Grasschopper
11-29-2007, 04:58 AM
I mean wow...just wow. I got a pair of 340SEs yesterday with the stands. These speakers replace my Acoustic Research PS 318s which I thought were ok speakers...I apparently don't know crap about speakers. :eek:
I hooked everything up and placed the speakers as best as I could...room is 20x13x8 so I couldn't get the recomended spread for my listening distance, I did place them a little wider and farther forward than the ARs were. The 340s are also taller placing the tweeter much higher (6-8 inches maybe). I also swaped out the Monster XP speaker wire I was using with 11 awg Monster cable (not sure if it has a special name...HD maybe?). After hookup I re-ran the Audyssey room setup on my Onkyo TX-SR805 and then went through with my SPL meter and made slight adjustments to the speaker levels.
So later in the evening my wife and I sat down to watch CSI:NY and CSI from last week on our DirecTV HD DVR. WOW was all I could say. The sound was so much more deep. I half thought the Audyssey testing went better but the more I listened the more clear it became that it was the 340s making the difference. The sound had SO much more depth...I think I coul drun the system 2.1 and still have a wonderful surround feel....but why do that? :D
So here is the question: With the huge differnce I am seeing having changed my mains...when I dump my AR CS2 center and Insigna indoor/outdoor speakers in favor of a 340SE center and a pair of HTM-200SE surrounds...how much better will my system be? :eek:
Now back to the question from my other post: Should I bi-amp my mains? The Onkyo 805 can use it's rear surround amplifier to bi-amp a set of mains. I know this is considered passive bi-amping and is different than bi-wiring...but should I do it? Will I see any improvement? I will not be using these channels for anything else so I can't see a reason to not do it unless it could harm something or make the sound worse.
I hooked everything up and placed the speakers as best as I could...room is 20x13x8 so I couldn't get the recomended spread for my listening distance, I did place them a little wider and farther forward than the ARs were. The 340s are also taller placing the tweeter much higher (6-8 inches maybe). I also swaped out the Monster XP speaker wire I was using with 11 awg Monster cable (not sure if it has a special name...HD maybe?). After hookup I re-ran the Audyssey room setup on my Onkyo TX-SR805 and then went through with my SPL meter and made slight adjustments to the speaker levels.
So later in the evening my wife and I sat down to watch CSI:NY and CSI from last week on our DirecTV HD DVR. WOW was all I could say. The sound was so much more deep. I half thought the Audyssey testing went better but the more I listened the more clear it became that it was the 340s making the difference. The sound had SO much more depth...I think I coul drun the system 2.1 and still have a wonderful surround feel....but why do that? :D
So here is the question: With the huge differnce I am seeing having changed my mains...when I dump my AR CS2 center and Insigna indoor/outdoor speakers in favor of a 340SE center and a pair of HTM-200SE surrounds...how much better will my system be? :eek:
Now back to the question from my other post: Should I bi-amp my mains? The Onkyo 805 can use it's rear surround amplifier to bi-amp a set of mains. I know this is considered passive bi-amping and is different than bi-wiring...but should I do it? Will I see any improvement? I will not be using these channels for anything else so I can't see a reason to not do it unless it could harm something or make the sound worse.