5.1 Home Theater Setup

[radiant_luv]

Hello,

I am not technically much aware when it comes to the sound but I like to watch movies with better experience. My budget was 25K, did some research and purchased a 5.1 Yamaha YHT 196. I also did some more research on the setup but I still have some doubt. I want to have the viewing and listening experience to the maximum with the available equipment. Please bear with me if some questions are really silly.

1. TV (32" Sony KDL HX32)
2. STB (Airtel HD)
3. WDTV

Above 3 will be connected to 5.1 Yamaha (YHT 196)

Regarding Connection Setup
i). How do I connect these equipments to HT and use which cable? (Currently, I have 3 HDMI cable).
One specific requirement in my mind is that not to have Surround Sound/Active Bass sometimes for TV (for example while viewing News etc). so I would like to easily switch between tv sound to HT and vice versa. Is it possible?If yes how the connection to be done and what kind of cable would require.

Regarding Placement Setup
(Please click on the below thumbnail for a larger image)



2 things is bothering me,
i) the right wall is far, is there any specific setup required or the set up demonstrated in the image is okay.
ii) Surround speakers distance - Human to SL is more than Human to SR, does it cause any issue (or it's negligible?) if it causes, is there a way to overcome.

And any specific advice on the overall setup would be great. Hope to learn lot from your expert advice.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RajithKumar]

Using HDMI cable
Connect STB to AVR HDMI in
Connect WDTV to AVR HDMI in
Finally AVR HDMI out to TV HDMI in.

If u don't want surround sound you can change it to stereo option in AVR .(Sound will come only from front speakers).
otherwise if u don't want to use AVR during news watching .You may need to check your TV settings to turnoff external speakers.(it may be available in some TV models -check TV manual) so that volume will come only TV speakers.

 

[radiant_luv]

Using HDMI cable
Connect STB to AVR HDMI in
Connect WDTV to AVR HDMI in
Finally AVR HDMI out to TV HDMI in.

Awesome, thank you. This is clear & crisp information. Connection set up in the manual was confusing.

If u don't want surround sound you can change it to stereo option in AVR .(Sound will come only from front speakers).
otherwise if u don't want to use AVR during news watching .You may need to check your TV settings to turnoff external speakers.(it may be available in some TV models -check TV manual) so that volume will come only TV speakers.

Thanks again, yes, Sony HX32 has option to choose inbuilt or audio out. I will have to find a short cut to cut out the bass and surround for tv.

I can't wait to set up done. hope I can do it my own

Anyone is having opinion on my second question - Regarding Placement Setup, please share your suggestions. thanks

 

[radiant_luv]

Update: Today evening I wanted to watch a movie and I started the movie found that thumping sound from the SW is not there. Increasing the volume resulting very faint thump. Something is wrong, I checked the cables and settings and they are all right. Very sad that within 3 weeks there is an issue

 

[sash]

What is the material you are playing? Try blu ray. Place subwoofer in the front corner. Try to increase the subwoofer level in the receiver settings. After all this, remember that yht 196 has a passive subwoofer - do not expect a jolt in the chest kind of bass output

 

[radiant_luv]

What is the material you are playing? Try blu ray. Place subwoofer in the front corner. Try to increase the subwoofer level in the receiver settings. After all this, remember that yht 196 has a passive subwoofer - do not expect a jolt in the chest kind of bass output

Thanks sash for your reply. Yeah, I know YHT 196 doesn't have that kinda bass where you get blown away but I know that the kind of feel I was getting it is missing now. Btw, I am playing on WDTV (Dheere Dheere Se - Honey Sing Remix) which has quite a good inbuilt bass in the music and the bass through out the track is similar and I have played the song more than thousand time earlier. So I know how it used to feel even in a kinda low volume.

Update:
So here is what I found out today, I switched on the setup (after it was totally shut down for more than hour) and I played the same song Dheere Dheere Se Honey Singh remix at the volume level shows as -20dB (not very loud) and I get the sweet thumping sound how I used to get. I placed my fingers near the hole in the SW (not touching it) to feel the air coming of it and I can feel it very well. After 5/6 minutes the thumping sound started to faint off course the feel on the fingers also very less. I repeat the track again and thumping sound is not there any more. Mind that I have not decreased the volume.

Then I was outside for couple of hours and came back to retest again. This time I played a movie MI 4 Ghost protocol, In the first scene there is shooting going on which has very thumping sound like Dhug Dhug I have seen the movie on YHT 196 last week so i know the feeling of that sound. So I played the scene again. Mind again that setup was switched off for couple of hours. SW was awake for couple of minutes and again in 5-7 mintues i played back the scene, firing shot sounds are missing the SW effect.

Have anyone faced this kind of issue? and what could be the problem with the receiver, it looks like the system which genereate the SW signal is dieing after 5/6 minutes of powered on.

 

[radiant_luv]

Update:
Field technician from the service center visited and it is confirmed that issue with the AV receiver .

 

[radiant_luv]

Update:
It's almost a month and Yamaha Authorised Service Center (AHA Technologies/ ARN Systems, Bangalore) is yet to replace the faulty board. Very bad experience so far. I would never recommend my friends, family and anyone in this forum solely because of the Yamaha's service. I will write up another thread on my ordeal with Yamaha Customer Service.

