Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stereo and receiver

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!

What receiver and speakers should I purchase for under $400?

vmrob — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:58:51 -0800

I'm on a budget and want to upgrade my audio system. What receiver/speakers I should purchase to get the most for my money? I currently own a mini-hifi system from Sony (Specifically the MHC-GX45). I wouldn't mind reusing the receiver/amp from that system though I have a feeling to get the most out of the system, I'll be looking for a new receiver as the input options are very limited on the device.

The entire system will be used for stereo sources so surround isn't a priority though a dedicated subwoofer would be nice.

After a quick look online, I found a set of speakers from Sony (SS-F5000) that seem to fit my budget and have overall good reviews. If there is a better pair of speakers (floor standing would be nice, but not necessary) at about that price, what are they and where can I get them?

As for a receiver, I'm totally lost. I've never been in the market and I'm not sure what I need. Auto-switching sources would be nice though I don't know what other features I should be looking for. Recommendations?

My budget for the whole system would preferably be less than $400. If you point out a sub I could add later, bonus points to you. I know the budget will force me to make sacrifices to the sound quality and I'm ok with that, but I really want a system that sounds good. In other words, if I have to step up the price, I can do that, but my purchase will be a little delayed.

Convert my tunes

auralcoral — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:44:44 -0800

Is there any way to play music on my external hard drive through a stereo receiver? That is, is there any sort of device that could play middleman between the two? My home computer is busted and all my music is trapped in my little Maxtor. Is this even possible?

How do I stop my surround sound system cutting out?

Beep — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:26:46 -0800

My surround sound system keeps cutting out at higher volumes. Please help me find a way to stop it happening. I'm using a Panasonic SC-AK600 receiver; it has 5 speakers and is programmed to receive digital signals. It's plugged into both my DVD player and Xbox 360 through a coaxial cable and optical cable, respectively. When the volume is at higher levels, all but the center speaker cuts out. And it cuts out at a single instance of sound (such as a sudden explosion or noise in the movie/game). I know that this may be some kind of safety feature to keep the speakers from becoming ruined, but I feel that the volume should be able to be higher.

Important point: the volume only cuts out when it is receiving a signal in 5.1 surround sound. If I'm not watching something in that configuration (ie, noise is still coming from all speakers; it's just not in 5.1) I can turn the volume up as high as I want, and nothing happens. So, I know that the fact the volume can't be higher is something to do with it receiving a 5.1 surround signal. The receiver is meant to be able to play this, so I don't know why this keeps happening.

Also, my left surround speaker has some additional speaker wire I had to hook up to it to extend the length, and has a lower volume than the right surround speaker. I don't know if that's a result of the additional speaker wire or not. I know it has nothing to do with settings on the receiver because I've checked that. Anyway, does this lower volume or additional speaker wire on the left surround speaker have anything to do with the speakers cutting out in 5.1 surround sound? I'm no sound expert, but thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who may know.

While I'm at it, there seems to be a slight difference between the audio coming from the TV and from the receiver's speakers (again, only in 5.1) when using the DVD player. I usually just turn down the TV's volume to 0, but feel as I shouldn't have to. There's an HDMI cable running from the DVD player to the TV. And again, the receiver is hooked up directly to the DVD player.

Thanks for reading this whole thing. Please help me with any knowledge/experience you may have.

Is it a problem for an AV receiver to be on it's side, instead of resting horizontally on it's feet?

RustyBrooks — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:48:41 -0800

Is it a problem for an AV receiver to be on it's side, instead of resting horizontally on it's feet? I had a Denon AVR-series receiver die on me recently - it's settings started changing randomly, getting more and more frequent until it started turning itself off and on, changing the volume, etc. I bought a replacement recently.

We have a flatscreen TV that rests of sort of a cabinet, the cabinet is not wide enough on the interior to put a receiver (interior widths are less than 17"). So, I've been keeping the receiver behind the cabinet, on it's side, for a couple of years. Is this likely to have contributed to it's demise?

Multichannel PC test tone?

ijoyner — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:55:24 -0800

Sound Blaster from PC to 5.1 A/V Receiver. It is already hooked up with a digital Coax cable to the DVD input. It passes encoded data great (DTS, DD5.1) and the two channel 48kHz sounds great when there isn't an encoded stream. But it doesn't work for games. I still have an analog 5.1 input I can use, but need 3 "Y-adapter" type audio cables. Would this work? How could I ensure my mappings are correct? First off, If I am mistaken and there is a way to play EAX (game encoded) multi-channel sound through that Coax output, let me know.

