Need urgent help on 5.1 for my Sony str-dn1040 receiver.

[nugget2014]

Today I bought my surround speakers but have been very confused and don't know what I'm doing. My dad did the connecting while I watched (I'm useless at connecting speaker wire to a receiver) and the speakers went into the SURROUND BACK L/R. Which seems right? But I tried to calibrate and it said there was no sound coming from the speakers so couldn't calibrate. I finally changed the speaker wire to SURROUND L/R and it calibrated fine. Yet on the speaker setup it didn't show an image of left/centre/right and surround back but only surround side.

So my receiver thinks my surround back speakers are right to the left and right of me (as you would get in a 7.1). This seems confusing I guess as an typing this confused.

TLR. Should my surround back speakers (5.1) go in the SURROUND or surround BACK section on the receiver. Because it didn't work right on the surround back setup.

 

[nugget2014]

So I tried man of steel and there was quite a lot of output from the surround speakers (got up close and heard it very clearly) although I can't hear it that well sitting in chair as they are very small satellites while my fronts are dali zensor 3 way bigger so more louder I assume. I'll make the surrounds louder by 5db or something. Are they setup right then? As I seen a truck beeping its horn heard it at the fronts first then from surrounds 2s later as it man of steel went past it.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

5.1uses surround not surround back. Use the autosetup initially and check distance and volumes using test tones..Set ALL speakers to SMALL. Experiment from there on in

 

[nugget2014]

5.1uses surround not surround back. Use the autosetup initially and check distance and volumes using test tones..Set ALL speakers to SMALL. Experiment from there on in

i see. So I made the right decision by changing the wires in the avr. Although.. You said they use surround. Not surround back. Does that mean I'm meant to have the speakers to the LEFT and RIGHT of my seating position. And NOT behind me? If so.. Then I'm buggered. As I literally have no space at all to have them directly at the left and right of me. Only behind me. Please tell me it's fine and they're meant to be behind me?

 

[macdiddy]

Yes it's okay to have the two surround speakers behind you if you are going to use your system in 5.1 mode only.

Enjoy your new surround experience.

*music2*

 

[nugget2014]

Yes it's okay to have the two surround speakers behind you if you are going to use your system in 5.1 mode only.

Enjoy your new surround experience.

*music2*

really? they are about 4 ft behind me at ear level. the amount of regret and panicking i just did after realing they were not meant to go behind me..

having them to the side of me COULD work. i could have the left about 1 foot above ear level and the other about the same height but a wire on the floor near the side of the sofa.

maybe if i could keep the right on the fireplace and the left on the wall on a nail. i could buy two more and get 7.1 . but if not, using them behind me is 100% fine?

 

[macdiddy]

And try 5.1 with the surrounds behind you for now and if you want to go up to 7.1 later then you can.

As mentioned in a previous post check all speaker levels, distances and sizes are correct then sit back and enjoy.

Hope this helps.

*music2*

 

[nugget2014]

And try 5.1 with the surrounds behind you for now and if you want to go up to 7.1 later then you can.

As mentioned in a previous post check all speaker levels, distances and sizes are correct then sit back and enjoy.

Hope this helps.

*music2*

i did all the levels distances etc earlier and double checked, they're good. it does sound a bit weird though seeing a laser beam go left or right and it going to the surrounds which are behind you. rather than at the side which is what its doing on screen..its still better than 3.1 though! i'll probably ring up richer sounds anyway and see if they can do me a hell of a good deal on another pair of the minx 11's as i've spent about £1000 there now on other home cinema pieces, 7.1 is always better than 5.1 i assume and if i can accomadate it might aswell..although for now i'll try and enjoy them behind me

 

[nugget2014]

also one last thing. on the sony 1040 on sound field mode's the a.f.d auto says no surround effects are enabled..yet the amount of content coming through the surrounds on both a.f.d auto and HD D.C.S sounds the same exactly..can anyone confirm that they are the same? if so i'll stick with a.f.d auto.

 

[macdiddy]

Sound a bit weird (in a good way) at first coming from 3.1 to 5.1 and in my opinion 7.1 is better still but that's up to you.

Happy listening.

*music2*

 

[nugget2014]

So today a member of staff at richer sounds told me 5.1 has two speakers behind you. Not at the sides, yet how come people say 5.1 has them at the side of you? This makes me confused, I hear one thing on whathifi or any other site and the "expert" tells me that..

 

[The_Lhc]

Dolby and DTS both recommend with 5.1 that the speakers are to the sides of you, they invented the formats so if that's not a good enough recommendation then I don't know what more you want.

 

[simonlewis]

They told you wrong the two extra speakers on a 7.1 are behind you.

 

[Glacialpath]

So today a member of staff at richer sounds told me 5.1 has two speakers behind you. Not at the sides, yet how come people say 5.1 has them at the side of you? This makes me confused, I hear one thing on whathifi or any other site and the "expert" tells me that..

Nugget. This is what they mean when they say the speakers should/can go behind you.

For 5.1

For 7.1

These are not strickt positions, just guide lines. As you say you could put one on your mantel piece and the other on the wall next to your window. Then if you add 2 more for 7.1 they can go on the wall either side of your radiator about 1.5-2m apart and about 2 feet higher than the radiator.

I hope this puts you at ease.

GP

 

[RobinKidderminster]

If u Google Dolby then ur answers will ne 'straight from the horses mouth'.. Unless u have a dedicated cinema room then like most of us u will have a compromise. My system is far from ideal but I believe I have the best compromise within my 'lounge'. Room acoustics, speaker positioning etc have a huge effect and most need to break the guidlines at least a little - and then we try to tweak settings etc to get the best balance.

Whilst 7.1 should be better than 5.1 it does imo need the space and the flexibility to do it any justice.

Enjoy your system for a while..Do some tweaking. Do some more research.

Good luck

PS. Glacial beat me to it

 

[nugget2014]

So today a member of staff at richer sounds told me 5.1 has two speakers behind you. Not at the sides, yet how come people say 5.1 has them at the side of you? This makes me confused, I hear one thing on whathifi or any other site and the "expert" tells me that..

Nugget. This is what they mean when they say the speakers should/can go behind you.

For 5.1

For 7.1

These are not strickt positions, just guide lines. As you say you could put one on your mantel piece and the other on the wall next to your window. Then if you add 2 more for 7.1 they can go on the wall either side of your radiator about 1.5-2m apart and about 2 feet higher than the radiator.

I hope this puts you at ease.

GP

sounds good. i can make that work just fine in my layout,