivity is more indicative of what spl level you'll be able to achieve at what distance from the speakers with given amp power. You might play around with this spl calculator to get an idea of the relationship between various speakers' sensitivity and distance you'll be from them with the given amount of amp power you have. http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
Typically I sit in the middle of the room. The room has seating for 9. I want to be able to fill it without having chit chat drown out the movie but also without having to crank the amp to do so.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Typically I sit in the middle of the room. The room has seating for 9. I want to be able to fill it without having chit chat drown out the movie but also without having to crank the amp to do so.
That's really not much of a guideline. Have you used an spl meter to get an idea of your desired levels? With reasonably sensitive speakers I don't think you'll have a huge issue with obtaining room-filling sound, tho depends how high a level you want to achieve....movie reference level is quite loud for example.
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
Ideally I'd like to spend about 200 USD on the satellites / woofer combined. The amp is discontinued but was high end for it's era of early 2000s, or high mid range maybe.
Used to sell for 800. I wanted this model for its ability to upscale svideo input from a vcr

I'm open to suggestions though if a higher budget would do good for me. Another thing is this is a rental property so I'm probably going to upgrade to a larger theatre room in the future and a better amp or a second amp, to drive the larger room. If I can use one set of speakers to do both rooms I can save some money.
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
I appreciate the spl tool but I'm not sure I can use it, its rather sophisticated for me.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I generally wouldn't look to Onkyo for speakers or subs, and I think you'd be better off with the Dayton set I linked rather than the one you linked....
 
Truthslayer

Truthslayer

Full Audioholic
Onkyo's AV's and amps were great back in the 70's and 80's. However like most other companies now a days, they have completely slacked off in the quality department. When it comes to any of their speakers, I would guess most people and myself included have never tried any.
Plus speakers are so subjective to each individuals taste. Best advice is to get out and audition as many as possible, to find which ones you find the most pleasing to your ear.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I'd like to weigh the benefits before considering budget options.
Higher ohms and watts offer me what, clearer sound or just louder sound at lower volume levels?
I want clear sound, so I can avoid the painfully aggravating 'barely audible conversations, deafening music and special effects' curse of systems without decent dynamic range compression. I don't even know if this amp offers that, so I want to get ahead of it on the hardware level.
Without a realistic budget it's nearly impossible to give advice. If necessary start small and build, having two good speakers is better than 7 bad ones. Think about the time you spend in the space and what seems reasonable and I'm sure some ideas will be fruitful.
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
Without a realistic budget it's nearly impossible to give advice. If necessary start small and build, having two good speakers is better than 7 bad ones. Think about the time you spend in the space and what seems reasonable and I'm sure some ideas will be fruitful.
What do you consider a real budget?
Someone offered a 5.1 barebones (which I thought hasty considering I'm using a 7.1 amp) and suggested I focus on spl.
Well the spl of the suggested barebones is pretty comparable to the Onkyo system I linked, only differing by 1. The Onkyo's specs otherwise blew the 5.1 system out of the water.

I would consider an 800 dollar amp to be something worthwhile, so if it's not up to par for some people with bottomless wallets I'd be curious to what they spent on their own amplifier / speaker systems. I got mine used so I paid less, but that's what it's worth before being discontinued so I figure I should get something that matches the specs, quality, and is priced in the same bracket for tier of quality / pricing.

I'll spend more than 200 (for speakers), but I want to know why I am. The Onkyo system is actually 340 and change. It's subwoofer was also bigger and better specs than the 5.1 woofer.

I could use a quick crash course on why watts and ohms don't matter anymore and spl is now God. Isn't spl just an equation based on watts, ohms, and voltage anyway? So naturally, these things do still matter?
How does one weight ohms and watts of speakers compared to what an amp is capable of?

My goal: to buy one half decent or better than this amp can really appreciate set of 7.1 speakers that I can later use with an upgraded amp
Input appreciated.
 
Truthslayer

Truthslayer

Full Audioholic
It's not that they dont matter. What's important is to match up your equipment appropriately. Knowing the levels of desired listening levels. If you like it really loud, then you'll want efficient speakers and a high current amplifier cable of driving the speakers to your desired listening pleasure.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I'd spend more on speakers than amp to begin with. The sound quality is in the speakers rather than the electronics.

I didn't say focus on spl particularly, but rather the sensitivity spec for the speakers rather than a max wattage rating (which is more a melting point spec than anything particularly useful). I posted a $200 new speaker set based on your parameters. How do you figure the used Onkyo htib set of speakers/sub blows the other away particularly spec-wise? Of course the best way to choose speakers is to listen to them, preferably in your own room where you will use them. I'd say the Dayton set would likely sound better than the Onkyo, but I'm of course guessing as I don't have either (but have used Dayton hardware in diy speakers). A higher sensitivity speaker will need less amp to get to the same place as a lower sensitivity speaker spl-wise. With a low budget, I think this is a worthy consideration. A good set of speakers and sub are just generally going to cost more than you've budgeted unless you get really lucky on the used market (and I don't mean that Onkyo htib set).

