[tulow]

Hello all,

last year i purchased a Onkyo HT-S3300 5.1 with speaker package.

i had a high voltage situation and that blew up the onkyo receiver,

my lcd sharp aquos 46",ps3,cable box...

the only thing left good out of this mess was the speakers.

the receiver was melted there was no way to repair it.i had it for 2 months.

so after i fixed the situation in my house,i bought another onkyo receiver TX SR308. when it arrived i noticed that the connection for the subwoofer, isnt wires like the S3300,it was a RCA.

so i bought a powered subwoofer Onkyo SKW204, made a world of difference regarding to sound of the subwoofer compared to the not powered one.i got hyped got the itch upgrade and started searching on the net, for a good center channel, i bought the Infinity PC351BK.

now i notice the infinity is taking all the action, i can barely hear the surround speakers.

was going to order some surround speakers, but decided to ask help instead since im buying out of what others say is good,instead of buying, whats right for my setup

please feel free to help me understand correctly what direction i should take

attached are some pix

thanks in advance

Marco Tulio

 

[aackthpt]

I'd first ask if all the speakers have large enough speaker cable, and if the channel delays and levels are set properly in the receiver. You shouldn't have the impression that any of the speakers is dominating any of the others if things are set up properly. That said, your center sure is larger than the other speakers, so if you want things to really sound good one would think that an upgrade of L/R/S would be nice. However, make sure things are set up properly and that you are still unhappy with the sound before opening that can of worms. If things are correct and you are still unhappy and you have the cash then by all means go ahead!


I'm anticipating you will have no problems getting speaker suggestions from all the gearheads running around here. I'm sorry but I don't really have any to offer - but figured I'd get the preliminaries out of the way and of course it's your thread, so you get to decide where to take it.

 

[Roger Dressler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tulow /forum/post/20776681


i bought the Infinity PC351BK.

now i notice the infinity is taking all the action, i can barely hear the surround speakers.

Marco, you never mentioned anything about if or how you went about calibrating the speaker levels. Did you do this? How?

 

[tulow]

@aackthpt i notice i hear more from the front than from the surround speakers

i definitely will change the L/R/S, i just do not want to buy something too much for my receiver,but something i can squeeze the juice out of it.

this is where i need orientation regarding changing the L/R/S.


@roger, no roger i have not calibrated the unit, everything i have done and learned from home theater has been online. ive never had a friend or colleague

who has knowledge over these things.

it was just easier for me to set it up and if i could here the speakers, no problem.

can you please help me figure out how i must calibrate?

i can say this the s3300 receiver used to have audyssey room calibration,

the txsr308 does not bring audyssey, how can i make a correct calibration?

thank you both for your posts.

 

[tulow]

aackthpt forgive my ignorance, i have not set the channel delays, this is where i need help from experienced users, how can i go about this, i know i can find it in the setup menu, i just do not know how to correctly adjust. this is what i want to learn in order to understand what to do.

 

[Roger Dressler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tulow /forum/post/20778013


@roger, no roger i have not calibrated the unit,


can you please help me figure out how i must calibrate?

This one uses a basic manual adjustment process. See page 31 of the manual, under Level Cal. Ideally you will use an SPL meter. We used to buy them from Radio Shack. Now "there's an app for that" for your iPhone that is much cheaper. Either choice with make the results a lot more certain. Highly recommended.


But even without the meter, you can just start by running the test noise thru each speaker, and see if you notice a loudness difference among the speakers. If the center sounds louder than L/R, you can turn down the center adjustment. Try to get them all to have the same loudness.

 

[tulow]

thank you for your quick response roger.

i will do this and report back tonight when i get back home.

Marco Tulio

 

[tulow]

thank you roger for the insight.

i was able to adjust accordingly and am very happy with the results!

thank you for your help

 

[aackthpt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tulow /forum/post/20780738


thank you roger for the insight.

i was able to adjust accordingly and am very happy with the results!

thank you for your help

Delay should be part of the same process, you typically can put in a distance from each speaker.


That is what half my post was trying to say was to set the levels correctly in the receiver and you probably will not want new speakers! (or at least not as soon

)


I'm glad you got it correct, happy watching!

 

[tulow]

i want to change the surround speakers to Infinity P153BK ,

the only part of the setup that would look "stock" would be the L/R speakers.

i live in the dominican republic, and importing from the states is a pain with customs because they think everything is worth 1 million dollars, regarding importing the Infinity P363BK, the easiest way is me making a trip and bringing them with me.

but what a difference regarding sound after i made the changes suggested.

i dont want to leave my TV room.

please if you have other inputs for me i am all ears.

 

[schan1269]

To be perfectly honest. The 3300 sucked. The receiver sucked, the speakers suck.


Since you already bought the Infinity you bought, stick with them. However you need to do it, 2 more(or 4 more) of them is your best choice.


You will notice a monumental difference.


Caveat, the 3300(now the 3400) is not "absolutely terrible". They sound better than the TV, but that is a very low bar to clear.

 

[aackthpt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tulow /forum/post/20788950


please if you have other inputs for me i am all ears.

Switch our the L/R/S speakers for non-HTiB models, then consider acoustically treating your room. Even basic acoustical treatment can have an exceptionally high price to performance ratio.

 

[tulow]

Hello once again all,

Like i said before, i ordered the infinity

P153 speakers as surround.

The sound is awesome, a world of difference

I even had to lower the db on the subwoofer and

Its sounds great with with the rumble on the chest.

But i think, need your opinion, that these speakers are huuuuuuuge

For surround, what do you think?

Everytime im in the sofa and look at the speakers, its like im in a motorcycle

And a semitruck stands next to me, i feel like the speakers are the tires huuuuuge.

Opinions,i think i will dismount and put the original ones for surround,advice appreciated.

Or switch them for LR instead of SL and SR?

Regards,

Marco Tulio

 

[aackthpt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tulow /forum/post/20819627


But i think, need your opinion, that these speakers are huuuuuuuge

For surround, what do you think?


Or switch them for LR instead of SL and SR?

Those speakers look typical size for surrounds to me. I use bookshelf speakers with 6" LF driver and low frequency extension almost exactly the same as those for all 7 channels in my theatre. Just make sure you set them to "small" in the receiver. Other than that, it's mostly an aesthetic decision for you.


That said, you should probably switch them into LR if your system will remain how it is for several years. But it looks to me like you have gotten the upgrade bug and will switch the LR soon anyway.

There might be some advantages to having huge LRs, but there are some advantages to using smaller speakers at all positions as well. Bookshelf speakers in all positions works very well for me.

 

[schan1269]

Surrounds can be as big as you wish. I use rear tower speakers in my three HT's.


Watch Saving Private Ryan and Curious Case of Benjamin Button before you take them down...as a way to gauge how much you are missing going back to the originals.


Like in cars...as in speakers...


There is no replacement for displacement. Bigger motors(woofers) win.

 

[tulow]

Thank you for the input,

I have nver seen surrounds this big,

But i like the overall sound it brings

Once adjusted accordingly

I just thought it looked silly and wanted opinion

 

[schan1269]

Check out this picture...if you think your rear speakers are "big"...

http://www.magnepan.com/review_MMGWa...y_Vince_Hanada (and oh yeah, these are the SMALLEST Magnepan)

 

[tulow]

Thats big