I'm getting ready to set up a surround-sound system for watching my DVDs
and Blu-rays, for the first time. According to the receiver manual the
normal procedure is hook up the front speakers from the "A" terminal on
the receiver, then hook up the rear speakers using the "surround-sound"
terminals on the receiver.

However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
buttons activated at the same time.

I've never tried to run two sets of wires to the same speaker(s) before
and thought I'd check in here before I experimented and screwed up
something bigtime.

I suppose I could always diminish the sound to the rear speakers using
the "A" setup while listening to CDs and LPs using the "+" and "-"
controls on the front of the receiver but this seems like it would be a
big hassle since (according to the manual anyway) you have to kind of
work at it to strike the perfect balance between the front and rear
speakers for the surround-sound effect.

Hope I explained myself clearly and TIA.

On Sun, 12 Jun 2022 12:12:32 -0500, super70s
<super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

>I'm getting ready to set up a surround-sound system for watching my DVDs
>and Blu-rays, for the first time. According to the receiver manual the
>normal procedure is hook up the front speakers from the "A" terminal on
>the receiver, then hook up the rear speakers using the "surround-sound"
>terminals on the receiver.
>
>However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
>surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
>set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
>speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
>of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
>buttons activated at the same time.
>
>I've never tried to run two sets of wires to the same speaker(s) before
>and thought I'd check in here before I experimented and screwed up
>something bigtime.
>
>I suppose I could always diminish the sound to the rear speakers using
>the "A" setup while listening to CDs and LPs using the "+" and "-"
>controls on the front of the receiver but this seems like it would be a
>big hassle since (according to the manual anyway) you have to kind of
>work at it to strike the perfect balance between the front and rear
>speakers for the surround-sound effect.
>
>Hope I explained myself clearly and TIA.

Messing with the wiring this way is certain to release the magic
smoke. Wire it up the way they say and rest assured that neither your
CDs nor your vinyl will be reproduced in surround. They will play
perfectly normally in stereo through the front left and right
speakers.

d

On 13/06/2022 3:12 am, super70s wrote:
> I'm getting ready to set up a surround-sound system for watching my DVDs
> and Blu-rays, for the first time. According to the receiver manual the
> normal procedure is hook up the front speakers from the "A" terminal on
> the receiver, then hook up the rear speakers using the "surround-sound"
> terminals on the receiver.
>
> However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
> surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
> set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
> speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
> of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
> buttons activated at the same time.
>
> I've never tried to run two sets of wires to the same speaker(s) before
> and thought I'd check in here before I experimented and screwed up
> something bigtime.
>
> I suppose I could always diminish the sound to the rear speakers using
> the "A" setup while listening to CDs and LPs using the "+" and "-"
> controls on the front of the receiver but this seems like it would be a
> big hassle since (according to the manual anyway) you have to kind of
> work at it to strike the perfect balance between the front and rear
> speakers for the surround-sound effect.
>
> Hope I explained myself clearly and TIA.

**Yes, you did. DO NOT DO IT! You will, almost certainly, destroy your
amplifier.

Read the book and follow the instructions contained within. Do not
deviate from those instructions.

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>
>However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
>surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
>set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
>speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
>of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
>buttons activated at the same time.

Why would you expect the CD and phono inputs would be decoded into surround?
I think you are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 13/06/2022 01:23, Scott Dorsey wrote:

> Why would you expect the CD and phono inputs would be decoded into surround?
> I think you are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
>
>
Confusing using a modern 5.1 system with the trick we used to use of
connecting the two rear speakers in series between the two positive
connection on the front ones to extract the out of phase reverb?

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In article <t8602b$db7$1@panix2.panix.com>,
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
> >surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
> >set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
> >speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
> >of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
> >buttons activated at the same time.
>
> Why would you expect the CD and phono inputs would be decoded into surround?
> I think you are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
> --scott

I didn't expect them to be reproduced in true surround, I just wanted
listen to them only from the front speakers.

I have two other complete (non-surround) stereo systems in my home so I
guess I'll just listen to my CDs and LPs on them.

Or maybe I can just use the "+" and "-" center and rear level controls
in the front of the surround-sound receiver, it would be helpful if
there was some kind of graphic indicator for those on the front but it's
just the four buttons. Then you're supposed to run some test with a
sequence of beeps coming from each of the four speakers to get the
optimum balance from the front and rear.

BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
receiver will accept).

On Sun, 12 Jun 2022 23:53:56 -0500, super70s
<super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

>In article <t8602b$db7$1@panix2.panix.com>,
> kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
>> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>> >
>> >However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
>> >surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
>> >set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
>> >speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
>> >of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
>> >buttons activated at the same time.
>>
>> Why would you expect the CD and phono inputs would be decoded into surround?
>> I think you are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
>> --scott
>
>I didn't expect them to be reproduced in true surround, I just wanted
>listen to them only from the front speakers.
>
>I have two other complete (non-surround) stereo systems in my home so I
>guess I'll just listen to my CDs and LPs on them.
>
>Or maybe I can just use the "+" and "-" center and rear level controls
>in the front of the surround-sound receiver, it would be helpful if
>there was some kind of graphic indicator for those on the front but it's
>just the four buttons. Then you're supposed to run some test with a
>sequence of beeps coming from each of the four speakers to get the
>optimum balance from the front and rear.
>
>BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
>type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
>I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
>audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
>receiver will accept).

Please stop. Just put it together exactly as recommended. Stereo
sources will produce stereo sound from the front speakers. If you hear
stuff from rear speakers you have turned on Pro Logic. Turn that off.

You are simply inventing problems for your self.

d

On 13/06/2022 4:53 pm, super70s wrote:
> In article <t8602b$db7$1@panix2.panix.com>,
> kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
>> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
>>> surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
>>> set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
>>> speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
>>> of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
>>> buttons activated at the same time.
>>
>> Why would you expect the CD and phono inputs would be decoded into surround?
>> I think you are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
>> --scott
>
> I didn't expect them to be reproduced in true surround, I just wanted
> listen to them only from the front speakers.
>
> I have two other complete (non-surround) stereo systems in my home so I
> guess I'll just listen to my CDs and LPs on them.

Read what people said.

If you play a stereo (2 -channel) CD on your system, only the front 2
channels will play anything.

It can't (and won't) magic up stuff to come from the rear speakers.

geoff

super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>
>BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
>type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
>I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
>audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
>receiver will accept).

Okay, so THIS is the first important piece of information that you left off
of your question.

Even so... what makes you think going through the CD input will go through
the pro-logic decoder? The center and surround channels should be silent.
If they are not, you have the receiver configured incorrectly.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Sun, 12 Jun 2022 12:12:32 -0500, super70s
<super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

>I'm getting ready to set up a surround-sound system for watching my DVDs
>and Blu-rays, for the first time. According to the receiver manual the
>normal procedure is hook up the front speakers from the "A" terminal on
>the receiver, then hook up the rear speakers using the "surround-sound"
>terminals on the receiver.
>
>However since I don't particularly want to listen to my CDs and LPs in
>surround-sound, I was wondering if it would hurt anything to run another
>set of wires from the "B" terminals on the receiver to the same front
>speakers, then activate that using the "B" speakers button on the front
>of the receiver. Of course you wouldn't want to have the "A" and "B"
>buttons activated at the same time.
>
>I've never tried to run two sets of wires to the same speaker(s) before
>and thought I'd check in here before I experimented and screwed up
>something bigtime.
>
>I suppose I could always diminish the sound to the rear speakers using
>the "A" setup while listening to CDs and LPs using the "+" and "-"
>controls on the front of the receiver but this seems like it would be a
>big hassle since (according to the manual anyway) you have to kind of
>work at it to strike the perfect balance between the front and rear
>speakers for the surround-sound effect.
>
>Hope I explained myself clearly and TIA.
Your receiver's remote probably has a stereo button. Push it.

In article <t87feo$skt$1@panix2.panix.com>,
kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
> >type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
> >I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
> >audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
> >receiver will accept).
>
> Okay, so THIS is the first important piece of information that you left off
> of your question.
>
> Even so... what makes you think going through the CD input will go through
> the pro-logic decoder?
> The center and surround channels should be silent.
> If they are not, you have the receiver configured incorrectly.
> --scott

I've never used a true surround sound receiver until now (it's still in
transit) and I assumed (wrongly I guess) all four speakers would be
activated even when using the CD or phono modes.

I was just interested in hearing CDs and LPs from the front speakers
only with a surround set up, the way I've been listening to music for 50
years.

