Please help noob set up Home theater systems. (1 Viewer)

[soundnoob612]

I bought a Klipsch vf-36 package deal at best buy about a year ago before I knew about rf series. I like a really bright sounding speaker and the vf's are the best sounding speaker I've ever heard. I havent compared to anything though except a few other ones at best buy at the time. I can't even imagine what the rf series sounds like. I am considering adding a pair to my setup. Do the rf series sound less bright? Anyways my story is I bought a house a year ago from a tiny apartment and bought a whole bunch of stuff on black friday and I'm not sure I paired the right receivers with my speakers. My main theater room consists of: -pair of vf-36 150-600watt 8ohm -vc-25 center 75-300watt 8ohm -pair of vs-14 surrounds 50-200watt -rw-12d woofer -Denon avr-791 90watt x 7 @ 8ohm/125watt x 7 @ 6 ohm -mitsu 82" 3d dlp Upstairs is a much smaller space so I chose design over sound and picture quality. -Quintets -pair of satellites 50-200watt 8ohm -center 75-300watt 8ohm -Jamo 8" woofer(don't feel this woofer is worthy of me getting up to look at the model number...) -Denon avr-591 75watt x 5 @ 8ohm/120watt x 5 @ 6ohm -Samsung 60" 8000 series Upstairs(wintertime) bedroom: -Pioneer SP-PK21BS consisting of -4 bookshelf speakers SP-BS21-LR only says 80watt max 60hm -center SP-C21 130watt max 6ohm -SW-8 woofer -Need Receiver... -Samsung 60" 8000 series Downstairs(summertime) bedroom -piece'o crap Samsung Blue Ray/5.1 in a box system I got on blackfriday for half price at 200 bucks that I want to replace. Cannot get rid of cheap echoing sound... -Panasonic 65" Viera [Question #1] If I'm using the 791 7.1 channel receiver for a 5.1 system, am i wasting power or will it use the unused 2 channel's power for something thats plugged in? I have no idea how to pair a receiver to speakers. Some places I read say to get about 10% more power than whats required. Some places say to get somewhere between the low and high wattage rating. Then I read that theres really no regulations for companies that put wattage rating on receivers and that the rating isnt always accurate. Then there is the ohm thing, I'm so very confused... I notice that when I get above about 85% volume on my main theatre setup the receiver shuts off after 5-10 min. [Question #2] Is this because its not powerful enough or because of ventilation? It's sitting on carpet at the moment with other compenents stacked on the sides with nothing on top of it. 85% is plenty deafening but quite often I get in the mood to try to damage my ears and there cannot be too loud as long as its clear. [Question #3] How do you pair a receiver to your speakers when there is a big difference in the max power each speaker can take like in my main theater setup? [Question #4] What wattage receiver would be ideal for my main theatre setup? [Question #5] What is the ideal wattage receiver for my Pioneer SP setup? [Question #6] What is the ideal wattage receiver for my Quintet setup? I'm not sure if i should replace my main theater receiver with a bigger one and use the 791 from there for my Pioneers or if that 791 is adequate for my main room and I should buy a suitable receiver for the pioneer's. I am also considering adding a pair of rf-82's to my main room but i'm too scared to start to try to learn about bi wiring and bi amping... If I do that then maybe I can use the 791 for the pioneers if I need more power. Another thing I am considering is moving my whole main setup audio system into the bedroom to replace the samsung in a box 5.1. Then getting all reference series for my main. I have a really bad case of speaker envy after reading everything about how good they are and how bad my icon series are... I just can't imagine they can sound so much better. I'm assuming they just have more bass but like I said I never heard anything better than what I have...

 

[Robert_J]

[Answer #1]You aren't stressing the amp's power supply as much and therefore you are getting slightly more power when in a 5.1 configuration. How much? Not enough for your ears to even notice. Wattage is the most looked at but the least important aspect of your home theater. [Answer #2]Look at increasing your air flow around the receiver or your input power to stop the shut-down issue. Carpet is impeding the air from coming into the bottom vents of the receiver. Also when connected to a 15 amp circuit, I can shut down my receiver on a loud passage. Not issues at all when connected to a 20 amp circuit. Start with the easy fix and get the receiver above the carpet. [Answer #3, 4 & 5]All 3 of your current receiver supply more than enough watts. See the last sentence of Answer #1. Paul Klipsch never used more and 35 watts on his home system if that gives you any indication of how useless high wattage numbers are.

bi wiring

Useless in my opinion.

bi amping

Overrated in my opinion unless you use an outboard electronic crossover and your speakers were designed from the start to be run on an active system (ie - No internal crossovers in them).

 

[soundnoob612]

What do you think my best option is? What do you think about getting a pair of rf 82's and using the vf-36's for the sides? Do you think my receiver would be able to push that as noticably well as something more powerful? Or using the vf-36 as the sides. Or possibly using the 4 towers as 4 front speakers, (not even sure how thats done..) How would I get the best sound utilizing what i still have, possibly buying more but keeping cost as a priority. Keeping in mind I can use the 791 for the pinoneer room that i still need a receiver for.