nashbridges

Hey Nightcabbage, me again. Not sure if you're still around, but I went ahead a bought a desktop so I thought maybe you'd like to know some new things: 1) the USB creative card on my laptop would not do Dolby Live enconding, so if a game didn't offer it I couldn't get surround sound. 2) My new setup with that amp and speakers has a Creative Fatal1ty professional sound card, and it does DDL encoding, so it upsamples even stereo signals to pipe it out through all of the speakers. 3) Games with EAX or traditional 5.1 analog surround sound are now piped properly to each speaker via the DDL or DTS encoding done by the sound card. I am happy to report that a year later, the speakers are still working wonderfully with the cheap Sony amp/receiver and the BASH subwoofer amp. I don't plan on ever replacing these as long as they keep working. The only weak part in the 5.1 ultras was the amp, and I've figured out a way to replace that. Good times all around. Hope you are doing well!

Keep posting about Elliot. He's not very good about communication, but I think that's because he often has to wait for parts to show up on eBay to repair the amps. However, not responding at all is unlike him. Try sending him an email with a completely different subject heading in case there's a spam filter intercepting the message. I'm not sure how he's working now, but when I dealt with him I had a phone number to call.

$50 bucks. The entire thing works because of the amp and control pod, and the amp has an alarmingly bad failure rate. The speakers are great, but unless you do what I did and get a new amp and receiver to power them, they become useless pretty fast.

Did you get this fixed? I finally gave up on using my controller and the onboard amp for my Promedia 5.1s and I now have a broken amp and a working control pod that I was going to throw out. If you need a new (used) controller, just reply to this post and it will send it to my email. I'll send it out after we establish some communication.

Can speakers have ohm "ranges" (like some receivers) or are they a specific ohm number? That article I linked to explains that speaker resistance varies with the frequency, so the number they give is usually the average over the normal range of frequencies. That's why you can get away with using lower rated speakers on an 8ohm receiver. Everything I read before I bought the receiver indicated that the problem with using speakers with a low ohm rating (low resistance) is that your amp in the receiver might have to work too hard at higher volumes, which can lead to burnout of the amp. I just cranked up the new sub to see how loud I could get it but I quit around 60% just because it was too loud. I think if I maxed it out I might blow the speakers in the sub, but I'm not sure the maximum amount of power the original amp sent to the sub. If it reserved 60 watts each for the sats, then that would leave 200 watts left over for the sub. Really, the biggest trick in all of this has been fine tuning the receiver. Klipsch did a great job with the original amp (design flaws notwithstanding) because the system always sounded great with minimal fuss. It's been a lot of work to get it sounding like it used to, and I 've found that I usually like to bump up the volume knob on the new plate amp when I'm playing computer games just for more "thump-thump". For regular TV watching, I like to keep it scaled back a little bit. And on the crossover - I had my receiver set at 140 Hz until I found that link, then I bumped it back down to 120 Hz. It did sound better, at least as far as TV was concerned. Voices sounded more natural.

Well, I just sold my SVS cylinder. So, I was bored and hooked up my old Promedia sub to a Yamaha receiver. I ran the sub out from my receiver to the analog 5.1 input of another and then speaker out directly to the positive/negative sub wire connectors. They run through the port slot with the original bash plate amp still in place. It sounds awesome. I already tried the Bash 300S and it was just ok for me. The extra receiver cost me only $60. If I had another receiver to do the work for the sub, I would have tried it. The Sony I bought isn't very powerful, so I needed SOMETHING to power the sub - my receiver wasn't going to cut it. I'm curious what you found lacking about the BASH 300S? It's not the world's best amp and I'm hardly an expert, but I can't say I've been disappointed with it so far. It took a bit of tweaking to get it to sound like I wanted, but they certainly give you enough control over everything to tweak it to your heart's content. If I recall correctly, someone else in the forum used an extra receiver to power their sub like you did and they were happy with the results. It's definitely another avenue to try and it's probably a lot simpler in the end than replacing the amp in the sub.

#1) CROSSOVER: If Klipsch is to be believed, then this should give you your answer: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-ultra-5-1-specifications/ Looks like low frequency was set at 120 Hz, I think.

