Moving to AV setup, mistakes????

[Bruce Watson]

Could also add Sierra 2’s for 5.1, though I’m not sure how much more I should spend for something I use so little. That may change with good sound though.

I thought like this. For many years (decades?). But when I finally expanded to 5.2, I could not believe how much better the HT experience became. Just sayin' you might want to consider it -- it's more important than most of us think.

My only other thought for you is that your sub is small, and there's only one. In most house-sized rooms I nearly always suggest two, because of room modes. And for HT use, an 8" woofer is likely going to be underwhelming. For about the same money I'd be looking at a Rythmik LVX12 -- yes it's ported, but it's also servo. It'll blend with the Ascend speakers so well that you'll be convinced that your towers just magically got cleaner and grew an extra octave on the bottom end. At least that's what happened with my Sierra-2s and my LVX12s, driven by my old Denon AVX-4000.

[randyrlee2]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the input. Actually had it all together for 5-6 days now and have some observations.

Got the Horizon center and “WOW”, what a piece of art. Big and beautiful. I can’t say for sure because of how the receiver might be splitting the sound, but it sounds more “present” than my towers. If I was to do it all again I would seriously consider Horizons all across the front. Or maybe if I move the towers to the side positions…..

OK, had to reset the receiver several times due to erroneous stuff going on. Finally got all speakers working, but lost the ARC function from my TV, so had to Netflix via the bluray player. Went and got the LG UP970 UHD bluray player because it’s one of only two players that have Dolby Vision (Oppo 203 is the other), has the 4K Netflix app (Oppo doesn’t and can’t), and was cheap enough I can upgrade later if I can figure out how to get the ARC working again.

So, first set it up without the center and using Directv and was disappointed. Set it up with the center and was disappointed. Hooked up the UHD bluray and Holy Poop Batman, what is that? Honestly, I never realized how much music and sounds can add to a movie. Watched Stranger Things on Netflix and got chills.

Some thoughts. Using a standard bluray player, the Denon receiver did an incredible job of upscaling. I do have another small sub I can throw into the mix (it’s hooked to my gaming computer right now), and will probably do that just to see what it’s like. The subs are small, but they are 1000 watts, which if my understanding is correct, wattage is the only way to overcome small size. I did connect my iPhone to the receiver over Bluetooth and was very surprised at the sound. It doesn’t get as loud as my big amp, but probably loud enough. Haven’t looked close enough to see how to do Pure Direct mode, but I’ll get there.

Not sure if my new player is going to upscale hd to uhd, or whether the receiver will do it. I know the receiver does a good job. Absolutely love the tv. I’m not really much of a tv guy, but if you’re going to watch, it might as well be nice. At this point I’m willing to try 5.1, but am going to wait until beloved Wife gets home from England to make a decision.

Still haven’t decided what to do with my preamp and amp. They’re awfully nice at what they do and I have loved having them.

Thanks for the help folks. Hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

randy n’ lizzie

[randyrlee2]

Oh, forgot, the subs are actually 10" if that makes a difference. There is an 8" version though I believe. Will still try 2 of them. Not really a basshead, at least for music, but it does add a lot to the home theater experience.