Spending $800 on a receiver may be worthwhile, if you need the feature set such offers. That JVC is more like a $75 receiver at this point in time, tho, due to it's lack of modern connectivity and handling of current audio/video codecs as well as power/distortion profile (which may be fine for your purposes, you haven't really said much about anything but an old vcr/s-video requirement). It may be able to put out 150wpc at 8 ohm but at over 2% THD (and will be more power at 6 ohm and less power at 16 ohm, that's the way that works) but at a high rate of distortion compared to other units that are spec'd with lower distortion.

Watts and impedance and voltage are of course related via Ohm's Law, but just how you view that relationship is somewhat a question....just what importance are you placing on speaker wattage ratings for example? Why did you state the receivers output at 150wpc from 6-16 ohms....you think that's constant for that whole impedance range?

Might try this article https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/truth-about-matching-amplifier-power, and maybe this one about subs for room volume https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/subwoofer-room-size. Maybe look thru various other articles here on the site, they can help a lot on the technical side of things... https://www.audioholics.com/av-research
 
Last edited:
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I'd spend more on speakers than amp to begin with. The sound quality is in the speakers rather than the electronics.

I didn't say focus on spl particularly, but rather the sensitivity spec for the speakers rather than a max wattage rating (which is more a melting point spec than anything particularly useful). I posted a $200 new speaker set based on your parameters. How do you figure the used Onkyo htib set of speakers/sub blows the other away particularly spec-wise? Of course the best way to choose speakers is to listen to them, preferably in your own room where you will use them. I'd say the Dayton set would likely sound better than the Onkyo, but I'm of course guessing as I don't have either. A higher sensitivity speaker will need less amp to get to the same place as a lower sensitivity speaker spl-wise. With a low budget, I think this is a worthy consideration. A good set of speakers and sub are just generally going to cost more than you've budgeted unless you get really lucky on the used market (and I don't mean that Onkyo htib set).

Spending $800 on a receiver may be worthwhile, if you need the feature set such offers. That JVC is more like a $75 receiver at this point in time, tho, due to it's lack of modern connectivity and handling of current audio/video codecs as well as power/distortion profile (which may be fine for your purposes, you haven't really said much about anything but an old vcr/s-video requirement). It may be able to put out 150wpc at 8 ohm but at over 2% THD (and will be more power at 6 ohm and less power at 16 ohm, that's the way that works) but at a high rate of distortion compared to other units that are spec'd with lower distortion.

Watts and impedance and voltage are of course related via Ohm's Law, but just how you view that relationship is somewhat a question....just what importance are you placing on speaker wattage ratings for example? Why did you state the receivers output at 150wpc from 6-16 ohms....you think that's constant for that whole impedance range?

Might try this article https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/truth-about-matching-amplifier-power, and maybe this one about subs for room volume https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/subwoofer-room-size. Maybe look thru various other articles here on the site, they can help a lot on the technical side of things... https://www.audioholics.com/av-research
This pretty much covers it. Invest in the thing that supplies the sound, your speakers. Nothing else comes close in your experience.
 
D

DJ_J2k

Audiophyte
It's not that they dont matter. What's important is to match up your equipment appropriately. Knowing the levels of desired listening levels. If you like it really loud, then you'll want efficient speakers and a high current amplifier cable of driving the speakers to your desired listening pleasure.
I appreciate your directness.
I want clear sound over loud sound.
I live in a house, the floor is open concept to some degree but the home theatre area is the dimensions I posted in the first post. I have 5 roommates, so I want to be considerate of the volume and hopefully get clear enough sound the dialog isn't drowned out by the special effects at a low volume. I want to minimize needing to use normalization settings but will when I have to.
I took a closer look at Dayton, they're not my era, and they look half decent enough but over priced. I'd sooner build a set of those from components and boxes upwards which I can do after upgrading the amp.
I want a set that will make a good starter set for a better amp, but push this amp to peak performance.
The amp's inputs will be:
-a first generation xbox using component video at 720p and optical 5.1
-a vcr svideo / stereo rca
-5 disc pre4k bluray player, hdmi input
 
Truthslayer

Truthslayer

Full Audioholic
I appreciate your directness.
I want clear sound over loud sound.
I live in a house, the floor is open concept to some degree but the home theatre area is the dimensions I posted in the first post. I have 5 roommates, so I want to be considerate of the volume and hopefully get clear enough sound the dialog isn't drowned out by the special effects at a low volume. I want to minimize needing to use normalization settings but will when I have to.
I took a closer look at Dayton, they're not my era, and they look half decent enough but over priced. I'd sooner build a set of those from components and boxes upwards which I can do after upgrading the amp.
I want a set that will make a good starter set for a better amp, but push this amp to peak performance.
The amp's inputs will be:
-a first generation xbox using component video at 720p and optical 5.1
-a vcr svideo / stereo rca
-5 disc pre4k bluray player, hdmi input
Unfortunately it's going to be hard to recommend any speakers in your price range. Plus I always think a guy should get out and listen to as many options as possible, since we all hear things a little differently. And man I really hate to say this because I don't like knocking anybodys equipment. But that JVC you have is kind of on the low end for quality, the specs on it are almost down right terrible. I don't know if it will be even possible to get really good sound from it.
You might be better off for a starter kit going with one of those complete set-ups Home Theatre in a box options. You should probably be able to find a good deal seeing that all the black Friday deals have started.
Again, not trying to knock on your JVC, but I don't want to lie to you either and give you false hopes.
 

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