Help! Klipsch Quintet with Sub & Receiver (1 Viewer)

Hello all,
I recently purcahsed the Klipsch Quintet 5 speaker system for my first home theatre setup. Now I am looking for a receiver and sub that will compliment these speakers. I've done as much research as I can on matching ohms, wattaged, etc... but I'm still underinformed. Any assistance here would be greatly appreciated
Here at the speakers:
Power Handling: Satellite: 50 Watts (200 Watts Peak)
Center: 75 Watts (300 Watts Peak)
Sensitivity: Satellite: [email protected] Volts/1 Meter
Center: [email protected] Volts/1 Meter
Frequency Response: Satellite: 120Hz - 23kHz
Center: 125Hz - 23kHz
Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
Crossover Frequency: Satellite: 3700Hz
Center: 3100Hz
High Frequency Horn: 90(o) x 40(o) XT Micro Tractrix Horn
Tweeter: One .75" neodymium magnet compression driver
Midrange: One 3.5" magnetically shielded woofer
Enclosure Type: Bass-reflex via rear-firing port
Mounting: Satellite: Base swivels for on-wall mounting via keyholes
Center: Threaded insert
Dimensions: Satellite: 8.3"(H) x 5"(W) x 6.3"(D)
Center: 5"(H) x 12"(W) x 6"(D)
Weight: Satellite: 3.5 lbs
Center: 5.5 lbs
Right now, I am looking at Denon AVR-1612 5.1 Channel receiver and Polk Audio PSW505 12-Inch Powered Subwoofer
Any thoughts on this setup (or a better one)?

The Denon 1612 is a real nice receiver and is going for around $200 on closeout. Those Klipsch speakers are pretty effecient for a small speaker so they don't require a lot of power. Also look at the Yamaha 473, Pioneer 822 and Onkyo 509 but the 1612 would be my first pick.
The Polk 505 is the model where Polk subwoofers become an option. Also consider the BIC F12 http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=303-436

Thank you for your input... I ended up buying the denon 1612 receiver, and polk psw-505 12" sub, to go with the klipsch quintet 5.0 speaker system.
Now... I have a setup question. Please bear with my newb-ness here:
My LG 42" tv has HDMI, and my Direct TV receiver and Xbox 360 also have HDMI.
From what I have read, this Denon 1612 receiver has 4 HDMI inputs. For setup... am I supposed to plug all my devices into the receiver IN and then just 1 HDMI output to the TV?

From what I have read, this Denon 1612 receiver has 4 HDMI inputs. For setup... am I supposed to plug all my devices into the receiver IN and then just 1 HDMI output to the TV?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's the recommneded approach.

But there's more to it than that. make sure you run the Audyssey automatic setup and room correction program and then go into the speaker setup menu and make sure all speakers are set to Small and the crossover to 150. Speaker distances and volumes are usually pretty accurate. And don't forget to plug everything into a good (but not expensive) surge protector(s) including the display. Good idea to have evrything turned off and un-plugged as you make connections, including the surge protectors.

gene c said:

make sure you run the Audyssey automatic setup and room correction program.

Click to expand...

I have read quite a bit about the Audyssey setup, so I know a little bit about that (sounds pretty simple), but I have not heard of this "Room Correction Program". Searched google a bit with no success. Anyone care to elaborate what this feature does and how to use it?

gene c said:

and then go into the speaker setup menu and make sure all speakers are set to Small and the crossover to 150. Speaker distances and volumes are usually pretty accurate.

Click to expand...

Ok, Setting speakers to Small and Crossover 150. What do these 2 things mean? Is this is a default setting? Again... I'm a audio newb, so please be gentle
I appreciate all of your help. Great forum here, a lot of good information! Thanks so much

I have not heard of this "Room Correction Program". Searched google a bit with no success. Anyone care to elaborate what this feature does and how to use it?

Click to expand...

Audyssey is THE room correction and setup program.

I'm a audio newb, so please be gentle confused.gif

Click to expand...

Start with the owner's manual. Pay attention to the crossover section. http://usa.denon.com/US/Product/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?CatId=AVReceivers%28DenonNA%29&catalog=DenonNA_US&PId=AVR1612%28DenonNA%29 If you go with a different receiver, the concept is the same.

