dave-o

Ok, I am in over my head and I need your help. Here is my situation. I have 5 speakers hooked up to my receiver, L & R fronts, center, and two rears (no sub yet ).

When I am watching DVDs and the Dolby or DTS kicks in, all 5 speakers sound great and work fine.

However, when watching normal television just the left front speaker, the center and the back left speaker work. Front right and back right don't put out any sound. This also happens when I hookup my Ipod to my receiver through one of the aux spots.


Why would this be? Any ideas? I do notice that when I change my preset settings on the receiver, one can make it so that just the front 2 main speakers work. The current setting I have it on is 5ch stereo, which I think used to spread the sound out to all 5 speakers...

Is it possible to have all 5 speakers putting out sound when watching tv or listening to my ipod?


I appreciate any help you guys can give!

Brian Shannon

Well it could be several things.

First, have you run the test tones for the dolby setup? Does each tone come out of the proper speaker?

Second, when you say they "work" with a movie, are you sure that the sound is in the right place and not just sound?

Third, where is the tv sound coming from? The TV, cable etc? You would need to check those cables to be sure that they are right.

dave-o

The tests work ok, and when I play movies it sounds pretty normal. Plus, the indicator that shows me that all 5 speakers are being used is showing on the receiver. But, I am not 100 percent positive that it is working as it should. Yet all of the speakers are producing sound and the levels appear to be what I would expect.

The sound for the tv comes from the cable box and goes into the receiver. I haven't seen anything wrong with those cables and since I get the exact same problem when I hookup the Ipod to the an aux connection, I would guess thati t is something else...hmmm... any thoughts?

Brian Shannon

Ok if the test tones are correct then the speakers are wired correctly to the receiver.

One at a time work with each device starting with the dvd player. Verify the connections, settings and then try a disc. You may have to change cables. Then move to the other device.

Something is not setup right, it may simply be a settings issue, but the only time I have ever seen this is when speakers were actually connected to the receiver incorrectly.

dave-o

Hmmm..so you think it is most likely a connection problem with one of red-white audio cables? I can check these, I don't have a lot of components, just DVD, Cable, and Xbox. The DVD audio is through optical...I will look at the connections, should I check the speaker wire too? Or is that ok b/c they all work in the test?

Brian Shannon

If everything is going though the receiver and the tones are correct then you are ok. If you have other connections such as red and white audio then you should check them although I do not see how that could shift the sound as you describe.

Check your balance control as well

dave-o

Is the balance control a setting on the receiver?

I just had a thought, since the DVD player is hooked up through the optical wire, then it makes sense that the speakers work fine watching DVDs.

But the cable and ipod would be hooked up using regular red-white audio cables, so the problem must lie somewhere with these cables or their connection? Am I right in describing that do you think?

Brian Shannon

Yes the balance control is on the receiver.

The red and white is a two channel audio connection. If you have the red and white connected correctly then it could be a setting in the receiver for that connection.

dave-o

I think that is where I get confused. There are so many dang settings in my receiver and so many options that I get lost. I have always just had it set on a 5ch stereo option (under the preset label of Entertainment). I think this one used to just spread the sound out to all 5 speakers, but is doesn't seem to be doing that anymore.

I have a yamaha HTR-5540 receiver.

Any suggestions of what I should look at with my settings? I think I know how to check the balance. There is an option on the remote where I can adjust the sound level of each individual speaker, I will check that first...thanks for the help again!

Brian Shannon

That may be the problem. If something is 2 channel it wont be formated properly for 5 channel.

You should see if each different input has its own setting, ie., leave the dvd player to 5 channel or auto decode and set the others to 2 channel.

dave-o

Hmmm...so how do I make use out of all 5 speakers when watching tv or using the Ipod? Or maybe I can't? Or will setting the tv to two channels, spread that sound out over the 5 speakers?

dave-o

Ugh...now I am even more confused. It is more complicated than I thought. My cable box is not just hooked up to my receiver, it is hooked up to the tv directly with the component cables. Then there are several cables hooked up from the cable box to the receiver (I am assuming these deal with the sound). One is a red one that is going to a digital-cd opening on my reciver, I have no idea what that is for. The other cables coming form my cable box look like standard red/white audio cable, but I am not sure what they are for.

