speaker hookup question

You can actually get a decent 7.1 receiver for about half that. Onkyo's TX-SR504 model goes for $170 refurbished. And is designed for your number of speakers.

I can't really comment on whether your idea will work or not, but it doesn't strike me as being sound.

Can you please post the model of your receiver and speakers? If you could google apicture of the receiver back or post a link to the manual, that would be even more helpful for us.

odds are, your new floor standing speakers are bi-wire/bi-amp capable. The don't have a built in subwoofer.

What kind are they? Do they currently have a metal piece bridging the two black speaker posts, and the two red speaker posts?

P.S. I wouldn't let the comcast guy touch your equipment if I were you. Maybe it's just my bad experience, but I've never had a job done right the first time. And, if you are getting HD TV from them, make sure they, 1) use a component, dvi, or HDMI cord, and 2) set the cable box to match the resolution of your TV.

I hate having to tell the guy I'm paying, reluctantly, for an install how to do his job.

This is a concept known as bi-wiring, and most people will agree, that it offers close to no benefit and is only there to sell more speaker wire.

Justt leave the metal bridge between the Speaker Posts, and run one set of wire.

no, you just need to bridge them with a small piece of wire.

For the rears, I think you might be trying to use your receiver for something it's not intended for, that is, a 7.1 system. By loading down the rear channel beyond what it's capable of, you can get bad sound and do some damage, though the later is unlikely. Please post the model number of your receiver.

okay, the RCA jack marked "SW Out" is your Sub Woofer output. Connect your subwooofer to that.

The reciever is a 6.1 receiver. I wouldn't try to hook two speakers up to a single back speaker output. What you're doing is changing the impedance of the load on that channel.

If you don't want a 6.1 setup, stick with 5.1, 95% of movies have a 5.1 soundtrack anyway. Frankly, unless you room is a really good size, youwon't apprecieate the 7.1 effect, in my experience.

Well........................

Is it 6.0 or is it 6.1? Your initial post, andross77, describes it as a 6.0 receiver and you say that it has nothing but the speaker outputs you describe. That would indicate that it's a 6.0 receiver and has no subwoofer output. Insignia did (or does) make a 6.0 receiver.


Yes, this would be most helpful. If you can't find an online pic of the back of the receiver, can you take and post a picture yourself?





No, I wouldn't recommend doing that, as that will half (actually meaning double) the impedance that the 6th channel amp sees, which will stress it more than necessary. What you CAN do is wire the speakers in series, which will double (actually meaning half) the impedance that the 6th channel amp sees, and this won't stress it at all.


No, you're not. First of all, you are using the term "bi-wire" incorrectly in this instance. Secondly, as I explained above, you cannot just simply wire both speakers in parallel to the same amp channel. You are asking for problems if you do that.





Depends. It's not clear to me whether you are describing actual separate connections for the speaker vs. the sub section, or you are decribing bi-wire/bi-amp connectors. What model speakers are they? Can you include a picture?

Again, it's not very clear exactly what wiring scheme your speakers have. Could you tell us what make and model the speakers are? If they DO have a metal bridge between the 2 black connectors and the 2 red connectors, then I would recommend that you leave the metal bridge in, and only connect one pair of black/red connectors to the receiver's speaker output. It doesn't matter which pair of red/black connectors you use, just make certain you leave the metal bridge in.

Regarding your 2 rear speaker, as I said above, you are using the term "bi-wire" incorrectly in this instance. What you are proposing doing is connecting both of those speakers "in parallel", which I would strongly suggest you not do. THis will put undo stress on the rear channel amplifier. What you can do, instead, is wire the 2 rear speakers in series to the single 6th amp channel. To do this, connect the (+) speaker connector from the rear channel of the receiver, to the (+) connector on one of the rear speakers. Now, connect the (-) speaker connector from the rear channel of the receiver to the (-) connector ON THE OTHER rear speaker. So, now, on one speaker the remaining connector is (-) and on the other speaker the remaining connector is (+). Connect these 2 remaining connectors to one another. In other words, you should now have a wire running from the (-) connector of one speaker to the (+) connector on the other speaker. The speakers will now be connected "in series".

