jessecrx

I have an Aiwa Dolby Digital 5.1 Mini System, and I had a question about speaker wire. The system came with already attached to the individual speakers, but there is no way of actually opening the speaker boxes to change the wire out. My question is this. Does the quality of speaker wire make a huge difference?? The wire that came with the system is REALLY thin...like spaghetti thin.

Do you guys have any input on this subject??

Thanks

Jesse C.

Sn0

How to say this......No with an Awia system speaker wire is going to make no difference in sound quality. Plus the amount you would spend on speaker wire would be better spent on upgrades in the future.

Jabx

changing to better (and larger) wire would help somewhat IMO

Nothing against AIWA, but from everything I've read their systems don't sound all that great

Brian Shannon

It is fine for the system you have. Undoubtedly the effort would be more trouble than it would be worth.

jessecrx

Well, I bought it over 2 yrs ago. I'm happy with it for now. I live in a small apartment, so it's ok. So, you honestly suggest just saving up a few benjamins and buying a component sound system??

What home theater in a box set up would you guys suggest?? Now remember, I'm not exactly crappin money, but I can save a bit to get something decent The Aiwa system I have doesnt support DTS, only Dolby 5.1 and I keep hearing about how great DTS is, so that give me some incentive to buy another system too.

Any suggestions??

Thanks for the feedback guys

Jesse

Brian Shannon

A number of the home theater in a box systems look nice. Personally I would rather assemble my own system. As far as DTS goes I have not been able to tell a dramatic difference between it and DD.

Good luck!

zuffy

Well, I got the Sony DAV-C700 recently and loving it. I didn't know Gladiator sounds that good in DTS. I got the system for $570, including 2 pair of wall mounting brackets. My friend got the Sony DAV-S500 for $440. This is the single disc version and it's 280 watts version 350 watts.

Johnny Zhivago

Replace your system a little at a time with some nice components and a nice speaker setup. HT in a box is cute IMHO but I like big meaty gear for my HT.

As for your speaker wire, won't matter if you replace it with gold. Again, just MHO...

Brian Shannon: Do you own the New Line Platinum of Se7en? If so, cue up the library scene with Morgan Freeman and give it a bounce between DTS and DD... The DTS track is obviously superior in every aspect and is the scene I use to demo the differences between DTS and DD for friends.

stevevt

I know I'm not Brian, but I want to discuss this anyhow.

Just because the DTS track kicks the DD track's butt on one dvd (or even on every dvd in the world) does not mean that DTS is superior to DD. It means the following: you should listen to the DTS track on that dvd (and any dvd where the DTS track is better -- and available).

DTS and DD soundtracks are mastered separately, probably using different equipment, probably not level matching one another, probably not by the same people with the same technical ability (or vision). It is not simply a question of taking the same source material and encoding it with two different compression techniques.

Johnny Zhivago

True that, and I'm not implying that all DTS tracks are night and day like the scene I referenced in Se7en... I should have phrased that as the scene I use to show my friends, etc, how DTS can be a much more satisfying experience than the DD track from the same film.

That said, without beating this dead horse any more than it has been already, I still scratch my head when I read that one hears no major differences between DTS tracks and DD tracks. The DTS tracks on every title that I own sound "better" to these ears, in varying degrees of course. For this DTS fan, that makes it a superior experience.

stevevt

I think that the overwhelming majority of people do not have a system that allows them to hear significant differences. Exhibit A: a lot of dvd players will play MP3s. MP3! And people listen to them and enjoy them! Think about that one...

Speaking of that, I'll listen to the library scene in my upstairs system (Toshiba 6109 integrated dvd/receiver, Mirage 460 speakers for mains, PSB Alpha A/V rears) and see if I hear what you're talking about. What chapter # is that?

Johnny Zhivago

LOL... Yeah, MP3s are a whole new can of worms...

Don't recall right off hand (I'm at work) which chapter # it is... It's fairly early in the film though, the scene where Morgan Freeman goes to the library, the security guards are playing poker and I'm pretty sure, if I remember correctly, that the music is Bach's Air On A G String. Classical music and DTS are a match made in heaven.

Sonicflood

Gee, that sure helped him!

Unless you are running over a VERY long distance, 16-18 ga. speaker wire will work just fine, no matter what brand of system you are using! Don't buy (no pun intended) into the Monster Cable 'cult'! You are paying for a name!

Lighten up on the Aiwa bashing! Do you folks REALLY expect him to go out and replace a system that he is happy with, just because he possibly wants new/better wiring?

Good luck jessecrx & enjoy!

Brian Shannon

I do not own that movie.

I have done A/B comparisons with dvd's that I have and I can honestly say that for me it does not make a noticeable difference. If anything on Gladiator for instance I much prefer the DD track.

Gomez

Speakers are easily 2/3 or greater of the sound quality equation. If you want to improve your sound there's no better way than better speakers. Even if you're using a $300 HTIAB setup, add a good set of speakers and you'll improve your sound a lot.

Upgrading your receiver by a factor of 5 will improve sound by maybe a factor of 1, but the same upgrade with speakers will improve it easily by a factor of 4-5. If you had $1000 then you shouldn't spend much more than $200 on a receiver and put the rest into speakers.

Unless you have a $50,000+ system, you'll never hear the difference b/t Home Depot 16ga wire and a $1,000 pair of speaker wires. Even then it's debatable...

Sn0

Just remember saving only 20 dollars a week, will give you over a thousand dollars in just one year. I would suggest buying speakers first. they don't have to be 1000 dollar apiece monsters but for around 500-1000 for the set plus even just an inexpensive reciever say the Denon 1602 or the Onkyo 494 will make a huge difference. just buy piece by piece. To get really good sound for now I, as I have in the past would recommend starting with either JBL N24s or even trying the Home Theater Direct speakers.

jessecrx

LOL!! You guys are hilarious...get on one topic and drift to another...such is life...who can explain it??

Anyways, so upgrading my speakers would be a good start for now?? I am happy with my front end speakers and sub because they really bump. It's my light(weaksounding) rear speakers that bug me. They're so light and so little that I can't imagin them really thumping when those bad ass surround scenes come along. And since the wire is internal(meaning the wire cannot be removed without opening the speaker housing)I wonder if its possible to just cut the wire and hook some other speakers to them.

My brother had the crazy notion of hooking up a pair of really nice Pioneer 6.5 three way speakers in place of them to see if they made a difference. He even made these really nice looking mini speaker boxes for them. I told him I'd hold off on the idea and let me get some feedback from the forum.

What do you guys think?

Can ghetto mods to my wimpy sound system make a difference in the meantime while I save my money to but another sound system?

Thanks guys.

Oh and about Mp3......hehehe.....just kidding...we won't go there I don't wanna accidentally volunteer to become Referree Mills Lane while you guys argue about it I will say this though...I sure am learning alot from these forums.

Jesse

Sn0

No Do not hook up your brothers car speakrs to your Aiwa system, on a larger dedicated system like a Denon or Onkyo it will be able to support 4 ohm speakers but I have a funny feeeling it will smoke your box system. But as far as jerry rigging your system by cutting the wires, you would have no problems. Unless the amp doesn't have enough power, which might be true, but for now it would be ok