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Need Help with Setting Up Receiver (1 Viewer)

Bill Phillips

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Bill Phillips
Please, I'm new to this so please be gentle and please speak in "dummy" words so I can follow. I have a Yamaha tuner receiver RXV-861. I have two front satellite speakers, two side speakers, two back speakers and two powered sub woofers. I came about two Sansui SP5000 speakers from the early 70's. I remember so many of us old Army guys bought them through the PX when we were in Vietnam and had them sent home. Those suckers are heavy, about 70 pounds each. They remind me of times long past and I wanted to compare them in an A-B situation with my front Polk satellite speakers. I have a simple Radio Shack (I know, I apologize) "Cat. No. 40-244 High Power Stereo Speaker Control Center". I figured it would be fine for simply deciding whether I like the speakers or not. However, it ain't so easy. The instructions with the speaker selector shows a + and - R&L output from the amp to the selector box. It then shows individual terminals for all the speakers, which I understand. What I can't figure out is where to connect the R&L input wires to the back of the receiver. Heck, I really don't even know what I looking for. I'd really appreciate it if one of you sharp guys would give me a hand.

Bill Phillips
Murrieta, CA
[email protected]
 

Type A

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Welcome to the forum Bill :)Being new is no problem, we were all there. However this sounds like a basic question that can easily be answered by cracking open that owners manual. My Yamaha 3010 came with a disk version of the owners manual but they can be downloaded also. Its an easy question to answer but, especially as new as you are, I would start by reading your instructions completely first....theres lots more youll need to know and reading the owners manual is the first step to that end.
 

Bill Phillips

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Hello, and thanks. I have the original manual and I actually read it a couple of times before I made my post. Maybe it's inexperience or maybe I can blame it on age. Here's what the back of the receiver looks like. I attached a .jpg of the back of the receiver, I can't tell if it post or not. Thanks in advance, Bill
 

Al.Anderson

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... What I can't figure out is where to connect the R&L input wires to the back of the receiver. ...
They definitely make it harder than they used to. In the "old" days you had a pair of "B binding posts, and a nice button on the front that said "B". Problem solved. The B-channel is less used these days and has been replaced by "Zone 2" features. The good new is that the 861 provide a little more complicated B-channel feature. Here's what you do:

- Connect the speakers to the binding posts labeled "Front B/Zone 2/Presence" posts.
- Go into the receiver's speaker setup and select "Extra speaker asst -> Front B" (manual page 72).
- Use the 'Speakers" button on the front panel to alternate between channel-A, channel A&B, channel-B (manual page 38)
 

Bill Phillips

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Al...

Thanks, your instructions were excellent and easy for even me to follow. It didn't take five minutes to make the change. One other question if I may. The Sansui and Polk speakers both are 8 ohm impedance. If I am reading the manual correctly, page 94, it appears that if I am using both A & B speakers the impedance should be set to 16 ohms. Am I correct or should the value be left at 8 ohms. For a new guy some of this gets rather involved, or as they used to say....challenging.

Bill
 

Bill Phillips

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Al...

I lied (but not on purpose). Is there a way to switch between speakers a & b from the remote? I can't find a button with a label that indicates it's possible.

Thanks,

Bill
 

Al.Anderson

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Am I correct or should the value be left at 8 ohms.
That's kind of rotten of them; but yeah, with your speakers, if you're going to use both A and B at the same time you should set the receiver's speaker impedance to "6 ohm min". That said, most people say that if you aren't playing the system particularly loud you can leave it at 8 ohms. What that setting does is reduce the total available voltage, and the audiophiles say that only reduces your system performance and is not really needed. You'll have to decide how safe you want to be. (For what it's worth, I wouldn't recommend using them both at the same time in the same room, as you want to keep the front stage the same.)
Is there a way to switch between speakers a & b from the remote? I can't find a button with a label that indicates it's possible.
I couldn't find one either. I'm surprised too.
 

Bill Phillips

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Thanks, I really appreciate your help.

Here's a funny thing. I called Yamaha Tech support today (714-522-9105) and the "Support Specialist" (whatever that is) said "no problem" I could leave both sets of speakers set at 8 ohms and play them as loud as I want with no problem.

I think I'll go with your suggestion.

Bill
 

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