My wife is about to chunk the HT system out the window and get one of those DVD-TV all-in-one combo units.

I understand her frustration -- it's still too difficult "as a system" to easily transition from watching TV, to recording a show via VHS, to playing a CD, to listening to FM stereo. How I wish the AVR could "detect" the source and adjust the outputs accordingly, that is, she puts in a CD and the controller automatically configures to "Stereo" mode. She puts in a DVD, it adjusts to DVD DolbyDigital mode. She puts in a VHS, it switches over to VHS/Pro-logic mode.

Additionally, for all the hours and hours of research, setup and configuring, the system sounds wierdly muffled. I have a Denon 3300AVR with Monitor Audio Silver3 front LR speakers, the corresponding MA center and bi-directional surrounds. I think the disappointing sound quality is the last straw for her. "My old $120 Sony receiver and BOSE 301s have more life in them! Please let me take them out of the attic" I don't know if the MA speakers are hard to drive or I have a bum AVR, I have to admit it's not impressive, especially playing a CD.

So I figure I have a month to SIMPLIFY the system and make it sound a little better.

For simplicity:
I'm pretty sure I will get the either the DISH Network PVR or a TIVO -- that will get the damn (composite video) VCR out of the loop and standardize ALL components on S-Video. That will reduce the complexity alot (right?) A friend told me about a Phillips Remote Control that looks like a Palm and handles macros very well -- can replace all the other remotes and program macros. In terms of easy operation and layout, how is the 950? Any other suggestions for sharing a system with the spouse?

The wierd slightly muffled sound:
No matter how 'loud' it gets, it sounds repressed, like there's a thin wall in front of the speakers. I'm wondering whether to replace the Denon, or get a seperate AMP to work along side the Denon (bypassing the Denon's amp section). Or maybe replace the MA speakers with more efficient speakers?

I can't spend a lot of time on this like I did the first time around. Hell -- I'm almost ready to rip it all out and give the combo unit with a red ribbon on top to make her happy. As you can tell -- I'm kinda frustrated with it also. Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Wow, If you lived next door, I'd suggest whipping up a pitcher or margaritas and let's both go through this thing piece by piece. That not being the case (I'll have to drink the pitcher myself) I would suggest that you go through the manual to see if you have set the crossovers properly and that your subwoofer is working correctly (if you have one hooked up). Barring the unlikely problem that the tweeters in your speakers are blown, about the only thing I can think of is perhaps you have your speakers placed in non-ideal locations, with objects in their path which are absorbing the sound. The sound of Bose speakers in my experience has been very much on the bright side, so is it possible that she's used to that sound? This is a very difficult problem to diagnose by distance.

As for the operational problems of the equipment by your wife, I've never been able to figure that one out, except for the time I jettisoned the wife and kept the equipment If you're not ready to do that, perhaps creating a "cheat sheet" that's kept by the receiver with the necessary steps for each program source might help. I've also seen setups with colored dots next to the input and setup buttons that were color coded for each source.

Hope this is of some help!

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The Soundhound Theater

What I did was get the Unversal Remote Home Theater Master MX 500 mega remote, program everything into that including macros to switch inputs etc for your individual usage, and then gave her a little tutorial on how to use it. That's the best hundred bucks I ever spent.

Mr D, Do you have an SPL meter? (did you calibrate?) When I went to separates...and not being born with the handbook, - the first two weeks my husband and I did the same, looked at each other and said…"it’s vastly underwheming, the old PL sounded better". Being my first time around the block setting up a system I don’t even know what all I changed. But one of ‘leaps’ to "Okay….something’s not wrong anymore, now it sounds like a system!. Was calibrating the speakers, incrediable the diffrence this can sometimes make.

Are your speakers a 4 ohm load? The 3300 is reputedly not a good match for 4 ohms. If your using the SPM’s with your CD playback try 5 channel stereo, a reviewer said skip the DSP modes on CD’s. And I believe it was commented that in certain modes it could be lacking in mids and base. (giving you that muffled effect although that usually I notice what I think of as (muffle) when my highs are out of whack. (pulled back). Lastly what DVD player are you using there was some issue with pioneer branded players as regards (?-something) in combination with this AVR. I’ll try to look up what review I read on it that mentioned these topics.


As far as the WAF factor, my best advice is to buy a learning remote, tell her your busy…give her the instructions and ask her to try and program just one thing. (Beg her too for you…she’ll have to read the instructions she’ll get one down, do the next one….one thing leads to another. You be surprised how wife’s can tend to ‘take over’ if they get just one of these things they never cared for under their belts. I was so shocked when I was the only one who could run our touchscreen remote (because I programmed it) that it led to bigger and better things. (WATCH OUT- its easy to create a monster)


[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited March 04, 2003).]

If ease of use is paramount I HIGHLY recommend the TiVo over the ReplayTV. My wife and I have owned both of them and prefer the interface on the TiVo by a WIDE margin. My wife LOVES TiVo.

That repressed (distant? thin?) may be a symptom of having some of the speakers out-of-phase. Since this seems to be most of a problem with CD in stereo I suspect that your left and right main speakers may be wired out-of-phase. Check the speaker connections and make sure The + and - (red and white or red and black) wires are connected to the correct terminals both at the receiver end and at the speaker end. Unless your speakers are incredibly hard to drive the Denon should at least be able to make them sound better than the Bose 301's.

In terms of getting the best possible sound out of your system, Soundhound's and Smart Little Lena's posts are definitely a good start.

