New 950 Owner Question

Greetings Outlaw Owners. I'm a longtime reader on this forum and I post today as a new 950 Owner...well it will be here tomorrow..(close enough). Tried to get a head start by printing the Manual already.

Couldn't swing the Amp yet so I have to settle using my Pioneer ELITE VSX-21 for power (80 x 5). Are there any special considerations (i.e. connections & settings) when matching a 950 with another receiver just for power? Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts/comments on this.

Well, it's got a six-channel analog input, so you'll be connecting to that for the five speakers. I'd set any speaker delay or trim settings on the Pioneer to 0, so the 950 is the only one taking care of such things. You'll probably need to putter with it a bit to find a volume setting on the Pioneer that works for you, since the 950 will be responsible for volume now. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

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

Thanks Gonk. You basically read my mind. I know I wasn't very specific above but I was thinking about delay & volume settings on the Pioneer and how they may impact sound if not set to 0.

As far as LFE output..I assume I should use the 950 and not the pioneer..right?

Yep, you've got it. I'd connect your sub directly to the 950.

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

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited November 11, 2003).]

D.Rowe,
I am in the same boat as you.
I just ordered a 950 and am going to use my receiver as the amp for a while.
Fortunatly my receiver has preout/main in jacks, using the main in jacks bypasses ALL the receiver functions except the amps.
Meaning no volume, no delays, no nothing.

If your receiver has these main in jacks you might want to use those instead.

I don't think my Pioneer has any inputs that allow me to bypass all that stuff(volume,delays,etc.)...although I am double checking since my 950 arrives today. What receiver are you using as an Amp for your 950?

I guess the next best thing is to set all delays, speaker distances, sound level settings to 0 on the Pioneer, as Gonk suggests above. In addition... I am planning on setting the SUBWOOFER to 'OFF' and setting all 5 speakers on the Pioneer to LARGE so that crossovers don't come into play. ( I assume they would if any speakers were set to SMALL on my Pioneer)

On the 950 my fronts will be set to LARGE...(no sub yet) and my center and rears will be set to SMALL (not sure where I'll be setting x-over yet...probably 60Hz or 80Hz.

Not my ideal situation here but no choice until I can afford an Outlaw Amp. Shouldn't be too long of a wait. In the meantime my wife keeps asking why we need 2 receivers in our Home Theater ?

I looked a little bit at specs for your Pioneer receiver, and also didn't see any sign of a set of mains inputs. Your idea of setting all speakers to "large" and the sub to "off" is probably worth doing, although typically the bass management isn't applied to the multichannel analog input that you'll be using -- the bass management is handled digitally, whereas the multichannel input is left analog all the way through.

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

Gonk..thanks so much for taking a peek at the inputs on my Pioneer. Hoping I can get all the 950 settings right tonight when I hook it all up. I guess the Master Volume setting on the Pioneer is an unknown too.

No problem. As for the receiver's volume, that'll be trial and error. I'd probably start with the knob in somewhere around the 10-o'clock or 11-o'clock position, but you'll definitely want to experiment a bit with it.

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

D.Rowe, I am using a Marantz SR-96.
At the time I bought it it was their top of the line receiver.
I know currently there are very few receivers that have main in's but it use to be more common.

As for your volume dilema I would probably set the 950 to 0db and start the test tones, then raise the volume on your pioneer until you are about the 75 db spec on an SPL meter.
Set your individual speaker volumes on the 950 from there.

Definatly take a pencil and mark the pioneer's volume in case it get moved by accident.

Got my tracking number today so now I'm just waiting to rip my whole system apart

Gonk...you are just too

950 arrived yesterday..4:39pm. Met UPS guy @ my front door with a big smile as he handed me the box. My 2 year old son and 3 year old yellow lab helped me open the box.

I was able to make the connections from the 950 to my Pioneer, speaker setings, and x-over's but not enough time to calibrate individual speaker levels with SPL or set speaker distances.

Got positive feedback from the wife watching T3 even with volume down. (son was sleeping)
Hoping to complete initial set up tonight and then the fun really begins.

Question on "Channel Trim"....do people use this ? Seems like a nice function. I'm worried that I will always be questioning if I should make a minor adjustment to Trim settings each time we watch a movie.

Qyv10....thanks for your feedback and thoughts. I like the pencil idea to mark the Pioneer volume level. Enjoy putting it all back together when your 950 arrives. Enjoy.

I thought the exact same thing...I'm a fiddler However, I almost never touch the trims. The only time I've used it is to adjust the subwoofer if I feel a movie's LFE channel is too hot/low. I think I've done it twice in the 2 months I've owned the 950.

-Joe


------------------
Remember the Intellivision?
http://www.gotmaille.com/nostalgia/

Channel trim is very useful during setup, but I generally don't revisit it unless something has changed. Ideally, you'll want to pick up a sound meter at Radio Shack (analog meter sells for $30 or so, but at the moment they are only listing the digital meter on their site) and use that to set all of the channels to the same level. Qyv10's idea for setting the volume on the Pioneer was quite good, but will also require a sound meter. The 950's manual discusses using a meter some on page 27 (including the settings to use -- Slow and "C" weighting). By holding the meter in the listening position, tilted up more or less upright, you should first set the 950's volume to 00 and go to the channel trim for the left or right main (leaving it at 0), then adjust the volume on the Pioneer until the meter reads 75dB -- that's the position to leave the Pioneer's volume at. Then use the 950's tones and the 950's trim settings to make each other speaker read 75dB. This way, you don't have to second-guess yourself while watching movies.