Me again. They are 6-8 Ohms for the satellites, at least from this site: http://www.pcabusers.com/klipsch/klipsch.html. The back of the original Ultra amp was stamped with "4 Ohms minimum" on the satellite jack section. Most home receivers are rated for 8 ohms, but you can get by with 6 ohm speakers if you don't push it. Here's a decent article on it: http://www.hometoys.com/htinews/feb04/articles/polk/impedence.htm I was worried about it before I bought the amp and receiver, but the general advice of not running everything at full power seems to be pretty good advice. The side effect of running lower ohm speakers against a too powerful amp is overheating of the amp (sound familiar?), so make sure your receiver has some room to breathe. I thought my cheap *** Sony receiver would overheat at loud volumes because the Klipsch satellites were closer to the 6 ohm end of the range but its been fine, even at loud volumes. If you are going to run your system at 100% all the time, then there probably isn't a home receiver out there that will work well with the Ultra 5.1 satellites. Still, I'm chilling listening to iTunes from the last test I posted in the other thread, and the speakers are working fine. My Sony receiver specifies "nominal 8ohm impedance" for satellite speakers. The Klipsch satellites fall into that range.

I'm back, and I did some testing: 1) I see here it looks like you have connected your computer to the amp with optical. I've read that the SPDIF output port on X-Fi's (and all creative cards) just send the signal out without any processing. Your mileage may vary, but here's my setup on the PC end: Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop Creative XFi USB (Model SB1090) with the three analog out and SPDIF out - using SPDIF out 12' optical cable to the receiver Windows 7 Ultimate Playback Device set to SDIF out, XFI surround 5.1 Device There is definitely some processing done by the XFi before the signal is handed off to the receiver via SPDIF, but I'll be honest it's an absolute pain to figure out what is doing what (receiver vs. XFi). Under the advanced settings for playback options, I had a tab for "Soundblaster" and then a button for "Settings". Clicking on Settings took me to a Creative control panel. To test, I fired up iTunes and started clicking on effects. Results: Enabling EAX effects on music makes the whole room sound like it's on reverb. I don't like it, but it's definitely being provided by the card. Changing modes and the amount of the effect produce extremely noticeable changes in sound. Enabling CMSS-3D doesn't seem to do as much. This is probably because the Sony receiver is actually handling the upsample from stereo to surround. iTunes only provides a stereo signal. There is no bass management tab if you are using the SPDIF settings. I mean, it just isn't there in the windows style control panel, although it is there in the Creative Console Launcher. As far as I can tell, changing the settings for crossover frequency doesn't change anything as far as sound is concerned, nor does changing any of the other settings. I'm assuming that they are there for the three outputs you are using for surround, but not optical. The Creative equalizer seems to work pretty well, but I'm pretty sure it is working "in addition to" the levels I set on the receiver. X-Fi Crystalizer, like the other effects, works. So that's my testing with iTunes so far. I'm certain that you were mostly correct: the signal is handed off without any processing except for some Creative effects, which do respond to control on the computer alarmingly well. I should also note that if the Sony receiver was set to auto-detect the input signal, I could not, for the life of me, trick it into thinking the SPDIF input was 5.1 using iTunes as the sound provider. I could not get 5.1 output without having the receiver do the work. My apologies for not having more answers off the bat, but my original goal when I got the speakers working again was to have a decent system for the TV and the computer in my office. The TV/xBox portion is relatively easy compared to the PC audio. I'm also completely new to all of this - this is the first time I've tried to shoehorn a new amp into an existing speaker system and make it all work with a PC/TV/xBox and an arguably cheap, limited receiver. That it's working at all is almost a miracle by my standards. Next up for testing: I am going to try a few games, but to answer your questions I'm going to have to find one that I know uses EAX. Obviously, DVDs sound good on the system, and I know I've played quite a few games with surround working, but I'll try to be more specific. If you have any games in particular or any tests you'd like me to run, please feel free to post them here so other people can see the results. I follow instructions pretty well []

Hey nightcabbage, I'll have to check tonight to answer some of your questions. My receiver doesn't have RCA inputs for surround, so I probably can't answer all those. As to the overall sound quality - I have noticed that because of how the receiver decodes sound the center channel sounds "weak" while I'm watching TV. I've played with the levels quite a bit, but I may have to shell out for something more substantial to handle that center channel. To answer one question from your other thread, yes, I'm pretty sure you lose the 25Hz low end. I'm not an audiophile so I can't tell the difference, but you might be able to. I'll test out my Xfi card tonight and let you know how the SPDIF output is handled. You may be right on the money that it just hands off all the channels and let's the receiver deal with it.