Thanks so much! I am going to read through the manual and quick start guide tonight before I recieve the Denon 1612.
In the meantime, if anyone has any tips, tricks, words of advice... for setting up home theatre for first time, I would love you all
I'm planning to plug in xbox 360 and direct tv receiver to tuner, both into the HDMI in on the Denon, and then plug the LG tv into denon HDMI out.
Thanks again all!

First off, don't use the cheap cables that come with the receiver/BR player. But don't get the expensive name brand ones either. Let your good judgement pick out quality at a reasonable price. And don't forget to plug all components in a good surge protector. Most people find the volume of the center channel and subwoofer to be less than ideal after running Audyssey or any other automatic setup routine. Feel free to set either or both a little higher or lower to suit your taste.
I find Denons manuals to be very hard to understand. Here's a link another forum member found that you may find helpful http://batpigworld.com/ They are also in the Pamphlet form instead of book form which shouldn't have anything to do with comprehension but I'll be %^*&$! if it doesn't. Reading the manual on the computer screen is much easier for me.
Audyssey also includes the Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ features which many find very usefull. Look closer at them to see if they are of interest to you. They're very easy to turn off and on in the setup menu.
I think the 1612 has what's called "HDMI Pass-Through" which means it can send audio and video to your display when turned off there-by allowing you to watch the news (or the kids to watch cartoons) with the receiver in Standby mode. But when set to do this the receiver uses as much as 75 watts when turned off.

HELP! I can't get receiver to output any sound
I received my Denon 1612, Klipsch Quintet Speakers, and 16 gauge RCA speaker wire.
- First thing I did was mount and wire my 2 surround speakers
- Next, I wired my center speaker... now I am all out of speaker wire... buying more later today.
Well... I thought I would at least plug in my ipod into the USB of the receiver and try the receiver just with 2 surround and 1 center speaker. After everything was wired, I plugged in the receiver. Turned it on, and there was no 'initial setup' or anything. Played the songs on the ipod but the speakers aren't making any sound.
Is there something obvious I am missing? Do I have to configure the receiver to tell it what speakers are plugged in?
Help!!!

If you're playing stereo audio, by default, nothing will be sent to the three speakers you have hooked up. Also, there's no way to tell the receiver to use your surrounds as it would the mains.

I wouldn't bother trying to "configure" your receiver so it thinks there are only surrounds and a center if you're going to be re-adjusting things in another day or so - not worth the hassle and the headache.

The simplest way to hear anything out of those speakers when playing from the iPod is to set the listening mode to "All Channel Stereo" or whatever the equivalent is for your receiver. This will split the stereo source signal equally among all speakers and you should get something from the surrounds.

If this doesn't work, I suggest either disconnecting the surrounds and connecting the mains temporarily, or just wait until you connect all the speakers.

Interesting input, thank you... I appreciate it.
I have found this receiver to be impossible to configure just using the display. I was reading on batpig that you can plug into TV and use config menu from TV screen... I think I need to do that.
Looks like I still have some work to do then before I am going to hear any sound come out of these speakers

Unless you've "done this before", trying to use the receivers screen itself will be darn near impossible...
Plus, I think, as a fail safe, the receiver won't play anything...at all...if there aren't speakers connected to Left and Right first. In Onkyo(and I presume Denon has this as well), you can't even set your center/surround/rear surround/height/width...or whatever combinations you've got, till you tell it "large/small*" on your front speakers.
*Onkyo doesn't give you the option of "large/small". They take the confusion out by the speaker selection being...
Large/Full Range(depending on the year and "hierarchy" of the receiver) and a crossover point...so it looks like this...
large, 40, 60, 80...
or
Full Range, 40, 60, 80
I would assume that Denon(and Marantz, HK and the others that offer multi-crossover) also does it this way. The only ones that should only offer Large/Small are Pioneer/Elite, Yamaha etc that have single point.
In short, hood up the left/right before you do anything.

Now that I have everything I need to setup the home theatre system, I am going to put it all together tonight and attempt to configure the receiver using my television display.
Question; I just purchased Polk psw505 Subwoofer. I have an RCA cable to plug into the receiver... and that is easy. However, I see there are other configurations that can also be made on the back of the unit, and I don;t know what these mean.... Anyone care to give an audio-newb a quick 101?
What is the Phase Switch
What is the Low Pass Dial
What should I be doing (if anything) with these?

The basics:

Set the power to "Auto" - this will put the subwoofer into standby mode (off) when there's no signal after a while, but it will turn on instantly if there's LFE.

