New to 5.1

[ListeningIntently]

Just moved into our house that we had built. When we went through design I opted in for their 5.1 system. I am not sure of the brand, but I have 6 6.5 inch speakers in the great room. 3 in front and 2 in rear. All wiring has been pre-ran, including the sub. I'm assuming they didn't use the highest quality speakers, but I don't know. I was looking at the Denon AVR-S650H or the Yamaha RX-V385BL receiver. To me, looks like the Denon would be better for HDMI options and Optical input. Is there pros/cons to going with either one, other than the price point? Also, will I need to calibrate them? I also have 2 speakers ran on the patio controlled by a "dimmer" switch for volume, not sure how I would hook those up to use separately and/or together for regular music. Appreciate any help, I'm completely new to all of this. Let me know if any more info is needed.

 

[Pogre]

Speakers would be helpful. Like what brand? Knowing sensitivity and type would help too. Are they in wall or in the ceiling?

Generally speaking, look for all the connections and options you need and sufficient power and you're good to go. I prefer Denon over Yamaha but that's mainly because I prefer Denon's room correction. As far as that goes with Denon, the mid to upper range receivers have better room correction with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. Especially if incorporating subwoofage.

If you do have all in ceiling speakers all bets are off, imo. I don't think you can really dial them in enough to give you great performance, but ymmv.

 

[ListeningIntently]

Speakers would be helpful. Like what brand? Knowing sensitivity and type would help too. Are they in wall or in the ceiling?

Generally speaking, look for all the connections and options you need and sufficient power and you're good to go. I prefer Denon over Yamaha but that's mainly because I prefer Denon's room correction. As far as that goes with Denon, the mid to upper range receivers have better room correction with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. Especially if incorporating subwoofage.

If you do have all in ceiling speakers all bets are off, imo. I don't think you can really dial them in enough to give you great performance, but ymmv.

I have no idea what the brand is or any specs on them, but they are all ceiling mounted. I’m not an audiophile by any means, so telling the difference between good and great would be nominal. I want to be able to maximize my set up and enjoy it, but not at the level more experienced people probably would.

 

[nathan_h]

I have no idea what the brand is or any specs on them, but they are all ceiling mounted. I’m not an audiophile by any means, so telling the difference between good and great would be nominal. I want to be able to maximize my set up and enjoy it, but not at the level more experienced people probably would.

If your budget is 500 bucks, then Yamaha is bang for the buck since their full YPAO room correction is available at or below that (actually 330 bucks at Costco).

If your budget is closer to 1000 bucks, then Denon/Marantz offer their Audyssey xt32 room correction, which goes even further than Yamaha, and is a great choice for your situation.

Folks will tell you that ceiling speakers are a bad idea and they are right that if you can move or replace the front three to not be in the ceiling that would likely make things sound better, but you can still get a lot of enjoyment from your existing speakers without doing anything other than getting an AVR and running the setup program.
Enjoy!

 

[lovinthehd]

No matter what receiver you will need to do some sort of "calibration" of levels/delays (delays are labeled "distance" in most avrs) for your seating position. The automated versions aren't really meant for all-ceiling speaker installation but you could try or just tweak to taste (and generally an all-ceiling setup is only good for aesthetic, not for audio particularly altho depends on what sort of sound quality you're seeking). I'd assume the patio speakers are to be connected to zone 2 in the receiver but without more details hard to know.

 

[3db]

My great room uses ceiling speakers for the surrounds and the old Yamaha did a good job dialing them in.
One can get away with having surrounds in the ceiling. Its not ideal but it does work. The three front speakers in the ceiling will be a huge issue. Most information in films will be sent to the front three. Their location in the ceiling will throw a poor soundstage and offer poor directional clues. You would be much better off if the front 3 speakers were facing you in the listener position at ear level if possible.

That being said, you could buy 5 new speakers and use the in ceiling as atmos speakers or forgo atmos and buy 3 speakers for the front and use the rearvpair in ceiling speakers as surrounds like Im using.

 

[ToniScot]

It looks like we chose one article at a time https://downhomedigital.net/receivers/best-5-1-receiver/ or I'm wrong? I preferred Yamaha last year.

 

[Kingnoob]

Just moved into our house that we had built. When we went through design I opted in for their 5.1 system. I am not sure of the brand, but I have 6 6.5 inch speakers in the great room. 3 in front and 2 in rear. All wiring has been pre-ran, including the sub. I'm assuming they didn't use the highest quality speakers, but I don't know. I was looking at the Denon AVR-S650H or the Yamaha RX-V385BL receiver. To me, looks like the Denon would be better for HDMI options and Optical input. Is there pros/cons to going with either one, other than the price point? Also, will I need to calibrate them? I also have 2 speakers ran on the patio controlled by a "dimmer" switch for volume, not sure how I would hook those up to use separately and/or together for regular music. Appreciate any help, I'm completely new to all of this. Let me know if any more info is needed.

Get us pics and model number of your speakers.. no one is professioner xav10r....
Which amp has features you prefer. ??

 

[Tailspin70]

This is similar to the setup I inherited. Those 3 ceiling speakers at the front are meant to be your L/R/C and honestly these channels are not meant to be output from the ceiling. I ended up using my own fronts and center speakers as L/R/C and used the L/R overheads for presence. I use the two rear overheads for SR/SL and that worked well. The speakers are Jamo 8.5CS and they are OK for surround/presence but my fronts and center speaker are much better. You should be able to use these ceiling speakers if/when you move to a 5.1.4 setup.