[aztechnick21]

Hey guys, I got my HTiB about a month ago. I got the package like this:

Month in I am starting to be a beginner audiophile phobic. I'm no pro but seeking advice. Here are the specs:

Denon DHT-1513BA
**Total watts: 650 Watt 5.1
**Discrete Circuitry- five 75-watt channels is powered by its own discrete circuit. This allows the receiver to reproduce original sound.
**Supports Dolby, TrueHD and DTS-HD/MA.

Speaker system = Boston Acoustics MCS 160.

Satellite speaker Specs:
**Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
**Frequency Response: 120 Hz - 20 kHz
**Sensitivity: 88dB [2.8v at 1m]
**Crossover Frequency: 3,000Hz
**Recommended Amplifier Power Range: 10 – 100 watts

Subwoofer specs:

**Frequency Response: 50 Hz - 170 Hz / 170Hz 24dB/octave lowpass
**100 watts RMS, (250 watts Peak); BassTrac® circuitry eliminates distortion.
**8" subwoofer
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Alright, so now that you know the ^original specs here are my questions.

1. I want to update my speaker wire but not sure if its needed. I'm sure the speaker wire that came with my HTiB is 18-16 AWG because it is very skinny! And has a soldered aluminum at each tip. See below:

I was wondering if I should go buy some either 12 AWG or 14 AWG speaker wire? The speakers in my room are not far, kind of like a gamer room but not too small. I would say TV and speakers are about

 

[zieglj01]

Mercy, Mercy - the audio life.

Set all your speakers to 120 hz crossover in the receiver

16 awg speaker cable will be fine for your needs

Depending on Monoprice shipping cost - look at Monoprice and Amazon for sub cable

Monoprice sub cable
http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603

Belkin (from Amazon) sub cable here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...oofer+cable&rh=i:aps,k:belkin+subwoofer+cable

MediaBridge (from Amazon) subwoofer cable here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...s&field-keywords=media bridge subwoofer cable

Your satellites have a crossover between the woofer and tweeter - so the tweeter
will not burn up

Your sub has 100 watts average - but can do short term peaks to 250 watts, for the
dynamic punch/loundness

On -12 +12 db leave at O for now

Also for now - do not get too carried away with the volume knob on the subwoofer
for now adjust between 11 and 2 o'clock to start with.

Read the instruction manuals

 

[aztechnick21]

Thanks for the reply/ advice. So I should just save my money and stay with the speaker wire I have now (BTW i'm not sure if its 18 or 16). Has to be either of the two. I need to buy a wire stripper to be sure.

I'm confused you said to turn the sub nob all the way up. But then you said to turn it between 11 and 2? I left it at 3 o'clock hehe. Hope its OK to turn it up that high? Sounds good now that I put it there. Wow much more power. I just hope my sub doesn't heat up or burn for two hour movies. Even though it says on the box that it is distortion resistant. And has bass trac technology. Is this why maybe you said to turn it up?

So you agree getting a sub cable from belkin or mediabridge is a good investment. Yea, I had doubts on that aluminum cable it came with. But I wasn't sure. Should I get belkin which is 99.99%-purity copper. Or mediabridge which states is copper clad sub cable, does one matter?

Another question, if I were to raise the dB of my left and right speakers individually, does this steal power away from the amp? Can I adjust to to my needs without harm or will raising dB to certain channels degrade sound to the rest of the audio?

I literally use this half and half with movies and music. So this has lots of power. I have to lock my volume to 70 out of 100. And + more will cause almost hearing loss Lol. I can't imagine how the rest of you with $1,000- 20,000 HTS can handle such power. WoW.

 

[zieglj01]

I'm confused you said to turn the sub nob all the way up. But then you said to turn it between 11 and 2? I left it at 3 o'clock hehe. Hope its OK to turn it up that high? Sounds good now that I put it there. Wow much more power. I just hope my sub doesn't heat up or burn for two hour movies. Even though it says on the box that it is distortion resistant. And has bass trac technology. Is this why maybe you said to turn it up?

So you agree getting a sub cable from belkin or mediabridge is a good investment. Yea, I had doubts on that aluminum cable it came with. But I wasn't sure. Should I get belkin which is 99.99%-purity copper. Or mediabridge which states is copper clad sub cable, does one matter?

Another question, if I were to raise the dB of my left and right speakers individually, does this steal power away from the amp? Can I adjust to to my needs without harm or will raising dB to certain channels degrade sound to the rest of the audio?

I literally use this half and half with movies and music. So this has lots of power. I have to lock my volume to 70 out of 100. And + more will cause almost hearing loss Lol. I can't imagine how the rest of you with $1,000- 20,000 HTS can handle such power. WoW.

I was talking about the crossover knob on the sub - however your sub does not have one

For sub volume 3 o'clock is ok/fine - However, I would not go past that

Yes the Belkin or MediaBridge sub cable will be fine

You can raise some individual speakers volume higher - to adjust to your needs.
Just do it to where everything overall sounds good to you. It will subtract some
from the master volume - however, the receiver can still function fine.