Leave the phase wherever it's set - you can experiment with that later.

Set the volume at halfway - use this as your baseline when running the configuration (Audyssey) in the receiver.

Set the Low Pass (crossover) all the way to maximum - you'll be using the crossover in the receiver, so this should be set at max.

Connect the RCA jack from the receiver's output to the LFE in on the back of the subwoofer. I've not had a subwoofer that had a dedicated "LFE" in, mine have always just had L/R line inputs (as does yours) in which case, either one will do, but most folks connect to the Left/Red input.

Connecting a subwoofer in "stereo" makes very little difference, as the source signal is mono to begin with.

The speaker terminals aren't used since your receiver has a dedicated subwoofer output.

Plug it into the wall, and you should be all set.

This was the configuration/tuning advice I received from a friend. Anyone have any input on this...?
__________________________________________________________________
turn up the rear all the way.
turn all the bass off.
turn the center speaker off.
put in the movie Days of Thunder with Tom Crusie
play the part of him racing at the end.
start with the center speaker, turn it up little by little until (sitting in center of room) it sounds good to your ear. typically about 60% of its power.
next, turn up the bass, little by little, (sit in center of room) and keep going until it sounds good. no rule of thumb, its what ever you want and how much you want to shake your house.
your done.
if you want, mess with the treble and see what sounds good to you. most people like it at 90%-100% up. its all what sounds good to you, no one can "tell you its calibrated" theres just no such thing. BUT people will charge you to tell you, "your calibrated sir".
you can also set the delay time of your SS. i like to max mine out (.5ms or 1/2 of a second), makes me feel like room is extra large, gives a little echo.

Um, no. No one can accurately calibrate a system by ear. And you certainly don't want to just "pick a movie" and use that as your baseline... all movies are mixed differently, so they are not good "reference" material. Also - trying to calibrate DURING a movie, when the sounds are constantly changing is simply ludicrous. Constant white noise is needed to do any sort of calibration.

Follow the instructions in the receiver's manual for setup/calibration. The result may not be perfect for you - you are always free to tweak things to your tastes, but Audyssey does a good job at getting a solid baseline from which you can make minor adjustments.

Actually, I (and I'm sure many others on this forum) would disagree with just about everything he suggests...

If your goal is the accurate reproduction of the movie's sound as intended by its creators, then you need thank your friend for his input, but don't follow any of it...

One of the main goals of "calibrating" a system is to ensure that all speakers are properly balanced and do not overpower each other. This can't be done by ear - before the days of Audyssey and other calibration programs that utilize a setup microphone, many of us used analog SPL meters to measure and equalize the speaker levels - it's still a great way to verify that Audyssey got things right.

By the way...
If you hook up your receiver .1 output to the LFE(which, by the way says UNFILTERED)...
You can fiddle with the crossover till the cows come home and it won't matter...cause it is UNFILTERED.
LFE input is ALWAYS UNFILTERED on every single powered subwoofer that has ever been made and will ever be made...
Cause LFE means the OTHER END is taking control of the crossover.
The OTHER END in this case...and every other case ever, is your receiver.

So I have all 5 speakers and the sub connected to the receiver, and I used the Audessy microphone to configure all speakers and setup. It tested all 5.1 speakers, sound came out all 5.1 speakers.
PROBLEM: Now, when I watch TV, Listen to iPod, and use the Xbox 360 and PS3 connected to the receiver, and routed through the reciever... sound is only coming out of the front speakers (the 2 surrounds behind the couch don't make a sound, or if they do... it is too quiet to hear).
When I look at the display on the receiver it says "STEREO". Is there an option for Surround that I am not seeing? Does the source determine if it is surroud or stereo?
I want to use the 2 rear speakers setup for 5.1, but it just sounds like only R/L, Center and Sub are making sound. Any ideas....?

Does the source determine if it is surroud or stereo?

Click to expand...

Yes. Stereo = 2 channels. Surround = 5 channels.

Is there an option for Surround that I am not seeing?

Click to expand...

There are some options that will take a stereo signal and simulate a surround sound but most of us here are purists and don't like modifying the original signal.
If you want full surround sound from the TV or an games that have 5.1 surround then you need to look at how the source components are connected to the receiver. They need to have a digital connection like HDMI, optical or coaxial digital. If you have those connected, then you need to go into the source components menu and make sure you are outputting audio in the correct format.