New to A/V. Need some advice, please!

[GreginIL]

Good evening to you all!

New to the forum, and new to Klipsch itself. I recently purchased an entire a/v package from a retailer who shall remain nameless for their lack of customer service skills. I went with a Panasonic 42' Plasma t.v (i absolutely love the picture on this t.v compared to my old one!), and i also pickd up the whole "3" line of speakers. The F-3, C-3,S-3 and the sub-12. I was told that the Yamaha VX-661 reciever would be a great match for these speakers, so I picked that up as well. After everything was said and done, the setup costed me quite a bit, but I didn't mind because i was stoked about my first Klipsch purchase. The installers came to my house and installed everything. T.V went on the wall, the S-3's went on the sidewalls with the wires going in the wall, the F-3's got set up directly on the side of the t.v .....i guess the "standard" installation. They also set up my Playstation 3, Xbox360 and my Wii to all run through the reciever. Well, the install job (with the exception of the back speakers) was shoddy at best, but i didn't care at the time. They DID NOT set any of the reciever settings .....-nothing-. I feel as tho i was just thrown into the open world of A/V and told to fend for myself. Maybe this is my fault, who knows. My question is this: Why doesn't my surround sound that i just dropped a big amount on, sound good? I use my PS3 for movies, and it's connected to the t.v via HDMI. I played a Blu-ray movie, and it didn't sound very good at all. Don't get me wrong, it was very loud ...but I feel as tho it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as it should. I am half-tempted to hire someone else to come and set all of this up again, but that will cost more money that i don't want to spend lol! I really am sorry for this long story, but i am at a loss as what to do. I even tried that "automatic sound setup" option that comes with my Yamaha reciever, but that didn't seem to make anything sound better. Am I missing something here? Please help!!! Thank you for your time.

P.S The major gripe i have with this whole system, is that the back speakers just don't sound very loud. Everything seems to be coming from the front. I even turned the levels down on the c-3 and the f-3, and yet still the backs don't sound good. For instance, if a car-door slams shut off-screen, it comes from the front speakers mainly. Not from the backs like it should .....argh!

-Greg

[dtel's wife]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of Klipsch. Hang in there, weekends are sometimes a little slow around here. Someone will come along from the forum and give you some suggestions and some ideas to help you get the most from your new set-up.

[GreginIL]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of Klipsch. Hang in there, weekends are sometimes a little slow around here. Someone will come along from the forum and give you some suggestions and some ideas to help you get the most from your new set-up.

Thank you very much for the info! I'll keep checking back with the forum. I'm at witt's end about this whole ordeal, considering i had thoughts and hopes of how this system would sound....and it's falling waaaaay short of that for some reason

[darylomer12]

Hey Greg, welcome to the forum! Do yourself a HUGE favor and go to Radio Shack and get an SPL meter.(Analog) Do a search in the forum on how to use an SPL meter and dial in your speakers. This way, you are going to have balance throughout your whole system. Just type in "SPL meter" in the search engine, and you will find all the info you need. Also, make sure your DVD player is setup properly. Make sure you read the manuels on everything. There is alot to learn, but once you read all, it will all click. Good luck!!!

[nomad02rider]

Well I think you might just have some settings that need adjusting. A SPL meter is a good suggestion. Does your Yammie have auto setup? If so it still is a good idea to use the meter. In the mean time try and set it by ear. I'm sure this is something you can work through. It takes a little patience and a little time. Good luck and enjoy.

[dtel's wife]

Greg,

The advice regarding the SPL meter is very good advice indeed. Dtel and I purchased one about a year ago. It paid for itself. They aren't very expensive. Go to the nearest Radio Shack.

I am sure others will read this thread and contribute more as time goes on...in the meantime get the SPL meter, because that is the starting point. We have a Yammie doing the chores for our home theater system. The auto set up feature with the SPL meter is a good beginning point. Then we can go from there.

Just hang in here with us and you will catch on. There's a lot to learn. Thankfully we have some real knowledgeable folks on this forum and they are willing to share what they know with us.

[dougdrake]

If this is your first encounter with surround sound systems with Dolby Digital, etc... I feel your pain. I remember it from years ago how foreign it all was.

There are several pieces in the sound reproduction chain, and all of them have to be in line for it to work properly. Some things to check, off the top of my head:

1) Is your DVD player set up to pass the audio in the correct format? IIRC, most of the time you'd want PCM audio (and if your Yamaha supports DTS decoding be sure the DVD is set to be able to pass DTS - sometimes that's an option, sometimes it's already pre-set).

2) Do you have the proper decoding selected on the Yamaha for the material you are feeding it? Some receivers have an "auto" setting to select the correct decoding (Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro, etc...) - if yours does, set it to auto.

3) Are the speaker sizes set correctly in the Yamaha. Given that you have a sub, it may be best to set them all to small, and set the cross-over in the Yamaha to 80hz.

4) As suggested, it's important that the sound levels of all channels are equalized. I've never used the auto-setup on a receiver for that, but if it's done properly I understand that it can be very good. I guarantee you that you can't set them by ear, especially the sub.

5) Depending on the movie, there may actually not be much content in the rear channels. IOW, how do you know the car door/alarm is supposed to be coming from the rear, versus one of the front speakers?