Otherwise, how can I ensure that my inputs are proper. Is there a multichannel test tone applet I could use to play around with the system and ensure that the proper RCA plug is going to the proper channel?

Any other ideas on this subject?

Home Audio 101

10ch — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:49:09 -0800

What components do I need to buy to have a solid stereo system for my home? I know nothing about home audio and I want to buy a quality turntable for playing records (including 78s) as a gift for my one and only.

I took a look at other mefi questions about turntables and found some good resources, but I quickly realized that there's a lot of vocabulary and hip-bone-connected-to-the-assumptions going on that leave me clueless. I need someone that isn't trying to sell me something to help me figure out what I need.

Fer'instance... am I better going with separate parts (and if so, what are those parts specifically) or with a "home system" (I want to avoid crappy parts just to get the 78 feature, for example).

Here are the things I'd like the system to do, in priority:

- Cost around $500
- Sound good
- Play records (78s, 33s and 45s)
- Play cds
- Play cassettes
- Play FM/AM radio
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Record across the above (ideally on CD)
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Be aesthetically pleasing

Speak jargon as long as you provide clarification (parenthetically). Links and specific make/model recommendations are appreciated. I'll be happy to converse in thread if I'm leaving details out. Thanks for your help.

Two different sets of speakers on amp/receiver.

ObscureReferenceMan — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:33:37 -0800

Will two different pairs of speakers work and play well with my new Onkyo receiver? Hot on the heels of this question... I have a new Onkyo TX-8222 receiver. I've got two pairs of speakers; Boston Acoustics CR-57's in the living room (channel A), and Bose 161's downstairs (channel B). Reading the specs for the receiver, it says that when connecting two sets of speakers, their impedence should be between 8 and 16 ohms. The BA's are rated 8 ohms (OK), but the Bose are rated "4-8" ohms (that's what the spec sheet says). What does that mean? I guess the real question is; why does Bose list a range, and not a single number? Every other speaker I've seen lists a single number.

Will I be safe? I am 99% sure I will, but the left channel on the old receiver (TX-26) blew just two weeks ago. I had it running with the BA's and Bose 161's, and everything sounded fine (both channels on at same time, even running loud). I just assumed that it was an old age thing (the receiver's, not mine, dag-nabbit!).

Specs on the new Onkyo here.

P. S. I did send an email to customer service via the Bose web site. No reply yet.
P. P. S. I found a guy through a friend who buys old stereo components. I'll be calling him tomorrow. If you're on Long Island, and have stereo equipment gathering dust, let me know.

So now that I have all this stuff...

devilsbrigade — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:21:05 -0800

Speaker/ReceiverFilter: I have a recently acquired NAD 7240PE receiver, and a pair of older but fairly decent (I think) floorstanding speakers. The input source is clean (its a CD player that has its own headphones jack, and that's clean), but I'm running into a problem with the speakers + receiver. Basically, when I first turn on the system, there's quite a lot of hiss/buzz. When the speakers are selected on the receiver, this is also audible through the headphones jack on the receiver (when the speakers are turned off on the receiver, the headphones jack is clean). About 4 or 5 minutes into the speakers being on, there's a loud pop & the hiss/buzz goes away, and I get very nice high quality sound. Also occasionally, for the first few minutes, the right channel doesn't work. I assume these are separate problems. Where should I be looking? I'm decently comfortable with electronics in general, although I don't know much about stereo/audio electronics other than the absolute basics.

Bonus question: The receiver has RCA inputs. I have a SBLive card. What would be the cheapest solution to get good audio quality from PC->Receiver? Are 3.5mm -> RCA cables sufficient, or is there a medium step before SPDIF->DAC->Reciever? What's my range of options with this?

Bonus question #2: Is there a good standard book for stereo/audio stuff of this nature?

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.

Clever uses for a receiver

aladfar — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 17:12:48 -0800

What to do with a Receiver? Someone in my building left a decent Pioneer receiver near the dumpster, obviously hoping that someone would put it to good use. I believe I might be that person, but am not sure what to do with it. I've already got a reliable radio that I enjoy listening to, my record player has it's own pre-amp, and I don't feel a need to add surround sound to the TV (in part because it would mean buying a mess of speakers). But I'm betting someone out there in MeFi land has a clever and novel idea for how it might be employed. If no suitable use for it can be found, I plan on donating it to the Howard Brown Health Center - no reason for it to go to landfill.