Need help tweeking my HT (1 Viewer)

[Shawn.G]

I need help w/ speaker placement and tweeking. I just got Polk r40s as my mains. I have RCA surrounds and a RCA center channel. I have a RCA Dolby Digital 80x5 receiver and an Audiosource eq. I will get a klipsch ksw-200 soon. I use my xbox as a cd/dvd player and have an older Sony Triniton, which had a great picture. Up till now, I have used only stereo mode, but I want to use dsp for movies and music. So I want to get the most out of all my speakers now. How do I tweek my HT to get the most out of it? My room is 10.5 by 12. The HT is on the 12 wall and I sit on the opposite side against the wall and in the middle. So please help me tweek my system. I know I have to calibrate it and set all the speakers to 75db. How/where should I place my floorstanding mains? I use 16 wire for the mains, do you recommend going w/ a bigger wire? Any other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Jason GT]

From one newbie to another:
read this
It's a pretty good intro on speaker placement. Also, I would consider spending some more money and procuring a Polk center channel, preferably from the same family or product line of polk speakers (sorry, I'm not familiar with Polk products).
The reason for the latter? With the Polk/RCA/Polk front setup you have right now, you'll probably experience a strange change in sound when you get panning sound effects. Selecting timbre matched speakers is pretty important in HT... I would hazard a guess and say that it's pretty much critical for the three fronts.

 

[Jose G]

Jason's advise it right on along with a great link. A far as wire the 16 should be fine, 14 is better- some will say 12 is the best but the truth is, I've never heard a difference between any of these. In theory 12 is better though due to better conduction- that makes sense. Also, I would just follow the recommendation of the receiver- they tend to know whats best for their units. I use 14 to play it safe. And for short runs- maybe the center speaker- a smaller guage wire (16) should be fine. Also make sure you set the wires to the same length in terms of L&R fronts and L&Rrears. Have a good time.

PS. When you get a sub- corner placemet is best most of the time.

 

[Shawn.G]

I have made the front l&r and rear l&r wires the same length. So my wires are fine. I'll put the sub in a corner when I get it. Thanks for the help and the link.