greyday wrote:So wait, are you all saying that the sub-woofer is the .1? Seriously SOMEONE could be clear about it...

Technically the .1 is the LFE channel in the surround sound scheme. You don't even need a subwoofer to have 2.1/3.1/5.1/7.1 sound, the discrete .1 (LFE) channel could be sent to the main speakers in lieu of a subwoofer.
That should clear it all up for everyone.

drhockey14 wrote:Im gonna get both actually. ...so I can have enough for the sub too haha....

Great!
If you've never experienced the experience of the true sub, then you're in for a real...well....experience.
I just got done literally rockin' my couch (yes, literally!) with some Christmas pipe organ music. Time for bed, my ears hurt.

gds wrote:Technically the .1 is the LFE channel in the surround sound scheme. You don't even need a subwoofer to have 2.1/3.1/5.1/7.1 sound, the discrete .1 (LFE) channel could be sent to the main speakers in lieu of a subwoofer.
That should clear it all up for everyone.

I was kidding. But I love exact technical info (no sarcasm this time), so +1 here...

Yes, I figured you were kidding.
I was just trying to drag it out a bit longer to keep myself from going to bed (I'm on vacation and don't want to waste any time sleeping).

The one thing no one is mentioning is that human ears can't tell where bass comes from. with that in mind I recommend placing is so that it touches whatever you are going to be sitting on crank only that bass and throw in a good explosion filled movie.

PapaMidnight wrote:This is going to get complicated to explain.

...To give an example, in the typical 5.1 setup, the 5 refers to the 5 main speakers (Front-Left, Center, Front Right, Rear-Left, Rear-Right) while the .1 refers to the single subwoofer, usually positioned to the right of the Front-Right speaker.

Does 'to the right of the ...' refer to the listener's right, or to the speaker's right?

todaresq wrote:Great write up... glad to know we were not forgotten , since I saw no special Hanukkah shirt this year at shirt.woot

I have been enjoying my:
• Chanuka
• Chanukah
• Chanukkah
• Channukah
• Hanukah
• Hannukah
• Hanukkah
• Hanuka
• Hanukka

My favorite is 'Happy Chaka Khan'! -Dennis Wolfberg, comic, 1946-1994

Night number 4... yet still no gelt. I miss being a kid.

dogmantim wrote:5.1 means 5 satellite speakers and 1 subwoofer, just like a 2.1 system means 2 speakers and 1 subwoofer and 7.2 means 7 speakers and 2 subwoofers (yes, these exist!).

Yes, I bought a Yamaha Yamaha RX-V663 when they first came out. Having two subwoofers is awesome!

Can you get it in white?

Note that these are 6 ohm speakers. Most amplifiers specify 8 - 16 ohm speakers.

I have an apartment with a small living room. Anybody have any suggestions on how these might work with stands, wall mounts, etc?

yep

wait... does it have an iphone dock???

Very good writeup! Tremendously good writeup! Adam Sandler good writeup!! Wow.

I just installed the ONKYO 7.1 speaker system you are referring to yesterday. So far they sound really good and put out a lot of power. I listen to the volume at half of what I usually listened to with my old insignia speakers. I even paid less for the ONKYO and they included the two extra speakers for 7.1. The only down side is they are very large speakers and require some room. Also, these are 6 ohm and if you were looking at the other products I assume your receiver is set up for 8-16 ohms. Most receivers today are 8-16 ohms.

Stingray32 wrote:So here's kind of a Baby New Year question: does it make any difference at all if the speakers are the same brand as the receiver they're hooked up to?

A good receiver (mine's a Yamaha, as it happens) has a dongle you can connect to auto balance your speakers. As long as they're generally appropriate speakers and all connected the right way (positive to positive, negative to negative) you should get good sound. I've got many different brands, and they all work together to give me movie magic.

A set like this is usually much cheaper than buying them individually, and they're designed to be a home theater set, so you don't have to think about which ones should be front, side, or rear. It's very convenient. If you buy a receiver that supports 7.1 surround (yes kids, that's 8 speakers when you count the subwoofer) you can always buy some other brand of speakers later to add the extra side surround.

Are these wireless speakers?

hunt2alaska wrote:No! No, no, not 6!
7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.

"why"
"cuz you're f*ckin fired!"
Damn that's the best post ever.

I have a 1.5 setup (I listen to a lot of hip hop).

So what you all are saying, if I understand correctly, is that if I buy this and add 9 more subs I will have a 6.0 system??

antibozo wrote:6 ohms? That's a little weird, and won't match a lot of amplifiers.

