Home speakers

Thanks VCR. The kit will be here in about a week, so we will see if all goes well to rock the neighbors.

 

https://www.simplyspeakers.com/infinity-foa...sk-8.html#tab-3

Fixed the Infinity & now rocking pretty good. The wife says the walls shake, so that's good enough for me. Not bad for a rookie, $20 repair vs $5k+ for a new system. I suppose some day maybe soon I will blow those speakers too since my hearing isn't that good from early VH days so I crank them pretty good. But the system sounds pretty damn good right now anyway. Thanks for all the help here. Maybe some day I will advance to the future, but just unfortunate there are not stores around here that allow one to listen to many of the options mentioned here. Now just have to figure on some manual cut off switch to the wire that operates my EPI in the man cave computer room vs the EPI in the garage. My receiver apparently does not have a "mono" and also does not have a basic right/left "balance" option where I can steer to one speaker or another. But if I can put a cut off switch spliced into the speaker wires by the receiver, then good enough for the time being so I can play one speaker at a time. But in the living room I of course always play the two Infinity at the same time.

 

Infinity fixed by JanDaMan, on Flickr

^Good to know that you are happy and are now rocking the tunes again.

 

Do you have the user manual for your Pioneer receiver? I'm pretty sure that you can configure it to using either Zone 2 or Speaker B for your EPI (just plug in one EPI to Zone 2 or Speaker B ). The switching is already there. But you will need to connect it properly and switch it via your remote.

Yes I can switch to Speaker A (2 Infinity) in the living room and Speaker B (one EPI in the garage and one EPI in the computer room). But I can't switch off one of the EPI or balance it to one EPI speaker (such as right or left like any normal receiver). I agree I could just plug in one of the Speaker B wires to the receiver, but that involves moving the unit in and out of the cabinet to get to the back. That's why I was thinking of some type of on/off switch spliced to the two EPI speaker wires where I can have the wires & on/off switch closer to the side of the receiver. Maybe need to see what they may have that would work such as Radio Shack.

 

Below is the manual I have been using. 100+ stinking pages for all kinds of complex functions, yet they forgot the simple right/left "balance" function and "mono" function...ugh! Says mono functions for radio stations, but not for anything else.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFi...uctions0128.pdf

Yes I can switch to Speaker A (2 Infinity) in the living room and Speaker B (one EPI in the garage and one EPI in the computer room). But I can't switch off one of the EPI or balance it to one EPI speaker (such as right or left like any normal receiver). I agree I could just plug in one of the Speaker B wires to the receiver, but that involves moving the unit in and out of the cabinet to get to the back. That's why I was thinking of some type of on/off switch spliced to the two EPI speaker wires where I can have the wires & on/off switch closer to the side of the receiver. Maybe need to see what they may have that would work such as Radio Shack.

 

Below is the manual I have been using. 100+ stinking pages for all kinds of complex functions, yet they forgot the simple right/left "balance" function and "mono" function...ugh! Says mono functions for radio stations, but not for anything else.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFi...uctions0128.pdf

 

 

My friend, please don't take it the wrong way but allow me to remind you that you now have a "surround sound receiver", not the 30yr+ old regular "receiver". The SSR is complicated and when fully connected it looks like it can launch a spacecraft. Patience and common sense are the key. What you need to do is connect your EPI to the rear surround sound speaker binding posts and configure the rear surround sound output to Zone 2 (not speaker B ). This can feed your tunes to the EPI and to your Inifiniti simultaneously or separately, i.e. you can have both the EPI & the Infiniti play, or only have the Infiniti play, or only have the EPI play. You can even have the Infiniti play music from your CD player while your EPI play tunes from your cable box or from your SSR's FM tuner. By going through the speaker config menu/screen, you can also switch on/off the rear surround left or the rear surround right which means you can have only 1 of your EPI speaker playing. Yes, it's a bit complicated having to go through several menus (just like your smart cel phone) but it can be done. Your SSR also has a built-in Dual Mono mode under its DSP modes; among other modes; they are all there still plus a whole lot more; you just need to read the right section of the manual, experiment and make notes to tailor the thing to your needs.

