Re: Making my own cables?

Hey Gert,

I finally got all my speakers set up, switched on the ol' Yamaha, whipped on The Matrix . . . and . . . NOTHING! So sad -- took me forever to triple-check every single freakin' connection, until I finally noticed that the Zone 2 indicator was up. And nothing I could do could get it off that zone and back to the Zone 1. I called up the store from which I bought the Yamaha, and the salesguy talked me through a bunch of things until we finally gave up twenty minutes later. I'm going in tomorrow for an exchange. Man, that was so depressing. And after all that work! Did yours work properly when you first brought it home?

You know, this whole "leave the receiver on for a few hours before using it" thing is just shocking. Okay, granted, I haven't even had a chance to use mine yet, but it just doesn't sound right. Are you sure that your unit isn't defective? Did you talk with your retailer/Yamaha about it? Just seems wrong . . .

cheers, vij

It did. No problems whatsoever.

Well no. It's quite normal for gear that it tends to sound better (or just different) when warm. But I'm talking about minor differences here. It's not a question of "bad" and "good". Just something like "good" and "a bit better". It opens up a little. Better placement.

Good luck! Gert

Hi Gert,

Sigh. I'm still having problems. I think my coax audio cable is broken or something, cos I only get audio when I use my analog audio plugs, but that's not the main problem. The receiver seems to be stuck on Zone 2. Oh, I can turn Zone 2 power off, but it's kind of a pain to have to do every time I power it up. And despite doing the auto calibration and having all speakers wired properly, only the front left and right show up on the right side of the panel. I do get sound out of the other speakers, but it's the faintest, tiniest, almost inaudible amount of sound. Sigh again. I'm slowly going crackers trying to figure this out. I'm calling Yamaha tomorrow morning. This is just nuts.

cheers, vij

WOO-HOO!!!

Got it all working! I had no idea that I had to set anything in the DVD player for digital out, I assumed that simply plugging it in would do the job. So I switched it, and voila -- everything is working just the way I want! The speaker B thing I figured out, and the Zone 2 thing -- Yamaha tells me that it's always on, just to let you know that it can handle it, if need be.

So what do I do? I whip on the Matrix, then Gladiator, then Peter Gabriel's Play, notice that the sound coming out of every speaker is completely perfect, and then do my dance of joy. Ahhh . . . life is good. And I am happy. Thanks for your help, Grrt, ol' buddy, ol' pal. (forgive me -- I'm still kinda giddy!)

cheers, vij

PS: Wheee!

You mean your DVD player's digital out? My Sohoony has an option in the menu: digital output [off/pcm/mpeg]. Maybe it is set to "off"...

Dive into the menu:

3) Option menu D) Zone set Sp B > Front (and NOT "zone B")

Then, on the front panel. Make sure SP B is switched off. Only SP A may be active.

But you probably figured this out by yourself :)

If speaker B is zet to zone B, the auto setup will not work (since SP B (zone B) will not use the surround channels). But the Yamaha is quite intelligent in it's auto setup and should warn you for this.

Faint, tiny, almost inaudible? Do you use the speaker terminals or the pre outputs for wiring your speakers? Sorry for asking such a stupid question, but you never know... I'm trying all the possibilities here :)

Yamaha service will probably redirect you to your dealer. In fact, your dealer should be more helpful... Otherwise they suck and need a good punch in the nose... That's why there are dealers: S E R V I C E. And that's why you pay the extra buck compared to internet orders.

Gert

:)

Now put on some candles, unplug the phone and get some hours of listening. It'll do you good. Enjoy your Yammie.

Grrt

Assuming you're in the US, go to library and look at current and back issues of Consumer Reports magazine and at:

(You may need an online subscription to see everything. I think the hard copy magazine may be easier to look at, so bring $$$ to the library and make photocopies of relevant CR stories.)

CR will give you recommendations and reliability info for TVs.

You can connect the video to the receiver and the TV, like so:

Video source (such as DVD player) -> Receiver -> TV

The reason for running the video through the receiver is so you can use the receiver as the control center and send the DVD video (or VCR signal, or any other video signal) to the TV. The receiver can act as the hub and you use the receiver to control most of your gear.

Given your lack of experience, I recommend you look at CR and look at the TVs they recommend.

For the DVD player and audio, get a "home theater in a box" (HTB) that includes a DVD player. An HTB will have everything you need and all the gear will be designed to work together and the instruction manual will help you connect everything. (Or you can hire somebody to connect and install it all.)

Later on, you may want to change or upgrade your gear, but the above plan will get you up and running in the simplest (and possibly cheapest) way.

CR also can provide you with recommendations on HTBs.

One more thought: You may want to buy only one brand for the TV, receiver, and DVD player. Then it's most likely that you can control all your gear with just one remote.

Are you just going to listen to CDs? Or do you plan to have turntables for vinyl and microphones, like a real nightclub?

If you're going the latter route, you'll want a PA or pro type of system with a mixer. Look at stores that specialize in that sort of gear. Guitar Center (I think) and other big music stores may also have that kind of gear.

