What settings do people recommend if one only uses a center and pair of front speakers? I'm running a 1050 w/Polk RT-35i fronts and a center from an older Polk RM system.

What with neighbor proximity in my LA apartment, I'm not going to get a sub or surrounds until I can afford the multi-$100,000 system (ie., the home theater system and the new house & yard that surrounds it).

When I play DVDs I usually use either 3 Stereo or "Natural." I'd like to get as much separation as possible from the fronts while not sacrificing dialog and other center stuff.

Thanks...and great board btw. It's one of the things that made me buy the Outlaw.

More Details!! And thus...More Questions!!!

Last post was about playing DVDs. Now on to regular TV: when I set the 1050 on Natural I get dialog through the pair of fronts. When I set it on 3 Stereo, I get no dialog through the fronts. Natural sounds better to my ears, but I wonder if I'm getting any "surround" (yes I know that I'm not getting "surround" because I don't have surround speakers but is the 1050 working any magic so that I get some perception of surround anyway?)? When I have it set on 3 Stereo, pretty much everything seems to come out of the center and it seems like kind of a waste of the Polk 35s. Which I just bought today to replace the cheap Sony speakers left over from a bookshelf system. Which makes me want to work them. Hard.

Ideally, I think I'd like to get some dialog through the fronts but not at the cost of "surround" effect.

I suppose the answer to all of this is "listen to it and make a decision" but it would be nice to understand what is going on.

BONUS QUESTION NO. 1: Can I use those cheap Sony bookshelf speakers as the surround speakers? Sure why not right? Except those are 6 ohm rated. Does that make a difference?

BONUS QUESTION NO. 2: Since I've started obsessing about this, the word "surround" leaps out at me wherever I see it. I last saw it on a chyron at the beginning of THE SIMPSONS that said "broadcast in SURROUND (where available)". What does this mean in my present situation? Does TV actually broadcast in Surround Sound? If so, what encoding or whatever do they use?

Firstly, if you only have three speakers, I would avoid using any surround modes that cause the rear icons on the front panel to light up, because that would indicate that information is being extracted and sent to the rear speakers, thereby "lost," which you probalby don't want.

Secondly, the 1050 is fine with 6 or 4 ohm speakers.

Thirdly, a lot of TV shows (especially movies which were originally shown in a theater) are broadcast in Dolby ProLogic surround, which the DPL circuitry in your 1050 can decode into Left, Right, Center, and Surround (monaurial rear) channels.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Most TV shows use the surround channels for a laugh track and/or music. Most of the Dialog is in the center only.

Before I build a center channel speaker, I listened in Phantom mode and got the stereo effect in the front. After I put the center in, I was also a little dissappointed to hear how little sound goes to the other speakers. I sometimes go back to phantom, but not too often now.

For music, I use 3-stereo because the center has a deeper bottom ~50hz than my mains, which don't go deep at all. I don't have a sub, yet.

By all means use your extra speakers as surrounds, then play a DVD in true DD or DTS 5.1. You won't go back.

Thanks for the advice. Matthew Hill, I had turned the sub and surrounds to "off" so of course don't get the back channel lights.

As to the other, after listening to a bunch of stuff I'm thinking that "Natural" is probably the best setting for most things with only a 3 speaker setup.

However, those Sony bookshelfs will be taking up surround duties come this weekend so the point will be moot.

Let us know how things turn out with the cheap Sony speakers in the rear. I'd guess your requirement for fidelity in those speakers woudln't be as high, for mostly laugh tracks and explosions and stuff. I'd like to know how it ends up sounding, though.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Along this same thread, I have Optimus Pro77
speakers for my surrounds. They are a two-way, w/4" woofer. I am actually very pleased with their performance for this duty. I have NHT superones and a supercenter up front. I was thinking of having superzeros in back, but now am thinking that I am quite satisfied as it is. The 1050 made the Optimus speakers sound *better*.
Good luck - just thought I would put in my .02.

I use the Optimus Pro 7AV for surrounds and cant believe they sound that good. They work because of the lack of room I have. I like to build my own speakers ( drives my wife nuts). So the small white speakers that blend in with the ceiling work for her.