 

If you want to go pure old school, then a simple on/off light switch will do the job. On the speaker wires to one of the EPI, simply cut one of the wires (not both, i.e. each speaker has a "+" & a "-" wire, just cut either one of the + or -) Put one of those simple on/off light switch such as the one on table lamps (available in any hardware store) onto the cut wire (exactly like you would install a light switch to a table lamp) and you are good. You can determine how far/close the switch needs to be from your SSR. It's crude but it works if you choose not to go through pages and pages of the manual.

Not for a home theater but home stereo I'm thinking of picking this up: https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/bnc/ele/d/v...6378944866.html had an updated version in 1988. My now x-girlfriend was using it to record songs onto CD's for the YMCA outdated sound system........ She taught a few workout classes there. Great sound from that stereo!

Not for a home theater but home stereo I'm thinking of picking this up: https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/bnc/ele/d/v...6378944866.html had an updated version in 1988. My now x-girlfriend was using it to record songs onto CD's for the YMCA outdated sound system........ She taught a few workout classes there. Great sound from that stereo!

 

Umm...as they say, whatever makes you happy, that's what counts.

 

Hitachi was never known to make good-sounding stereo, let alone great. They were innovative and had great designs (as in looks). The MX-W30 actually won an award on design; but not on the sound. Hitachi made one of the first consumer CD players and was the very first manufacturer to offer vertical CD loading (Sony & Philips co-invented the CD player, Sony offered horizontal loading & Philips offered top loading. No need to say who won eventually). Hitachi also made great appliances such as rice-cookers, slow-cookers and refrigerators that literally last for decades. They had substantially scaled back on consumer electronics and are now suppliers of industrial machinery and they make great elevators.

 

Btw, if your ex-girlfriend was using the MX-W30 or even its later version, the MX-W50, to record songs onto CD's, then she must be some kind of a genius electrical and sound engineer or a magician. These units were designed to dub from one cassette to another; even high-speed dubbing was possible; or to record songs from CD or radio onto cassette tape. But never onto the CD itself, it's a CD player; not a CD player/recorder.

My friend, please don't take it the wrong way but allow me to remind you that you now have a "surround sound receiver", not the 30yr+ old regular "receiver". The SSR is complicated and when fully connected it looks like it can launch a spacecraft. Patience and common sense are the key. What you need to do is connect your EPI to the rear surround sound speaker binding posts and configure the rear surround sound output to Zone 2 (not speaker B ). This can feed your tunes to the EPI and to your Inifiniti simultaneously or separately, i.e. you can have both the EPI & the Infiniti play, or only have the Infiniti play, or only have the EPI play. You can even have the Infiniti play music from your CD player while your EPI play tunes from your cable box or from your SSR's FM tuner. By going through the speaker config menu/screen, you can also switch on/off the rear surround left or the rear surround right which means you can have only 1 of your EPI speaker playing. Yes, it's a bit complicated having to go through several menus (just like your smart cel phone) but it can be done. Your SSR also has a built-in Dual Mono mode under its DSP modes; among other modes; they are all there still plus a whole lot more; you just need to read the right section of the manual, experiment and make notes to tailor the thing to your needs.

 

If you want to go pure old school, then a simple on/off light switch will do the job. On the speaker wires to one of the EPI, simply cut one of the wires (not both, i.e. each speaker has a "+" & a "-" wire, just cut either one of the + or -) Put one of those simple on/off light switch such as the one on table lamps (available in any hardware store) onto the cut wire (exactly like you would install a light switch to a table lamp) and you are good. You can determine how far/close the switch needs to be from your SSR. It's crude but it works if you choose not to go through pages and pages of the manual.

