Help with new Home Cinema Receiver and speakers

Maxwell

Hi All,

hope someone could help me:

I have just started to upgrade from one of those all in one systems and have bought a new HD DVD player and Pioneer Receiver (VSX-516-S):





My main question is - as my existing surround sounds speakers (the wiring is specific to the box (sony) will not connect up to the receiver, I was wondering whether I could use these computer 5.1 ones that I have lying about while I decide on what speakers to purchase:




If I can connect - how and where???

sorry, I haven't a clue

mossym

nope, you can't..you have no preouts on your receiver(outputs before the amplifier). The outputs you have are amplified and shouldn't be hooked to that set of speakers

Maxwell

mossym wrote:

nope, you can't..you have no preouts on your receiver(outputs before the amplifier). The outputs you have are amplified and shouldn't be hooked to that set of speakers

Great, thanks for the advice.

So I will need to buy the new speakers or alternatively cut the existing speaker wire and attach male and female phonos or RCA plugs?

Im really in 2 minds now as the current sound is perfectly adequate, but I really wanted to set up a system that I could constantly upgrade key area's and not the whole system.

Looks like I could be getting going on those new speakers sooner than I thought or I will continue to have a new receiver sitting there doing nothing

The Ritz

Advice is to go for new speakers......

The speakers you have are 6 watts RMS each with 2.5" cones. The Pioneer puts out 100W per channel....... I can't see that match lasting very long - it probably would if you don't wind up the volume knob, tho. Your other problem is that you'd have little or nothing in the way of bass...... the Creative setup has an 18 watts RMS 5" subwoofer, from a quick look at the picture of the back panel, there's no way to connect the sub out from the receiver to it - it's designed only to take inputs from a sound card....... and it would hardly be effective in any case.


Ritz.

Maxwell

Yeah, I think I will go for the new speakers, but I forgot to add that Im currently using this dvd and speakers and was hoping to maybe alter these speakers and not the creative ones I mentioned before - what do you think?:



Sony DAVSB300

The Ritz

You coud certainly hook up the LCR and rear speakers to your new receiver, but I don't think you could hook up the subwoofer - the Pioneer is designed to send an un-amplified signal to a subwoofer with it's own amp built in.

If you don't want to replace the whole lot, you could go for a decent quality standalone powered sub now and use those Sony speakers with them, allowing you to replace the speakers in two bouts later on - front three at one time, surrounds another time.


Ritz

Maxwell

Excellent - thanks for the advice Ritz (you are always helping me out round here)

That would be a good start then, get a new sub and then replace speakers in time and the front first and the rears after.

I will need to have the speaker cables cropped and new connectors put on then? Looking at the receiver, which type of connectors do I get added?

The Ritz

Wouldn't make a whole heap of difference at this level - the receiver has binding posts at the back so you could just strip the speaker wire back and screw it down - alternative is to get banana plugs - you'll get them in Maplins - they look like this:



and attach the speaker wire to them, and inset the plugs in the centre holes in the speaker binding posts at the back of the receiver - I'd recommend this route, if for no other reason than it being a lot less fiddly than trying to wind on speaker wire in tight locations...... you can always remove them and use them on newer speakers when the time comes.


Rtiz.

Maxwell

Excellent - thanks again Ritz!!!

Exactly what someone like me needed:o

Really appreciate your help!

Maxwell

Back again.

I was having a quick look on richersounds and found this sub:

Tannoy EFX Subwoofer



This is the subwoofer which comes part of the EFX system. This sub packs in a 100 watt amplifier and an 8 inch driver into a box that's only 35cm High x 25cm Wide x 37 Deep.

KEY FEATURES

Active or Passive Active
Auto On/Off Yes
Cabinet Finish Veneer
Colour Silver
Driver Size 200mm
High Level Input Yes
Low Level Input Yes
Power Rating 100 Watts

Would this be okay for my needs, and would it represent an improvement over the existing sony all in one sub?

The Ritz

It's difficult to say - the performance of a sub depends on a range of factors, including the size of room you want to use it in, and the speakers you think you might eventually be using with it. The power of that sub should be fine in the context of the receiver and the size of the driver, but I haven't heard one in action (and if I did it would probably make no difference - I'm not one of those people who have "magic ears"....) so I can't say anything about it.

I guess if I was in your shoes, I'd have a think about what speaker system would suit the receiver and the room I wanted to end up with eventually, taking realistic account of my budget etc. Then I'd begin to build that system bit by bit. If you see that sub as part of your eventual system, then go ahead - if it isn't a great match tonally for the sony speakers you're using for now it won't really matter too much - you'll eventually end up with the system you want.

Ritz

Maxwell

great, thanks again.

Will need to have another think about it......and soon as I have an amp sitting there doing nothing at the moment (maybe i should have had sense and sorted out speakers at the same!!!)

Wolff

Hi maxwell

I have that sub wired up to my Pioneer vsx2014i does the job for me

Its quite a neat sub with plenty of power for the size

would defo be better than the sony sub

Maxwell

Excellent, thanks Wolff!!

Great to hear that you are happy with it.