I got my receiver and M60's last week, and the speakers more than live up to their reputation. I was standing on the furniture with a lighter screaming WHOOOOO! - OK.. I didn't have a lighter...

The receiver set up worked right out of the box - however, I have the following issue: Bear in mind that the TV is an older JVC - and is not HDTV - though it does have compnent inputs.

RXV >> Compnent Monitor outs >> TV

Cable box >> Svideo/Optical out >> RXV >> TV receives audio/video

Cable box >> Compnent/Optical out >> RXV >> TV receives audio - no video.

- I've changed the RXV Compnent "DTV" inputs(where the cable box output connects) to CBL/SAT - still no video.

The only thing that changes is the video I/O from the cable to the receiver. Is it possible that the TV cannot process the HDTV signal from component - but can "see" the svideo signal over the component connection?

It's also possible I've fat fingered something and didn't get the receiver settings quite right...

2nd question -
I haven't run auto set-up yet. I need to get the dogs, wife & 3 year old out of the house so that things stay quiet for the speaker EQ set up.

Has your experience been that the auto EQ will improve the "sound quality" for the room? Bear in mind - I'm stereo only for now...

Would you recommend that I re-run the YPAO in a couple months after the speaker break in a bit?

Thanks!

DW, although you didn't fully describe the TV and cable box, if you're indicating that the component output from the box is HDTV and that the TV is just standard definition, then the presence of component inputs on the TV doesn't necessarily mean that the HDTV will be displayed. The TV would either have to be HDTV or down-convert HDTV to a form that it could display. So, there's probably nothing wrong with either your connections or settings.

As to YPAO, let me suggest that there's a good chance that you can keep the dogs and three-year old quiet for the few minutes necessary; your wife may be another matter.
If I follow, you now have just the M60s without a sub, so no calibration other than the M60s would be involved. You should certainly also run the room equalization. From my experience about a year ago helping a colleague to set up his 2400, I'd suggest that you try the "low" equalization rather than "flat" to give a little more adjustment to the mid and upper bass range where it's more needed. If any break-in was necessary, it took about a couple of minutes rather than a couple of months, so don't worry about that.

Thanks for the feedback John...

I think I've resolved my component video issue - it looks as though the cable box config might need tweaking... a case of RTFM on my part.

Spent last evening setting the remote to run everything. Hope I can get a few minutes to run the YPAO tonight.

From what I've heard, you're better off doing a manual calibration.

The YPAO will give you a great starting point, but, yeah, it's far from perfect.

I have run it a couple of times, and always end up retreating to manual settings after being unsatisfied with the result. This is not to say that the YPAO doesn't set my system up so that everything is even and balanced, etc., I just like it a bits more when my surrounds are a little "livelier" (louder) and my center is a little livelier. Also, it tends to turn the sub way down on me.

The 2500, I should note, is very different from my 750, from a YPAO standpoint, as the 750 doesn't do any frequency re-eq'ing. From what I understand, this re-equalization can at times destroy the great "axiom" sound, thereby nullifying all that work that Ian and Allen and others have put into this. The equalization is best for cheaper or imbalanced systems - not a system specifically designed to have a particular response across the frequency band and match one another left to right, front to back.

The 750 doesn't do any re-equing, so it is mostly phase and volume adjustments, which might be why I find it very tolerable (and a reasonable alternative to an SPL meter...)

Here's Alans thoughts on YPAO

In reply to:

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I'm one who believes YPAO is not only overrated but insofar as the digital EQ feature is concerned, it has the ability to make neutral, linear speakers like Axoms sound bad. Digital EQ has become a marketing-driven feature and I regret that Denon is now promoting its digital EQ as a do-all sonic band-aid, which it is not.

Otherwise, Denons (and H/Ks) and Yamahas are generally excellent and you can always turn off the digital EQ feature, which I recommend. The Yamaha YPAO sometimes even indicates speakers are out of phase when they are correctly wired.

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Thanks for the info. I've begun to notice the engineering quality discussed in many other posts. For the very first time - I noticed a space between the cuts on Genesis 'Seconds Out'. There's a noticable break between the fade in's/out's.

It's truly amazing re-listening to stuff I've had for a few years.

Have'nt gotten the chance to really open the M60's up. I've only pushed them a bit past 0db!