Need help with a Home Theater System as a Newbie

I have the Yamaha system (actually the 395) and it works very well for our listening environment. The speakers will be upgraded this year but as an entry level system, it's pretty solid. Our room and seating arrangement is similar to yours. The Yamaha and Onkyo listed do not have wireless speakers but you already know that. Onkyo makes decent systems but there were a few reports of the 3500 having issues (getting overly hot I think).

If the receiver is like mine (RX-V371) then one, it won't get hot if you give it proper ventilation (and we use ours every time we watch tv) and two, you can select to run it at 8 ohms or 6 ohms. The speakers are rated at 6 ohms but will run just fine at 8 ohms. I prefer to run mine at 8 ohms. The basic rule of thumb is that the lower the ohms for the speakers, the "louder" they will be, and vice versa. However, running them at 6 ohms puts more of a demand on the speakers which affects their efficiency, especially on the smaller-sized speakers that come with the HTiBs. Running them at 8 ohms also puts less demand on the receiver (less heat produced). So, 6 ohms gives you 100W per channel and 8 ohms gives you 80W per channel, something like that. Setting your x-overs is really important for the speakers that come with it as well. Post back when you get it setup. Use Certified High Speed HDMI cables from someplace like Monoprice, MediaBridge, Blue Jeans, etc. You don't need to spend a fortune on the overpriced "M" brand. If you run your system at 8 ohms, 16AWG wire will be fine depending on the distances.

The HTR-3065 is the receiver designation for the YHT-397 HTiB system. My receiver is the HTR-3064 for the YHT-395 HTiB system but it's actually the RX-V371 standalone receiver, and I think yours is the RX-V375. Basically identical but you have the YPAO auto-cal system and an iPod port on the front (?).

I use the MediaBridge HDMI cables as well and have been very happy with them. Keep in mind that the 1.4 is the hardware designation, not the cable designation. High Speed is the only thing you need to concern yourself with.

I also bought the Atlantic speaker stands (4) and they've been very steady, even on a carpeted floor. I did place a small plastic container (kinda like a tupperware dish) underneath the sub to elevate it a bit off of the carpeted floor (about 2 or 3 inches) and that has worked very well. Originally I had the front R/L sitting to either side of the tv, which is on a media console, but the distance between them wasn't far enough so I bought the two extra stands. You want your front R/L to be at least 6' - 10' apart with the C channel directly in the middle. There was a noticeable difference in the audio quality, at least to me, in separating them by about 1.5' further apart on each side from where they originally were. We have the same speakers (I'm upgrading my fronts to probably MLT-2s later on this year) so I can send you my settings as far as x-overs go as a starter if you want. Because the speakers have small drivers, there really isn't much you can do but I can show you how to get as much as you possibly can out of them, and why.

Use this link to determine your speaker wire: http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm


I agree about Monster. And so do a lot of other people.

When you get your system setup and working, PM me and I'll show you how I have mine setup and why.

Subs generally turn off on their own after a period of inactivity. Yours doesn't do that?

Make sure you are using HDMI ports that support ARC. There's usually just one on a TV. You also need to enable HDMI-CEC on the TV and the AVR for ARC to work. CEC will have some sort of name such as Bravia Link, which is what Sony calls it. An optical cable from the TV to the receiver may be simpler than fooling with ARC. But, you can't do a second HDMI connection as you describe. TVs do not have HDMI outputs, just inputs.

I suggest getting a Harmony remote. You can do whatever you want on your system with a single press of a button. All the device remotes can go in a drawer. Harmonys are very family friendly.

+1 on the Harmony remote. But you better hurry because they are in the process of being sold.

Hopefully, the new owner will continue to support and develop the product. Logitech didn't create Harmony. Logitech bought Harmony and added it to the product line.

^^^^^ yeah I know. And I certainly hope you're correct about the new owner continuing with support, updates, and newer devices that aren't like the Harmony Touch.

I do not recommend using any of those DSPs such as SciFi, unless you like the way they sound. They use delays and echoes to simulate room conditions and speaker layouts.

5 channel stereo works as you suspect, feeding the stereo signal to all speakers. You end up with dialog that should phantom image to the center coming out of the surrounds. Not my cup of tea.

PLII and Neo:6 do an excellent job producing 5.1 from stereo sources. They do nothing when the source is already 5.1.
Edited by BIslander - 2/11/13 at 9:07am

Personally, I don't like to use any of the artificial enhancements like Movie mode or what ever. I just like clean, unaltered audio. But, it's a preferential thing so there's no right or wrong. Same with my blu-ray player. No artificial video or audio enhancements. Whatever the source is encoded in, is what I listen to. I've never used Dolby Pro Logic II or Neo 6 settings so someone else will have to speak to that.

