Need some help fixing and installer mistake.

[Wiggin78]

OK, I'm not sure there is an easy solution to this. Here is the situation. My wife's parents just added a 3rd story onto their 2nd story master bedroom. They had a home theater installer install the wiring for the room. They told him they wanted to be able to watch HDTV in the master bedroom and in the new 3rd story. Well, I had the D* installer out today and he told me he can put an HD box in the master bedroom but not on the 3rd story. The reason is the home theater installer mirrored the connection from the master bedroom to the 3rd story instead of running a dedicated line. If I had known this I would have stopped it because I know D*'s boxes don't allow HD mirroring. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of it. The D* installer also said the new 5lnb dish has to have a direct line to the receiver so no diplexers or splitters. Running a dedicated line is not an option for the 3rd story. Does anyone have any ideas about other options? They want to be able to watch HD in the master bedroom and in the 3rd story room separately. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[charper1]

Unless I mis-read somethng, just add another seperate HD receiver in the added room.

 

[Wiggin78]

There is a dedicated line coming from the dish to the master bedroom. So we can put a receiver there. But the 3rd story is just a coax line coming down to the master bedroom to plug into a splitter or the back of the receiver to mirror. There is no dedicated line from the 3rd story to the dish. That's the problem.

 

[Digital Dude]

Get a CElabs AV400 or 901 component multiplier and a coax to fiber Digital adapter and duplicate the master bedroom in the theater. That way you only have to run wires up 1 floor.

Link

http://cgi.ebay.com/CeLabs-AV901HD-...oryZ3280QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

We use it for evu

 

[charper1]

There is a dedicated line coming from the dish to the master bedroom. So we can put a receiver there. But the 3rd story is just a coax line coming down to the master bedroom to plug into a splitter or the back of the receiver to mirror. There is no dedicated line from the 3rd story to the dish. That's the problem.

Oh then yes, I mis-read, sorry! What a knucklehead install job that was.

 

[Wiggin78]

Get a CElabs AV400 or 901 component multiplier and a coax to fiber Digital adapter and duplicate the master bedroom in the theater. That way you only have to run wires up 1 floor.

Link

http://cgi.ebay.com/CeLabs-AV901HD-...oryZ3280QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

We use it for evu

So how exactly does that work? If I have an HD box in the Master bedroom this will take the component signal and mirror it to the 3rd story HDTV? What is the coax to fiber adapter for? If you could explain the setup i would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Wiggin78]

Oh then yes, I mis-read, sorry! What a knucklehead install job that was.

Yeah, no kidding. I told them they shouldn't have to pay him or he needs to fix it for free. This same installer tried to downgrade me from buying a Denon AVR 3805 to the 2805. As it is I have wattage issues with the 3805 and need to buy a seperate amp so I can have a better sounding system. If I had downgraded it would be even worse.

 

[raoul5788]

Yeah, no kidding. I told them they shouldn't have to pay him or he needs to fix it for free. This same installer tried to downgrade me from buying a Denon AVR 3805 to the 2805. As it is I have wattage issues with the 3805 and need to buy a seperate amp so I can have a better sounding system. If I had downgraded it would be even worse.

The 3805 has 120 w/ch, the 2805 has 100. There is no real world difference between the two unless you are running it at nearly full volume in a VERY large room. The Kefs are not very efficient, but not that bad. Something doesn't seem right to me.

 

[osu1991]

If you can run a new line to the masterbdrm, then take the splitter out and couple the existing lines together making a single run to the third story.

 

[fkostyn]

If you can run a new line to the masterbdrm, then take the splitter out and couple the existing lines together making a single run to the third story.

That would be my suggestion also..... quick and easy - and better than trying to run a whole new line (which I myself would do... whats a little drywall repair enh?

 

[Digital Dude]

So how exactly does that work? If I have an HD box in the Master bedroom this will take the component signal and mirror it to the 3rd story HDTV? What is the coax to fiber adapter for? If you could explain the setup i would appreciate it. Thanks.

Yes it mirrors the HD source on up to 4 or 9 TV's. Since it's a theater room I assume you will be using Dolby Digital, in which case the CE labs has RCA DD connection as opposed to fiber optic.

 

[Wiggin78]

The 3805 has 120 w/ch, the 2805 has 100. There is no real world difference between the two unless you are running it at nearly full volume in a VERY large room. The Kefs are not very efficient, but not that bad. Something doesn't seem right to me.

All i know is that with only 120w going to the center channel it is very hard to hear dialogue. Sending 150w+ makes the dialogue and highs crystal clear. Based on that 100w would only make the problem worse.

 

[raoul5788]

All i know is that with only 120w going to the center channel it is very hard to hear dialogue. Sending 150w+ makes the dialogue and highs crystal clear. Based on that 100w would only make the problem worse.

Only 120 watts? That's plenty of power. You must have something wrong somewhere. If you increase the power to the center channel, you are also increasing it to the others. That would make them relatively louder, also. Maybe the setup is not right for the center channel. Did you do an spl test on the speakers when you first set the system up? Or maybe there is a problem with the speaker itself.

 

[colofan]

Also make sure you don't have phantom center channel on as well.

 

[Wiggin78]

Also make sure you don't have phantom center channel on as well.

Phantom Center Channel? How would that happen?

In regards to the original post the wiring problem has been taken care of. We found another direct line running to a room near the Master bedroom and coupled the 2. Everything is great now.

As far as the Center Channel all I know is what I hear/don't hear. With more power the sound is crystal clear. This also applies to all the channels. I borrowed an Outlaw 7700 which sends a clean 200w per channel and all the speakers sound much better.
I've posted a lot on AVSForum and most everyone agrees that more power will yield better quality sound. Since I've heard the difference I agree. I'll be buying a monoblock 200w amp to alleviate the dialogue problem for now. Maybe later I'll upgrade to separates.

 

[colofan]

Processing during surround sound have modes that can put center channel information into the front left and right speakers instead of the center.

I double checked on the KEF website and they state 15-120 watt amplifier size and even though a larger amp is usually a good thing with a sensitivity of 91 dB for a one watt input I am suprised that you hear that much difference in amplifier power.

Also how about the delay time setting . Maybe a phase problem causing cancellation of signal with the front speakers.

Well if you like it no need to change just wondering about how the setup might be tweaked.

 

[raoul5788]

Processing during surround sound have modes that can put center channel information into the front left and right speakers instead of the center.

I double checked on the KEF website and they state 15-120 watt amplifier size and even though a larger amp is usually a good thing with a sensitivity of 91 dB for a one watt input I am suprised that you hear that much difference in amplifier power.

Also how about the delay time setting . Maybe a phase problem causing cancellation of signal with the front speakers.

Well if you like it no need to change just wondering about how the setup might be tweaked.

These are possible solutions. I know it's not a power problem, not with 120 watts.

 

[raoul5788]

Phantom Center Channel? How would that happen?

In regards to the original post the wiring problem has been taken care of. We found another direct line running to a room near the Master bedroom and coupled the 2. Everything is great now.

As far as the Center Channel all I know is what I hear/don't hear. With more power the sound is crystal clear. This also applies to all the channels. I borrowed an Outlaw 7700 which sends a clean 200w per channel and all the speakers sound much better.
I've posted a lot on AVSForum and most everyone agrees that more power will yield better quality sound. Since I've heard the difference I agree. I'll be buying a monoblock 200w amp to alleviate the dialogue problem for now. Maybe later I'll upgrade to separates.

Very generally speaking, more power (louder) sounds better. 120 watts is enough to play very loudly, though. That's why I don't think insufficient power is the problem. Did you check the spl setup? This could very well be the problem.