First setup, need advice on reciever

[Krieger91]

Im looking at getting two of these for just a stereo set up,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290279


What kind of receiver should I get? I use my tv for netflix and ps3 (Will get PS4 later) gaming. I know some of the newer receivers use hdmi passthrough but I only use hdmi on the gaming console so I don't need tons of ports, or I should I use optical?

Some of my concerns are after reading amazon reviews:

Touchy hdmi inputs- losing connection
Not fully supporting DTS/DD by compressing audio
Crapping out after a few months


I am totally new to this arena so I am not sure about what to do here. I just need something that won't break the bank but isn't junk. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[parawing742]

Denon's X-series are decent receivers that are primarily HDMI without the tons of legacy ports. Using HDMI for everything is nice because you'll run everything through one machine and be able to switch audio/video at the same time without changing TV input sources. A lot of reviews on Amazon will mention problems, but remember that most people don't have problems but the ones that do will complain loudly. Marantz and Denon are both generally good brands and I've had both work well.

 

[dandragonrage]

You should use HDMI audio when possible, then optical s/pdif, then coaxial s/pdif, then analog. In that order. (Optical ahead of coax because they're the same yet optical won't cause ground loops like coax could)

Not sure what your budget is, but I would have recommended the Denon 1713.. it's out of stock at A4L so perhaps the Denon AVR-X1000 (which is the successor to the 1713, only it costs a bit more than the 1713 did before it sold out, since it's newer)? http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...-Channel-Networking-Receiver-w/AirPlay/1.html

It's not the cheapest out there, but it has Audyssey MultEQ XT, which is in my opinion useful. And unlike junky, unreliable brands such as Onkyo, Denon is typically very reliable.

Otherwise you can go even lower in the Denon line like the E300 or so. I don't think I'd go for the lowest E200 though. The lower models other than the E200 still have MultEQ (no XT) which is not as good, but better than nothing.

 

[Krieger91]

I ordered two Polk 75t's, and a Yamaha RX-V375

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V375-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B00B981F38


I plan to run this just as a two channel system, no subwoofer. I'm not sure if I really need or want one right now, many people have claimed that you don't exactly need one with these speakers since they can actually do pretty well on lows.. and I just don't have the funds. I have a few questions though.

1. This AVR has "bass management" from what I understand that means I can choose if my speakers are "small" or "large". I would think large but I have read that it's better to always use small?

2. A few people have said they have blown their tweeters on speakers similar to these, how do I prevent that happening? Some people have argued either too much wattage or too little will blow them, how does this avr stack up? Should I be cautious of this?

3. I am not sure what to put the crossover frequency at?

4. Is the YPAO calibration system actually good or should I do it manually?

 

[dandragonrage]

I think you made the wrong choice with that Yamaha over a Denon E300, mainly because of the room EQ system (pretty much only Audyssey and Trinnov are good - YPAO and Pioneer MCACC and others relatively suck)... but at least Yamaha is a reliable brand. If they used Audyssey or Trinnov, or if YPAO were good, they might be my choice over Denon. In any case, at least you didn't buy an Onkyo.

To prevent blowing tweeters... just don't run too much power. Too much power in general can blow them, and also clipping can blow them, because clipping redistributes the energy over the frequency range and usually ends up sending more power to the tweeter, making it easy to blow.

There are various speaker/tweeter protection devices from fuses to circuit breakers to light bulbs that only turn on at/beyond a certain voltage to help sink some extra power, etc. These generally change the sound to varying degrees and many people don't like to touch such protections. If they are used, it's best that the speaker/crossover be designed with the protections in mind from the start, but you can retrofit speakers in some ways if you want.

 

[Krieger91]

I think you made the wrong choice with that Yamaha over a Denon E300, mainly because of the room EQ system (pretty much only Audyssey and Trinnov are good - YPAO and Pioneer MCACC and others suck)... but at least Yamaha is a reliable brand. If they used Audyssey or Trinnov, or if YPAO were good, they might be my choice over Denon. In any case, at least you didn't buy an Onkyo.

To prevent blowing tweeters... just don't run too much power. Too much power in general can blow them, and also clipping can blow them, because clipping redistributes the energy over the frequency range and usually ends up sending more power to the tweeter, making it easy to blow.

There are various speaker/tweeter protection devices from fuses to circuit breakers to light bulbs that only turn on at/beyond a certain voltage to help sink some extra power, etc. These generally change the sound to varying degrees and many people don't like to touch such protections. If they are used, it's best that the speaker/crossover be designed with the protections in mind from the start, but you can retrofit speakers in some ways if you want.

