Butterman

Got my r-115's, rear R-7 II's and XPA-5 today. Took longer to get the settings right on the AVR than it did to set up the subs and XPA-5. Didn't even bother to set up the rears, just listened to 2 channel with subs. Amazing difference with the extra power and subs. The music feels like it has so many more layers. Cross over set at 60hz right now for 2 channel. I'm a true novice and would love some suggestions at to crossover ranges and LFE as well. Feels like I'm hearing all my favorite music for the first time.

That will work. I'm easy to please. That's great. Make sure you try toeing them in by angling them towards your listening position. I typically aim mine to where the tweeters converge just behind my listening position. Strangely, even very small adjustments in angles can make a huge difference in the sound stage. Followed your positioning advice. I've got my sweet spot dialed in! Amazing how they sound changes just by leaning in a little bit.

These speakers just keep on sounding better as they break in! I get a huge smile every time I listen to them. I almost forget how good they sound.

Glad to hear you say that given your setup. How do you have your 2 subs positioned?

I can still afford a cold pop for you Youthman. Finally found the direct music listening option on the Denon. Wow! Every time I think I've got them sounding pretty terrific I find a new setting or position of the speakers. I'm a believer!

I've been neglecting my audio set up for a long time. Just bought R-7 II's, Denon 4200 and RC-64 II. They sounded great out of the box. After setting everything up and calibrating to the room I'm absolutely blown away. I know there are more expensive, bigger and louder but WOW! Now I'm waiting for second set of R-7's for rear, XPA-5 and 2 R-155 subs. I can't wait to get them next week! I can't even begin to say how impressed I am with 125 watts going to them (if you believe Denon). I can only imagine how they'll sound with the XPA-5 pushing them. Man, I though my car addiction was expensive. I know where all my extra money will be going from now on. Darkside of the Moon in its entirety was my first listening choice. Seen them live and it sounds better in my basement!

Your invoice is next after all the equipment is paid for!

His is much better, I'm just a roadie... Tasdom-if you don't know then nobody does. Love live shows and appreciate the s$&! Out of roadies

Youthman-you helped out a ton. I was completely mistaken on the outputs. The visual helped. Now if you could just pay for all the new equipment, that'd be great.....

Youthman-you're a true Rockstar! I get it now. I really, really appreciate the visual. I think I'm getting overload and was a little slow on the uptake.

Re-read my comments about how to hook it up. There are two channels on the back of the AVR (Left and Right) for Front and (Left and Right) for Rear. You will need to use both. It doesn't matter which input you connect them to on the XPA-5, but to me, it just makes sense to connect to something like Front Left (White) output to Input 1 on the XPA-5, then Front Right (Red) output to Input 2 on the XPA-5 etc So I would plug RCA into both outputs on AVR but only plug one into XPA input and leave one unplugged? Sorry, I'm a little slow today....

Perfect! Thanks

Great advice but I believe that should be (5) individual RCA cables. Congrats, that will be a killer set up! Thanks-what are the pro's/con's of bundled rca's versus individual. I'm really starting to realize how much I don't know about AV

Unfortunately, you are among the many that have finally discovered this truth. Bose has just done a fantastic job at marketing hype. You aren't kidding! This system is going to blow you away! I'm excited for you. Back in the day, receivers had A / B before "Surround Sound" was introduced. Honestly, there is no benefit or reason you should need to use 4 speakers up front when listening to music. You may find that you prefer to listen to all 5 speakers when listening to music, some prefer to just change a setting in the receiver to Stereo so that only the front to speakers and a sub are playing while other use a "Direct" setting which often plays only the front two channels with no sub playing. It's all about preference. Sorry...I just re-read your question and it appears you want to have both the front and rear speakers playing when listening to music. No problem. Most receivers have either a "Music" setting that will play all 5 of your speakers, there is another setting called "All Channel Stereo" (I don't prefer this setting). Once you get your receiver setup, you can go through the different sound fields to see what your ears prefer most. Your receiver may have a Zone 2 but that is more for having the receiver play a 2nd set of speakers in another room (say the patio or pool area). Yes, as long as your receiver has pre-outs for all 5 channels, you would connect RCA out of your Receiver's Preouts to the Inputs of the Emotiva. Then speaker cables from the amp to your speakers. If your receiver has two sub outs, you can connect one to each sub. If it only has one sub out, buy a "Y" adapter and connect both subs to the single sub out on your receiver. I tested it once with my setup and heard no sonic benefit. Your amp will be MORE than sufficient for your 5 speakers and has a much larger power supply than your receiver will have. I use 12 or 14 gauge wire from Monoprice. Super inexpensive (also for interconnects) and great quality. I love banana plugs just for convenience. They offer no sonic improvement or degradation of sound quality. Merely nice if you plan on switching speakers in and out. I just looked at the rear of your Denon....it has preouts for all speakers. So you would connect 3 pair of RCA Cables as follows: RCA Cable 1 (Red "Front" Output to Input 1 on XPA-5, then speaker out to Front Right Speaker) RCA Cable 1 (White "Front" Output to Input 2 on XPA-5, then speaker cable from XPA-5 to Front Left Speaker) RCA Cable 2 (White "Center" Output to Input 3 on XPA-5, then speaker cable from XPA-5 to Center Channel) RCA Cable 3 (Red "Surround" Output to Input 4 on XPA-5, then speaker cable from XPA-5 to Surround Right Speaker) RCA Cable 3 (White "Surround" Output to Input 5 on XPA-5, then speaker cable from XPA-5 to Surround Left Speaker) You made an AWESOME jump! Well done! Thanks a lot for all the great feedback and info! I'm pretty sure I've got it. One thing I'm still not sure of though-I have two RCA pre outs on the back on the AVR per channel (other than center) and only one input on the back of the XPA. Do I only use 1 from the Denon? Also, what does balanced or unbalanced mean? Thanks again

