Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater connections

Here is what I have.....
Epic 80-600 package 5.1 setup, Halo C1 controller, Halo A51 amplifier, Oppo DVD player, Mitsubishi 62 DLP 1080p
I will be using balanced cables for speakers from the controller to the amplifier, 12 guage speaker wires from amp to the speakers, HDMI cable from Oppo to TV, Opital cable from DVD to Controller, monster subwoofer cable from controller to the subwoofer....I will have to caliberate once all the connections are made.....is there any better way to connect the above setup.....
For now the system will be used for watching movies only.....but later i will add the satellite/cable
any thoughts/comments are appreciated

Sounds like you've got it handled well -- with the exception of the overpriced monster sub cable.

are you still in CA ?????????

Nope. I moved to Virginia a few weeks ago.

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Sounds like you've got it handled well -- with the exception of the overpriced monster sub cable.

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Peter, get out of my head. I was just going to reply with pretty much what you said word for word. That's just creepy.

great minds...

If you have problems, give me a call and as I mentioned, I can always make a trip over to offer any help I can. Again, congrats on the Halos, and if you decide the C1 is not right for you, I'll gladly make deal on trade for a C2 C2.

i got sucked into the "monster" gimmick before i joined this forum......just like i was sold to the "bose" idea.....hope its not a "four" letter word here.

thanks deniss for the offer......i will try to do as much on my own as possible....if i run into any trouble i will call you.....by the way my backs still hurting after moving the A51 from my garage to the media room.....and my son was able to lift the same monster few inches off the ground...i must be getting old!!!!!!

As Peter says, you seem to have things well in hand. Only thing I could possibly suggest would be to hook up the 5.1 analog outputs of the Oppo to your controller in order to take advantage of the Oppo's ability to play DVD-A discs.

It is possible, however, that you aren't interested high resolution audio, and the relatively expensive DVD-A discs that provide it. I'm so hooked on the damned things (DVD-A AND SACD discs) that I suffer mild disappointment every time I listen to a standard (redbook) CD.

Sell your Monster Cables on Ebay, and buy some Blue Jeans.

can i use the analog 5.1 connections without using the DVD audio disc....is there much difference in the audio quality between regular CDs and DVD audio ??

also wanted to know where did you buy your audio rack?? i just have a little end table as my audio rack......guess its time to upgrade the rack too !!

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can i use the analog 5.1 connections without using the DVD audio disc....is there much difference in the audio quality between regular CDs and DVD audio ??

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Yes, you can, but there is no good reason to do so.

Just my opinion, but I feel there is a LARGE difference in audio quality between standard CDs and Hi Rez discs (DVD-A and SACD, which stand for DVD-Audio, and Super Audio CDs, respectively). But, both formats are like standard CDs in that some discs are mixed and mastered better than others. A well mixed and mastered SACD or DVD-A, to me, is goosepimply amazing.

Have you ever noticed the difference between music on a CD and the way music in a movie soundtrack with Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 sounds? If so, that will give you a good idea of how much better a good DVD-A or SACD can sound.

is there any difference in quality of cables from bluejeans or axiom store ??

Both are high quality cables. The Axiom cables are a bit prettier, and hence cost a bit more. To some people good looking cables are important. I believe Axiom's own Alan has referred to it as "audio jewelry". I personally don't care what they look like. In fact, the idea is that I don't want to see them at all! That being the case, I buy my cables from Blue Jeans. High quality stuff at very reasonable prices.

Certainly no knock on Axiom's cables. From everything I've read, they are very high quality cables as well. It's just not worth the extra money for me.

RacksandStands.com has a huge selection and pretty good prices to boot.

The cabinet for the equipment was made out in the garage in my spare time. Which now becasue of some changes, I need to make a new one, so its in the design stage at the present.

the Lovan-Affiniti Pro5 looks nice......and strong...but its availalbe after 1/16/2006

somebody had recently posted links to step by step calibration using radio shack meter.....i tried but couldn't locate them......if somebody could repost them, it would be highly appreciated..thanks in advance

Here is the post with the links

thanks for the links........another question popped into my head last night.....if i have to watch TV from say Cable/Satellite source and want to watch it in surround sound i will need to connect the TV audio output to the Controller ........right ??? if yes, what kind of cables are best .......RCA vs Optical vs Coaxial.

RCA is not a type of cable it is a type of connector.

From Wikipedia.com: RCA Connector/Phono Plug



To take advantage of surround sound from cable/satellite, connect a cable from a digital output on your cable or satellite box (either a coaxial cable with RCA connectors, or an optical cable with toslink connectors), to a corresponding digital input on your controller.