As for the "simplicity and 950" issue, it is a bit intimidating but I think we've had good luck with our setup. My wife uses the system mainly for watching TV (digital cable) and some DVD watching. I have all of my video sources in s-video, so the 950's switching takes care of everything -- the only command that goes to the TV is power on/off. One thing I did was create two macros on the 950's remote (which I am using to control everything): "M1" on the 950's remote turns in the 950, TV, and digital cable box and puts the remote and 950 in the "CBL" (video3) mode. "M2" turns all three devices off. We leave the digital cable in Pro Logic II (the 950 will remember the last processing mode used for each input). The CD player is on whenever the system is on (it actually used to always be on, as there is no remote power command for it, but not it is on a switched outlet on a Panamax MAX5100) -- all you have to do is select the "CD" button on the 950 and you are ready to go (in stereo mode). If she wants to watch a DVD, she uses the "M1" to get the system on, pops a disc in the DVD player, and hits the "DVD" button on the 950's remote. If I use the DVD player as a CD transport, I have two macros -- one to switch to the 950's 6-channel analog input (for DVD-Audio) and one to switch to the AUX2 input (which is set to use the DVD player's digital input, but is left in "stereo" rather than surround processing -- easier than toggling out of surround mode and then having to get back into surround the next time a disc is watched). If we use the VCR (rarely), that input is set up for Pro Logic II, and since it is an S-VHS VCR it's using s-video inputs, so I don't even have to use the 950's composite to s-video conversion.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Whipping up a pitcher of 'ritas sounds like a great start.

I have checked the obvious things like phasing, crossover, speaker connections etc. The room is very difficult -- a rectangle where the system is on the short side. The electronics are on the left side of the fireplace, the TV is on the right. Until I get the greenlight to hire a cabinet maker, there is no way to put everything on one side. The 12g speaker wire runs through the mantle -- measures approx 10 ft. The front LR speakers are wall mounted using nice mounts, about 6 feet apart. This speaker placement is the best I've found to date. No sub at this time.

Little Lena wrote:
"Lastly what DVD player are you using there was some issue with pioneer branded players as regards (?-something) in combination with this AVR. I’ll try to look up what review I read on it that mentioned these topics."

Wow. As a matter of fact, I have the Pioneer Elite DV-05. I never in a million years would have guessed that could be the problem -- any info you have on that would be most appreciated.

Also -- I have not calibrated with a SPL meter, I'll give it a try this next time around. The MA speakers are supposed to be 8 ohms -- I have an elcheapo ohm meter. Do you get a accurate reading by holding the leads on the speaker poles?

I'll look up this programmable remote. Good idea about her programming it. She has mastered programming the superdeluxe thermostat -- I won't touch the thing now.

Any comments on the 950? Any opinions where I should start first, that is, replace the AVR or the speakers?

Thanks for the replies, it's great to be discussing this with folks who appreciate this kind of stuff.

Dear Mr. D. Since you asked …otherwise I would not mess in your business, I feel strongly there is a ‘different’ best sound for each of our custom equipped auditory canals, we HAVE to individually choose. . If the Denon is still under return date, I would consider moving to possibly the 950/7100 combo at 1700 (?) I feel (not having heard the 7100, - I have the 770). That the Outlaw combo with the 100watt separate amp will outperform many receivers with built-in power rated at higher watts. If this is even feasibly in budget. I looked up your speakers if I’m in the correct model range they appear to be 87 senst which could benefit from the additional power a sep amp could provide. 8ohms. Upper mids a little forward, and upper base lower mids a little lean, suggested placement close to walls particularly without the addition of a sub to help beef up the bass. They are metal cone/domed. If you demoed a 950, one tweak with this particular set of speakers you might play with the treble trim pulled back one or two notches. If no children are in residence, these models are supposed to benefit greatly by removing speaker grill.

If budget, time, spouse is willing, I would demo the 950/7100 combo begging your wife’s' patience for another round of settling in for a couple of weeks. Its a lot of pulling hair but the end result can be so rewarding. Or better yet, with that sens on those speakers, - the 770, or start with the 5-channel 755. Then prioritize saving for speakers next, (if you decide any others are desirable) and take your time demoning possibilities there (and read all you can) for the next year. You may find the speakers when matched with the correct receiver or pre combo, are just what you want to hear. I have a feeling the 950, is going to make your silvers sound much better than the Denon is capable of delivering. I notice in a couple of reviews the lower mids are listed lean on these speakers and similarly the lower mids on the 3300, thereby placing the mix of (these two) weak points in the same frequency range, (one is not helping the other) It (could be) these two (speakers/AVR) together may not be your most optimum blend. However that’s just my ‘feeling/assumption’ nothing applies till you demo for yourself and your wife’s ears.

You’re a lucky dog, you know how when you surf you get lost through convoluted links, or you type the ‘keyword’ a hair differently and get different hits. I found the article in question on the denon. Now the Pioneer issue was not as I remember it, the ‘problem’ my brain teased me with is only that you need a pioneer with this AVR to get 96kHz performance out of it, just check your settings to see that your in the two modes which can provide 96kHz, when this apples.
“ Provided you have a Pioneer DVD player, the AVR-3300 can accept PCM sample rates of up to 96kHz and word lengths of 24-bit, but only in the Direct and 5CH Stereo modes and by bypassing all bass management. It's also easy to drop back to the analogue inputs for a particular source”.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbenc...nAVR-3300.shtml

JMAMS! be sure and ply your wife with SH's most excelent margeritas, before sitting down to talk it over!


[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited March 04, 2003).]

PS, Mr D, are you running a 950 currently through your AVR builtin amps? I may be mixed up on your setup currently. I assumed your running only the 3300 with these speakers. If your using the 3300 to power the 950. I would suggest a sep amp purchasefirst.