Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Surround Speaker Selection Settings - 5.1 Setup

I am on the verge of buying my first surround receiver, and I’ve decided on the Denon 3803. I know the 3805 is coming out very soon, but I think the 3803 will do just fine. I recently received my M60s, soon to be paired with a VP150 and one pair of QS8s. My existing sub will do for now. All this based on advice from Axiom Alan, the answer man. My question is regarding the initial setup for the receiver speaker selection. Due to the room configuration I will be going with a 5.1 setup, without much chance of doing 7.1 or bothering with 6.1. I’ve downloaded the 3803 users manual, and in the speaker setup section it shows a graphical representation of speaker placement showing Surround Speaker(s) A at the side of the listening position, Surround Speaker(s) B at the rear corners, and also the potential of a pair of Surround Back speakers. My speakers will definitely be behind me, but does it matter from a receiver processing standpoint what I select for a single pair of surrounds? That is, as long as I properly set distance, sound levels, delay, etc? Interpreted literally, my speakers would be the ‘B’ pair, but my simple, dopey question is, does it matter? The manual doesn’t come right out and say “For a five speaker setup, select this, or select that….” or whatever.

chopsterboy,

Welcome to the forum. When setting up 5.1 speakers on a 7.1-capable amp, make sure you connect your surrounds to the side-surround channels (in this case the A option) even if the speakers are going to be behind you. Your receiver will send surround material to those channels only if you tell it you only have 5.1.

Will do. Thanks for the reply. Now all I have to do is warm up the old credit card and get spendin'!

Welcome chopster. I just moved to a 3803 myself. Plug the QS8s into the A plugs and hang 'em where you want. They will play fine.

As an aside, get your self an S-video cable so that you can feed the On Screen Display for the 3803 to the TV. It won't work with DVI or component connections. Also, there are 5 optical inputs. For some reason , I could not assign my DVD to Optical 2. I have not figured it out yet, so I am using Opticals 1, 3 and 4 instead of 1, 2 and 3.

You will love the Axiom/3803 combination.

Ray3, a little off-topic but I might have to ping you for more 3803 setup info soon. I don't even have the receiver yet, but I already have a million questions. I've had Yamaha separates for almost 20 years and I'm just now thinking about surround sound. So I'm a little slow to change. I may even keep my Yamaha M-60 amp for my M60 fronts (hey, M-60 and M60, an eerie coincidence!) Most of my questions will come during hook-up, such as when/why/how optical/coax/component/S-video. My current setup is so basic and I know I'm going to need more cabling but I'm not sure what, since once again, I don't have the receiver yet. Right now I'm only using one set of component video cables (directly from DVD to TV) and high quality analog audio cables from DVD to pre-amp. The TV is a bitchin' new Sony 50" LCD with gobs of inputs but for digital cable TV and VHS (cheap, and rarely used) I just use the TV speakers. I only crank the front speakers for DVD movies (and music) so far.

OK, this gets interesting. I bought the Sony 50" last year (50XBR800). I've got it hooked to a satellite using a DVI for HD. My 2 DVD players are hooked straight to the TV via component. I never have used the TV speakers - don't even know if they work. I started out hooked up through a receiver. I am not using any video upconversion through the 3803. I'll give you whatever help I can, after all, I AM a 2 week veteran with the 3803.

If you are hooked up for audio with analog, was that the 5 cable piece to do DVD-A or are you just using the simple left & right composite cables? I would suggest that you look at either coax or optical connections for your audio stuff. Not much difference between the 2 and DO NOT spend alot of money on the cables (please- no flame war here).

I don't know much about wiring an amp into the mix, so I can't help you there.

I'd urge you to take a look at Blue Jeans Cable (online) for your interconnects. Excellent materials and quuality without breaking the bank. Make sure you get them long enough to allow you to work with your components. Oh yeah, speaker wire = 14ga at Home Depot. Measure what you need in tiotal and have them cut you one big honkin' piece from the bulk roll.

Sounds like we're on the same wavelength. I've bought two sets of audio cables and component video cables from Blue Jeans Cable on eBay. I'm not DVD-A capable at the moment so I'm running my analog cables to my old analog 2-channel preamp. When I get my 3803 receiver I guess I should run a digital input from the DVD. So you think coax and optical are somewhat equal? I would probably go with the coax because it has to be cheaper and more robust, yes? (6-ft, Blue Jeans Cable, $13.50) I'll also need a subwoofer cable because right now I have my sub high level inputs connected. I've already run some 14 ga. wire (Home Depot, thank you very much) for my rear speakers that I haven't ordered yet. Maybe early next week so I'll have 'em by the weekend.

Sounds great - let's keep in touch as you move forward.