5.1 music not really blowing me away (so far)

This post is really a question about the speaker wire I've got running to my rears. For my front speakers, I'm using Monster wire that I bought several years ago - it's a lot thicker gauge than the regular 18 gauge wire i've got running to my rears. I've got four identical satellite speakers - Optimus LX-5's but when I've played 5.1-mixed surround music discs, I'm not hearing as much rear information or "total surround immersion" as I thought I might but then I've only got a couple of surround discs to judge from and one of them is only a 4-song sampler that came with my Sony player. The Roger Waters track sounds pretty good, though. To get to the point of my question, could it make any improvement (more presence) in my rear channel sound if I upgraded all the speaker wire to the same gauge or is it likely just a matter of not having enough surround titles to judge the system from? What's some good surround titles recommended for testing a surround system?

 

Beck - "Sea Change".

If you don't like that in surround, I doubt you'll like anything in surround.

(assuming you think the music itself is good)

 

A couple of thoughts:

Have you used a sound-level meter (about 40.00 at Radio Shack--get the analog kind) to balance front and rear? It's almost impossible to get a good balance by ear, IME.

The 18-gauge wire probably does constrict the bandwidth is the run is very long.

Try the SACD of Dark Side of the Moon for surround and tell us what you think.

 

Will do. I've been considering picking this one up anyway, so now I got an extra reason. Haven't used a spl meter but my receiver does have a test tone function, maybe I should try that. Another question: shouldn't all channels be turned up to the max? My Sherwood allows adjustment of the individual speakers up to level 15 so should they be maxed out? (Sorry for the simple questions but I'm just getting started with surround) Dolby Digital movies sound great, btw.

 

Gardo is right. You need an SPL Meter to properly set all the speaker levels. It made a HUGE difference in my system. The speaker cables will probably help, but don't expect as big a difference as the level adjustments. I'd add Peter Gabriel's "Up" to the list so far, for demo surround music.

 

Let me see if I can triangulate your situation a little better here....

The test tones on your receiver will balance your system for Dolby Digital/DTS playback when you feed the receiver a digital audio signal from your DVD player. This procedure will NOT balance the system for 5.1 hi-rez music playback, since you're feeding an analog signal to the receiver in this case (via the 5.1 analog inputs). For that, you'll have to rely on test tones from the SACD or DVD-A player itself, not from the receiver. Look in the setup menus for the SACD or DVD-A player and you should find these.

No, your channel levels should not be maxed out, IMO, or else you have no headroom left in the receiver's amplifier section. Start at a lower level and aim for an 85db sound pressure level using the Dolby Digital test tones on the receiver.

I'm probably leaving something out here ... I hope others will step in and share their greater wisdom.

 

Thanks, Gardo & Cliff. On a side note, I listened to some Beach Boys, the Sunflower/Surf's Up disc in Dolby Pro Logic II and it DID blow me away with those Wilson Brother harmonies all around me - WONDERFUL! The Dolby PLII is pretty awesome for regular 2-channel mixes.

 

Good luck Rich, and when you have 5.1 set up properly, it will "blow you away"

 

I believe that 5.1 set up properly is the way of the future - I'm gonna get me new speaker wire all the way around and get a couple more titles. Another question, if I may: what's "bass management" about?

 

Electronic routing of bass frequencies. If your mains (or other speakers for that matter) are small, and cannot produce bass under 80Hz, it's good to have bass management on (set them to small). But, it's not that easy Some SACD Players convert DSD to PCM for bass management, which is BAD. What model do you have?

 

Oops, double post.

 

Sony single-disc DVD/CD/SACD and it does have the feature you mentioned - in fact, I just went through the on-screen yesterday and saw that I had the front speakers set to "large" so I changed it to small and I think it did make a difference on playback. Wasn't sure about the center, I left it on the large setting because it sounds good just like it is. Not sure about the conversion of DSD to PCM you mentioned but I'm listening through the analog 5.1 outputs if that helps.

The receiver is a Sherwood 6108.

 

In my opinion, the situation with pure 5.1 hi-rez audio is all about bass management. Five large full range speakers is a must to enjoy surround sound audio the way it was meant to be listened to. Also, the player must be hooked up to the receiver via 6 dedicated (3 pairs) of rca style analog cables, this is a must. The receivers bass management is thus by-passed, you must use the menues in the player to adjust all bass management issues. For me, SACD surround sound just jam up to high heaven, there is nothing in this physical universe to compare. Dark Side is awesome, Gaucho is great Marvin Gaye jams, Blood on the Tracks is great. Try them all, 5.1 audio is king forever.

 

FRANK SINATRA - AT THE SANDS


FRANK ZAPPA - HALLOWEEN both dvd-a 5.1


both live/ surround.

Makes sense! (IMHO)

 

Rockman, masking your true feelings like this won't wash around here!

 

I think you're right regarding that last sentence - I've just not quite got the correct set-up yet. 3 pairs of RCA cables - can you elaborate on that?

 

An analog cable is needed for the following:

Left Main
Right Main
Center Channel
Subwoofer
Left Surround
Right Surround

Also, Rick, make sure your receiver has an "analog bypass" input. Otherwise it's converting analog back to digital, and then back to analog.

 

Thanks so much, Cliff. I'll check that, but I kind of doubt it does - I paid $130 for the receiver brand new from CC.

 

Rick, might I suggest waiting a little while and getting Grovers new speaker cable. If it compares favorably with his IC's you're in for a treat with your 5:1. Sorry, I don't have any further details on release date ect.

 

There are two pairs (front and rear - each having a left and right) but one would be hard pressed to see the relationship between the center channel and the subwoofer.

How about 2 pairs and 2 singles? 2 couples and a couple of swingers?

Regards,
Geoff

 

You're might be right Steve, but you never know where/what/when one will get upgrade fever, so I figured may as well bring it to his attention regarding Grover's cables. It's as good a place to start as any.

Dave - the optimist

 

Just a FYI: over at the Hometheaterforum.com, some members are in the process of writing a FAQ on universal players & it might help some people here even in its early stages.

HTF Universal/Hi-rez Player FAQ Draft Page

[T]

 

The Sherwood has the 5.1 analog inputs and an optical digital jack, and two coax inputs. Problem, is the Sony DVD player does not output digital signals from the SACD player, only DTS and Dolby Digital, so I have to use the 5.1 inputs on the receiver.

 

Looks like a great link, Taurus - much appreciated.