Noob questions (1 Viewer)

[JoshRedline]

Hi, if you recall, i've been pondering the decision on which HTIB to buy. I finally bought a Yamaha HTR-5830SL 5.1 receiver and a JBL SCS145.5S speaker package. They sound great, especially considering that I got them on sale in a package for $300 (usually the speakers are $300 and the receiver is $200 but I went to those crazy holiday sales at Best Buy and got this). Now, what can I do to maximize the sound quality? I don't get all this frequency stuff, what should I set it to? I am using the stock speaker wires, do you suggest I upgrade to Monster speaker wires, and is the sound worth it? What are banana plugs? I bought this in hopes of connecting my outdoor speakers for A to B speaker switching, but it appears they don't fit into these banana plugs. What should I do? Also, I notice that most of the speaker wire doesn't go into the receiver all the way, is this a compromise to performance. Lastly, at this point I only have basic cable, so I can't get digital surround sound from the rca cables from my tv. When I get digital cable, do most cable boxes have a digital optical out to get surround sound from my tv shows and does my tv have to have digital outputs to begin with? I know I asked alot of questions but I have alot of things to get off my back, and thanks for any responses.

 

[Dick Knisely]

Josh, slow down ma man...

First recommend you do some basic reading to get some fundamentals and terminology under your belt. You'll ask better questions and understand the answers better -- the worst thing that can happen is getting the answer you need but not understanding it. The FAQ/primer here is a one good place to start as is the glossary/terminology thread. I'll tackle a couple things to start but you really need to do some reading before plunging into this very far. Trust me, it won't hurt much and before long you'll be answering questions instead of asking them.

Again we need some more information and context but the basic cable may not be limiting you at all. Describe how the cable hooks up to the TV and/or other components? Do you have a cable set top box and if so, what outputs are available on it?