New to forum - couple of questions

[freelancer]

Hi,

My first post here and having learned a fair bit from the forum posts, got a couple of questions on my mind. Just purchased a Yamaha RX-V1700 together with Yamaha NS-325 front, center and surround speakers. This is a replacement for an old Sony AV system that had seen its better days

Right now I am connecting a Philips DVD player with video 1080 upscaling via HDMI directly to a Sony Bravia V series LCD TV and the audio via co-axial to the V1700. Other audio and video connections (cable TV, playstation, etc) are connected to the V1700 and a single component output to the TV. The Sony has only one HDMI input so I am keep it for the DVD (which does a very good job with the video). All interconnects are from Chord which I believe are pretty decent.

My questions,

1. What I need to be aware of should I decide to add-on two back surround speakers from the old Sony setup for a 7.1 solution? These are the Sony SS-MS5 speakers. Would the speakers potentially over-load at high volumes or this is protected at the AV amplifier itself?

2. Currently re-using the cheap speaker cables from my old system for the front and center speakers. Sound wise its pretty decent for home theater purposes. Thinking of upgrading the cables and looking at some decent cable specifications that may match the speakers I have. I know cables can be a big investment and looking for cost effective entry level suggestions.

This is my first serious move to a more complete home theater setup and appreciate all the help I can get. Could help me avoid some learning mistakes I suppose

Thanks.

 

[Davemcc]

1. The main thing to be concerned with when using the Sony speakers, if they come from some HTIB type system, is to find out the impedence. Some HTIBs use ridiculously low impedence speakers. If you can confirm that they are 8 ohm or 6 ohm, you should be safe. If they are less than that, I wouldn't recommend trying to drive them very hard.

2. Speaker cable need not be expensive. Any 14ga speaker wire from Home Depot or Lowes will perform as well as the big dollar brands. Interconnect cables can be had cheaply from monoprice.com.

 

[freelancer]

Thanks for the response, the SS-MS5 are 8 ohms, 100watts (max 120 watts) speakers. They are part of the Sony SAV-E505 5.1 speaker system that I had with the old Sony AV STR-DE435 receiver.

Glad to know its the 8 ohms that is the important consideration.

 

[rnatalli]

Monoprice is a great place to get good cables on the cheap.

 

[jcPanny]

Receiver connections

FYI,
If you pick up another HDMI cable from monoprice, you should be able to send all video through the receiver and to the TV over HDMI. It won't improve the quality of other video sources, but it might be convenitent and prevent you from switching inputs on the TV. The DVD player will also send audio to the receiver over the HDMI connection.