Thanks for the info. Yes, the receiver manual is complex, very similar to tax forms (if this, then go to page ___ for that, then be sure to read the footnotes since it is only applicable if this ___, etc on and on). Then on top of that, I am still mentally & physically screwed from the benzo meds they gave me during colonoscopy making things more difficult. But anyway, I do have the 2 EPI connected to the receiver in the Speaker B/Zone 2 connection on he rear of the receiver, so on the front of the cabinet it has buttons to run the 2 Infiniry or the 2 EPI or run all 4. So I am good with that, but I do need to figure out the mono function for the 2 EPI speakers as well as switching either one of those EPI off. Looks like that may be on page 93+ in the manual. But to go that deep into programming it seems I need to hook up the TV with HDMI to see that on the TV screen, then at some point get my degree in electrical engineering. Anyway, work in progress for me. Thanks for your help, it keeps me working at it.

Thanks for the info. Yes, the receiver manual is complex, very similar to tax forms (if this, then go to page ___ for that, then be sure to read the footnotes since it is only applicable if this ___, etc on and on). Then on top of that, I am still mentally & physically screwed from the benzo meds they gave me during colonoscopy making things more difficult. But anyway, I do have the 2 EPI connected to the receiver in the Speaker B/Zone 2 connection on he rear of the receiver, so on the front of the cabinet it has buttons to run the 2 Infiniry or the 2 EPI or run all 4. So I am good with that, but I do need to figure out the mono function for the 2 EPI speakers as well as switching either one of those EPI off. Looks like that may be on page 93+ in the manual. But to go that deep into programming it seems I need to hook up the TV with HDMI to see that on the TV screen, then at some point get my degree in electrical engineering. Anyway, work in progress for me. Thanks for your help, it keeps me working at it.

 

You are more than welcome. And congrats, sounds like you are making progress. And yes, I should have mentioned that you will need on-screen guidance to navigate around the SSR's menu. Since a monitor or a TV goes hand in hand with the SSR, I thought you had already linked up the two. The good news is you do not need a HDMI cable for connection. A simple no-frill RCA (male) to RCA (male) cable will suffice. HDMI will provide better picture quality and sound (all in one cable) but that is only when you are watching video like DVD's or Bluray Discs. Plug the RCA cable to the SSR's jack that says Monitor Out and to the TV's AUX in. Switch your TV input to AUX, press the menu button on your SSR's remote control and you should be good to go for on-screen navigation.

 

As an encouragement (or discouragement, depending on your perspective ), here's a pic of the back panel of my DSP surround-sound processor. Not a SSR so no built-in amps which means I need to run at least 8 more cables from this to feed the amps. As you can see, all kinds of connections, jacks and cables are there. A bit daunting to look at but so long as you follow common sense, it's actually fairly straight forward. Your SSR have much less challenge than what you see here but plenty of potential for your needs and then some. Study the manual and assuming everything functions as they should, it will provide you with years of usage. All the best!

^ wow that's some spaghetti factory! As far as TV, that seems like one area I am in the 21st century which can be fortunate or unfortunate. I have a Samsung that has this "one connect" box that has only HDMI connections & no RCA port. So I just need to do the HDMI and see how that goes to tweak the receiver to EPI speakers.

^ wow that's some spaghetti factory! As far as TV, that seems like one area I am in the 21st century which can be fortunate or unfortunate. I have a Samsung that has this "one connect" box that has only HDMI connections & no RCA port. So I just need to do the HDMI and see how that goes to tweak the receiver to EPI speakers.

 

^Awesome on the HDMI connection!

And yes, there's a plethora of cables.

^Sorry dude, I think you have to give up on me. I went through the speaker functions such as page 94 in the link below and I can't find any "mono" function for the back speakers (the two EPI). But all & all having one stereo functioning EPI in the computer room and one stereo EPI in the garage isn't too bad. Its just a little odd being in one room to not hear all music out of one speaker. But you did encourage me to poke around with the receiver and the manual which made me see that I can do some other things too, such as adding a couple more speakers to the living room in addition to the 2 Infinity and a subwoofer if I want. If I do I won't blow lots of money on that stuff though as my local craiglist seems to have low cost used stuff I can buy and fool with. I suppose I could even run 2 speakers to the computer room and 2 to the garage if I got more speakers, eliminating the need for "mono".

 

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFi...uctions0128.pdf

^No problem my friend.

 

Go to Page 54 & read the right-hand column (Using the Advanced surround effect).

