Onkyo TX-NR708 and 7.2 Speakers (1 Viewer)

[TeleFragger]

Ok so after my thread "Howdy - Unhappy Onkyo owner - not for long" - I decided to get it fixed for $174. If it breaks, its outta here but for now I also need speakers.

I have speakers from a guy at work (ole junk RCA's hah... those silver ones)

While setting up my receiver last night in 5.1 mode, I got it all going, adjusted sub to 75db then it went through its stuff... well things sound ok and I'm still not impressed over my old Harman kardon receiver but this will do.

Now while looking at the receiver speaker menu with the mic testing, I see 11 speakers and two subs. Well I figure that since I still have more (cheap) speakers, lets see if we can get them all going and see if it is beneficial or not. I don't have a 2nd sub so will be trying to figure that out as well...

so onto my question...

I get rear, side, center, front left and right should all be at ear height... is there a true height for the tv wall uppers and next ones down?

I'm going to try and get these cheesy speakers setup first and get it all going, organized then I will start searching the forums for speakers in certain areas...

I just wanted to get the initial speaker placement going and I want to make sure it will work for future receivers as if this one dies again... its outta here!

thanks for your time and input!

~Frustrated Onkyo Owner

 

[JohnRice]

Just to clarify, the graphic might show 11 speakers, but the receiver can only drive 7. The extra speakers shown are just options of how to set them up.

 

[TeleFragger]

^^^ oooh I was very confused.. hah...

so then what would a typical 7 speaker setup look like?

that's what I'm trying to figure out...

so when the audyssey runs through speaker config, it looks for each of those spots... so your saying it can only drive 7 speakers and will run through to see which are plugged in then tone itself to that?

 

[JohnRice]

There would be options on setup, but the fundamental one would be three in the front, one surround on each side and two in the back. That would be for playback of 7.1 HD soundtracks. It also has options for a pair of height speakers in the front, instead of the rear surrounds. 7.1 really only works if there is space behind the viewing position. That graphic also show an option for a pair for front wide speakers instead of the height or rear ones. I wouldn't do that. If you want to use all seven channels, go with rear surrounds, if the room is laid out that way, or front height if it isn't. BTW, having height speakers won't make it an Atmos setup, because the receiver isn't capable of Atmos.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

What are your processing options on this receiver? Unless your receiver supports Dolby Atmos [and given the age, i doubt that it does], your options are limited to back surrounds or ProLogic IIz [the first iteration of height channels]. I have my height channels about 3 ft above my centre channel and about 2.5 ft above my L/R towers [basement, low ceiling, can't really go much higher]. YMMV.