Onkyo TX-NR609 with JBL ES80s - Questions!!

I purchased a pair of JBL ES80s and the Onkyo receiver from Fry's today. There are some questions I would like to ask:

1) I have to turn the volume above 50-60 to hear a decently loud audio. Is that normal or are the speakers under-powered? ( I have made sure that all the cable connections are correct )

2) There is a strapping bar at the back of the JBL speakers as they can take in two-amp inputs. But since the 609 provides one, I am hooking up just a single set of copper wire to the lower inputs on the speakers while relying on the strapping to automatically conduct. Should I use another pair of wire and connect it to the same outlet on the receiver to which the earlier wire on the lower input was connected? JBL uses a term in the specifications called bi-wiring, will it give me any advantage?

3) I am not getting any decent amount of base from the speakers, could there be a setting in the onkyo that does that, I fiddled around with the base but didnt see a big improvement.

Help / Suggestions will be most appreciated!!

bump help!!

I haven't run the setup yet, just the two speakers are connected right now directly to the receiver and there's no Sub either. I am actually pretty new to this and hence was assuming that simple hookups should have done the job for me.

Thanks a lot guys the setup helped a lot and now I can experience a powerful base plus a lot more sound than the initial run-through.

I have more questions:

1) I have an HTPC with an ATI 5570 that has an HDMI out and hence I have connected it directly to the receiver so that it can do an Audio / Video pass-through. The HTPC also has an ASUS Xonar D2X which remains unused. Would it be better to do an analogue out from the D2X or is the audio chip on the Onkyo 609 as capable?

As I would like to add more speakers with time, I would be limited to using only two channels if I am doing an analgue out as my understanding is that the optical out on the ASUS is just a pass through.

2) Would there be any advantages of using a Center speaker such as the JBL ES25:

http://www.amazon.com/JBL-ES25CBK-Ce...5894572&sr=1-5

Will the center speaker get over-whelmed by the floor standing speakers?

As I won't be moving to a 5.1 setup anytime soon, would it be unadvisable / unusual to have the floor standing speakers and a center speaker?

Thanks again!!

I also noticed that the Audyssey option on my receiver is grayed out. Any clues?

bump again!

Is there a way to enable it back?

I have four modes available:

Mono
Stereo
Direct
Dolby Thx 3 dimensional

Which one of these should I use?

PS: Does the Onkyo 609 support 5.1 analogue inputs? If not then which receiver do you guys recommend that would be able to power-up my JBL ES80s nicely?

I was comparing the sound being processed by the 609 with the analog input from Xonar D2X. Although I am no audiophile, I could notice that the sound from the D2X was slightly crispier. But I definitely wouldn't want to sacrifice the ability to use 5.1 over a slight advantage in better sound quality.

Therefore I was contemplating on either selling the Xonar D2X or just changing the receiver altogether so that I could process the sound on my sound card and just input 5.1 analog into the receiver.

What would be your suggestion?

That's a good point. I was going through a series of posts on the Xonar D2X and inferred that the DACs used on the D2X were used in high-end receivers and that it was probably better to let the Xonar do the processing. In fact I was contemplating on buying the Onkyo 709 which supports a 5.1 analog input as it has a pre-out. But I'll take more advice before jumping onto it.

I wasn't aware that the receiver has deployed a better audio chip which should allow me to free up my sound card.

PS: I also ran the Audessey setup and it has improved things by a long way. The sound coming from the speakers so more refined and blends in well.

Would there be a significant benefit if I would add a center speaker to the mix? For example the JBL ES25:

http://www.amazon.com/JBL-ES25CBK-Ce...5894572&sr=1-5

Thanks for the responses guys.. I ordered the center speaker.. would wait for black Friday to get the sub woofer as the ES150 still in the 300$ territory..

I had a general query. How can you determine the manufacturing date of the speakers based on the serial number. For example the serial number on my JBL ES80 is: ME2476-022067

Sure.. will post this in the speaker section.