Speaker wiring/settings for stereo music vs. HT

[dj_shooter]

I have recently purchased the following 7.1 system:

Denon AVR2809CI Receiver
Def Tech ProCenter 2000 Center
Def Tech ProSub 1000 Sub
Def Tech ProMonitor 1000's for fronts, side, and rear surrond (6 total)
Samsung PN58A650 58-inch Plasma
Samsung BD-P2500 Blu-ray Player

I have the system up and running and it sounds great, but I am certainly no audiophile. The system is installed in my living room and I will be using the system about 95% of the time for movies. But, on occassion, I would like to use the system for music during parties or while cleaning house, etc.

My question is this: Considering that the ProMonitor 1000's are all the same size for the fronts and surrounds (arguable oversized for the surrounds and undersized for the fronts), is there a way to adjust the settings on the receiver to pump stereo music equally to all three pairs of PM 1000's?

When I click through the avialable surround modes, the "Stereo" mode only plays music through the fronts and the various other surround modes just seem too artificial for my tastes. With just the fronts playing the music, the back four speakers seem like a real waste of capacity.

I have the ProMonitor fronts wired through the ProSub with "large" front, "small" surrond, "no" sub, etc. stteings (as recommended in the DefTech literature and elsewhere on these forums). So, wiring for simple left/right 2-channel sound through all six ProMonitors is unintuitive.
Any suggestions?

 

[Adam]

That's a very nice set-up!

I'm downloading the manual for the 2309CI right now to see if there's a multi-channel music setting. I'll let you know what I find.

 

[Adam]

There is a "5CH/7CH STEREO" mode (shown on page 41 of the manual). You mentioned that the surround modes sound artificial, but have you tried that one? It's under the "DSP Simulation" section.

 

[dj_shooter]

Thanks Adam. Out of all of the surround modes 7CH STEREO sounds the best. But, it doesn't seem to be simply splitting the 2 channel signal into the left and rights of the fronts, sides, and rears. It "seems" to be doing something more than that. This might be a result of the wiring the fronts through the ProSub. This might also be a result of a bad connection between my left and right ears . You are probably correct and this settings is doing what I am looking for...I just can't hear it.

 

[AVRat]

I would not wire the setup that way. For starters, by telling the receiver there’s no sub and you’re not using the sub output, you’re not really getting much of an LFE signal when you play movies. The 2309 has excellent bass management and uses the sub output for most modes/DSPs as long as the receiver knows one is available. Pg 76.

Once you change the connections, I suggest you try xovers from 80 Hz – 120 Hz for the best sound for your ears.

7 channel stereo should sound enveloping as long as the speakers are properly sound balanced.

 

[KODG]

ht vs. music

run di-pole for ht (if you have it on your surrounds.) mono pole for music.

also run your music on all channel stereo setting. you will not have the delayed sound on your surrounds!

 

[dj_shooter]

AVRat,
I wired up the speakers with large front and no sub after reading Midcow2's response to one of your reply post back on 01-20-2009 at 09:26 AM in the Loudspeakers forum. I copy and pasted below in quotes (sorry if that is not the most appropriate way to reference another older post):

"Normally I agree with AVRats and Midnightsensi concenring setting front speakers to "small" and letting AVR crossover ( 80-100 Hz) send the lower frequencies to the the subwoofer. However, IMHO Def Tech with subwoofers are a little different and are closer to full range than many other front speakers or centers. I have expereimented with many different settings and connections for "large' to "small" to separate "LFE" and high level speaker connections and IMHPO (In My Humble Personal Opinion) I like the sound better ( seems more alive, more billian, more dynamic) to me when I set the fornt speakers to large and have te bass going to both the subwoofer and the fonts. I set the front sub amplification to about 3/4 ( also set the center subwoofer about the same) and then I boost the subwoofer dB by 10 dB."

When I read this, it made sense and I tried it out. The sound was great to my untrained ears. However, reading it in retrospect, it seems that Midcow2 might think my ProMonitors have larger woofers than they really do (like some other Def Tech models). I dunno.
When I get home tonight, I will try hooking the sub to the LFE out on the receiver and turning the sub "on" in the receiver. I think this is the third or fourth optional wiring configuration in the ProMonitor manual. So, to clarify:
- The speaker wire for the left-and-right fronts will run from the receiver through the ProSub and then out to the front ProMonitors.
- The LFE will run from the LFE out on the receiver directly to the ProSub via RCA cable.
- The center and four surrounds will run directly from the receiver to the ProMonitors via speaker wires.
- The front speakers will be set to "small"
- The sub will be set to "on"

Does that sound right?

 

[brendy]

When I read this, it made sense and I tried it out. The sound was great to my untrained ears. However, reading it in retrospect, it seems that Midcow2 might think my ProMonitors have larger woofers than they really do (like some other Def Tech models). I dunno.
When I get home tonight, I will try hooking the sub to the LFE out on the receiver and turning the sub "on" in the receiver. I think this is the third or fourth optional wiring configuration in the ProMonitor manual. So, to clarify:
- The speaker wire for the left-and-right fronts will run from the receiver through the ProSub and then out to the front ProMonitors.
Run the wires directly to the FL & FR like the center and surrounds.
- The LFE will run from the LFE out on the receiver directly to the ProSub via RCA cable.
- The center and four surrounds will run directly from the receiver to the ProMonitors via speaker wires.
- The front speakers will be set to "small"
- The sub will be set to "on"

Does that sound right?

Set the receivers crossover to the -3db bass limit of the satellites.

 

[AVRat]

More or less, yes that's correct. Although I wouldn't go through the sub to the front L/Rs personally. If you decide to leave it connected that way, then I suggest you drop the xover on the fronts to 40 Hz. Like I said the 2809 has excellent Bass management capabilities. Advanced setup pg 29.