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Tonus
03-27-2006, 12:03 AM
Hello everyone, new Ascend speaker owner here. Got a few newbie setup questions for all you HT gurus out there.

My future setup: 340SE Center, 2x 170SE L/R, 2 170SE Surround, Hsu STF-1 Subwoofer, Denon AVR-2807 Receiver. Center is on a shelf above my TV (tilted down). Right 170 is on a stand which is on top of a shelf, Left 170 is mounted a couple inches from the ceiling (tilted down), two 170 surrounds are mounted on the ceiling tilted down to the most often used listening position, sub is inside a small niche on the bottom right side of the TV.

My HT room is shaped in a very strange way, so my Left speaker is a bit further from the TV/Center than my Right, but the Right is not tilted down towards the center listening position.

On to the questions:

1) Because my Right/Center/Left speakers are not all the same distance apart, will this throw my calibration off? I'm planning on using the SPL meter along with the Avia DVD to calibrate the speakers. Would I be able to change the output level on the left speaker, for example, so that it compensates for the increased distance to the center listening position?

2) I'm planning on using the 14 gage speaker wire that's sold on the Ascend main site. Will this work with the sub too or would I need to buy a seperate sub out cable in order to connect it to the receiver? Also, I've read the some people notice a difference in the kind of wire used, while others say that there's no difference between the two whatsoever. I've read some good things about the Cardas cables, but I don't think I can justify paying that much money for some wires.

3) Because my receiver can handle crossovers, should the only cable going to/from the sub be the sub out cable to the receiver, or should I also connect the Left/Right speakers to the sub as well, and run the corresponding speaker wires from the sub to the receiver?

None of the speakers are mounted due to the fact that I actually haven't gotten the receiver yet (picking it up tomorrow), so I can still change their location a bit. The idea is that since I'm already spending this much money on the HT, the least I can is to make sure that everything is calibrated and in the best location possible given the room dimensions and limitations.

Thank you in advance for any and all answers you might provide. I will most likely add more questions later as I think of them.

BradJudy
03-27-2006, 05:56 AM
1. Nope, this is one of the main reasons for calibration. You'll also want to adjust the distance settings of your speakers in your receiver.

2. Don't use speaker cable for your sub, you'll want a sub cable (shielded RCA cable of whatever length you need). Don't worry about fancy cables, if you really want to try them later you can do so whenever you want.

3. Only run a sub-out RCA cable to the sub, no speaker cables.

KETA144
03-30-2006, 01:13 PM
1. Nope, this is one of the main reasons for calibration. You'll also want to adjust the distance settings of your speakers in your receiver.

2. Don't use speaker cable for your sub, you'll want a sub cable (shielded RCA cable of whatever length you need). Don't worry about fancy cables, if you really want to try them later you can do so whenever you want.

3. Only run a sub-out RCA cable to the sub, no speaker cables.

I have seen arguments stating otherwise. Some people actually recommend that you do not use the RCA cable. I am in no way making any claims. I am only interested in this because I am having a problem trying to find a RCA cable that is long enough to run to my sub.

curtis
03-30-2006, 01:19 PM
I have seen arguments stating otherwise. Some people actually recommend that you do not use the RCA cable. I am in no way making any claims. I am only interested in this because I am having a problem trying to find a RCA cable that is long enough to run to my sub.
It depends on the situation. If your receiver has a sub out RCA connection, especially if the receiver also can control crossover settings, then this is the route you want to go.

How long of a sub cable do need?

BradJudy
03-30-2006, 02:45 PM
Unless you're doing stereo only with a receiver/amp that doesn't have a sub-out or you have an old receiver with limited capabilities, there would be very little reason to use speaker cables with a sub (we're assuming a powered sub here, a passive sub that requires a dedicated amp is a different issue).

There are plenty of places that sell long subwoofer cables and you shouldn't need to even custom-order one unless we're talking more than 50 feet.

Here's an example of an inexpensive, but decent, 25' one - http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=181-644

And here's a quality place that will make them in whatever length you want - http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/subwoofer/index.htm

Or, you could go super cheap with 50' for $11 (I have no experience with this company, but it was recommended on another forum) - http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023602&p_id=2684&seq=1&format=2&style=

If you're a DIY person, standard RG-6 makes an excellent long sub cable run.