In Sound & Vision magazine a few years ago, there was an announcement of a universal connection system that would work across many brands of home audio gear, but I don't know what became of that idea.

In the US, nobody seems to care about that sort of thing. Most people don't know about the systems like SR, S-Link, Compu Link etc. that I mentioned previously in this thread. Brands that offer these systems don't advertise them. I don't think US consumers care about these features. I've tried them a little and liked them a lot.

It's surprising to me that the brands don't promote these systems more, because these systems create an incentive for a consumer to shop within one brand.

I'd probably start out with a pair of bipole or dipole speakers for the rears, then see if that's adequate.

Almost all the time, the rear speakers are just there to provide subtle ambience effects. The front speakers (and subwoofer, if you have one) really do the hard work and produce most of the sound. So I don't think you need an armada of rear speakers at home.

I suggest you start with a rear pair and see if that's adequate. I think that will be adequate.

And of course, make sure to listen at the store before you buy! A decent dealer should be willing to let you listen to whatever speakers in whatever combination you want to try.

I do remember some HT gear a few years ago being sold under the Paramount brand. My recollection is that it was low-priced gear. I think they had a Dolby integrated amp and a set of speakers that were sold as a package deal.

Anyway, if you need a 6-channel amp, the $250 asking price is probably an OK price. But you probably won't ever be able to find a service manual. And it probably has no resale value either.

Another (and cheaper) way to get a 6-channel amp would be to buy a 6.1 channel receiver, such as:

It would be cheaper and you'd get many more features and functions.

Some other options:

Or you could get several stereo amps. You can find a lot of Crown stereo amps on eBay.

Hi All

I am after a lamp for my Projector.

it is for a Sony PX20/30/HT10

LMP-200 Anybody got one - Even a used one would be fine.

Thanks

Please post replies to laserlite(put_at_here)swiftdsl.com.au

Greetings,

There's a new info portal for 2 channel and home theater enthusiasts called HiFiResource. It's a free information portal that I designed out of desperation for a single repository for HiFi and Home Theater info/links. One area is the HiFi Links section which has, I believe the worlds largest collection of links to resources for consumer audio/HT.

There are a variety of categories listed at the URL below. I would appreciate anyone reading this to visit and contribute any links there or in any category you see fit. The more we have, the more we all benefit. There's a [Submit A New Link]connection at the top of that section. The URL is

Once you enter the main site, just click on the HiFiLinks link on the left side or click the link below.

Thanks for reading this and let me know if you have any comments, good or bad!

Thanks in advance

I was planning on installing this TV above my fireplace in a TV niche. It would be about 47" off the floor.

Someone was mentioning that when looking at a DLP tv at any sort of angle (like when you are sitting and you are looking at it up slightly), the picture tends to lose some of its clarity and focus.

Any truth to this matter?

thanks LI

Here's a quote from the DLP TV Buying Guide website:

"Along with D-ILA, DLPs are the best of the best among rear-projection TV technologies. Still, they are far from perfect. The eyeball test of effective viewing gives me about a 100° side-to-side viewing angle. One very important note here is that, with DLPs, the vertical positioning of the display should be very close to eye level. The vertical viewing angle on DLP televisions is far less protracted than its side-to-side viewing angle. Indeed, the vertical viewing angles of the DLPs I tested were maybe 40° or so."

I've read differing opinions about the viewing angles for DLP TVs. Some say that the picture goes really dark when you're not sitting directly in front of it, and some say that the picture is absolutely fine at wider viewing angles. I think you yourself can make the best determination. Check it out at the store (if you haven't bought it yet). Get the salesperson to raise the TV to a higher level, or sit on the floor in front of it. Good luck!

vij

All the DLP sets I've veiwed have shown a very narrow vertical viewing angle. You really need to be almost straight-on when viewing them. You might be able to compensate by angling the set down a few degrees when mounting.

Anyone have one? I just got it, and am using it for my centre rear speaker. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get much volume out of the speaker. Plus the holes for the speaker wire are incredibly small; I'm gonna have to re-wire it, using a thinner speaker wire. And even though the red light goes on, meaning it's not receiving any signal (like at night, or when it's not in use) I sometimes get loud bangs coming out of the speaker. I really thought this unit would be a great investment -- it's actually why I just made the leap into home theatre! But it suffers from really low volume, and I don't know what to do about it. Or maybe that sixth discrete channel is supposed to be lower in volume than the others. I don't know. I'm confused, and mildly unhappy. So does anyone have this unit (Kenwood RFU-6100)? And how's it been working for you? vij

I want to use one HDTV satellite receiver to send its component video and digital optical outputs (or potentially digital coax if that's preferred) to two receivers: one in my living room and one in the basement home theater so that I only need one satellite receiver. I need a switch (not a splitter) to do this. Does anyone know of any they can recommend? Thanks.

Hi, I am getting some new surround and center speakers and was looking at the KLH Platinum series. I don't have whole lot of money to spend and these seemed to be a good deal for what you get. Does anyone have an opinion (good or bad) on this series of speakers from KLH?