So I unboxed everything on Friday, despite best efforts of SWMBO to divert me onto other matters of unpacking, and set about installing it. I'm sure there are better examples of cable routing out there, but compared with past efforts, I think it came out pretty well. To recap, here's what I got:
Panasonic TH-P50V20Z 50" Plasma
Panasonic DMR-BW880 Blu Ray/HDD Recorder
Pioneer VSX-920K 7.1ch receiver
Jamo S606 HCS3 w 250W Sub
When I finally cabled everything together and put it in place, I stepped back and marvelled at the assemblage of home theatre goodness. Compared with high-end setups I'm sure it's pretty ordinary, but compared with what I've had in the past (practically nothing), it's awesome... The room looks amazing, with the black and grey feature wall framing the black and silver TV, receiver, the black ash wood of the floor standers, the dark mahogany of the TV cabinet.00 And it looks even better when it's on! I tested it with Empire Strikes Back on DVD, and it sounded pretty amazing even without calibration (haven't tested Blu Ray yet). But I knew I needed to do the calibration, so I setup the calibration mic and let it do its thing. And here's really where my questions begin:
1. What settings should I be using for the sub? This is my first time up close and personal with a sub, so I have no idea what I'm looking at. I was surprised to see speaker terminals on the back of the sub - I thought it just took a pre-out from the receiver via a standard RCA cable. The operating manual (with it's wonderfully vague pictograms) did indicate that the RCA cable plugged into LFE, but I wondered what the speaker terminals would be for, where they would plug in on the receiver, and whether I need them? I also struggled with the three dials - level (which I assumed was volume, I've set at mid-way), cut-off frequency (???) and phase (???). I decided moderation probably works, so I've set these at the mid-way point as well, but suspect they need to be more accurately positioned.
2. On the floorstanders, there were two sets of binding posts, which I presumed were for bi-amping. I'm not doing that at this stage, so I wondered which set to use. Looking through the manual, it seemed to indicate that they were connected by a metal plate, which needed to be removed if bi-amping. I took this to mean that either set of posts would be fine if you're not bi-amping. Is this correct?
3. The Pioneer receiver required me to setup the speaker system. It had about five different options, but none really fit. it's just a standard 5.1 setup, with two floorstanders at the front, two surround speakers at the rear, a centre speaker at the front, and the sub. Most of the options mentioned Surround Back or Front Height (neither of which I'm using). The only option which seemed to fit was Zone 2, which showed my standard 5.1 setup, and a second zone with 2 speakers. I haven't got a second zone setup, but I figured this was closest. Anyone with the Pioneer VSX-920K care to venture whether I've done this right?
4. When listening to ordinary audio (i.e. music) CDs, which speakers should be on? As far as I can make out, it's just the front left and right speakers - the sub doesn't seem to kick in at all (though, that might have to do with the way I've set it up, as per question 1 above). I'm pretty sure that audio CDs aren't 5.1 surround sound, but I would have expected 2.1. Is it possible to get 5.1 sound for music? Now I actually have that many speakers, I'm wanting to make best use of them, so if it is possible, what's the best way to get it? Is this something an iPod can deliver, or is it restricted to DVDs and Blu Ray?
I'm sure I'll have more questions over the next few days, but I think that's enough for now...
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