Help with setup please

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

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I'm currently putting together a home cinema setup and this is the system so far:

Denon S760 amp
Dali Spektor speakers connected to front L & R
Dali C8D subwoofer
Samsung TV connected via HDMI plus optical cable
PS5 connected via HDMI

The issue I have is that I can't get any subwoofer output. When I go through the amp test & config setup then I do get subwoofer output so I know it's getting a connection, but it seems to be disabled when I exit the setup menu. I've been toggling through all the sound modes but no change. The sub is connected according to the manual, i.e. a single RCA cable between them - pre out 1 on amp to LFE on sub.

No doubt it's something simple I'm getting wrong and would appreciate some help!

TIA
 
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Look on back of amp. I have a volume level on mine and a cross over dial.
I have a different make, but sure you'll have similar.

Just googled, you have those two dials.
 
Ok, that didn't help but I did get it working by messing with some settings. Annoyingly, I don't really know what I did to fix it and I'd like to understand it better. I'll post my settings and hopefully someone could spot if I should be changing anything.

I've got the amp set at 50% volume and 50% crossover.

Because I've only got 2 front and a sub for the moment, I've got sound mode settings to stereo as opposed to surround or anything like that. Here's my amp settings..

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When being configured with an AV receiver, the initial settings on the back of the sub should be as follows

  • Volume @ 50%
  • Phase @ 0 degrees
  • Crossover at maximum or the LFE setting subject to the sub
When the amp runs its auto set-up wizard it will make internal changes to the source signal to finetune the sub. You really shouldn't need to adjust much of anything on the sub at this point.

The fact that you've got the sub running with the test tones suggest that all is set up correctly, and so the next place to look is at the source signals and the amp's audio mode.


For example: if the amp is set to Pure or Direct then it will play the source signal as-is. A stereo PCM signal, or Dolby Digital in 2.0 will play just through the front L&R speakers. Changing the AV receiver's setting to Stereo will enable the sub.

Check out the Denon user manual: Playback > Description of sound mode settings > (bottom of the page) Stereo sound mode

Description of sound mode types AVR-S760H (denon.com)
 
I'm really enjoying the setup and would be interested in expanding it a little bit. Basically I'd like to progress from stereo to something better for movies.

My TV is wall mounted in front of the settee and the settee is hard against the back wall. For that reason, I won't be installing any rear speakers.

2 questions..

  1. As I have 2 front speakers, one either side of the TV, would there be any point including a centre speaker?
  2. I could stand mount 2 additional speakers, one in each corner of the room. World this then upgrade me to 5.1 audio?
 
The benefit of a centre speaker is that it anchors the sound to the screen. If the centre is decent enough, then it could well sound better than the phantom centre image produced by a regular stereo pair.

Also, about 80% of what you hear during the course of a 5.1 movie comes from the centre speaker, so its a pretty important part of the setup.

The next question then is what you intended to spend and what restrictions you have on a centre speaker. Go too low and you'll end up with something boxy sounding and poor because it has to fit a certain space or budget.

Regarding surround. The proper placement for the surround speakers in a 5.1 layout is not behind the listener. It's to the left and right sides, about level with the seating position. Can you accommodate that?
 
@lucid yes I could accommodate the left and right to the side.

Focusing on the centre speaker, and considering that I'm building this system piece by piece, it sounds like it would be worthwhile picking up a decent centre speaker and adding the rear speakers later?

The budget for centre speaker is around £300 - £500. I would like something that matches the finish of the Dali Spector speakers I already have. Would you have anything in mind your could suggest?
 
The centre speaker should match the tone of the front stereo pair. You've got Spektors. Have you locked at the matching centre? Seems like an obvious place to start.

Surrounds. Yes, add later.

£500 is a significant budget in the context of the hear tou have. Beware of going too high on the centre. It can throw a magnifying glass on any shortcomings in the rest of the system.
 
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lucid said:
The centre speaker should match the tone of the front stereo pair. You've got Spektors. Have you locked at the matching centre? Seems like an obvious place to start.

Surrounds. Yes, add later.

£500 is a significant budget in the context of the hear tou have. Beware of going too high on the centre. It can throw a magnifying glass on any shortcomings in the rest of the system.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the steer; I'll get researching. Thanks again. :)

Edit: it's looking like the Dali Spektor Vokal@ £179.
 
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I bought the Dali center speaker, and yes I'm pleased with it. I did notice when I first enabled it that it didn't get any sound output when I had the system set to stereo, I had to switch to multi channel stereo and then it got it's output.

Is that the correct preset for a 3+Sub setup? I'm assuming I couldn't use any of the surround or DTX etc?
 
Dirk Diggler said:
I bought the Dali center speaker, and yes I'm pleased with it. I did notice when I first enabled it that it didn't get any sound output when I had the system set to stereo, I had to switch to multi channel stereo and then it got it's output.

Is that the correct preset for a 3+Sub setup? I'm assuming I couldn't use any of the surround or DTX etc?
Click to expand...

For a stereo source signal such as 2ch music where you want the centre playing as well then yes, multi-channel stereo will do that.

Watching TV/Sky/ Virgin and anything streaming in stereo or with Dolby Surround then you can choose any of the amp's stereo modes including m-c stereo, or apply one of the 5.1 ProLogic or 5.1 DTS Neural processing modes. Depending on the source signal and whether or not it contains a 'hidden' matrixed Centre channel, you'll get the centre working too. Where the source signal has Dolby Surround then the centre should carry most of the dialogue. For stuff without DS encoding, the algorithm will conjur up centre dialogue (DPL II Movie mode) or create a a multi-channel music effect with a bit more steering (DPL II Music mode).

"What's the right mode?"

For my Sky box input I have my amp set so it recognises Dolby Digital 5.1 and plays that 'as is'. Anything stereo gets recognised and decoded in DPLII Movie mode by default.

In your system with no Surround side speakers this should still work. IDK if your S760 will discard the rear channel info completely or try to add partial hint of it to the main speakers.
 
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I've been testing speaker placement and was running this YouTube video. When it gets to the LFE part then I get no output, and my understanding is that this should be my subwoofer output? My subwoofer does work when it plays all the speakers (I can tell for sure as the speaker vibrates).

Is there an issue with the video or am I understanding incorrectly?

 
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