Most midrange receivers should be able to handle 6ohm without too much strain. Onkyos often have a switch for 8 or 6 ohm. Low end receivers would be straining more with these speakers, no doubt.

gds wrote:Personally I would rather have 2 main speakers and a great true sub over a surround sound system that doesn't use a true sub.
But this decision should be made with other factors in mind. If you live in a house where neighbors wouldn't be bothered with the true subwoofer, then get the sub. If you live in an apartment where neighbors could be bothered with the shaking walls, then skip the sub and get the surround sound package.

Actually, a more accurate sub like the Hsu compared to the one in this woot! would be better for the neighbors. Cheap subs tend to be boomy, with too much bass in one frequency range, usually. And that causes people to turn them up too loud, trying to get better sound that the sub simply can't provide. A cleaner sub will give you better sound both in the lowest and higher bass frequencies so you can hear everything and you can actually turn it down a bit.

Of course, if you simply play too loud for apartment dwelling, an SVS or Hsu will completely destroy your neighbors. That may or may not be what you want. ;)



I really wasn't sure if some of these are sarcasm, so maybe this is unnecessary....

winafew wrote:Does 'to the right of the ...' refer to the listener's right, or to the speaker's right?

Pretty sure he meant listener's right. But it doesn't matter, GOOD sub location is not arbitrary. I think he was refering to pictures of speaker setup, possibly as sarcasm.

Cletuschukwu wrote:Are these wireless speakers?

No.

turkcarbuncle wrote:So what you all are saying, if I understand correctly, is that if I buy this and add 9 more subs I will have a 6.0 system??

Ok, that was good.

drhockey14 wrote:for people who know stuff about speakers:

how good are these speakers in comparison to the Pioneer SP-BS41 Speakers that were on here a month or so ago? And is this sub decent or how does it compare to a Polk Audio PS111 or PSW505?

These Yamaha speakers are probably so-so, especially compared to those Pioneer bookshelf speakers, which actually got some audiophiles excited. Historically, Japanese audio companies get the electronics right and but don't do so great on the speakers. The Pioneer bookshelf speakers don't disprove that, since Pioneer bought themselves a bona fide outside expert to design them.

On the other hand, a good receiver with DSP-based speaker and room compensation (e.g. Audyssey Multi-EQ or Pioneer's MCACC) can help a less expensive setup sound better, if you're in a transitional setup. The conventional wisdom is to spend more money on the speakers than the receiver, and really I agree with that.

If you have the money for a PSW sub and Paradigm Atoms, for example, you'd seriously notice the difference. But you'd also be much lighter in the wallet.

6 ohms? That's a little weird, and won't match a lot of amplifiers.

--------------------------------------

Please someone correct me. My recollection is from way back in the 8-track & Nakamichi "audiophile" cassette decks, i.e., ~1972.

Systems will generally take any ohm speakers. I "think" the standard pretty much is still 8 ohm. It seems like the difference in speaker ohms only makes a difference in db....er, loudness ability? I do remember 8, 6, 4 ohm. As I recall, some mfg. would "cheat" specs by using a different ohm?

Please, someone enlighten us both. Thanks.
--randypj

"There are...five...speakers..."
- Captain Picard

LOL, I liked the Captain Picard reference.

Do we need a receiver for this to connect to Samsung HDTV??

mohavemarv wrote:The "thanks" goes to:

bsmith1
quality posts: 49

You're welcome!
51 Quality Posts now! Yeah!

$185 at Mothership Amazon ...

Awesome write-up. Kudos.

randypj wrote:
Please someone correct me.
Systems will generally take any ohm speakers.As I recall, some mfg. would "cheat" specs by using a different ohm?
--randypj

This is correct. Most AVR's (receivers) should be able to handle most ohm'ages. Problems occur if you push the AVR too loud, then lower ohm speakers will make the AVR work too hard and burn-out.
Also, all speakers put out a huge range of ohm'age. You may already be using speakers rated at 8ohm's, but those speakers are constantly varying their ohm usage, from 4ohm up past 16ohm.

About subwoofer placement: a great method to find the right spot for placement is to put the subwoofer exactly in the listeners spot. Play a test cd or other musical cd with varying bass notes (80hz down to 30hz). With the sub in the listeners spot, you crawl around the floor and listen for the best, most even sound, this is where you place the subwoofer.

About subs and apartments: in my opinion, full range floor-standing speakers are best for not disturbing neighbors. Full range speakers that play well down to the 50/60hz region will give you good solid bass but usually not so much lower bass as to disturb neighbors, unless you turn the volume up too loud of course.
Any size separate sub will usually get down to the frequencies that will travel through walls no matter how quietly you play them.

A wires-across-the-room question...

I have a 50" TV along a wall and a nice receiver below it. In front of that I have a couple of sofas and a recliner, all of which make for a great home theater setup once I have good speakers (like these) in place. With this Yamaha set, I can easily fit the center, subwoofer, left front and right front without having wires snaked across the room. Is there any way to get the signal to the left and right rear that doesn't entail stringing wires across the room.? There's no wall near where those rear speakers would sit. I don't want to do some cord chase down from the ceiling. Any ideas? Or just bite the (trip hazard) bullet and string them across the room?

antibozo wrote:6 ohms? That's a little weird, and won't match a lot of amplifiers.

