my ancient 5.1ch surround sound system finally DEAD, cannot decideto grab a soundbar/HTiB/AVR+spk+sw

orangpelupa

Elite Bug Hunter
Legend
Googling around, it seems:

Soundbar+sw
+ dead simple to set up (especially newer ones with eARC, older ones with ARC supports Atmos)
+ cheap
- muddy voice/vocals
- bad stereo separation
- cheap models didn't support adding speakers later on

HTiB
+ friggin cheap. 5.1ch is about the same price as front soundbar + sw
+ good voice/vocals
+ good stereo separation
- friggin annoying to setup (the cables, none of them got eARC, none of them got Dolby Atmos)

AVR+speakers+sw package
+ can add speakers later on
+ better sound quality (i assume, as they got 8-10inch subwoofer, compared to HTiB and soundbars that usually only got 6 inch subwoofer)
- friggin expensive. 2.1ch is about 1.5-3x price of 2.1ch soundbar

Note:
I assume Dolby Atmos via ARC is Dolby Digital Plus, and available for free from Windows Store Dolby Access right? No need to jump thru the hoops installing modified drivers, etc like Dolby Digital via HDMI ARC?

- budget under 300 USD
- brands availability: soundbars are Sony and Samsung , HTiB are sony, Panasonic, AVR are Yamaha, denon, pioneer, onkyo.
 
If you already have a 5.1 system, doesn't that mean you have speakers and only need to replace the AVR?
 
If you already have a 5.1 system, doesn't that mean you have speakers and only need to replace the AVR?

unfortunately the speakers are rated for 3ohms. while AVR minimum 6 ohms :(

EDIT: avr minimum 4 ohms
 
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seems i can simply use higher ohm AVR and put a resistor on the cable
 
I had a 7.1 sound setup "die" on me.
Replaced the caps on the power delivery...problem fixed.

Why did I repair and not buy a sound-bar/other pseudo-surround?

A/B test reveled terrible 3D positional sound compared to my 7.1 THX calibrated setup.

I do a lot of things...but I do not downgrade.
 
series-resistor-speaker-connection-jpg.1319884


seems i can simply use higher ohm AVR and put a resistor on the cable

Well you can if you want, but unless you are planning to use Spinal Tap-level volume settings, the amp should be able to drive the speakers anyway. But of course with current limiting resistor you can turn it all the way to eleven!
 
Well you can if you want, but unless you are planning to use Spinal Tap-level volume settings, the amp should be able to drive the speakers anyway. But of course with current limiting resistor you can turn it all the way to eleven!

Yeah frok what I've read, avr got protection circuit that will stop it from getting damaged when using lower ohm speakers. But the speakers is not protected, so it can gets overpower and gets destroyed
 
The speaker will not be overpowered - actually the amp will hit the limit of its power supply, causing clipping of the output signal, which will sound like ... Well you will notice when it starts to happen. It is not very likely that a speaker blows its cone but if it happens anyway, there's your chance to get better speakers ...
 
Yeah frok what I've read, avr got protection circuit that will stop it from getting damaged when using lower ohm speakers. But the speakers is not protected, so it can gets overpower and gets destroyed

With the resistor, the speakers will certainly go less loud.
Without it, it will probably just sound bad (if the avr won't simply shut down), lower frequencies mainly. Speakers shouldn't be damaged though (there is some controversy around this topic , I know)
 
The speaker will not be overpowered - actually the amp will hit the limit of its power supply, causing clipping of the output signal, which will sound like ... Well you will notice when it starts to happen. It is not very likely that a speaker blows its cone but if it happens anyway, there's your chance to get better speakers ...

You forget who you are talking to. This is Orangpelupa ... if something can go wrong ... well, just look at his past experiences. :)

Regards,
SB
 
Finally ordered Yamaha htr 2071 ancient AVR with ancient Yamaha 10 inch subwoofer and ancient Yamaha satellites.

Because the newer AVR that supports earc are almost double the price....

Hello Dolby digital plus! I will finally hear you! All this time I've been stuck with Dolby digital.

Hopefully the AVR will be able to receive Dolby atmos with no issue.... Dolby says it should work, minus the height channels. the AVR will simply think it's the good old Dolby digital plus.
 
finally arrived
5.1ch AVR yamaha htr 2071, an entry-level AVR from a bygone era that only supports DD+ as the best audio quality, no FW update, no auto calibration

Issues and fixes

1. Windows stock HDMI audio refuses to work with Dolby Atmos, solution: install nvidia HDMI audio driver, activate atmos on dolby access, enjoy laggy audio, update the HDMI audio driver to Microsoft stock driver, enable atmos again on Dolby Access.
2. Sound randomly cuts out: use a better quality HDMI cable
3. No sound on windows: install old version of dolby access, reboot, then install the latest version
4. audio from speakers are not uniform: use Sound Analyzer App on play store and manually adjust the speakers thru AVR menu.

Good things
+ Dolby Atmos over DD+ automatically became plain old 5.1ch DD+, so I can use Dolby Access instead of a hacked together registry tricks, etc
+ Dolby Atmos over DD+ got lower latency than DD

What I miss
- Dolby dynamic equalizer and auto stereo to 5.1ch upsampler <--- need to use the hacked together registry tricks. The Dolby PL stereo to 5.1ch upsampler on the AVR did not sound as good.

btw audio latency test I used https://superpowered.com/webbrowserlatency

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uh.... turns out AVR+Active Subwoofer = electricity nightmare, even when no audio playing.

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but totally worth it. the subsonic is ridiculous. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than on my old HTiB.

I almost cant pinpoint the subsonic was emitted from where, and I cant hear it :D
on my HTiB, it subsonic rattles on certain freq
 
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turns out PS4 Pro ---> HDMI ARC --> LG CX --> Yamaha AVR = laggy audio

then I directly linked PS4 Pro to AVR via Optical Cable = almost no lag.

so those with PS5 would need to use AVR with eARC at minimum to avoid lag, assuming PS5 also have laggy HDMI ARC with LG CX
 
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