Getting the best from my new system (Dali Speakers and a Denon Amp)

[admin_exported]

Hi Everyone, after some great advice here and in my local sevenoaks Hifi I'm now the proud owner of :

Denon AVR-3808a

Dali Suite 2.8 front's

Dali Lektor 2 rears

A Dali Blue C1000 front

As we were nearing my budget and was advised not to compromise - I have borrowed my friends 10 year old paradigm Sub (size of a table, in fact we are using it as such) until I fancy spending #500 on a good sub.

Also about #280 worth of speaker cables with enough to Bi-Amp the front

All in I think I spent 2,300.

What I am really looking for is some advice about how to best set the whole system up, I'm mainly going to be playing MP3's off my network via my PS3, games on the PS3, Blu Rays (also PS3!), some upscaled DVDs from a samsung machine and TV from my Virgin V+ box.

Are there any settings you would recommend? Any tips you can pass on? Any help appreciated as I'm going from a 7 year old, 220 quid system from Richer Sounds 🙂

Thanks for any help or comments 🙂

(Oh BTW, the amp hasn't arrived yet and I'm using a very old cambridge amp with crappy old cable and a 128kbps MP3 I played through these Dali's sounded the best I have *ever* heard the prodigy, I am blown away by these things and expecting them to get better with the new amp!)

 

[d4v3pum4]

A good start would be to have a read of THIS. The manuals can be daunting but if that guide is slightly more simplified. Take your time, run the autosetup, keep your cables tidy, fitting banana plugs to the speaker cables is a good idea but not compulsory. Assign your inputs and rename them if necessary. There are various guides around for calibrating and setting up subwoofers, so I would suggest having a read of those. Don't forget there is a video guide on the WHF main page for setting up AV Receivers which should give some pointers too. Once setup, enjoy but remember you can make manual adjustments if you feel it can be improved and if you ever change the room layout or add/remove furniture etc. run the auto setup again.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Tetsugaku:
Hi Everyone, after some great advice here and in my local sevenoaks Hifi I'm now the proud owner of :

Denon AVR-3808a

Dali Suite 2.8 front's

Dali Lektor 2 rears

A Dali Blue C1000 front

As we were nearing my budget and was advised not to compromise - I have borrowed my friends 10 year old paradigm Sub (size of a table, in fact we are using it as such) until I fancy spending #500 on a good sub.

Also about #280 worth of speaker cables with enough to Bi-Amp the front

All in I think I spent 2,300.

What I am really looking for is some advice about how to best set the whole system up, I'm mainly going to be playing MP3's off my network via my PS3, games on the PS3, Blu Rays (also PS3!), some upscaled DVDs from a samsung machine and TV from my Virgin V+ box.

Are there any settings you would recommend? Any tips you can pass on? Any help appreciated as I'm going from a 7 year old, 220 quid system from Richer Sounds 🙂

Thanks for any help or comments 🙂

(Oh BTW, the amp hasn't arrived yet and I'm using a very old cambridge amp with crappy old cable and a 128kbps MP3 I played through these Dali's sounded the best I have *ever* heard the prodigy, I am blown away by these things and expecting them to get better with the new amp!)

My tips would to be not to spend too much on your rear speaker cable. Get decent stuff for the front three and maybe QED micro for the rears. Your 3808 will make the music sound much better. Use the stereo mode on the amp for music (it will be called 2 channel direct/stereo mode or something similar). Use lossless files instead of mp3. Doesn't the PS3 upscale dvd ok? If so, sell the Samsung and add the profit to the sub fund. Look at the Microvee sub or if you save a bit more the RSW12.

 

[Anonymous]

Or buy a BK Monolith sub and have done with worrying about upgrading it because it'll be better than anything under a grand, for £450 odd. Direct from the maker and they make for a whole host of main label brands. Much the best value way to get an outstanding sub.

 

[Tom Moreno]

Tetsugaku:
Hi Everyone, after some great advice here and in my local sevenoaks Hifi I'm now the proud owner of :

Denon AVR-3808a

Dali Suite 2.8 front's

Dali Lektor 2 rears

A Dali Blue C1000 front

As we were nearing my budget and was advised not to compromise - I have borrowed my friends 10 year old paradigm Sub (size of a table, in fact we are using it as such) until I fancy spending #500 on a good sub.

