Lots of questions about my cheap 5.1 system

[boccaccioe]

Hi!

I am a college student who is pretty new to stereo equipment and I was wondering how to maximize the audio quality of my really budget system. I got the speakers and subwoofer on ebay for about $60 including shipping and the stereo receiver is one that was sitting in a friend's closet unused (full setup listed below).

This being my first 5.1 system, are there specific settings I should use in order to optimize my receiver for my room and setup (as in room size settings, sound profile, bass and treble balance, etc.)? I was also wondering if the dirt-cheap 24-gauge wire that I used could negatively affect sound quality. Is it okay to keep the subwoofer on all the time or should I turn it off whenever I'm finished? Any general feedback and advice would also be super helpful.

I have attached photos, including one of the dimensions of the room (small). The acoustic panels on the far wall are not part of the system, they're there to try and drown out noise from the guy next door because the walls here are paper thin. The rabbit ears are there to try and get better radio reception, which sort of worked (I don't need them for the TV because I'm on university cable). Before you ask, yes the speakers are indeed mounted with command hooks because nails are not allowed here.

Thanks so much for any help and for reading this mess!


Setup:
Speakers: KLH HTA4100SAT
Subwoofer: KLH Bassbite III
https://www.amazon.com/HTA-4100-Sur...6O5TA/ref=cm_cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_w9EzCb3N2X8ST
Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5930
Speaker Wire: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N7FQD6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_w9EzCb3N2X8ST

20190214_172552

• boccaccioe
• Feb 14, 2019

far wall

• boccaccioe
• Feb 14, 2019

Screenshot_EBay Purchase History

• boccaccioe
• Feb 14, 2019

Floor plan

• boccaccioe
• Feb 14, 2019

TL;DR: Wondering how to get max sound quality with current setup

 

[imral3]

That is some thin wire! Should work for now. Try to get the three front speakers as close to the same level, with center just under the TV, for best results. Hopefully this will be close to ear level when seated and watching TV/movie. Google "5.1 speaker placement" for best placement options.

 

[imral3]

A quick review of specs show the speakers have a wattage recommendation of 5 watts. The receiver puts out 100. Be careful when turning the receiver up so they don't spontaneously combust.

EDIT: another website stated 5 to 100 watts. Should not explode. Still keep it down, Mister!

 

[Nightwisher]

I don't think that particular Yamaha receiver has YPAO (automatic EQ, distance, level settings), which would be extremely helpful.

As imral3 said, try to get the 3 front speakers level with each other, preferably fairly level with the TV as well. (And do try to center that TV along the wall, it's setting off my OCD lol.) THX, Dolby, DTS, and several other big name companies have good speaker placement and setup guides for different setups.

Once you get the speakers where you want them, the first key to good home theater system settings is setting the levels and distances properly in the receiver menu. You'll need a tape measure to set the distance. For the level, you'll need a SPL meter to match the levels (and to keep quiet while the test tone is going). There are some decent SPL meter apps you could get on your phone. Measure both from your favorite seat in the room (or from the center seat).

Set all speakers to small and set the crossover to whatever KLH recommends for that set (I'd guess it's at least 120 Hertz, if not higher since they're really small).

Personally, I'd upgrade that speaker wire. The speaker wire really should be 16 gauge or higher for pretty much anything these days. The RCA or Amazon brand is fine and low priced (I use the RCA brand 14 gauge myself).

Keep the bass and treble settings at 0 until you decide whether the sound needs adjustment (after you have everything else squared away).

And I recommend using the "Straight" setting for most things. A lot of people (myself included years ago) get tripped up with the "5 channel stereo" setting and such, which is not discrete surround sound at all. The "Surround Decode" and "CinemaDSP" modes are fine too, just some have a little too much processing.

That should get you started. There's a lot that goes into setting up a home theater right and most of these tweaks are free

 

[Dave_1962]

 

[toxcrusadr]

If you don't already have an owner's manual for the Yamaha, you should be able to download it from their website.

 

[boccaccioe]

I don't think that particular Yamaha receiver has YPAO (automatic EQ, distance, level settings), which would be extremely helpful.

As imral3 said, try to get the 3 front speakers level with each other, preferably fairly level with the TV as well. (And do try to center that TV along the wall, it's setting off my OCD lol.) THX, Dolby, DTS, and several other big name companies have good speaker placement and setup guides for different setups.