Really, it could be anything, but it sounds like your amp might be going bad. If you open it up look for two white chips with the word BASH printed on the side. Being VERY careful, try pushing or wiggling them gently with your fingertip. Sometimes that brings the sub back. Some people do it with a powered amp to tell if they've helped, but I wouldn't recommend it.

It isn't just a regular 3 prong PC cord?

Final post, I promise. Here's the cost breakdown: $150 for the receiver (you can probably find it cheaper now) $150 for the plate amp, although if you go here: http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=505 There are some cheaper ones. Of course, you can find all this stuff used on eBay for cheaper. This worked out for me because I didn't have a receiver for my office TV, and I wanted to use the 5.1 Ultra's as the surround system for the TV as well. Now I can switch back and forth between the computer for games and the TV for movies, and the speakers sound great!

Oh, and I'm sure you could use a regular receiver without adding an amp to your subwoofer unless, like me, you wanted your subwoofer back. I'm also sure you can get just an amp, but it's probably going to be cheaper for you to get a receiver unless you happen upon a used amp somewhere.

Hey Nightcabbage, this is a repeat post of what I did from another thread, but it sounds like I did what you would like to do: I bought a the Sony STR-DH500 because it was a cheap 5.1 receiver. It replaced the the control unit of the Klipsch satellite speakers. Here's a picture of the back of it: ; The satellite speakers are hooked up to the appropriate jacks. The subwoofer out hooks up to the new plate amp I bought, which is also BASH powered. Here's a picture of the new BASH amp in the subwoofer box before I got the wood blank installed to cover the blank space. I had to use a Dremel to trim out 1/2 inch on either side of the existing recess in the wood so the new amp would fit: The line level inputs were great, but the LFE input coupled to the single subwoofer RCA output on the receiver gave me the best sound for TV and the computer. Since the receiver was doing the work, here's what worked for me: Sony receiver satellite settings: All speakers set to small Crossover frequency set on the receiver: 130 Frequency cutoff on the sub amp: Highest possible - the receiver handles the cutoff Phase: 0 degrees. My subwoofer is close to the rest of the speakers, but position is everything. You might be better off switching it to 180 if the sub is placed far away or on a wall. I wired the sub speakers with the same wiring Klipsch did. It's a dual fire sub, so they have a positive on one sub speaker, a negative on another, and a crossover cable running from the negative on one speaker to the posive on the other. You still only have two wires, Red and Black, that will accept input. The new amp had two wires, Red and Black, and I connected them to the red and black wires in the sub. Very easy. The new amp will blow out the speakers if the volume gets too loud, but since I have the receiver handling it I'm not terribly worried. I have the volume on the plate amp set to 80%. I get more trouble from the amp when the cables aren't plugged in, and I had a bit of worry when the volume was set all the way up and I touched the RCA cable. It shook the floor with a ground leak. I can send more description if you would like. This is what is working for me.

OK, those images were cropped. Here's some smaller ones:

I bought a the Sony STR-DH500 because it was a cheap 5.1 receiver. It replaced the the control unit of the Klipsch satellite speakers. Here's a picture of the back of it: The satellite speakers are hooked up to the appropritate jacks. The subwoofer out hooks up to the new plate amp I bought, which is also BASH powered. Here's a picture of the new BASH amp in the subwoofer box before I got the wood blank installed to cover the blank space. I had to use a Dremel to trim out 1/2 inch on either side of the existing recess in the wood so the new amp would fit: The line level inputs were great, but the LFE input coupled to the single subwoofer RCA output on the receiver gave me the best sound for TV and the computer. Since the receiver was doing the work, here's what worked for me: Sony receiver satellite settings: All speakers set to small Crossover frequency set on the receiver: 130 Frequency cutoff on the sub amp: Highest possible - the receiver handles the cutoff Phase: 0 degrees. My subwoofer is close to the rest of the speakers, but position is everything. You might be better off switching it to 180 if the sub is placed far away or on a wall. I wired the sub speakers with the same wiring Klipsch did. It's a dual fire sub, so they have a positive on one sub speaker, a negative on another, and a crossover cable running from the negative on one speaker to the posive on the other. You still only have two wires, Red and Black, that will accept input. The new amp had two wires, Red and Black, and I connected them to the red and black wires in the sub. Very easy. The new amp will blow out the speakers if the volume gets too loud, but since I have the receiver handling it I'm not terribly worried. I have the volume on the plate amp set to 80%. I get more trouble from the amp when the cables aren't plugged in, and I had a bit of worry when the volume was set all the way up and I touched the RCA cable. It shook the floor with a ground leak. I can send more description if you would like. This is what is working for me.