Also about #280 worth of speaker cables with enough to Bi-Amp the front

All in I think I spent 2,300.

What I am really looking for is some advice about how to best set the whole system up, I'm mainly going to be playing MP3's off my network via my PS3, games on the PS3, Blu Rays (also PS3!), some upscaled DVDs from a samsung machine and TV from my Virgin V+ box.

Are there any settings you would recommend? Any tips you can pass on? Any help appreciated as I'm going from a 7 year old, 220 quid system from Richer Sounds 🙂

Thanks for any help or comments 🙂

(Oh BTW, the amp hasn't arrived yet and I'm using a very old cambridge amp with crappy old cable and a 128kbps MP3 I played through these Dali's sounded the best I have *ever* heard the prodigy, I am blown away by these things and expecting them to get better with the new amp!)

Well done sir,

I also own a 3808 and LOVE it, as I'm very sure you will soon enough. Here's hoping it doesn't take too long!

The Audessy works well on it and does a fine job on correcting room acoustics. Make sure to measure as many listening positions as possible. I'm moving out of a very small flat that only had enough room for 1 two-seater sofa in the front room and the difference between the settings when I measured 3 positions (both sides and middle) and 6 (doing each of the three then doing all three again) was very noticeable.

Also, do yourself a favour and get an SPL meter if you don't already have one. Preferably and analogue one like the Radio Shack one. (you can find it on Amazon.co.uk) I feel that the Audessy system does a great job but you will want to ckeck and tweak the individual channel levels after it's finished working its magic.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Will Harris:Or buy a BK Monolith sub and have done with worrying about upgrading it because it'll be better than anything under a grand, for £450 odd. Direct from the maker and they make for a whole host of main label brands. Much the best value way to get an outstanding sub.

That's a hugely sweeping statement about a huge subwoofer Will.

 

[Dave_]

Gerrardasnails:Will Harris:Or buy a BK Monolith sub and have done with worrying about upgrading it because it'll be better than anything under a grand, for £450 odd. Direct from the maker and they make for a whole host of main label brands. Much the best value way to get an outstanding sub. That's a hugely sweeping statement about a huge subwoofer Will.It truly is an outstanding sub though!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

daveh75:Gerrardasnails:Will Harris:Or buy a BK Monolith sub and have done with worrying about upgrading it because it'll be better than anything under a grand, for £450 odd. Direct from the maker and they make for a whole host of main label brands. Much the best value way to get an outstanding sub. That's a hugely sweeping statement about a huge subwoofer Will.It truly is an outstanding sub though!

I'm sure it is.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone - always good to know there is a lot of support out there for this kit, surprised Denon have to have a trnslation of their instructions however!

Controversy over this sub - why is it so good then? I always like to buy local products if I can and size doesn't boter me overly, I have a nice big front room to use now 🙂

I'm all sorted for speaker cable thankfuly, I can't recall what it is I have, QED someting for the rears and some very chunky silver-ish coloured stuff for the fronts and centre, double the ammount for the fronts so I can Bi-Amp them of course. Not sure how much difference that's going to make but I might as well do it if the amp lets me.

Any specific settings I need to change on the PS3 to make sure it's outputting the right signal to the amp?

Thanks again for all your help - hope everyone is having a good sunday! (Amp arrives Tuesday now, can;t wait)

 

[d4v3pum4]

Do a google for reviews on the sub and you'll see that it is indeed a goodun. I have an SVS myself, which I imported from the states but they are now available in the UK. They make cracking subs too.

You need to change the PS3 settings to reflect audio over HDMI and LPCM. One is in the audio/sound settings menu and the other is in the BD/DVD settings. I can't remember which is which but you should find them easily enough.

 

[Anonymous]

dalis with a warm amp here strapped ..

 

[strapped for cash]

Indeed. Not sure how warm the Denon sounds compared with my Yam. Not directly comparable, but when I had a 1910 for a week I didn't think it sounded as warm as my 1065. Still, encouraging signs!

 

[strapped for cash]

Though reading through again, Tetsugaku hadn't hooked the Dali speakers up to his Denon at the time he posted. If you're reading this, Tetsugaku, how did these system components work together? Thanks.