ONKYO HT-S9400 THX 7.1-Channel HTIB - Page 2

Originally Posted by jamburu 

hey all, I"m pretty new to this so would like some advice. I just bought the S9400THX as my first HTIB system and was wondering if I can plug the sewell banana plug deadbolts into both the receivers and the speakers?
I read that I need banana pins for speakers and plugs for receivers... but since I'm still pretty noob with this I'd like some advice.
Thanks!

Originally Posted by enthuzist 

Both the receiver and speakers take banana plugs. Congrats on your purchase. Don't forget to run the speaker setup using the supplied mic.

Originally Posted by bhavik23 

Hi guys,
I just got the Onkyo HT-S9400THX 7.1 Channel Home Theater-in-a-Box System as they had a good deal on Amazon during the year-end sale. This is my first home theater system so I am still a newbie in this field. I finished setting it up this weekend and I am using the 5.1 setup for now ( had 100 feet of 16 gauge wire and it wasn't enough for the back surround speakers so need to get more wire). I have it setup in a great room which is a decent sized room and the kitchen is behind the living area. It would be around 15 feet to 25 feet. The tv is against the 15 feet wall and the couch is setup exactly opposite the TV at about 12 feet or so. I did the Auddysey 2 EQ calibration and calculated the room acoustics using the microphone.
After doing that I see that the sound from the PS3 and my DirectTV HD DVR is not as loud as I would have liked. At volume level 50 it sounds about average. I can turn it as high as 75 and it doesn't sound too loud. I am not sure if I have the setup the speakers right. I connected my USB player and it sounded a lot louder ( I think) . So I am not sure if it is a HDMI connection setup issue that I need to do.
My current setup is - PS3 going in to GAME HDMI, DirectTV going in to the CBL/SAT HDMI and the HDMI OUT going to the TV. I also have an optical audio cable going from the TV to the TV/CD audio input ( I am not sure if I need this - I can probably take this out and try). I have an old Philps DVD player connected to the VCR/DVR component input. Should I try connecting the PS3 and DirectTV box to HDMI1 and HDMI2 instead of HDMI3 and HDMI4? ...Will that change anything?
I have all the speakers (5.1) connected with a RCA 16 gauge wire using Sewell deadlock banana plugs. For the subwoofer, I am using the supplied cable for now. Do I need to upgrade the subwoofer cable too?
I also noticed that my IPOD classic ( click wheel) color screen 80 GB did not get recognized when I plug it in the USB port. Does anyone use this older IPOD with the Onkyo 9400? I could not find it stated anywhere that it is not supported. I tried a USB harddrive and I can play the music from that just fine.
Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by jamburu 

Been thinking of getting these for my front right and left speakers http://www.amazon.com/Sanus-NF36B-Inch-Speaker-Stands/dp/B00092HW9G/ref=pd_cp_e_3
and then mounting the surrounds (front and rears) with these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WNAFSU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A1YX7EB80E4EIU
anyone have any other alternatives?

Originally Posted by BiggAW 

LOL I ran out of speaker wire too.
I have no issue with volume, although I am probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up when "blasting" a movie.
The optical cable is only necessary if you're using the TV's built-in tuner, or a source that's not passing through the AVR. Otherwise, the AVR strips the audio off the HDMI.
HDMI port numbers don't change anything... I think. I used Game for everything (switch through a DVDO EDGE) just in case it's like game mode on a TV, reducing lag, but I don't think that's the case.
I upgraded my subwoofer cable with a Monoprice one. I also ran all 12-gauge speaker wire, so I may be way in overkill land.
Haven't tried the whole iPod thing. You could just use an analog cable. I just feed audio in through HDMI or analog RCA (one of each), I don't use any USB stuff, as they all work differently.

Originally Posted by Jed1 

I also got this unit from Amazon and just got it set up over the weekend. I noticed the same thing you did that the volume seemed low. I am coming from the Onkyo 7100 HTIB and it sounded really good at volume levels below 50. If you read page 53 in the manual, this unit has THX volume and the reference level is 82, which is 0dB THX volume. After you run the full Auddysey 2 EQ setup, when you get to 82 on the volume scale, the display will show 82 reference and the THX light will flash. For me this is very loud and I think the entire neighborhood will hear it. I recomend that you do the 7.1 set up to get the full use out of this system. The sound from Blu ray movies is unbelievable. I am hearing back ground sounds in movies that I never really heard with the 7100 Onkyo. Also make sure that the volume level on the back of the sub is set to THX before you do the Auddysey set up.

Originally Posted by bhavik23 

Thanks for that info.
I haven'y gone above 80 yet and yes it does get really loud if I go above 75...so I think this is the normal operation.
I am going to finish the 7.1 setup soon and can't wait to hear what that sounds like. You have the back surround setup or the front high setup?
My room is long and is rectangular in shape.. The TV is on the shorter wall. and the couch is halfway across the room. I think the back surround will sound better and create a good sound field for my setup.
Thanks again for your input!