Some prefer coaxial, some prefer optical. Personally, I don't feel it makes much difference. Optical cables are not subject to interference from other cables or devices. But, neither is a well constructed coaxial cable in normal use. Optical cables shouldn't be used if they must make tight bends and twists. Some say coaxial cables with RCA connectors have a more secure connection. I've NEVER had an optical cable fall out of it's connector. IMHO, Use the one that pleases you.

Here are some excellent cables at fantastic prices. At these prices, I'd get the top of the line cables. (3 ft. coaxial $4.64/3 ft. optical $4.50)

Digital coaxial cables from Monoprice.com

Digital optical cables from Monoprice.com (be sure to get cables with the toslink to toslink connectors, and not the mini to mini, or mini to toslink connectors.)

You probably will have to assign that particular input, using the controller's "input menu" to the device you select on your controller. i.e., when you want to listen to the sound from your cable box, you select "cable." or something similar like "Video 1," on the controller. You'll have to tell the controller which digital input you have your cable box connected to.

and more questions.......if i connect the oppo player to C1 controller with audio analog 5.1 cables do i still need to connect either a coaxial or optical cables for sound from DVD ?? or will the 5.1 take care of all sounds from Oppo regardless whether sound is coming from DVD movie or DVD-A/SACD ?

Do you NEED to? No. The information on the disc is digital. That digital information must be converted to analog information at some point because that's what your amplifier and speakers need. By using the 5.1 cables for everything, you are forcing the Oppo's Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) to do this conversion from digital to analog. If you connect a digital cable (either coaxial or optical), you are sending the digital signal to your controller, and IT'S DAC does the digital to analog conversion. Though I don't know for sure, I suspect the Parasound DACs are superior to the Oppo's DACs.

Also, on most receivers or controllers (preamplifiers) using the 5.1 analog inputs bypasses a lot of the signal processing normally performed by those units, such as speaker size and distance, and sub crossover (these are often lumped into the term "bass management."), relying instead on the player to do this processing.

The Oppo has limited bass management. You can set speaker size and some distance settings (Channel Delay) on the "Speaker Setup" page of the setup menu, but these settings are limited. If you intend to use the Oppo's 5.1 analog outputs for movies and/or to play DVD-As, you should set the "Downmix" to 5.1 CH and go through these settings.

My recommendation is to hookup a digital cable and use that for DVDs, which enables you to utilize all the processing available in your processor. I'd hookup and use the 5.1 analog outputs ONLY for DVD-As.

that what i meant....that means i need to have two audio outputs from oppo player.....optical/coaxial for movies and 5.1 for DVD-A ??? am i getting it right ?????

That's what I would do, yes. And remember, you have to select the multichannel inputs on you controller when listening to a DVD-A, and select the correct digital input when watching a movie.

Be sure to check your Parasound manual (I don't know which model you have) to see if you controller provides any bass management for the multichannel inputs. If not, and if the budget allows, I would recommend getting an Outlaw ICBM bass management system to use when using the Oppo's multichannel outputs for DVD-As (click the "About/Gallery" link for info about what exactly it does). They are $250 new, and $200 for B-stock (they currently have no B-stock ICBMs available ). It is a quite versatile crossover network and does a great job.

i am using Parasound Halo C1 controller and Halo A51 5 channel amplifier

Page 41 of your C1 manual has this to say about the multichannel inputs.

"...this is a straight pass-through of the analog signal from input to output, with no signal modifications
beyond the analog level controls (including volume adjustment and the center, surround, and
subwoofer-level trims on page 3 of the Master remote’s C1/C2 menu)."

This would indicate that there is no bass management provided by the C1 on the multichannel inputs. If you're going to listen to DVD-As, be sure to go through the speaker setup in the Oppo.

Really nice controller, by the way.

thanks for your kind comments.......does that mean i will have to purchase the outlaw product you linked earlier ?? I thought this C1 could do "everything" music wise !!!

No you don't "have to." Just be sure the Oppo's "Downmix" setting in the setup menu is set to "5.1 CH," and that you go through the speaker size and distance settings. Set the speakers to "small."

Holy COW! Those prices at monoprice.com are amazing. Almost makes me wish I bought my cables from them for the price. I wonder how they compare to bluejeanscable speaker cable.

ok..when the cables come i will try that and let you know the results.....so far i have done autocalibration and the sound is much improved.....pleased with the performance