Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stereo and hometheater

Sounds Good...

madeinitaly — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:34:33 -0800

[Hi-Fi / HT filter] Help me find the right front speakers for my receiver, so that both music and movies sound good ! Hello.

I have a Harman Kardon AV 145 which i always used with the standard JBL 5.1 speaker set it came with (little and probably not so good satellites, but i really like the subwoofer).

I got my hands on a Mission m7c1 center speaker (got for almost free) and recently replaced the left and right front speaker (which previously were just little boxes) with some TEAC coming out of a compact system a friend was throwing away.

The difference since i put those left/right (sorry i don't have name or characteristics, but just imagine your typical 2 ways system from a 90s compact system) is amazing: music sounds much better - and i guess it's because now the left/right sound can manage some bass and the subwoofer just gives it a final touch.

The issue is that now when i watch a movie, i think the right/left sound too powerful compared to the middle - so you hear all the background noised much louder than the speech... and that's less than optimal. My receiver has the option to select if each speaker is "large" or "small", option that basically cross-overs the bass to the subwoofer or to the speakers themselves.

now... i think i might need to set the speakers as "small" in order to not overpower the middle... but then i miss the improvement i gained in the music listening area....

does this make sense? What would you do and/or what tests would you do ?

Secondly... I have now the chance to do two things

1) replace those TEAC speakers with the speakers that come from this Panasonic SC-DP1 system which actually sound _amazing_ and i would like to keep. Problem... these speakers have 4 wires coming out of them and my HK AVR 145 only has 2 plugs for each speaker... how do i connect them ?

2) someone is selling these amazing Mission 733 speakers for a very low price... i really like the idea of professional speakers but... will they be alright for the rest of my system or would i just add to the problem of left/right overpowering the middle ?

thank you all for your help!

Help me hook up a new HDTV to an old(ish) stereo receiver?

Dr. Wu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:03:39 -0800

Can you help me connect my optical-out DVD players to my new HDMI-in HDTV? This is the kind of thing that drives me bananas.

Just got a nice, brand-new Sony HDTV, with several HDMI-in ports. I would like to get the highest resolution I possibly can out of my video components -- generally DVD. In the past, when I had an older, analog TV, I just used the stereo receiver as an A/V switcher, for which purpose it works very well. But now this functionality has been compromised by the new array of input/output jacks.

Here's the setup:
- The two DVD players I have (one "regular" and one multistandard) both have optical-out ports. I have an old laserdisc and an even older VHS player hooked up to the system, too, but I'm not terribly concerned about them right now.

- I have all audio and video components running through a good, but eight-year-old, Sony A/V receiver. LP/tape/VHS/LD are connected via regular old component RCA plugs, which are just fine. The CD player and the two DVD players can connect to the receiver with optical cables -- which I prefer to use whenever I can. They work well and provide good sound.

- The problem is that the new HDTV does not have any optical-in ports. (If it did, I'd just run the sound from the DVD players through the receiver, and the picture, via optical cable, right to the TV. But I can't do this.) It does have composite-in and component-in, but no optical-in. And the receiver has only composite-out.

The receiver I have is a Sony STR-DA 333 ES. The manual, in PDF form, is available on this page; click "primary user manual" and go to Page 5.

The HDTV I have is a Sony Bravia KDL-46VE5. The manual doesn't seem to be online, but you can find the details here by clicking on "Specifications." (The site will not allow me to access that page directly.)

- The upshot of all this (if you're still with me) is that my only current option is to run all video components into the receiver, and thence to the TV via a crappy composite video cable. Which would sort of defeat the purpose of the 1080p set that I just bought. (We don't have any sort of cable, satellite, or other TV, so this new HDTV is really just going to be used as a monitor for movies on the DVD players.)

What I would like to do is get the highest possible resolution (the HDTV can handle 1080p/24f) when I watch DVDs. Is there a simple, inexpensive way to convert the optical signal to HDMI?

I can imagine several options:
1. I find a magical converter device that can handle multiple optical inputs and output HDMI. This device would be a switcher, so I could run optical cables from both DVD players into it, and then a single HDMI cable from the switcher to the HDTV.

2. If it's cheaper, I certainly don't mind eschewing with the idea of the switcher box and just getting two separate optical-to-HDMI cables, one for each DVD player.

HOWEVER: the problem I foresee: What about the audio??
I want to run the audio from the DVD players through my stereo system, which has a nice 5.1 setup. HDMI handles both video and audio, right? So if I choose either option above, will I be locked into using the speakers built into the HDTV? Or would I then just add another cable, so that the setup would look something like this:

DVD optical out --> HDMI cable --> HDMI in to HDTV --> TV audio out --> receiver. (In which case the audio running from the HDTV to the receiver would be component, yes? Which would be a step downwards, yes?)

I am reasonably good with stuff like this, but the age disparity between the new HDTV and the older stereo system is giving me a headache.

What's the best, cheapest, most reliable way for me to get the highest-quality picture from the DVD players onto the TV, and still get the room-shaking audio through the stereo?