Originally Posted by bhavik23 

Hi Guys,
I have one more question -
My TV does not have ARC...it does have an optical audio cable. To get the TV speakers to work - I think I will have to connect my DIrectTV HD DVR and PS3 via HDMI to TV and then have the optical audio cable go to the receiver. This way I do not have to receiver always ON while watching TV. My wife watches some shows and she probably does not want surround for all her shows and would like the audio out just for the TV. Is the way I described, the only way to do it?
How will the audio quality compare against having HDMI inputs going to receiver and then receiver sends one HDMI out to the TV. I am assuming there will be a loss in audio quality with the optical cable option as here the receiver is getting the audio from the TV as compared to getting it from the source directly via HDMI ( my current setup).
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Originally Posted by Jed1 

This receiver has HDMI pass through. With this the audio/video of your direct tv box will pass through the receiver to the tv when the receiver is turned off. The instructions are on page 54-55 of the manual. This is how I have my onkyo set up. My tv does not have ARC either. If you send the audio to the tv and then use the optical out on the tv to the receiver you will only have two channel sound. You will have to send the video only to the tv then use the optical out on the direct tv box to the receiver but it is easier to use the HDMI pass through feature on the receiver. When this is active the HDMI light on the display will be lit along with an orange light right below the volume knob. This will be on when you have the receiver turned off.
The audio will be the same if it comes from the HDMI connection or the optical connection from the direct tv receiver to the onkyo. The only 5.1 audio that the tv can send is if you use the tuners built into the tv but you will have to have an antenna or cable to do that.

Originally Posted by bhavik23 

Hi Guys,

I have one more question -

My TV does not have ARC...it does have an optical audio cable. To get the TV speakers to work - I think I will have to connect my DIrectTV HD DVR and PS3 via HDMI to TV and then have the optical audio cable go to the receiver. This way I do not have to receiver always ON while watching TV. My wife watches some shows and she probably does not want surround for all her shows and would like the audio out just for the TV. Is the way I described, the only way to do it?

How will the audio quality compare against having HDMI inputs going to receiver and then receiver sends one HDMI out to the TV. I am assuming there will be a loss in audio quality with the optical cable option as here the receiver is getting the audio from the TV as compared to getting it from the source directly via HDMI ( my current setup).

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Most TVs should be able to pass 5.1. I used this during a Comcast storm outage (i.e. whenever there's a minor storm) to get 5.1 back to my parents' smaller Onkyo 5.1 setup (S3300 maybe???) from the TV's internal ATSC OTA tuner.

Originally Posted by Jed1 

I am set up with the back surrounds. You do not have to have the back speakers side by side as there is 3 settings in the audio menu for the back surround spacing. Under a foot, one to three feet, and over four feet. I am using over four feet as I have a terrible living room configuration. My living room is 20 feet wide and ten feet deep. One third of the one long wall is open to the dining room and the rest is an open staircase with a double landing on the end. This is my front position. The other long wall, which is my back position has one third of it open to my front room. The short wall to my left has a fireplace that is mostly in the dining room, a large cast iron radiator with a large window behind it. My other short to my right is the common wall with the neighbors and shares the double landing with the stairs. I got to have the toughest acoustics in surround sound history but the Audyssey overcomes it.
One thing I just remembered that there is a major firmware update for this receiver so make sure you download and install it becasue one of the patches is for the dB of the sub woofer. If you didn't do that yet then I recommend that you get that done first and then redo you Audyssey set up.
I bought some 14 guage speaker wire at Lowes, it is a RCA brand and comes in hundred foot rolls. They also have 16 and 18 guage rolls also.
If you need a good sub woofer cable I recommend Blue Jeans Cables. They are a long time forum sponsor and all my audio/video cables have come from them. I have been using them for at least five years now and never experienced one problem.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/index.htm
Here is some good reading on speaker wire:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#longerwires
Since you have HDMI out of the receiver to the tv you could make changes to the audio/video settings on the fly by pressing the Home button on the Onkyo remote. If you screw up the settings and want to start over you can reset the receiver back to its factory defaults by pressing and holding in the vcr/dvd button then press on hold the stand by button and it will say Clear on the display. Wait until you get the two back speaker set up as the THX will process the 5.1 audio on Blu ray out to 7.1. The sound comein out of the 4 surround sound speaker is crystal clear. There is sounds that I am hearing for the first time on many of my old Blu ray titles.
So far I have had the volume up to 60 and it was pretty loud but clear. With Bluray I am running it at about 55 as not to blow the neighbors out of their house.

Originally Posted by bhavik23 

What listening mode do you usually use for your Blu Ray movies? I am going to setup the 2 back speakers before this weekend and will try out some Blu Ray movies after that..

Originally Posted by Jed1 

This receiver has HDMI pass through. With this the audio/video of your direct tv box will pass through the receiver to the tv when the receiver is turned off. The instructions are on page 54-55 of the manual. This is how I have my onkyo set up. My tv does not have ARC either. If you send the audio to the tv and then use the optical out on the tv to the receiver you will only have two channel sound. You will have to send the video only to the tv then use the optical out on the direct tv box to the receiver but it is easier to use the HDMI pass through feature on the receiver. When this is active the HDMI light on the display will be lit along with an orange light right below the volume knob. This will be on when you have the receiver turned off.
The audio will be the same if it comes from the HDMI connection or the optical connection from the direct tv receiver to the onkyo. The only 5.1 audio that the tv can send is if you use the tuners built into the tv but you will have to have an antenna or cable to do that.

Originally Posted by flickhtguru 

I have an Onkyo 808 receiver I use PLIIx Movie coupled with THX Cinema for my listening mode for all TV and Movies. So I have 7.1 output all the time.