 

[RajithKumar]

Is your receiver is under warranty?
If it is so - faulty one ,its the responsibility of the authorised service centre to replace the board. Make a push through the dealer also from where u purchased the receiver.
Also note if it is a big problem in the unit, you try to claim a fresh receiver.

 

[radiant_luv]

Is your receiver is under warranty?
If it is so - faulty one ,its the responsibility of the authorised service centre to replace the board. Make a push through the dealer also from where u purchased the receiver.
Also note if it is a big problem in the unit, you try to claim a fresh receiver.

Thanks RajithKumar. It's under warranty, service center ready to replace the faulty board. I had to call Yamaha's Gurgaon office to bring to their notice that, there is lack of communication between Authorised Service Center & Yamaha Corp Service department and I had to inform them that because the board has not been dispatched causing much delay. As I mentioned, I will write up another thread on the Service Experience.

I did ask the ASC, they said no need to replace the unit.

 

[radiant_luv]

Update:
Finally, received a call yesterday that ASC has received the replacement of the faulty board from Yamaha and they have fixed and AVR working fine. Today they will deliver the receiver back to my residence. :yahoo:

 

[radiant_luv]

Update
AV Receiver is fixed and delivered this afternoon, performing with all it's glory.:yahoo:

 

[Ahuja]

Radient, I read some reviews about Yamaha amp issues.
In India because of fluctuation in the electricity usually raise this type of issue.

My suggestion is to buy a good stabilizer, or ask a good electrician about this issue.

 

[radiant_luv]

Radient, I read some reviews about Yamaha amp issues.
In India because of fluctuation in the electricity usually raise this type of issue.

My suggestion is to buy a good stabilizer, or ask a good electrician about this issue.

Thanks Ahuja for your suggestion. Even I was thinking to get one stabilizer.

I did look out in this forum, quite a few have suggested VGuard Digi 200 Voltage Stabilizer, probably I will get this one.

 

[htfan17]

Thanks Ahuja for your suggestion. Even I was thinking to get one stabilizer.

I did look out in this forum, quite a few have suggested VGuard Digi 200 Voltage Stabilizer, probably I will get this one.

No. Based on practical experience I strongly do not recomend the stabilizer route. if fluctuation is strong enough, it will blow the stabilizer as well trust me. INstead i commend buy a 1KV UPS from the likes of APC. these UPS work as UPS as well as stabilizer in most cases. They are also highly useful when the power goes because even if the back up time is 15-20 minutes, you get sufficient time to properly shut down your gear in that time. That alone ensures a long life for any electronic.

 

[radiant_luv]

No. Based on practical experience I strongly do not recomend the stabilizer route. if fluctuation is strong enough, it will blow the stabilizer as well trust me. INstead i commend buy a 1KV UPS from the likes of APC. these UPS work as UPS as well as stabilizer in most cases. They are also highly useful when the power goes because even if the back up time is 15-20 minutes, you get sufficient time to properly shut down your gear in that time. That alone ensures a long life for any electronic.

Thank you htfan17, you have a valid point.

I As far as I understand, by definition these 2 have different purpose, UPS is Uninterrupted Power Supply so if there is no input power source it will still output power to the devices thus no sudden shut down. And Voltage Stabilizer helps stabilize voltage output to a constant even if there is a variable voltage input from source. VS supposed to have fuse which may blown off if the unit can't handle a sudden surge, isn't it?

If both are done through one device would be great but how do I know if a UPS is having additional feature like voltage stabilization. I did few search but not getting suitable ones which have VS. Can you please suggest few models which have voltage stabilizer as well?

 

[raghupb]

Most UPS have voltage stabilization. I have been using a MicroTek UPS for the last 6 years and have had no issues. Typically the IA or AVR will not run on my UPS. But TV will.
In Bangalore power is erratic, so some sort of power conditioning is required. I also use surge protector included extension boxes. As a safety measure, I usually turn off most equipment when not active.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[radiant_luv]

Most UPS have voltage stabilization. I have been using a MicroTek UPS for the last 6 years and have had no issues. Typically the IA or AVR will not run on my UPS. But TV will.
In Bangalore power is erratic, so some sort of power conditioning is required. I also use surge protector included extension boxes. As a safety measure, I usually turn off most equipment when not active.

Cheers,
Raghu

Thanks Raghu. Not only erratic power, it fluctuates as well. BTW, why have you not preferred AVR to run on UPS?

 

[raghupb]

My UPS is only 800VA. Typically at home the PC, Laptop and sometimes TV is on during power outage. So I choose not to run AVR or IA during these outages. It is a drain on the UPS as current required to run IA and AVR is higher.

When there is power the UPS acts as a power conditioner/stabilizer.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[radiant_luv]

Okay, so I wanted a VS then heard UPS too have VS + backup time. So I did some more research and it looks like pure sine wave inverter is recommended for AVR. Along with it I can have other device running + fan etc. but it's costly, I'm totally confused. from 4K budget to 15k, then I need to plan rightly.