Should I just buy a new multistandard, HDMI-out DVD player? If I did, I could connect it right to the HDTV, but I'd still have the audio problem that I detail above.

*****
Related questions, for masochists and/or AV geeks:

- Let's say I solve this problem above. I'm still left with an LD and a VHS, both of which I still use occasionally, that will be unconnected. Is my best bet with these just to run A/V to the receiver, and thence to the HDTV via component cables?

- I'd like to minimize the number of A/V component switchers. Ideally, I'd still like my receiver to be the one and only device that switches between ALL a/v components. And what's nice is that I can split the audio and the video signals -- that is, I can listen to the CD player while watching the signal from the VHS, if I so desire. Is there some way I can use this functionality to refrain from buying any further switchers?

Best places to talk Home Audio?

Phyltre — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:42:05 -0800

What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups/forums for someone wanting to learn about said items? I'm working in big-box retail (and loving it, thank you very much), and there are some extremely tempting Employee Accommodations available to me. I've been looking at home audio a lot recently, and this cements it--I'm definitely buying when the components cost between 50 and 75% less than retail.

The catch is, I don't know very much about home audio. I've googled the models, and gotten some information. I've googled for audio and home theater forums as well (with tons of results), but I don't know who to trust or respect. That's where I need your help. What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups and forums, so I can get good advice and not waste my once-a-year accommodations purchase or, at worst, buy the wrong thing and burn the house down?

(Because I know you'll ask: My preliminary plan is to get a Harman Kardon AVR-144 receiver with two Klipsch RF-82 floorstanders and an RW10d sub. Price to me: roughly $700 for everything. Yes, this will be an ad-hoc 2.1 system on a 5.1 receiver, but I'm not buying everything at once for budgeting reasons.)

Can anyone help me with a troublesome home theater problem?

bDiddy — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 07:41:39 -0800

I'm having some problems with my AV receiver and I'm hoping someone here can help. I'll post the details inside. In August I purchased a Yamaha Home Theater in a Box system. Specifically, I bought the YHT-760 system. It worked great for three months and then all of a sudden I'd get a lot of noise from my subwoofer. The way I decribe the noise is: imagine you're on stage and you have a microphone connected out to an am. Then you rub paper all of the microphone. I am getting a sound out of my subwoofer very similar to the sound the paper makes on the microphone as amplified by the sound system. Make sense?

So that's the sound in the sub. It's not always constant. sometimes it happens after a few hours of TV, but lately it happens whenever I have the sub plugged in. On top of that, the receiver has taken to turning itself off. I am told this is a circuit protection feature.

I have already brought the receiver in for repair and was told they fixed the problem by replacing a PCB. They tested it and returned it to me. Two days later, I got the sound from the subwoofer and then yesterday it started turning itself off again.

Yesterday I bought banana plugs to attach to the speaker wire into the sub. With those plagged in, I got the same sound. And, I bought one of these things to see if it was a problem with my outlet. The receiver still turns itself off (I have taken to keeping the sub unplugged.)

Can anyone give me an idea of what to do next? I am losing my mind with this problem!

Corollary: I seem to have a lot of static electricity in and around my living room. Can this have anything to do with the problem I am having?

I apologize for the length of this question. I just wanted to be thorough.

RCA vs Coax Cable

robbie01 — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 16:06:01 -0800

Stereo/home theater cable question(s): Can you use a "regular" RCA cable as a "Coaxial digital" interconnect for digital audio from, say, a DVD player to a receiver? The plug seems the same size, but don't know if it carries the same signal. Similar question: can you use a standard AUDIO RCA cable (red or white) to carry a standard VIDEO RCA signal? Or does it have to be the yellow-labeled RCA?

Speaker Shopping

subgenius — Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:15:23 -0800

Do you have any advice on purchasing speakers for a home theater / stereo setup in an apartment building with relatively thin walls? [More inside....] I live in a NYNY apartment building that was converted from offices to apartments a few years ago. It's a nice place, but they sort of skimped on the soundproofing. It's not uncommon to hear stereos (especially annoying subwoofers) and I don't want to contribute to the noise.

I would like to buy a set of decent, relatively inexpensive speakers for home theater and music use. Should I buy separate bookshelf speakers, a center speaker, and forego the subwoofer? Should I buy a home theater package and turn down the sub? (I am leaning toward the former.) I don't plan on playing these very loud while I'm living in the city, but it would be nice for them to be useable at a higher volume if I ever move into a house.

Oh, if it makes any difference, I use a Sony STR-DE995 Receiver (7 x 100 WPC) and don't currently have a SACD setup.

good, small, inexpensive speakers

dobbs — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 14:25:30 -0800

Looking for good, small, inexpensive speakers... I'm considering getting some 3.0 or 4.0's from noHr because, I'll admit it, I like how they look and they seem to get good reviews. I will hook them up to my "Home Theatre" which is an average 27" television and an above average DVD player. Does anyone have experience with noHr or can anyone recommend a different brand? Thanks!