Whoops, forgot to mention: The module comes with an adapter to conver the left/right RCA plugs to a mini jack.

Honestly, a DAC would do the job, but you'd be spending a whole lot of money for a device with one limited use. I ran into the same problem with my laptop and I bought one of these: Creative XFi USB surround module The benefit is that you get your Center channel and you can use either the headphone jack or the Left/Right RCA plugs with a cheap adapter to run the output to your 4.1s. If you use the RCA plugs with an adapter, then you get your extra headphone jack right on your desk like you want. You can pick one up at any Best Buy or online for $45-60. It is well worth the expense, and you get an extra TOSlink optical out as well. The downside is that your sound can get interrupted if you use the module with a USB hub. It almost requires that you plug it directly into a USB port on the computer itself. If you were looking to power a full set of 5.1 speakers I'd strongly suggest you go with a full size home receiver, but since you aren't this is a realtively inexpensive, elegant solution to your problem.

Definitely go slow and don't crank the volume all the way up when you first get them. I blew out a satellite on mine when I first got them trying to see how loud they would get. For what it's worth, they also don't like the cold, so using them outside is not advisable if it isn't summer.

Your speakers should just have regular speaker wire from the satellites to your subwoofer, unless the 4.1s are vastly different from the 2.1s or the 5.1s. So your satellite wires clip into your subwoofer with a regular clip connector. The sony has screw-type bannana connectors for the front left and right channels, and clamps for the center and rear channels. Either one will work with a regular speaker wire. You can zoom in close on this image to see the back of the tuner (note the bannana connectors for front L/R and clip connectors for C/R/S): Back of DH500 You don't have to use this receiver, I just picked it up because it was cheap and had two optical inputs, which made hooking up the PC and xBox pretty easy. As I said before, the satellite speakers will work right off the bat, but you may need to purchase another subwoofer unless you convert the subwoofer out to a mini-jack so you can use it as input on your subwoofer.

I don't know about the 4.1s, but my set of 5.1s had a bad amp and I'm using a Sony STR-DH500 surround receiver to drive them. Works great. Pretty much any surround receiver should be able to power those speakers. You may have to get a different subwoofer for bass, though.

No, it was an absurd response. My email: If you want to complain about the PM 5.1 because you've owned one and have had problems, of course you have every right to so. But please do not compare these speakers with rest of Klipsch products. They are a completely different technology, completely different design, components, everything about them is different. It is really an unjust comparison. If you spend any time on the rest of the forum, you'll know we have very few complaints for our home audio products. Amy, I don't have any idea what you do for Klipsch, but that's a horrendous post. My already repaired amp died a month ago on my Promedia 5.1 Ultra system, and you are telling me through that post that I bought crap and I should expect crap because it is clearly not the same as your home area. I am currently in the process of replacing the amp in my subwoofer so I can use it with a different surround receiver. This is not a triumph for your company - it's an embarrassment. You built great speakers and made a shoddy amplifier, and because I like the speakers so much I have taken the Klipsch amplifier out of the equation altogether. If you are an employee, this is not something to be proud of. Thanks for costing me an extra $300, on top of the $450 I spent on the system, to fix what you couldn't design properly. You should be ashamed. You certainly shouldn't be pointing out that the company has given up on a product on your company's forum.

It's probably the amp. Do a google search for "Promedia 5.1 repair" and welcome to my world. I've been through a paid repair once and this time around I realized the speakers were great, the amp was crap, and I bought a surround sound receiver so I could use the speakers with my computer and my TV. I'm currently looking at new amps just to power the subwoofer since the receiver handles the satellites just fine.

I doubt it. The TV would have to be able to drive the sound via USB, and I haven't heard of any that do. Even if they could, they would need a software driver just to send the signal properly, and unless Klipsch is making some, I don't know of anyone who does that, either. You'd be better off getting an RCA to stereo miniplug converter from Radio Shack. Each one costs about 4 dollars. Can you provide any details about your TV and speakers? You can use the 2.1 system on a TV, you just need to right cables/converters to drive it.