Eskimo1

Indy - He's waiting to see and hear my Emotiva UMC-1 - He's no longer very keen on dropping thousands into his equipment anymore when that kind of performance can be had for a fraction of the price these days. (He's got some damn nice stuff, DefTech towers and subs, Carver amps, Rotel DVD, etc) I kinda won him over to the internet-direct side after he saw and heard the XPA-5 that's driving my mains, and heard how a $1k DIY sub setup compares against his, which cost multiples of that..

Did you update the firmware on the AVR? There were a ton of problems that were fixed by the latest firmware release. And it FIGURES that there was a KLF-C7 in Chapel Hill where I used to work, 3 months after I moved away... I had to drive almost 6 hours to get mine!

That tells me that you could likely reap some great benefits with an EQ and using REW... Sweet rack of Emo gear!

The answer to this has to lie partially in your sub. Having a set of RF-7's (possibly with an outboard amp too) and a single 12" sub with a 500 watt amp is going to leave you at a bit of a mis-match where your sub can't "keep up", and it will sound better with a lower x-over freq. Also, don't forget that the filter isn't a brick wall... it's just the beginning of a slope. Your speakers are still going to be playing lower than that, just not as loud..

Good point, and the answer is.... it depends! Some processors bypass all processing when a signal comes in over the analog inputs, some will only do tone controls, some will treat it the same as any other input... Depends on your processor... Best to check the manual... On your Sunfire TGIV (my neighbor has the same unit - it's a nice one, but he's upgrading in '09!), it bypasses all processing, so it's going to be 5.1. Best bet is probably to use the TOSlink optical or coax digital to the Sunfire and not get the lossless audio, as you'd be losing the bass managemen in addition to the surround processing.

Can you hear the difference between XM/Sirius (or a 128bit MP3) and a CD? One is lossy compression the other is lossless (which would be the same as uncompressed) Same difference.. (Just not quite as dramatic)

That's what I'm doing right now. I put up a little review of the H-K AVR's here: http://emotivalounge.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=ht&action=display&thread=2904 I'd say save your money and get the 254.

Right, but the question here is optical vs. HDMI []

There is no doubt about it. It's like comparing SACD vs a regular CD - Often, you might not notice a night and day differenc, but there's times when you'll say "HOLY CRAP" when you do hear the differences. Get the newer AVR, and update the firmware before you do anything (it wipes the unit clean) (also, make sure you go back and double-check the levels with a SPL meter after auto-setup - mine were off - both the 254 and the 354), and save up for a real outboard amplifier (Emotiva, Outlaw, etc) and you'll forget how to even spell Rotel. Not to mention, HDMI switching is very convenient!

HDMI is needed for multi-channel lossless audio, i.e. Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc. 5.1 or higher. (I guess technically 3.1 or higher, but who encodes things 3 channel on the source?) For 5.1 DD/DTS or 2-chanel lossless, optical is just fine, and because it's a digital signal, there is no quality improvement by going to HDMI. But with Monoprice HDMI cables being ~$5 for the shorter ones, why not? HDMI cables aren't indestructable, but they're not as fragile asTOSlink, either..

Disregard my mention of moving the speakers back from the screen then - Sheerweave is supposed to be THE stuff! Though, moving it back from the screen can't hurt in your quest. Did you use an SPL meter to match your levels initially? Might be worth a shot if you haven't..

Go from the sub out to the LFE in on the sub. Then go into your receiver, and tell it that you have a sub, set crossovers, etc.. (80hz is a good start) Then play a DVD with 5.1, and you should hear it.

I'm with Sfogg.. sounds like the CC is a little "hot" You mentioned they are only 3" from the screen - if you've got the room, a few more inches back can only help things, but the manufacturer would know what distance has tested best.. Only a few of the "weave" screens worked well with very close distances, IIRC.. Bang up job on the setup, by the way!

Looks great so far!

You'll notice a nice difference once you put some real power into your setup.. you're gonna love it!

Are you talking about my IB? That's funny. That freq. response is EQ'd to a "hard-knee house curve", and the curve is completely intentional. There is no "problem" with this type of system. Its location was measured and planned, and no box subwoofer can approach the sound quality of an IB. Oh, and it's plenty loud, too.

Phase 1 is to get it functional - phase 2 will be decorating.. This is basically what it looks like now, except the temporary box sub has been replaced, and there's now a 117" wide 2.37:1 screen on order to replace this 92" wide, 1.78:1 screen. The surrounds: The infinite baffle subs -18's baby! and the frequency response they give me... good down to 11hz.. The equipment rack: PS3, old DVD player, AVR354, Rane PE17 EQ, EP2500, Emotiva XPA5. Soon to be added is an Emotiva UPA-2 for the rear surrounds, and an Emotiva UMC-1 to run the show..

IIRC, the Panny BD55 and Sony S550 both have the 7.1 analog outs..

What makes you say that? Haven't heard from anyone here who have listened critically to both, it would be interesting to get your insight if you've actually done that.

No benefit.. it would be a step in the wrong way, actually. Use the amp for what it's made for.. all 5. You will NOT be lacking for power. []

HK AVR254 or the Yammy V663, are also 2 good AVR's that will handle everything over HDMI..

It MAY have a standard DTS track in it, but DTS-HD/MA does not mean the Blu-Ray will have a standard DTS track in it.. but it WILL have a standard DD track in it. The PS3 can decode and send (only via LPCM on HDMI, of course) ALL the current HD codecs since the firmware upgrade from several months ago, so your statement is incorrect. To the OP - you need to go into the movie's menu and do not select the True-HD or DTS-HD MA or any of the other audio formats.. jsut choose the standard english ones, and make sure your setup in the PS3 under Optical is set to pass the 5.1 dolby over TOSlink, as well as setting your toslink output to "bitstream" and not "PCM" That should get you the sound you're looking for.

Monoprice sells in-wall rated 14 ga for $54 on a 250' roll

I think the answer to your question lies on the sides of your head.. Which sound better to you?

By the way.. for cables - monoprice.com Generally speaking, the 28AWG is fine for ~15 ft or less, the 24AWG for up to 35ft or so, and the 22 for up to 50 ft...