I decided to start a new thread now that I have installed my M60s,VP150, and QS8. (I'm saving for a sub). Here are my questions:

1) I could not find any "reasonably" priced 12 gauge speaker wire,so I used 14 for the surrounds. (although I recently found out you can buy it bulk at Home Depot) I ran about 40 feet of wire to each surround. I know they recommend 12, but what is the difference in 12 vs 14 for performance?

2) I mounted the surrounds both 6 feet high. The right side is about 1 foot in back of the listening area, the left, due to a badly placed window, is about 3 feet back. When I play music in 5 channel, I hear all the speakers perfectly and they sound great. I assume this is because all the speakers are fed the "same" signal, so all of them play. When I play a DVD, the surrounds "disappear". I understand that they get the sound effects, but to me the fronts overwhelm the surrounds. They are all set to the same Denon default of 0 dB. When I play a chapter of a DVD that I know has some great surround sounds, it's so-so.

From what I have written, does anybody see something that I am doing wrong? Am I being too picky?

Thanks, John

JSkip,

When you say you have the speakers set to the Denon default setting of "0", is that the reading on the receiver or on an SPL meter? Have you used the tone generator in the receiver and set all speakers to the same level from the listening position?

Also, do you have the distance settings for the rear surround speakers set correctly in your Denon receiver?

Also, you may want to check the settings in your DVD player...it may be set to PCM instead of Dolby which would downmix 5.1 to 2.0 (if memory serves me right)... That would effectively have everything coming out of the front speakers with nothing coming out of the back giving you that "overpowering feeling"...

On an additional note, the investment of a Radio Shack SPL meter and the AVIA Guide to Home Theater or Sound & Vision will help render a great improvement...

Just my .02,

WhatFurrer

John, there certainly should not be any audible differences between 12ga and 14ga wire. Unless you are running in excess of 100 watts for hours at a time, I wouldn't give the matter any more thought. At "normal" listening levels you just aren't going to get anywhere near the maximum current or voltage rating of the wire. (Diving in the foxhole now to avoid all of the fire from fans of high $$$ cables).

I think having all of your speaker outputs set to 0 just sounds odd to me. It would seem that unless you have a perfect room, at least 1 of them would calibrate a little off of 0. Did you run the calibration built into your receiver or did you use the SPL / Avia method?

Waiting for Fed Ex now!

John,
You only need to post your questions in one thread. They will be read and answered.

As for your gauge question, 14ga for a 35' run with 8ohm speakers should be fine. The lower gauge, the thicker the wire, the more important it is for longer runs especially with higher load speakers (e.g. 6ohm, 4 ohm).

JohnK has a link to a site with a table of recommendations for gauges and lengths by speaker impedance. It is a pretty good guide.

BINGO!!!

I forgot that there was a setup menu for the DVD player. It was set to PCM. I changed it to Dolby Digital and now it sounds GREAT!!!!! I was wondering why the Denon receiver read Pro Logic when a DVD was played. Now it says Dolby!!!

The speaker settings of 0 dB are the default settings according to the manual. I haven't touched any of the levels yet. I guess that is where the SPL meter comes into play.

Thanks a million for the assistance!

As soon as I finish some house chores, I will head to Radio Shack for the meter. I have the Avia disc already.

John

John, the 14ga wire is ample for all your needs. Since the excellent article by Mr. Russell, a highly-respected veteran audio professional, hasn't been cited for a while, here it is. As you note, using the standard applied(i.e. speaker wire resistance not more than 5% of nominal speaker impedance), 14ga would be suitable for a 60 foot run to 6 ohm QS8s(the table stops at 50 feet).

Little by little with everyone's help, I am getting there. I bought the Radio Shack sound meter yesterday, so when I get back from my business trip to Georgia (UGH!), I will continue the setup.

John

Hi John,

For the benefit of other visitors to the Axiom boards who might encounter the same problem, I'm pasting part of the content of the email answer I sent you:

"Make sure your Denon is actually in the Dolby Digital 5.1 mode (the front panel readout should show that automatically when you put on a DVD as soon as it receives the 5.1-channel bitstream from the DVD player). Make sure you go to the DVD's menu for "Setup" every time you play a DVD, and click on "Dolby Digital 5.1". If you don't do that, all you may get is stereo, which would also explain why you aren't aware of the surrounds.

Your Denon should automatically default to Dolby Digital 5.1 as long as you have a coaxial or optical digital connector from the DVD player to your Denon. Is it doing this when you play a DVD movie? If not, then you aren't getting 5.1 channel surround.

The QS8s with a good 5.1-channel Dolby Digital DVD should never be "so-so." They should not all be set to Denon's 0 dB default. Since your QS8s are at different distances from the listening arear they will have require different level settings which may be greater or less than the fronts.

The "delay" is normally correctly set when you dial in the distances of the surrounds from your listening area.

Get the Sound&Vision Home Theater Tune-Up DVD (about $18 at Amazon or other sources) as well as the Radio Shack analog Sound Level Meter at a Radio Shack store. Using those two tools, carefully go through the setup procedure and level adjustments.

Although the QS8S shouldn't draw attention to themselves as distinct sources of sound, you should nevertheless be enveloped with ambient effects or direct sounds (planes or helicopters approaching, bullets fired or richocheting, etc.).

The QS8s are spectacular (if the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is well done) when properly adjusted. (Lots of movies, by the way, have mediocre soundtracks or make little use of the surrounds, especially lower-budget movies.) But movies like "The Bourne Identity"; The Italian Job, Saving Pvt. Ryan; Pearl Harbor; The Recruit; etc. all make wonderful use of surround and ambient effects.)"

Regards,