 

To activate MONO, press the "RECEIVER" button on the remote (last row to the right at the bottom of the remote). Then keep pressing "MENU ADV SURR" button (to cycle through the various modes, it's 4 rows above the "RECEIVER" button to the right) until the display on your receiver says "MONO FILM". And there you go, you now should have mono.

^ Yeah I tried that Mono Film selection, but the music still definitely comes through in stereo in the 2 EIP and 2 Infinity. Maybe that Mono Film means something else.

I think mono film on Yahama does the opposite but I could be wrong (tries to use DSP to turn a mono signal to stereo or surround)

^ Yeah I tried that Mono Film selection, but the music still definitely comes through in stereo in the 2 EIP and 2 Infinity. Maybe that Mono Film means something else.

 

Ok, let's try this again. First, bear with me please as I try to explain the so-called technicalities involved.

 

sprite, Yamaha always had their own set of surround sound guidelines and they do not follow Dolby or DTS. Their speakers requirement/placement also differ so I would not be surprised if their definition of mono is different.

 

In modern films, we have a number of sound pick-ups : e.g. the hero standing on the left confronting the villain standing on the right with the damsel in distress further back towards the middle screaming. In a modern HT, the dialogue of hero will come from the front left speaker, the villain from the front right speakers and the damsel's scream from the centre speaker. Some slight overlap will occur and the surround speakers provides the width and depth of the environment/ambiance of that scene. The subwoofer takes care of the low frequencies such as background (or foreground) explosions. This is a very generalized depiction of multi-track recording of course but you get the idea.

 

In older films, sound pickup was not that elaborate and very old films may have only a single track of sound recording hence "mono".

If the film were played in true mono fashion, then only the centre speaker will have sound (one single source on one single track). What the Mono Film function does is to mix that one track audio into the rest of the 6 speakers plus the subwoofer so every speaker would have sound.

 

Here is the tricky part. Your music is likely multi-track so in theory you do not need to activate the Mono Film function. But because it is multi-track, you will get, for example, a guitar on the left, a bass on the right and the drums at the back towards the left. Now, if you use the "balance" control only, turning the balance to left will result the lost of the bass plus some drums and turning the balance to the right will result the lost of the guitar plus some more drums. Keep in mind that your Pioneer does not have a balance switch/knob so you will need to go into the DSP speaker menu to turn off the left or the right speaker to get ONE speaker to play only. And there is your problem! Let's say one of your EPI on the left channel is in your den and your other EPI on the right channel is in your garage. If you want to hear your EPI in your garage only and you turn off the left speaker in your den, it will not play the guitar and most of the drums because the left is turned off. Conversely, if you want to hear your EPI in your den only and your turn on the right channel, then the EPI in your den would not play the bass and some of the drums. This is due to the multi-track recording that separates the left & the right channel. And that's where the Mono Film function comes in. By activating Mono Film, all the sounds from all tracks, i.e. the guitar, the bass and the drums get feed into both left and right equally. So, after activating the Mono Film function, you go into the DSP speaker menu and turn off the respected speaker (either left or right) and whichever ONE EPI speaker remains should play the full spectrum of the sound.

 

I hope the above is not too confusing. If the wiring/connection is correctly done and assuming your Pioneer is fully functioning properly, it should work the way as described above. Best of luck.

 

By activating Mono Film, all the sounds from all tracks, i.e. the guitar, the bass and the drums get feed into both left and right equally. So, after activating the Mono Film function, you go into the DSP speaker menu and turn off the respected speaker (either left or right) and whichever ONE EPI speaker remains should play the full spectrum of the sound.

 

I hope the above is not too confusing. If the wiring/connection is correctly done and assuming your Pioneer is fully functioning properly, it should work the way as described above. Best of luck.

 

Yeah, that's the problem. I set to Mono Film and the music still comes out stereo (guitar in one room, drums in the other). If it bothers me too much maybe I will just get 2 more cheap speakers to hook to the receiver to play stereo in the garage and stereo in the den. Or move both EPI to the garage since I don't play in the den that much anyway.