6) Placement of the speakers has an impact on how it all sounds. You may have to experiment with their distance from the TV and the walls, the angle they face you, etc... until you find the best sound. Subs USUALLY (but not always) do their best near a corner so they can make use of the walls/floor to load the room. Sometimes, though, it can sound boomy so again you may have to experiment.

Hope some of this helps.

[oldbuckster]

Everything dougdrake wrote,plus check your owners manual again. I find them to be confusing most of the time, and I never get it the first time through. It took me a year to figure out I didn't have the right cables...............Hang in there, you'll be fine, and it will be worth it in the end..........

[dtel's wife]

Everything dougdrake wrote,plus check your owners manual again. I find them to be confusing most of the time, and I never get it the first time through. It took me a year to figure out I didn't have the right cables...............Hang in there, you'll be fine, and it will be worth it in the end..........

OB,

You can thank the design engineers of products for all that "mumbo/jumbo" in manuals. I didn't realize engineers wrote the operating manuals until recently. I have to tell you it made me feel a lot better once I learned engineers wrote those manual. I couldn't figure out why the manuals were so difficult to understand!

[GreginIL]

Hey guys,

Thanks for allllll the info and tips! I wasn't aware of setting all the speakers to small. I DO believe i have the fronts set to large. As far as my DVD player is concerned, i use the Playstation 3 for it's HDMI hookup. I was browsing through it's setting lastnight after i got done here, and i noticed that only "2 channel PCM blah blah blah" was checked ....so i then checked DTS 5.1 and another 5.1 box, just can't remember right off the bat what it was. That made a -noticeable- difference when i played the opening sequence of Ice Age ( which by the way is what i am using to test all my settings) The manual, on the other hand, is huge! There's sooooo much stuff i can do with this Yamaha receiver, it's not even funny! I feel as tho i -did- make the right choice in pairing the Klipsch's with this receiver. For some strange reason, it feels as tho they were "made for each other" LOL! I'll try some other things that you guys mentioned, and let you know how it turns out. If anyone wants to see where i have all my speakers installed, i'd be more than happy to send them pics that i took lastnight. Maybe i have them positioned wrong, and someone can identify that by the pictures????

Greg

[dtel's wife]

Greg,

I would still pick up an SPL meter, it will help in getting the proper settings. It is really a must. Definitely post some pics, we always like to see what others have done....and pass along our opinions![] You could post a couple within this thread if you choose to do so.

[dtel's wife]

BTW, we also have a Yamaha (RX V730) that we use in our HT setup. We have been very happy with it thus far.

[GreginIL]

Ok ......here comes some pictures. If ANYONE has suggestions about placement for any speakers -other than the back two- ...let me know! I cannot move the back two, cause their speaker wires are ran inside the wall. Thanks for everyone's help!!!

[dtel's wife]

Since the rear/side two are in "fixed" positions there is very little you can do with them. I would try moving the sub around. It appears your only choice may be the right corner as the room housing the speakers appears to be open to the left. Additionally, once you place the sub in the corner, try toeing the two speakers in just a little to the center.

I think with proper settings, utilizing an SPL meter, and playing with the positioning of the two front speakers and sub you will be amazed.

Also, did you purchase this system new. Some folks will argue this point, but I truly believe a break in period is required to "loosen" the speakers up a little. It took almost 100 hours of playing time on our Cornwall IIIs before a noticeable difference occurred.

This is just my 2 cents worth....like I said before there are lots of folks on here with lots of knowledge and lots of opinions.

We'll see what everyone else has to say!

If you would like, give my suggestions a try and let us know what you think.

BTW, isn't the Wii really cool![H]

[GreginIL]

Indeed i bought everything brand spanking new. Still have the huge boxes sitting in a room, as i am not sure if i will throw them away or keep them for something else. I had a few days wait on the C-3, because they didn't have it in stock Thank you for the speaker ideas, but I do have one question about it. If i was to move my sub to the right of the room, into the corner where my right speaker is now ....how will the placement be? Should the port be facing the corner, where the two walls meet? Or should it be facing towards me...or towards the right wall ..etc etc. As far as the toe on the two front speakers are concerned, i am trying that as we speak. I did that to the front speakers several nights ago, but haven't noticed a big difference. The guys that installed the system told me that since the tweets were horns, it would sound best if i faced them directly front. They said that Klipsch made them this way so that the sound can be heard better when facing directly forward, instead of having to "toe" them. I'm not sure about that, but I DO know that these babies scream! I love them to death!

P.S I bought the Wii for my fiance when it first came out, but she's played it i think a total of 4 times. I have my Xbox 360 in the bedroom, and the PS3 is used for the movies and what-not. I like the Wii, but i told her if she doesn't start playing it ...i will sell it! LOL

[dtel's wife]

Try moving the sub different ways and see which way you like it best. You may find that your original placement is the best. I don't know how anyone couldn't love Klipsch speakers.

You and your fiance should play some of the Wii games together. Every night at least four or five of the nine people that live here can be found in the family room bowling or golfing!

[Youthman]

I'm not familiar with how your Yamaha does it, but on my Onkyo, I can tell if I am getting 5.1 surround sound from the receiver if it says 3/2 and it will also say Dolby Digital. Some DVD's (like music videos) default to 2 channel stereo or 2.1. Just something to check. I can't wait till I'm able to get my first Klipsch System.