My Ipod hookup is more straight foward though, just the regular audio cables plugged into the aux input of my receiver, yet the same problem occurs with both inputs, tv and aux....


My head hurts...maybe I should just be happy I am getting any sound at all?

Brian Shannon

You don't. Unless tv or your music are encoded with 5 channels it does not make a difference anyway.

Component cables are VIDEO only! Check the settings for the AUX input. Check page 30 of the owners manual for settings for each input.

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/customer/m...HTR-5540_e.pdf

As for the cable box, I would need to know what the output is labeled on the cable box and what input it is going into on the receiver. Check the settings for that input on the receiver. You say that the input is "digital-cd". If so this is TWO channel only not FIVE.

dave-o

Hmm...looks I have some work to do. I will check my cable box and let you know what the outputs are labeled and get back to you.

One quick question though, if I am understanding this correctly, the only way I can have all 5 speakers producing sound would be to have the component I am using hooked up through a 5 channel connection? And if this is true, then the only way I can get this on my current receiver is by using the optical audio connection?

Brian Shannon

Yes and no. the only way to get sound through all 5 speakers is to play source material that is encoded with 5 channels of information. Ipod music, regular cd's, tv (unless it is dolby) are two channel only and always will be. You can try to force sound from all the speakers but I am not sure why you would want to do this.

dave-o

Ok, I think I am getting a better understanding of this now. But it is weird that my tv and ipod comes through the front left, center, and back left speakers, isn't it? Also, I know that when tv programs are broadcast in 5 channels, my receiver does not recognize this, which means I probably have to check my connections as you suggested (at least that is what I think).

I should get some time to look at my setup this evening, I will post what I find. Thanks again, this is really helping me gain a better understanding of my set-up.

Brian Shannon

I also suggest you read the manual. You should be using auto-format for each input and let the receiver decide what setting to use. If you set everything for 5 channel even if it is not then you may get some weird performance.

Check the manual!

geodi

From Amazon's description of your receiver (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...nce&n=172282):

"Non-Dolby Digital and DTS sources can benefit from surround processing, too. With enhanced directional steering over standard four-channel Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Pro Logic II provides five channels of surround processing from any stereo source--whether that's a TV broadcast, VHS tapes, or your favorite CDs, cassettes, and LPs. Pro Logic II delivers full-bandwidth stereo surround channels with 40 dB of left-right separation.

A key benefit from a Yamaha receiver, of course, is Yamaha's proprietary signal processing, including Cinema DSP (digital soundfield processing), which creates aural "imaging" that not only makes your home sound like a theater, but also sounds better than most movie theaters. Based on a wealth of measured data in studios and halls, Cinema DSP is designed to bring out the full potential of movie sound mixes, reproducing them the way directors and sound engineers intended."

If your receiver is working correctly and the cables are fine and connected correctly, you should be able to simulate 5 channels by selecting the right sound field. My old Yamaha 2095 does this fine.

dave-o

I am pretty sure I have it set for auto, but I will double check that.

Geodi: Thank you for your help, I saw that in the manual yesterday and tried both Pro Logic settings, but the sound only comes out of the left front speaker when I use that setting...hmmm...

I am doing some reading right now, hopefully I can figure this stuff out.

dave-o

Ok, I think I figured something out. First, it appears that everything that can be set to auto is set to auto.

I believe my cable box's audio is connected to the digital-cd input on the receiver (I think the cable guy did this). So, instead of listening to the tv on the D-TV/CBL setting I tried it on the CD-auto setting. When I did this, my receiver immediately recognized that the program I was watching was broadcasting in 5 channels (all of the 5 speakers were working and the indicators on the receiver were all on).

So, to test this I switched to a channel that was just broadcasting normal sound, and even this was giving me sound from all 5 speakers. It seems that I need to watch tv while the CD input mode is selected, instead of the tv input mode, the way I currently have it hooked up.

Does this make sense to have my cable box hooked up to the digital CD input?

Now, I just need to figure out how everything else is hooked up, so I can understand those too.

Brian Shannon

Well given that receiver and the lack of inputs that is really the only place.

dave-o

Is that b/c the other inputs would only be 2 channels (excluding the optical one obviously)?

Brian Shannon

Yes

dave-o

Ahhh...got it.

I think I am finally getting some of this stuff. Thanks for all your help, it now sounds great when I watch tv, now that I actually have it on the right input mode.