Yeah, that's the problem. I set to Mono Film and the music still comes out stereo (guitar in one room, drums in the other). If it bothers me too much maybe I will just get 2 more cheap speakers to hook to the receiver to play stereo in the garage and stereo in the den. Or move both EPI to the garage since I don't play in the den that much anyway.

 

Did you config all the speakers properly in the DSP menu, i.e. turned off all the surround sound speakers since you aren’t using any? Have you tried pressing the “Stereo” button on the front panel of the amp a few times to see if there’s any difference? Lastly, instead of using “Mono Film”, try the “Ext. Stereo” mode.

 

Rather than getting another pair of speakers, why don’t you just get an old-school receiver? Plenty of Sherwood receivers available on eBay. Some are even new in unopened boxes. Old-school Pioneer or Sansui receivers should satisfy your needs too.

Did you config all the speakers properly in the DSP menu, i.e. turned off all the surround sound speakers since you aren’t using any? Have you tried pressing the “Stereo” button on the front panel of the amp a few times to see if there’s any difference? Lastly, instead of using “Mono Film”, try the “Ext. Stereo” mode.

 

Rather than getting another pair of speakers, why don’t you just get an old-school receiver? Plenty of Sherwood receivers available on eBay. Some are even new in unopened boxes. Old-school Pioneer or Sansui receivers should satisfy your needs too.

Yeah I pretty much give up. I spent a few hours trying all the combos I could just to get a simple mono function, but no luck. I think in building it to make it so snazzy and sophisticated that someone forgot the basic functions, mono, balance, etc. I could get my Sherwood repaired too, but I play music from my iPod and cell phone and it seems those things were not even around to build into systems back in the 8 track & dial phone days. I think I will just move the 2 EPI to the garage. Some day I will advance to one of the high quality less complex integrated amps that you mentioned before. That Pioneer thing is nice, but just tries my patience a bit too much. At least I didn't shoot it yet.

Yeah I pretty much give up. I spent a few hours trying all the combos I could just to get a simple mono function, but no luck. I think in building it to make it so snazzy and sophisticated that someone forgot the basic functions, mono, balance, etc. I could get my Sherwood repaired too, but I play music from my iPod and cell phone and it seems those things were not even around to build into systems back in the 8 track & dial phone days. I think I will just move the 2 EPI to the garage. Some day I will advance to one of the high quality less complex integrated amps that you mentioned before. That Pioneer thing is nice, but just tries my patience a bit too much. At least I didn't shoot it yet.

 

Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way but for $15, there is a high possibility that this Pioneer isn't functioning properly.

 

Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way but for $15, there is a high possibility that this Pioneer isn't functioning properly.

 

Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way but for $15, there is a high possibility that this Pioneer isn't functioning properly.

Or could very well be me not functioning properly.

Did anyone ask about the new Apple Homepod yet?

All this mono talk above is teasing me a little...

 

There's been a captivation by mono recently in the hi-fi world.

 

It's not so much a replacement for stereo but a supplemental system on top of having stereo. A different type of listening experience, sometimes better than stereo.

 

Cool to come full circle on stuff like this!

All this mono talk above is teasing me a little...

 

There's been a captivation by mono recently in the hi-fi world.

 

It's not so much a replacement for stereo but a supplemental system on top of having stereo. A different type of listening experience, sometimes better than stereo.

 

Cool to come full circle on stuff like this!

 

Yes, there certainly has been a revival or even a renaissance of mono in the hi-end hi-fi world of late. I wonder if the popularity of earbuds plays a role since the imagery from earbuds seems to mimic that of mono playback.

 

The sub-$500 cartridges from Grado and Ortofon are easy enough to swallow. The $2000 and below Miyajima Labs hurts a bit but acceptable still. But some of the esoteric hi-end Lyra's that cost upwards of $5k is getting absurd and the $14k Koetsu Coralstone Platinum mono is just lunacy! And chances are you'll need another turntable or at least another tonearm plus another set of cables to complement its stereo counterpart. And that's not counting the possible phono amp and/or the step-up transformer which would require yet another set of cables. Things would add up quick.