 

[aztechnick21]

Ah OK that makes sense now. I just noticed that Lol. Mine indeed doesn't have a crossover nob. Only the volume nob for the entire sub I guess. That means the Denon takes care of that? I can control and set the crossover of the sub through the Denon setup menu but not on the actual sub. I set it at 150 hz. Should I set it at 250 hz or leave it at 150 in your opinion? Manual says to leave it at 150 hz. But, I turned it up to 250 hz and I did not notice anything different.

 

[zieglj01]

Ah OK that makes sense now. I just noticed that Lol. Mine indeed doesn't have a crossover nob. Only the volume nob for the entire sub I guess. That means the Denon takes care of that? I can control and set the crossover of the sub through the Denon setup menu but not on the actual sub. I set it at 150 hz. Should I set it at 250 hz or leave it at 150 in your opinion? Manual says to leave it at 150 hz. But, I turned it up to 250 hz and I did not notice anything different.

I would keep it at 150 hz - you should notice the sound to be more clear and clean with
the lower crossover - need to keep as much midrange out of the sub as possible. It can
still work at 120 hz - you may want to try that - I would not go above 150 hz.

Your call

 

[aztechnick21]

I would keep it at 150 hz - you should notice the sound to be more clear and clean with
the lower crossover - need to keep as much midrange out of the sub as possible. It can
still work at 120 hz - you may want to try that - I would not go above 150 hz.

Your call

OK so now I changed a few things. Let me know if I got your advice right. Or if I still need to change something:

L,R,C and sub crossover all set to 120 hz.
Sub nob turned around 1-3 o'clock.
Do not buy 12 or 14 AWG wire cable. (Keep what I have).
Buy a subwoofer cable from belkin or mediabridge.

I think those were the main concerns. I know I should keep the sub below 150 hz (maybe 120 hz is better.) But what causes it to produce a punchier bass? If its 80 hz or 100 hz it produces low frequencies how does it avoid sounding "muddy" ? Is this why we can change crossovers on the sub to 100 hz for punchier sounds or does setting the hertz higher on the sub not matter? I have my satellite speakers and sub all at 120 hz now. Does having all the cross numbers the same be better or what. I don't get that. I usually (being a noob) thought having the speakers and sub on different crossovers was better.

Also, I realize my satellite speakers range between 20 - 120 hz. And anything higher than 150 hz is midrange. So what happens if I set all my speakers at 200 or 250 hz? Will it be better? Or what is 40 hz made for ? I was also curious of that. Can I damage my speakers if I set them at 250 hz? or all at 40 hz? Mainly for movies and music respectively.

 

[zieglj01]

OK so now I changed a few things. Let me know if I got your advice right. Or if I still need to change something:

L,R,C and sub crossover all set to 120 hz.
Sub nob turned around 1-3 o'clock.
Do not buy 12 or 14 AWG wire cable. (Keep what I have).
Buy a subwoofer cable from belkin or mediabridge.


Also, I realize my satellite speakers range between 20 - 120 hz. And anything higher than 150 hz is midrange. So what happens if I set all my speakers at 200 or 250 hz? Will it be better? Or what is 40 hz made for ? I was also curious of that. Can I damage my speakers if I set them at 250 hz? or all at 40 hz? Mainly for movies and music respectively.

Your list up top looks fine

Note this > you have small speakers, they are not really made to handle low bass - they are
safe from 120 hz and up - if you play them lower and loud, you will have a good chance to do
some damage. Your sub picks up the low end below the 120 hz mark - also your subwoofer
falls off above 170 hz, so do not set the crossover above 170 hz.

Setting 120 or 150 hz is the best option for you - whichever sounds best in your room.

If you want a more punchy system - then you need to save and upgrade in the future.

 

[aztechnick21]

Thanks.

Being a noob, I was reading how people say 12-14 awg sounded better on there systems. Is this placebo effect or in what occasions do you need 12-14 awg speaker wire? (you saved me a couple bucks on speaker wire upgrade. Lol). And why is 18-16 awg good for mine? I read a table a couple days ago on thickness and feet but, I got confused by the American standard vs some other technical charts. I thought I ask here instead for clarification on that.

 

[zieglj01]

Thanks.

Being a noob, I was reading how people say 12-14 awg sounded better on there systems. Is this placebo effect or in what occasions do you need 12-14 awg speaker wire? (you saved me a couple bucks on speaker wire upgrade. Lol). And why is 18-16 awg good for mine? I read a table a couple days ago on thickness and feet but, I got confused by the American standard vs some other technical charts. I thought I ask here instead for clarification on that.

Because you are within 15 ft - plus your speakers are small

Wire transfers the signal - the speaker is what makes the sound

Wire chart
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

 

[muzz]

Z is correct, no need to upgrade the speaker cable at that wattage/length, and also regarding the crossover, do not go lower than 150 with that sub with those satellites- ,which should be at 120.

Sounds like Z is spot on here.