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

The only difference between your and my day is my 5 year old and cat helped me, and we did our initial listening with YES The Ladder The only downside to my experience is I only listened to a couple tunes, and errands kept me away the rest of the evening.Now I'm at work

Thanks to all for the feedback, thoughts, and ideas thus far. It's awesome knowing that I can maximize the performance of my 950 thanks to this Forum. Best part is..this is just the begining...

RayBan...always a challenge to tweak once the family gets started (and the dog). I often find myself doing it at ridiculous hours.

I've got new rears (Definitive Technology BPX's) arriving before the end of the month..so this will require another round of re-calibration, etc.

I agree with your sentiment, VADER, and it's worth reminding us as we go through this exercise of pairing 950 to receiver. But...



Sometimes budget dictates timing, and in D.Rowe's case (as he stated in his original post) the amp will have to follow later. In the meanwhile, though, we've got him on track to enjoy his 950 as much as possible. From the initial feedback, it sounds like the 950 has been well received (positive feedback from his wife) even with the amplification being handled by the receiver. When the Pioneer gets to retire and surrender its spot to an amp, it will be yet another improvement.

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

D.Rowe, soooooo what's the word?

Have you noticed big improvements?

I'm getting antsy.
Mine is suppose to arrive monday.

I want it NOOOWWWWW

Now that's not entirely true, Vader. I'm a big believer in headroom, but not only do we have the principle of diminishing returns, there is a point of *no* returns. Why have 1000 w/ch when your transient peak is only 300?

It's not that 85 w/ch RMS is too little (unless you're driving Bose or Magnepan), it's that receiver amps have little in the way of current reserves, and generally sound cheap.

Power isn't the end-all ... unless you're into annoying rice boomers.



[This message has been edited by DMF (edited November 13, 2003).]

If I am lucky and win my Fantasy Football League this year I will have some extra $$$$ but will be faced with a big decision. Do I purchase a 755 or a sub (SVS)? Both will provide improvements to my current setup.

Qyv10...I'm 90% done with initial setup. Did speaker distances and channel calibration using SPL Meter. Popped in 'Finding Nemo' for my little guy and he's what we picked up on. Bass sounds tighter in my Def Tech BP2006's ( I actually turned up the sub volume on these). They are set to LARGE so I beleive they are also getting LFE material too as well as anything the center and rears can't handle. Our center channel, CLR2300, has never sounded so good. Voices on Finding Nemo sounded like the fish were swimming in our basement...more detailed and crisper v.s. my Pioneer. Bass also tighter since the CLR2300 has a built in sub too. I have it set to SMALL and crosssed @ 60Hz. May try 40Hz just to see. Rears seemed to explode with much more details v.s. my Pioneer. Using Boston Acoustic CR7's set to SMALL and crossed @ 80Hz. Overall...both my wife & feel like we heard so much more detail compared to the Pioneer. LOTR, TTT on on the calendar this weekend for viewing.

If the sub is set to "off" then the mains (which must be set to large when the sub's off, I believe) will get the LFE channel and bass from small speakers. If the sub's on when the mains are set to large, then the mains get only their signal.

Glad to hear the 950's working out for you.

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

There is some truth to what Vader says, but often what is quality sound may be hard to separate from how an amplifier 'sounds' vs. 'outright power'.
Obviously, some less efficient systems can take full advantage of more power (ie; headroom) for those peaks, but having that reserve available from what is also a fine sounding amp is the only way to go.

My plan is to mate my 950 with a 755...and it's not even an 'if'..it's just a matter on when. That leads me to my next question which I will post in the 755 Forum. I'm curious to know if there are any 950/755 owners using Definitive Technology speakers?
I've heard that Def Tech's enjoy the additional power.

Actually..I posted it in the "Your System Saloon" Forum.

Qyv10..did your 950 arrive today ? Let us know what you think once you get all hooked up?

D.

D, just got it today about 11.
So I spent about about 2 hours hooking up & calibration.

I use an HTPC for my DVD, Music (juke & CD player) & video scaler.

I use to use the HTPC for Circle Surround II audio for my Tivo and the music.

I think DPL2 music sounds better, CSII is more subtle. I like the panarama, width of DPL2.

DPL2 Cinema seems about the same so far but haven't listened that much yet.

The strange thing is DD, it seems to have better steering then my old DD decoder.
And does have better sound, more detailed and more sound stage.

Overall I'd say it sounds quite a bit better then my receiver.

I don't listen to stereo hardly at all so can't compare that.

Have to go play now

Hello...
I just got my 950 unit and i was wondering if there is anybody here who knows how to hookup an AUDIGY2 ZX to the 950. I am having major issues, i just need step by step connection walk through.
thanks
newbeginnings.






------------------
Newbeginnings

I looked at the manual for the Audigy 2 ZS online. If you have one of the drive units (Platinum or Platinum Pro), then you've got an optical digital output that would be the easiest way to connect it to the 950 -- connect that output to one of the 950's optical inputs and assign that input to the source you want to use for the PC. If you only have the card, you need an adapter or special cable (listed as "3.50 mm (1/8-inch) mono-to-RCA cable (available separately)" in the manual) to connect the digital out mini-plug to a coaxial digital input on the 950. I looked around SoundBlaster's site, but couldn't find the cable listed there.

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

As far as I know that cable Gonk is talking about is for use on Soundblaster speakers only. It is a proprietary 5 or 6 pin wire.
I think the only way you can use the Audigy is with the analog cables or one of the drive units.

If you don't do any gaming I would suggest, if you can, return the audigy and get an Maudio sound card. They sound alot better and are not too expensive.

Hope this helps

Actually, the manual referred to the cable in conjunction with a receiver -- it is a standard digital output and should be compatible with the 950 or any other surround processor. I just don't know where you might track one down.

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