I have to pre outs on the AVR for the subs. The wireless receiver is plugged into the sub and the transmitter to the pre out. As far as I understand anyways. If not, please let me know.

I've been rocking my old Bose and Kenwood for 15 years now and decided it was time for a much needed upgrade. I have a finished basement, carpeted, and the main area measures app. 26'x17' with 9' ceilings. About a month ago I ordered- Denon 4200 RF-7 Black Epson 5030ub Silver Ticket 135" fixed screen DVDO HD wireless transmitter Right after I got the AVR and RF-7's I immediately broke them open and hooked them up in the middle of the floor. I must have looked like it was Christmas morning! So long and short, I loved the speakers and now HAD to have a good center. I ordered the RC-64 II and , again, once I got it hooked her right up. Wow! Now I had my RF-7's and the RC-64 running. Sounds awesome! But now I need some bass and rears. Again, my old Bose just couldn't dream of keeping up. Earlier this week I ordered RF-7 for the rear 2 R-155SW and WA-wireless for back sub. XPA-5 amplifier Now I'm in deep. I have lots of questions (can I borrow some money, it seems I've developed a hole in my pocket) I want to use the rear RF-7's for surround for movies but would like to use it as a second set of fronts (I used to use a and b channel back in the day) when listening to music. My thoughts were to use the XPA 5 to drive both sets of RF-7's (fronts and rears) and the RC-64. Plug both subs into AVR. Is this the best way to do it? Now my AVR will have un used power. Is bi-amping the fronts and rears viable? Worth it? What is the best wire to use and are banana plugs the optimum connection for speakers? It seems my AVR has has 2 RCA pre amp outputs and the XPA 5 has either a single unbalanced RCA and a single balanced cable connection. What is the right way for me to connect the Denon 4200 to the XPA5? I think I should hide my wallet after cocktail hour from now on! Any help would be tremendously appreciated as I think I jumped before I looked. Thoughts and feedback about my selections would be highly appreciated as well. Im hoping I did well for myself, especially considering the financial commitment. Thanks

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback and suggestions, much appreciated. So I received my R-7's and Denon 4200. Hooked them up and I was blown away right out of the box, no adjustments to receiver. After making some fine tuning I knew I made the right choice. Absolutely amazing sound. I purchased an Epson 5030ub and Silver Ticket 135" fixed screen at the same time I had made my audio purchases. Put up the screen, mounted the projector and realized I HAD to have an RC-64 II to go with my new R-7's and tv. Got the RC-64 and then realized I had to have a sub and rears to replace my very old Bose rear speakers and sub. Guys, I think I may have developed a very serious problem. I may now have an AV addiction that could force me into getting a second job. I just ordered another pair of R-7's for rears and 2 R-155SW's. I don't think I can stop.... Need help with an amp. I know nothing about them. I can honestly say the R-7's with the RC-64 really don't NEED any help, they sound fantastic. I have a 24x20 area with an additional 14x14 room off to the side where a pool table is so I really want to fill the space. Am I nuts and spending money on overkill?

Awesome info-keep it coming everbody. I do really appreciate all the insight as a lot of the subjects touched on I've thought about. What would the typical break in time be and should I take it easy on them until I've properly broken them? Also, any suggestions on a good CD player? I've listened to quite a bit of Pandora/Spotify recently for the ease of use. I would like to continue to listen to them from time to time; will a good CD player be able to provide high listening quality with digital to analog? Thanks

Thanks again for all the feedback, feeling confident I made the right choice. I've already learned a lot just reading old posts, man I have a lot more to learn. Ordered black finish, I liked the cherry more but figured black would be easier to maintain long term as it's an easier color to match. After reading some posts I can't wait to hear anything from the Herritage series. Anyone have any suggestions regarding wire?

Thanks, really appreciate the feedback. I can't wait to get em-just trying to decide what the first song will be. I've read no subwoofer is needed with the 7's, do they supply that much punch? Would an amp be a better alternative? I would normally never buy something like this sight unseen but there's no decent AV stores around anymore. Thanks again

I've never had any real AV other then stuff from Best Buy. I decided to start building a system and just ordered RF-7's and a Denon4200. I guess my question is did I get the proper receiver for the speakers? with the sensitivity of the speakers I'm thinking I don't need tons of power to make them sound good, if not great. As I said, I'm a novice, and would like to know if this is a good receiver for my needs now and to build on in the future. Usually going to be 70% music. Any thoughts or expertise would be very much appreciated. (I can't wait to get these beasts!)