It doesn't matter. It just means the load on the amp is a bit more compared to 8 ohms, or less compared to 4 ohms. Amp ratings specify a certain load to be able to give a power rating. If you have an amp that gives multiple ratings for different speaker impedances, you will notice the rating for the lower impedance will be higher.

Just like for any system, if you notice distortion, turn it down a bit!

hunt2alaska wrote:No! No, no, not 6!
7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.

I've never heard this before. But, I did hear about a man while going to St. Ives, who met a man, who had seven wives, each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits, how many were going to st. ives.

Calobi wrote:OK, this is for all the smarties who know about the .1 nonsense. If 5.1 is 5 speakers and a sub, and 7.2 is 7 speakers and 2 subs, how would you denote having 10 subs?

With 10 subs, one could be misled into calling it a "fleet", but the absence of cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers would make this inaccurate.

Instead, I would turn to history and suggest that the appropriate term is "Wolfpack", descriptive of the German U-boat tactics of WWII.

Therefore, you would describe your system as 7.Wolfpack.

Q.E.D.

antibozo wrote:6 ohms? That's a little weird, and won't match a lot of amplifiers.

I think you'd have to have a fairly crappy receiver if it couldn't handle a 6 ohm load to satellite speakers. If they were large, full-range (and, technically, I suppose these are "full range," but I mean large speakers with 10 - 15" woofers that would demand a lot of power at low frequencies) such a load would probably overheat an amp rated for 8 ohms. But most HT folk recommend that when you have a set up like this, you set the speaker sizes to "small" and route all LF to the sub. The cut off for these would probably be around 100Hz, so the actual power going to the speakers would be a fraction of the amplifier's maximum output. The amp might run a little hotter than it would at the same volume setting on 8ohm speakers, but it probably wouldn't be risky.

My parents have a relatively cheap stereo receiver rated for 8 ohms and I put 4ohm speakers on it. It hasn't had a problem even when I turn it up a lot louder than they normally do so I can hear it upstairs. At normal levels it's not going to choke. Also, I ran the same 4ohm speakers on my receiver for years on channels rated for 6 ohms.

Granted, mine is a little higher quality than theirs, but the point remains that with a sub, speakers set to "small," few receivers are going to have much of a problem with a 6 ohm load.

Robearlbms wrote:I've never heard this before. But, I did hear about a man who met a man going to St. Ives, who had seven wives, each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits, how many were going to st. ives.

The answer is 1. Only one man was going to St. Ives. He simply met the other man on the way.
And you thought it was a permutation of 7 to the 4th power. You silly.

This may be a good time to ask a question that's been bothering me...
How would I use this with my HTPC?
A receiver is not what I'm looking for. My PC has a BR player and a tuner card. I don't use FM, AM, CDs, DVDs, Game consoles, cable TV, satellite TV, or any other audio or video sources. I don't want another remote control, even a universal one. My PC already has volume.
I have one video/audio source (My PC) hooked up to my TV.
I would think that there should exist a box which takes audio inputs from a PC sound card and has amplified 5.1 speaker outputs. No video, no source selection.

Since this would essentially be a receiver with most of the features taken out, it shouldn't cost too much either.

antibozo wrote:6 ohms? That's a little weird, and won't match a lot of amplifiers.

There's nothing at all unusual about 6 ohm speakers, and the vast majority amps will have no trouble driving them.

The Ohm is a unit of resistance. When you wire speakers to your amplifier you create an electrical circuit. Watts = volts * amperes. The voltage in your system is fixed and dependent on the amplifier. The ampere is a measure of current. Ohms measure resistance, so speakers with higher ohm ratings lower the current in the circuit, reducing the wattage. Speakers with lower ohm ratings resist less, meaning there's more current in the system and more overall wattage.

If you're in the realm of 4 to 8 ohms, you generally don't need to worry about it either way. If you go much lower than your amplifier's ohm rating, you could damage it with too much current. If you go much higher, there won't be enough power to get good volume from the speakers.

threesat2000 wrote:http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001AVRD62/ref=dp_olp_new/175-7448432-9030535?ie=UTF8&condition=new

$125 on amazon

Except that it's a different model.

I just received the Sherwood NetBoxx 7.1-Channel Internet A/V Streaming Receiver.
Specs: Power Output Stereo Mode: 6ohms,THD 0.5%, 1kHz | 2x 100 W

Would the "Yamaha 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System with Powered Subwoofer" be a good match?

In for one. Also ordered a Denon AVR-1312 receiver to go with it.

W00t!