Once you get the speakers where you want them, the first key to good home theater system settings is setting the levels and distances properly in the receiver menu. You'll need a tape measure to set the distance. For the level, you'll need a SPL meter to match the levels (and to keep quiet while the test tone is going). There are some decent SPL meter apps you could get on your phone. Measure both from your favorite seat in the room (or from the center seat).

Set all speakers to small and set the crossover to whatever KLH recommends for that set (I'd guess it's at least 120 Hertz, if not higher since they're really small).

Personally, I'd upgrade that speaker wire. The speaker wire really should be 16 gauge or higher for pretty much anything these days. The RCA or Amazon brand is fine and low priced (I use the RCA brand 14 gauge myself).

Keep the bass and treble settings at 0 until you decide whether the sound needs adjustment (after you have everything else squared away).

And I recommend using the "Straight" setting for most things. A lot of people (myself included years ago) get tripped up with the "5 channel stereo" setting and such, which is not discrete surround sound at all. The "Surround Decode" and "CinemaDSP" modes are fine too, just some have a little too much processing.

That should get you started. There's a lot that goes into setting up a home theater right and most of these tweaks are free

Wow! Thanks to everybody for all of this helpful info. I have gone ahead and set distance settings and every speaker to small. It sounds better already! Because the "STRAIGHT" setting only uses two speakers for two channels, I went with the prologic setting for now. FYI, the TV is usually centered along the wall when I'm watching it. Because it's on wheels, I put it out of the way of my desk chair when I'm not using it like in the photo (again, it's a really small room). I listen to music (mostly rock) every day but watch TV only sometimes.

There are a lot of settings like LFE level and dynamic range that I don't really know what to do with, if I need to do anything at all. I'm also wondering about the difference between the "swfr" setting and the "both" setting for the subwoofer. I'm assuming that swfr is correct for my application but I'd love confirmation on that.

Any good sound clips to make setting treble and bass balance easier? Also wondering about the pros and cons of having "tone control bypass" on vs. setting 0db without bypass.

Here is the link to the manual for my receiver: https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/334817/HTR-5930_e_U.pdf


Thanks again!

 

[Nightwisher]

Wow! Thanks to everybody for all of this helpful info. I have gone ahead and set distance settings and every speaker to small. It sounds better already! Because the "STRAIGHT" setting only uses two speakers for two channels, I went with the prologic setting for now. FYI, the TV is usually centered along the wall when I'm watching it. Because it's on wheels, I put it out of the way of my desk chair when I'm not using it like in the photo (again, it's a really small room). I listen to music (mostly rock) every day but watch TV only sometimes.

There are a lot of settings like LFE level and dynamic range that I don't really know what to do with, if I need to do anything at all. I'm also wondering about the difference between the "swfr" setting and the "both" setting for the subwoofer. I'm assuming that swfr is correct for my application but I'd love confirmation on that.

Any good sound clips to make setting treble and bass balance easier? Also wondering about the pros and cons of having "tone control bypass" on vs. setting 0db without bypass.

Here is the link to the manual for my receiver: https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/334817/HTR-5930_e_U.pdf


Thanks again!

Good to hear you're getting better sound now.

The LFE level is used to make the subwoofer blend in level-wise with the rest of the speakers and doesn't overpower them. I usually set it at zero and use the gain adjustment on the sub itself. You can use a test tone with a SPL meter or tune by ear.

Dynamic Range should be set to "Max". Otherwise this limits the range of sounds, from soft to loud, that are played. To explain this practically, with it set to max, a whisper would be quiet and an explosion would be really loud. With it set on minimum or standard, the whispers and explosions start becoming closer to the same volume. Min can be useful if explosions and such disturb others.

The "both" setting for the subwoofer sends bass out to the subwoofer and the speakers. This can muddy the sound because the speakers and the subwoofer play some of the same frequencies. It's best to set that setting to subwoofer only, so that the crossover you set is truly a crossover and only the sub plays the bass.

Tone control bypass prevents the signal from passing through the tone control circuit. With it set to 0db, the signal passes through the circuit. Bypassing it means the signal passes through less circuitry in total, keeping the signal a bit more pure (the benefits of that are debatable for surround receivers). If you're not using it, there's no reason not to set it to bypass.