With my previous straight stereo receiver I just had the front speakers
hooked up to "A" and the rear speakers hooked up to "B" and I could turn
the rear speakers on and off when watching video or listening to CDs
accordingly.

On 14/06/2022 2:24 pm, super70s wrote:
> In article <t87feo$skt$1@panix2.panix.com>,
> kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
>> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
>>> type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
>>> I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
>>> audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
>>> receiver will accept).
>>
>> Okay, so THIS is the first important piece of information that you left off
>> of your question.
>>
>> Even so... what makes you think going through the CD input will go through
>> the pro-logic decoder?
>> The center and surround channels should be silent.
>> If they are not, you have the receiver configured incorrectly.
>> --scott
>
> I've never used a true surround sound receiver until now (it's still in
> transit) and I assumed (wrongly I guess) all four speakers would be
> activated even when using the CD or phono modes.
>
> I was just interested in hearing CDs and LPs from the front speakers
> only with a surround set up, the way I've been listening to music for 50
> years.
>
> With my previous straight stereo receiver I just had the front speakers
> hooked up to "A" and the rear speakers hooked up to "B" and I could turn
> the rear speakers on and off when watching video or listening to CDs
> accordingly.

Well it wasn't a 'straight stereo receiver' then !

geoff

In article <Jf2dndWNPMMLkjX_nZ2dnUU7-UHNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
geoff <geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org> wrote:

> On 14/06/2022 2:24 pm, super70s wrote:
> > In article <t87feo$skt$1@panix2.panix.com>,
> > kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> >
> >> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> BTW this receiver I'm using isn't even a more modern "5.1" surround
> >>> type, it's an old "Dolby Surround Pro-Logic" from early in the century.
> >>> I have HDMI running from the Blu-ray player to the TV but for the TV's
> >>> audio out to the receiver I use the old RCA jacks (the only kind the
> >>> receiver will accept).
> >>
> >> Okay, so THIS is the first important piece of information that you left off
> >> of your question.
> >>
> >> Even so... what makes you think going through the CD input will go through
> >> the pro-logic decoder?
> >> The center and surround channels should be silent.
> >> If they are not, you have the receiver configured incorrectly.
> >> --scott
> >
> > I've never used a true surround sound receiver until now (it's still in
> > transit) and I assumed (wrongly I guess) all four speakers would be
> > activated even when using the CD or phono modes.
> >
> > I was just interested in hearing CDs and LPs from the front speakers
> > only with a surround set up, the way I've been listening to music for 50
> > years.
> >
> > With my previous straight stereo receiver I just had the front speakers
> > hooked up to "A" and the rear speakers hooked up to "B" and I could turn
> > the rear speakers on and off when watching video or listening to CDs
> > accordingly.
>
>
> Well it wasn't a 'straight stereo receiver' then !
>
> geoff

I don't think I've ever owned a receiver that didn't have A and B
speaker terminals, even my two almost 50-year-old Marantzes from the
1970s.

Right now I have all the audio from the TV (which includes the Blu-ray
as well as an old VCR) going into one source on the receiver. With the
surround sound receiver I think I'm going to try to hook the audio from
the Blu-ray directly into the receiver (in addition to the HDMI) and
also run the VCR audio into its own source on the receiver. I guess that
would be the better set up.

super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>I've never used a true surround sound receiver until now (it's still in
>transit) and I assumed (wrongly I guess) all four speakers would be
>activated even when using the CD or phono modes.

No. When it is going through the surround decoder, it will route the
appropriate dematrixed signals to the center and surround channel. The
dialogue will be in the center, the ambient rear sounds will be in the
surround just the way it was mixed.

>I was just interested in hearing CDs and LPs from the front speakers
>only with a surround set up, the way I've been listening to music for 50
>years.

I am not sure what you mean by this. Those recordings are not recorded in
surround. If you were to run them through a surround decoder the effect
would be unpredictable with the stereo image constantly moving around.

>With my previous straight stereo receiver I just had the front speakers
>hooked up to "A" and the rear speakers hooked up to "B" and I could turn
>the rear speakers on and off when watching video or listening to CDs
>accordingly.

That would give you the same signals in the front and rear, and no surround
effects of any sort. No center channel either, which is really annoying if
you aren't sitting on the center line of the room.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."