What exactly is clipping? I am finding multiple explanations of it and I am not sure which is true.

 

[dandragonrage]

Clipping is when the amplifier can't supply the voltage demanded by the gain that you set, so it cuts off part of the waveform. It adds typically-significant distortion (depending on the gain you set compared to what the amp can provide) and if you did a fourier transform (an algorithm which basically takes a "raw" waveform which only contains information about "how loud the sound currently is" and turns it into "these are the frequencies currently playing") it would show that in most cases some of the power is moved from lower frequencies (handled by the woofer or midrange) up to higher frequencies (handled by the midrange and tweeter).

Clipping will almost never kill something like a subwoofer (unless you're running too much power to begin with), but in some cases can kill the tweeters (or even midranges) in speakers because of the shifting of power. It also lowers the cooling of the driver (an individual speaker, not a speaker package) because the speaker won't be moving during the clipping (because the voltage won't vary during clipping) a bit, so technically clipping does make it more likely to blow the sub as well... just not significantly.

By the way, YPAO is still worth using. It's just not as good as MultEQ, which isn't as good as MultEQ XT, which isn't as good as MultEQ XT32, which isn't as good as Trinnov. YPAO is at least better than Audyssey 2EQ (their lowest-end entry which Onkyo uses in their low-mid receivers - note that Denon doesn't touch 2EQ because it's crap). Actually, YPAO won't be as bad compared to the MultEQ stuff since you don't use a sub. Not being able to EQ the sub is YPAO's main weakness. The MultEQ stuff will still be better, but the difference isn't as big as if you had a sub.

 

[Krieger91]

Clipping is when the amplifier can't supply the voltage demanded by the gain that you set, so it cuts off part of the waveform. It adds typically-significant distortion (depending on the gain you set compared to what the amp can provide) and if you did a fourier transform (an algorithm which basically takes a "raw" waveform which only contains information about "how loud the sound currently is" and turns it into "these are the frequencies currently playing") it would show that in most cases some of the power is moved from lower frequencies (handled by the woofer or midrange) up to higher frequencies (handled by the midrange and tweeter).

Clipping won't ever kill something like a subwoofer (unless you're running too much power to begin with), but in some cases can kill the tweeters (or even midranges) in speakers because of the shifting of power.

By the way, YPAO is still worth using. It's just not as good as MultEQ, which isn't as good as MultEQ XT, which isn't as good as MultEQ XT32, which isn't as good as Trinnov. YPAO is at least better than Audyssey 2EQ (their lowest-end entry which Onkyo uses in their low-mid receivers - note that Denon doesn't touch 2EQ because it's crap). Actually, YPAO won't be as bad compared to the MultEQ stuff since you don't use a sub. Not being able to EQ the sub is YPAO's main weakness. The MultEQ stuff will still be better, but the difference isn't as big as if you had a sub.

Wow, thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions. I don't want to feel like i'm bothering you but could you shed any light on the "small" vs "large" speaker setting. I think I heard that full provides a wider range of sound, but many say it should remain at small.

 

[dandragonrage]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions. I don't want to feel like i'm bothering you but could you shed any light on the "small" vs "large" speaker setting. I think I heard that full provides a wider range of sound, but many say it should remain at small.

Large speaker setting will run all your bass through the speakers. Small will run a high-pass to cut out some of the bass to A) help keep them from blowing, B) help keep them from rattling (some speakers will start rattling with certain bass frequencies even if they aren't blown - not a good design, but it happens), and C) allow them to play louder (the more bass they play, the less overall volume they can deliver). If you ran a subwoofer, the small speaker setting can also help prevent phase issues that result when multiple speakers try to play the same thing. You don't necessarily need to run all speakers as small if you use a subwoofer, but if you don't, it might take more work to integrate the speakers with the subwoofer. You won't have that issue since you're not running a subwoofer.

Those 75Ts don't need to be set to small unless you're really cranking them up, but you can experiment with it.

That receiver is low-end so I don't know if it lets you set the crossover point, but often times you'll get choices from (50-80)-(100-160)Hz or so. I generally recommend 100-120Hz if you have very small speakers, 80-100Hz for most speakers, and 60-80Hz for relatively good speakers like what you bought. 80hz might be too high without a subwoofer (it won't be awful - 80Hz is reasonable - but it might still cut noticeable amounts of bass) but it might be worth a try anyway. So if it gives you the option, you might want to experiment between large, small-60Hz, small-80Hz.