OK, I've just finished wiring my stuff together and...nothing shows up on my old tv to program the 950. I'm running a (yellow) composite cord from Output (#16 in the manual) to the (yellow) input of my tv. I'm also running cable into the 75 ohm pin input on the tv. As far as I can tell, there's no way to switch the tv to the composite input. Result? No on-screen display. Any ideas, gang? Shouldn't there be some sort of hard or software switch to a/v inputs? Is that the problem? (BTW, Channel 2-3 are cable channels. Is that relevant?)

Jay

There has to be a way to change the input on the TV. I don't believe it has anything to do with the 950.

Look for an "input" or "video" button on your TV remote. Worst case? Read the manual.

I agree with Kevin here -- if you can't scroll down from channel 2 to the composite line input, then there should be a button on the remote to switch to that input. My Mitsubishi set does both, I believe, but the only way to get to the inputs on the Toshiba in the bedroom is to use an input button, which I think had a somewhat cryptic label on the remote.

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

I had a "duh" moment when I realized that Channel 00 was the a/v input after messing for hours. Thanks, guys!

Now here's dumb question #2. The 950 is factory set for 7.1. I'm currently using 5 large speakers only, w/o a sub (anxiously awaiting the Outlaw sub.) The manual mentions being able to change the default to 5.1 but, for the life of me I can't find the directions.

I hope you don't mind escorting me through the process. What most young people grasp instantly takes me hours. I'm 51 but open to new things like home theaters!

Jay

If you have five speakers and no sub, you will want to go into the speaker config menu (p. 22 of the manual). With five full-range speakers, the settings would be:

FRONT: LARGE
CENTER: LARGE
SURR: LARGE
SURR REAR: NONE
SUBWOOFER: OFF

By setting the surround rears to none, that tells the 950 to disregard 7.1 options -- you will not be able to select Cirrus Extra Surround modes or Stereo 7. The crossover points (which default to 100Hz) wouldn't matter, since everything is "large".

I had a similar setup to yours when I first got my 950 (no sub, six speakers -- one a surround rear channel). I had the mains only set to large and crossed over low frequency from the center and surrounds to the mains; if your surrounds and center don't go as low as your mains (which is the case with many, many systems), I'd recommend doing this in your case. Instead of the settings above, you would want to set the center and surround to "SMALL" and adjust the crossover points for those to something that matched those speakers (80Hz or 100Hz are common settings).

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

You know, Gonk, sometimes the most obvious thing staring me in the face I miss. When I set the Surr speakers to "None" the menu wouldn't allow me to set the Surr Back to anything other than "None." It never occurred to me that the setup was as you said.
OTOH, the manual never reads, "To set 5.1, do the following...."
Watch out. Dumb question #3 is brewing!

Jay

Here's the 3rd question! I use a Pioneer DV-45A player. It plays dvd, dvd-a, sacd, cd, mpg, etc. I've got the Coaxial output hooked to the 950 coax 1 input AND I've got the 5.1 analogue outs hooked into the corresponding ins on the 950.
My question is: I can watch and listen to dvd's in perfect 5.1 but, I can't listen to sacd's or dvd-a's. I bet I don't have the inputs configured correctly. To watch/listen to dvd's I press V1, btw.
What am I doing wrong? How does one hook up a "combo" player? I've even resorted to reading the manual (LOL) but, to no avail!

Thank you in advance for explaining what is probably incredibly obvious to you!

Jay

PS I was able to tune the system using the Avia disc, the RS meter, and a tape measure so I'm not a complete wuss! There are some things the manual just doesn't explain.

As you may already know, DVD-Audio and SACD can not be output digitally due to copy-protection concerns from RIAA (well, they can, but they get down-converted, defeating much of the purpose of both formats). Therefore your coax digital output will work very nicely on DVD's Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, but you don't want to use it for DVD-A and SACD. You want to use the 5.1 analog in for that, which you have already got hooked up. The trick is switching to that input, labeled "6 CH" on the 950's remote.

The real trick here is controlling your player and switching to that input. You have to press "950" (AUD) to switch to the 950 controls, then "6 CH" to get the right input (which conveniently leaves the 950's video switching on the last video input used, in your case "V1", so you can still navigate the menus if necessary), then "V1" to go back to controlling your player (assuming you are using the 950's remote to control everything). As soon as you press "V1", though, the 950 switches back to that input for video and audio unless you cover the front of the remote with your hand. Solution: a macro. Before I picked up an MX-500 recently (very cool remote, by the way), I had a macro programmed into the M4 button that switched to the 6 CH input so that I could listen to DVD-Audio discs without hassle. Page 39 of the manual talks about macros, but basically all it does is send the "6 CH" button without changing devices on the remote.

There is one trick to the macros that is better described in the SL-9000 manual than the 950's manual. If I remember correctly, the macro buttons can each store two commands -- one accessible from the top row of devices (950, CD, DVD, and AUX) and one accessible from the bottom row of devices (SAT, TV, VCR, and CBL). To create a "6 CH" macro that will work for the CD, DVD, and AUX devices, follow the instructions in the manual. Press "AUD" and "MUTE" simultaneously; press "M4" or whatever other macro button you want to program, press "AUD/950", press "6 CH", and press "CHANNEL UP" to store the macro. To create the same macro but have it accessible from the SAT/V1 device (your scenario), I think that you will need to replace the first step ("AUD" and "MUTE") with "SAT" and "MUTE"; the other steps would be identical. So if the procedure in the manual and my first example doesn't work for you, you might try the second example.

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

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited July 02, 2003).]