Home theatre noob questions

[spoony77]

Hi people
I've just made my first foray into home theatre and purchased my very first amp and a 5.1 speaker package.
I have a few questions for people who will know far more than me after I've encountered a couple of unexpected issues.
So I've got all my device plugged into the amp via HDMI and the amp attached to the TV via arc hdmi.
The TV speakers still work when the amp is off and then switch to the 5.1 when I turn on the amp. This is the functionality I expected.
However my devices aren't working like this and will only work via the amp and 5.1 - I was hoping to still be able to use the TV speakers when I'm not watching films etc....
The devices in question are my HTPC (a windows pc running Kodi) and my Wii u. So is there a setting somewhere I need to change either in settings for the amp or the pc/Wii u to automatically just use the TV's speakers when my amp is off?
Also as good as it sounds in full 5.1 I've realised that a lot of a film just uses the centre speaker for dialogue and this if anything sounds less impressive than the TV's speakers (until the music or effects kick in and use all the other speakers) is there a way of utilising at least the the front 2 satellites and woofer for more of the film?
Hope this ramble makes sense!
Cheers

 

[Jaswan]

Hi,

Your first issue is that you need to enable hdmi pass through, so that the signal is still passed from the device to the TV when your receiver is in standby mode. Have a look in your manual or through the settings menu to enable it.

Secondly, the center speaker is one of, if not the most important part of a surround set up and where you should focus a good part of your budget imo.

Jase.

 

[5punk3monk3y]

What model AVR have you got?

To enhance the surround you could try using the various "cinema" modes on the AVR, Sony use multi dimensional surround (or they did on my old AVR) my current Denon AVR has Audyssey surround settings to enhance the 5.1 experience for example.

 

[spoony77]

Thanks for the reply guys.
Regarding hdmi passthrough on the amp - I believe this is already on, as the picture passes through fine with the amp off and even the audio on one of my devices passes through( a cheapo now TV box) I just cant audio from the htpc or the Wii u without the amp being on.....
The amp is a marantz new model I believe it's the nr1509 and it mentions audyssey but still seems to just use the centre mainly....

 

[dowie]

Also as good as it sounds in full 5.1 I've realised that a lot of a film just uses the centre speaker for dialogue and this if anything sounds less impressive than the TV's speakers (until the music or effects kick in and use all the other speakers) is there a way of utilising at least the the front 2 satellites and woofer for more of the film?
Hope this ramble makes sense!
Cheers

Well you could try ditching the centre speaker, it can work in a small room, I guess sound is somewhat subjective too so if you prefer that then....

Generally the centre speaker is pretty important as it does, as you've observed, handle a lot of the sound - the main dialogue etc... I wonder if some of these all in one 5.1 speaker packages are a bit sub optimal and don't give you a very good centre.

 

[5punk3monk3y]

Thanks for the reply guys.
Regarding hdmi passthrough on the amp - I believe this is already on, as the picture passes through fine with the amp off and even the audio on one of my devices passes through( a cheapo now TV box) I just cant audio from the htpc or the Wii u without the amp being on.....
The amp is a marantz new model I believe it's the nr1509 and it mentions audyssey but still seems to just use the centre mainly....

Did you run the auto configuration with the supplied microphone (I assume that model came with it ) that *should* balance the speakers for the room, I believe there are 8 tests and the avr tells you were to place the microphone it worked well for me allbeit the surrounds were a little loud for my liking so turned them down a bit.

 

[lucid]

The answer isn't just having pass-through enabled, but in the way that pass-through works on that amp.


With the NR1509, you have two options on how to set pass-through. It can either be always one fixed source (useful if someone's main activity is watching Sky for example), or last used. This means that the last active source when the amp was on is the one that gets passed to the TV when the amp is in standby.

In order to watch and listen to another source via your TV speakers, you may need to switch the amp on, change inputs, then put the amp back in to standby. (See page 136 of your amp manual about this.)

Some AV receivers have the ability to change source without the need to come out of standby. Make sure to change to last used, then try selecting one of the other AV inputs with the amp remote during standby to see if yours can do that.

 

[spoony77]

Great replies thanks again.
I did run the test with the mic when I first purchased it. I have noticed now that this test has turned my centre down significantly though so that might be the reason I'm a bit underwhelmed by the centre so will ignore the test and whack the centre up a bit.....
Regarding the 'last used' setting I'm definitely going to look into this when I get home but I haven't heard my HTPC come through my tvs speakers once since I had the amp no matter which source I use first or last or switch to, I thought it might be a Kodi setting but I've tried every audio output setting on there and it still only works through my amp.

 

[5punk3monk3y]

My AVR has the same pass through setup, priority or last used. I have set it to pass through Sky only however the AVR is always on and built in to my harmony programmes.

 

[lucid]

I did run the test with the mic when I first purchased it. I have noticed now that this test has turned my centre down significantly though so that might be the reason I'm a bit underwhelmed by the centre so will ignore the test and whack the centre up a bit.....

The mics and auto set-up wizards are not infallible. Compared to someone with no knowledge and no tools trying (and often failing) to set up their amp from new, the wizard gets close enough with a far higher success rate. That means fewer people returning amps or dissing a manufacturer online because of their own lack of knowledge. That's a good thing, but it doesn't mean that the setup can't be improved upon where someone is willing to put in the effort.

Now we have smart phones there's less of a chance of having the "I haven't got a sound meter" problem. There are sound meter apps available for iOS and Android devices. The other tool is a tape measure. Yes, that's all that's really required. That, and a bit of time to get familiar with how the test tones and distance adjustments work on the receiver. It's useful to have a helper when doing the distance measurements.

There are two parts to a manual setup. There's the distance measurements; these tell the amp how much delay to use for each speaker to compensate for the speed of sound in air. Then there's the audio level which is a combination of the efficiency of each speaker plus the effect of sound dissipation over distance.

When you come to do the settings themselves you'll choose the measurement units and steps. You want Metres and 0.01. That will give you the finest and most precise adjustment steps. You'll be making adjustments in 1cm increments. Now pick a point to measure from that represents your ear height and seated position. Measure to the tweeter of each speaker, and dial in the distances. For the sub you'll be measuring to the mid point of the bass cone.

Next, set all the speaker levels back to 0dB. Front left will be your reference. That one stays at 0dB. Play the test tone and use the receiver's main volume control to get a sound level to 80-85dB. Hold the meter at the same position that you measured from. What ever number you hit with front left is your target for the remaining four surround speakers.

When you come to measure the sub the meter reading will be all over the place. Dial the sub level down. You're better off bringing this in by ear. Play some music with moderate bass. Bring the sub level up to the point where the sub is making a contribution without booming out.

Coming back to the centre speaker, you might see the centre set much lower by the amp's wizard if the centre is a lot more efficient than the other surround speakers, or if the mic position is sitting at a point where one frequency is overly loud due to constructive interference. Setting the level manually allows you to work around this.

I haven't heard my HTPC come through my tvs speakers once since I had the amp no matter which source I use first or last or switch to, I thought it might be a Kodi setting but I've tried every audio output setting on there and it still only works through my amp.

PCs are a pain for this. If you're driving the system from a HDMI out then the issue is the HDCP handshake isn't renewing the lease after the amp goes to standby. As a test, try unplugging the HDMI lead at either the amp end or the PC. Remake the connection to force the HDMI to do a new handshake.

 

[5punk3monk3y]

Good shout lucid, I used to do the tape measure set up years ago before the days of smartphones to varying results, I'll give the spl setup using a smartphone a go tomorrow and see how it compares to auto setup