surround sound speaker hookup

[timfore]

What's the best way to hook my front speakers. Should I hook the speakers to the subwoofer or straight to the receiver? Thanks

 

[jaxvon]

Depends on what your speaker setup is. Every system differs, so post some models names/numbers and such so we can give you help. Otherwise, we'll never know what to say!

 

[timfore]

i'm considering polk audio rm6800 and denon 2105 receiver. Polk says to connect the front speakers to the sub, and circuit city says connect the speakers directly to the receiver. Circuit city sales guy said you wouldnt get tru 5.1 connecting the speakers thru the sub. Thanks

 

[jaxvon]

Well, the guy telling that you're not going to get "True 5.1" is lying to you. Even the manual for the RM6800 system instructs you to route your fronts through your subwoofer. This is how signal is sent to the sub in the system. Judging by the drawing in the manual, it looks like you COULD use line level inputs, but, it doesn't have line level through, so I would go the way Polk says to do it.

Besides, who are you going to trust? Some punk at Circuit City, a store that also sells fridges and computers, or the manufacturer of a speaker system that actually engineered the system? This should be a no brainer on trust.

 

[markw]

To add to what Jaxon said.

First off, I'm surprised that the sub doesn't have a line level input but, no matter. If it didn then you could have used the LFE out from the receiver and set it's sub setting to "on". That's the traditional method.

but, as JAxon said, there's more than one way to skin that cat.

Run your speaker outputs to the sub's inputs. Then run the sub's optputs to your speakers.

Now, get your Denon's manual. It's needed unless you are intimately familiar with it's features.

First off, set the sub to "off". This will channels ALL the LFE info the the other speakers. You'll need this without the sub. This should also disable any crossover prompts for the sub since there ain't none. That's step one.

Finally, set your front left/right speakers to "large". This will allow the full range (including that .1 LFE track) to be sent directly to those speakers. Dunno about the other speakers. Use your judgment as to how well they can handle the bass but you can always try it and make adjustments later.

What's gonna happen is that the FULL range wil be sent to the sub. The sub wil lthen remove the deep bass, amilify it and sent it to the sub itself and will channel all other, higher frequencies to your mains. They will never see the lows. The sub will strip them out.

 

[Totoro]

First off, I'm surprised that the sub doesn't have a line level input but, no matter. If it didn then you could have used the LFE out from the receiver and set it's sub setting to "on". That's the traditional method.

Actually, if it is like the RM6750, it should have both speaker level and line in (separate L and R RCA plugs, so you would need a Y adapter). However, for some reason, the Polk manual only shows the speaker level setup and curiously it doesn't even mention the LFE option. Maybe they figure the speaker level option is the most idiot proof setup and that the rest of us will know how to set it up the traditional way.

UPDATE: I checked on the Polk website. This is why they recommend the setup in the manual:

In the case of many systems, particularly
those with little satellite speakers (such
as Polk RM Series products), the low-pass
filter that is built-in to the receiver or
processor is set to the wrong frequency.
Additionally, the high-pass filter that the
receiver imposes on the satellites’ combines
with the satellites built-in filter to weaken
the lower-midrange response of the system
—making male voices sound “thin.”
• The variable low-pass filter (crossover)
adjustment is one of the most useful tools
for adjusting your subwoofer to “blend”
with the rest of the system. By using a prefiltered
signal, you are defeating this excellent
and useful feature.
Some subwoofers (like the Polk PSW650,
PSW450 and PSW350) have “LFE” line
inputs that bypass the subwoofer’s built-in
low-pass filter. This feature is great for
avoiding the double-filter effect when using
a filtered sub-out jack.
The Speaker Wire Advantage
Many people are worried that if they don’t
use the subwoofer output jack, they’ll miss
the Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel on
5.1-channel DVDs. Not true. We’ll tell you
the secret to getting every last bit of bass,
regardless of which hook up method you
use, in the “Setting Bass Management”
section on page 37.
If you have full size speakers, and if your
electronics allow an unfiltered signal to go
the subwoofer output jack and if the subwoofer
plays in all modes, go ahead
and use the subwoofer output jack.
Otherwise, there are better ways to hook
up your subwoofer.
Almost all powered subwoofers allow you to
connect them with speaker wire. In many
cases, that is the best hook up method
(Fig. 6). If your receiver or processor has
preamp output jacks, use those to feed the
subwoofer using RCA cables (Fig. 7).
When using either of these hook up methods
with a Dolby Digital system, select subwoofer
“off” in the bass management or “speaker
set up” function of your receiver or processor
(see “Processor Configuration and Bass
Management” on page 37). This will direct
all of the bass, including the Low Frequency
Effects channel, to the left and right speaker
outputs and avoid any problems that may
arise from using a subwoofer output jack.
If you have a satellite/subwoofer system with
small satellites, or if you have tower speakers
with built-in powered subwoofers, we strongly
recommend either of these methods instead
of the subwoofer output jack method.

 

[supervij]

Anyone here ever hook it up both ways? I'd be curious to hear if there's any sonic difference between the two methods. Thanks!

cheers,
supervij