Then I'd recommend using only one, single 6th rear speaker the way your receiver was intended to be used.

You are one hot mess. I think it's officialy time for this:

http://www.insignia-products.com/ski...917_Manual.pdf

That's the manual for your receiver. Read it.

As for your DVD sound, Use coax digital, 2 ports right below the optical. If you don't already have a cable, use the "yellow" cable in a red/white/yellow cable, or just get a coax digital cable from monoprice.com

Well, it's actually not clear that that IS his receiver. He said he Googled and he "thinks" that is the model number for his receiver, however, in his initial post he said his receiver was a 6.0 receiver (which Insignia DID make) and that except for the speaker outputs he described, there were no other connectors that he could see, which, to me, implies that his receiver doesn't have the multichannel inputs or the SW output that that 6.1 receiver has.

andross77, you should be able to find your receiver's model number on it SOMEWHERE! What is it?

Honestly, your best option is to use a single rear speaker the way your receiver was intended to be used.





If your HD-DVR is connected to the TV with an optical audio cable, how is this providing surround sound via the receiver?





You're not being clear, here. Do you mean if you switch to a DVD in the HD-DVR or in another DVD player? If it's another DVD player, how and to what is it's audio connected?





It would really help if we knew exactly what model Insignia receiver you have. So your HD-DVR only has one optical connection. Does it have a digital coaxial connection, too? This will be a single RCA output that will probably labelled "digital coax" or "coax" or "digital". It is probabaly ORANGE in color. How about your DVD player? It has one optical connection, but does it also have a digital coaxial connection?




eugovector is right, you're a mess.

You could really benefit from reading your equipments' manuals as well as the beginner's guides that are available here on this site. THIS thread is a great resource.

If you have anything other than a "yellow" connector on your display, i.e. S-video, component, or dvi/hdmi, use that instead. Huge improvements in PQ are to be had.

For a pic, just google your receiver, and select the chached version of the best buy link, that's how I found it.

As for Bi-wiring, it is a pratically worthless practice. Bi-amping (using seperate amplification to drive the low and high frequency drivers) offers marginal improvements, but to be honest, you aren't there yet. Start with the basics before you worry about bi-amping.

Okay, yes. Actualy, you probably don't need to connect that yellow cable at all, but it's not doing any harm.

Well.............

If you connect your DVD player's audio via an analog connection, as opposed to a digital (optical or coax) connection, then you're not really getting true Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 sound from your DVD player. And I thought that using all your speakers correctly (and even one extra one!) was the whole point of this "exercise". You need to connect your DVD player via a digital connection, if possible.

If you really can only connect one device digitally, I would connect the DVD player digitally and connect the cable box via an analog connection. Most cable broadcasts aren't going to be true 5.1 anyway, and instead will simply be stereo broadcasts which can only provide simulated surround sound by using Dolby Pro Logic II. So there is really no reason to connect the cable box digitally.





Now, what's unclear, andross77, is that you truely can't connect more than one device's audio to your receiver digitally. I asked you to give both the make and model # of your DVD player, as well as your receiver, so that I could try and verify this for you. I'm going to trust you and assume that the manual that eugovector posted is the manual for your EXACT receiver model. According to the picture of your receiver in the manual that eugovector linked to, your receiver IS capable of 3 digital connections; one optical connection and 2 coax connections. So, if either your DVD player or your cable box has a digital coax output in addition to it's optical output, then you indeed can connect both your DVD player and your cable box via a digital connection.






Even though I told you how to connect the 7th speaker in series, I also highly recommended that you only use one rear speaker, the way your receiver was intended to be used. I just informed you above that you aren't even getting true, discreet 5 channel surround sound (much less 6 channel) with your DVD player connected the way it is connected via an analog connection. I suspect that you don't use your cable box's digital audio connection properly, either. So why would you even care whether there's 7th speaker or not?





NO!

That's WAAAAY over your head.

Wait, how is this hooked up again? Generally red and white connectors and inputs are analog. Coaxial digital audio inputs are usually orange or sometimes black.

Where exactly are you plugging the red and white ANALOG cables into?

I keep my boxes in my own unfinished basement, and they are great for transporting if you move. If your parents decide they are in the way, then throw them out down the road.