Would it be okay to use a pair of yamaha speakers that have a max power handling of 60 watts as rear surrounds with my new JVC 8000 that claims to have 100 watts to each rear??? Will it blow them instantly, or only if I turn it up too loud?

Thanks guys

On the rears that would probably be fine. Since they are only used for movies. As long as you don't crank on for a long time they'll be just fine. If they ever do start to make noises like they're straining or bottoming out you may want to get an L-pad to decrease the power going to them slightly. But I'd think that you'd be fine running them normally. Go for it!

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People say nothing is forever. If that's true how do you explain herpes or the Greatful Dead. I say forever is for people who got the balls to make it last.

here is another question.....


should i get an optical cable to connect my cd player??? i would only need the 3 foot one and can get an accoustic research for about 15 bucks, would this be a good purchase?

I'm assuming that you have an optical input for your CD player on your reciever. If so and you have nice equipment you might hear a slight increase in performance over standard RCA cables. But be warned that if you kink or bend the optical cable to much it may not work anymore. If you have $15 burning a whole in your pocket give it a shot if you don't notice a difference maybe you can take it back. Otherwise take the $15 and buy a CD or DVD you can never have to many of those.

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People say nothing is forever. If that's true how do you explain herpes or the Greatful Dead. I say forever is for people who got the balls to make it last.

You are much more likley to damage speakers by using an underpowered amp than a higer powered one. The reason? When the underpowered amp clips it will produce a high voltage spike w/ mucho noise. Don't fret the power.

For the speakers, you will not damage them with your receiver as long as they are not making audible noises.

For the optical cable, it depends. By using the RCA cables you are using the the digital to analoge converter of the cd player. Using the optical cable would use the d/a converter of the receiver. If one is worse than the other you will hear a diffrence, though d/a converters are generally equal.

are you saying that if i use an optical cable from the digital out on my cd player to the digital in on my receiver, that it will still be converted into analog?

i dont understand why?

It will always be converted to analog as speakers are only capable of accepting analog signals, all digital formats must go thru some type of digital to analog converter. There can be a diffrence in sound between diffrent d/a converters, but almost all sound about the same (i.e. very small diffrence compared to say the diffrence between speakers).

The main diffrence is in which d/a converter you want to use, the cd player's or the receiver's. All the optical cable does is deliver the 0's and 1's to the d/a converter of the receiver.

If you are happy with the way it sounds now, don't waste your money on the cable. I've never heard your cd player, but chances are it's internal d/a converter is as good as or better than the one in you receiver.

so what i want to know is why do we buy digital cables to hook up our components if everything gets converted into analog anyways? for instance, in another case you can use an analog rca cable in place of a digital coaxil cable because any digital signals passed eventually get converted into analog. when will we truely hear digital sound, or is it out already?

by the way, i connected those rear speakers and they do in fact work great. i hooked up my first digital/dts receiver today(replacing a 3 year old onkyo pro-logic) and i was amazed. dolby digital and dts sounds about 10 times better than i ever imagined!

Let me see if I can shed some light on this.
You can't by definition hear a digital sound. Digital means that the information is in 1's and 0's. You can't hear a 1 or 0. What happens inside the D/A converter (in every DVD player, CD player, etc) is that the sequences of 1's and 0's are converted into voltages which are amplified in the (yep) amplifier. These voltages are then passed on to your speakers, making them move in and out. The speakers' motion excites air molecules, thus making sound. So, in order for a speaker to produce sound, it has to have a voltage put across the voice coil, making the cone move. These voltages are, by definition analog signals.

To answer your last question, you buy digital cables to allow the maximum possible signal transfer with a minimum of degradation. Every stage that the signal is passed through in analog form, there will be some (typically very little, but it's there) noise added to the signal.
In essence, by using a digital cable, you keep the information in the digital (1 and 0) format for as long as possible. Digital signals don't degrade, so there is a lower noise level.

Also, more often than not, the D/A converter in your receiver is better than the one in your CD player (or DVD), unless you have really high end components.

Sorry for the long windedness. Hope that helped!


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Hey there, Homer. I made this chili with something extra, just for you.
I put in the merciless peppers of Quetzalsacatenango. Grown deep in the
jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum.
Care for a taste?

-Chief Wiggum (of the Simpsons)

DVDs..... Is there anything they can't do?

[This message has been edited by edclem (edited July 11, 2000).]

Thanks! You guys are great.