I have my speakers set at 8 ohms which lowers the volume a bit but allows the speakers to handle the dynamic range better because not so much energy is being used to push the lower frequencies. Speakers are set to Small so as to enable the high pass filters to go to the speakers and the low pass filters to the sub (LFE channel). The sub is set to x-over at 120Hz because one, I don't know the true dynamic range of the speakers (measured frequency is dependent on how it was measured and that information is rarely given in the specs) and two, I don't know where the low pass filter kicks in so 120Hz is probably a good setting to capture the low frequencies so there won't be any frequency "gaps", which also gives the speakers a better dynamic range because they aren't "struggling" to produce the frequencies at the lower end of their stated range. The sub basically takes some of the workload off of the speakers by using a higher x-over. There's no real advantage to adjusting the GEQ because the improvement would be negligible given the equipment. Audio controls (treble/bass) can be adjusted to taste (within reason) without appreciably affecting the dynamic range.I also set a limit on the maximum allowable volume that the receiver can output to “protect” the speakers from damage and/or distortion. Usually about 10-15 dB less than it’s maximum setting. Of course with higher quality speakers the settings will change, especially the x-over, but for the small driver speakers that come with most HTiBs, I think the settings above give you about the best response you're going to get. However, it's ultimately up to what you hear and enjoy.

I don't use ARC or HDMI-CEC, too many issues. I just use a Harmony remote.

Yes. I just use Straight for all of my audio. No processing at all. Setting the max volume is more of a fail-safe than anything else because there is no way you can blow your speakers or damage your system if the volume accidentally hits max.

I would suggest getting something like a Harmony remote. That way you can program it to do what ever you want. For example, if you want to watch tv (cable), you just press Watch TV. The tv and receiver turns on, both go to the correct inputs, and you're good to go. You can use the Harmony to change volume, channels, etc. The same holds true for other devices like blu-ray players, etc.

ARC seems to have a lot of issues if you don't get it setup correctly. I don't use ARC so my experience in that area is very limited. Basically ARC is good for cable management (you don't need an optical cable) but is limited to 5.1 (no lossless audio).

I would suggest connecting the cable box to the tv directly using the Cable/OTA input (or whatever the tv has). Scan for cable stations using the built-in ATSC tuner. Connect an optical cable from the output of the tv to the optical input of the receiver. You may have to make some changes in the tv. Turn the tv speakers off and select the correct input on the receiver. This way, tv programming is routed thru the tv and any audio (5.1 if programmed) will be played thru the HTiB.

The blu-ray player should be connected to the receiver via HDMI (High Speed HDMI cables) and then connected to the tv via HDMI out on the receiver and HDMI in on the tv. Again, you'll have to select the correct inputs on the tv but all of that can be automated using a Harmony remote. This way, DVD/BD movies audio is played thru the HTiB and only the video is passed to the tv. Again, keeping the tv speakers off.

Use Certified High Speed HDMI cables and not the overpriced "M" brand. Monoprice, MediaBridge, Blue Jeans, all make good cables. Vizio tv huh? Sorry about that.

Your setup is a bit confusing. If you're going to connect the cable box to the tv you should be using the cable/ant input of the tv and using the internal ATSC tuner. Most tv's won't pass anything other than stereo using an externally connected HDMI device. ARC only works if you use the ARC-designated HDMI input of the tv and the ARC-designated output of the receiver. Usually only one HDMI input/output is ARC capable. If it were me, I'd just forget ARC, buy an optical cable, and be done with it.

If i understnd correctly, he has a set top box which does the tuning. This is not a direct cable feed or off air antenna. But, I don't understand why the change from the original plan to hook the cable box to the AVR. Hooking it up to the TV and using ARC to back feed the audio seems needlessly complicated. The only use for ARC (or an optical cable) would be the Smart TV apps.

Ahh yes, I see now. Connecting cable to the AVR would be easier and then using ARC or optical as you suggest would be appropriate.

A Harmony remote would work better than your current setup and without the delays you describe.

As for not getting 5.1, what player do you have and what are the player's audio output settings? It looks to be sending stereo.

The player certainly does process 5.1, provided it is set up correctly. What are audio settings on the player? The HDMI handshake with the TV might also be to blame.

Most receivers show what audio formats are arriving. That can be helpful in troubleshooting these kinds of issues.
Edited by BIslander - 2/16/13 at 9:34am

1Jeffcat,
Don't know if u got the "sub having to be powered off manually" worked out, but a good solution for me was to use a digital power center surge protector that shuts off all outlets when you turn off the primary power source (in my case the AVR). This also shuts down my TV so it is not even on in stand by, totally off. But the power center also has plugs that are not shut down like for my dual sat receiver and network switch which need to stay on all the time.

http://www.amazon.com/MonsterDigital-PowerCenter800G-HPM-MDP-800G/dp/B002RL9XR6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360162957&sr=1-2&keywords=Monster+800g

If u go this way AND use a harmony remote, you will have to call Logitech and have then program in a pause after the AVR turns on so that the TV will also come on in the one touch. If u don't, the TV will not have enough time to warm up before the remote tells it to turn on so the remote will not power on the TV. AND this pause CAN'T be user set - yep stupid but true - Logitch must do it for u from their end on your programming account. They do not give u this feature in the set up.