Confusing Connectors???

[horror4life245]

Hey,

I have a Denon 1910.
I'm not the one who hooked up the speaker wires.
I looked on the back and noticed, since there are obviously side and rear speakers, that there are two different names for the connectors.
VERY confusing....
I'm only using 5.1 on this and I can't find out which is the BACK speakers. Right now it's hooked to the panel that reads Surround. However, there is another panel that reads Surr. Back / Amp Assign.
Which panel should the rears go into? Which should the sides go into??? I'm hoping my friend didn't screw up where they are connected.
Please someone let me know if it's hooked into the right place for the REAR speakers, not the SIDE speakers.
Whoever put the text on this receiver is a complete idiot...very confusing.

[ryandubbz]

If your just using 5.1, your surround speakers go into the surround output on the amp. The surround back output is for a 7.1 setup when you would have 2 speakers on the back wall, these speakers would get plugged into the surround back. So you have it right

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by ryandubbz

If your just using 5.1, your surround speakers go into the surround output on the amp. The surround back output is for a 7.1 setup when you would have 2 speakers on the back wall, these speakers would get plugged into the surround back. So you have it right

Well the speakers that are hooked for surround ARE on the back wall right behind where I watch my movies. Aren't the other speakers supposed to go on the side of the listening position?

[progers13]

Originally Posted by horror4life245

Well the speakers that are hooked for surround ARE on the back wall right behind where I watch my movies. Aren't the other speakers supposed to go on the side of the listening position?

Yes, but most people who have a 5.1 setup are encouraged to put the surrounds on the side rather than the back. They are called LS (left surround), RS (right surround), LBS (left back surround), and RBS (right back surround). The lingo may change a little bit, but the 2 rears are intended to be for 7.1, not 5.1

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by progers13

Yes, but most people who have a 5.1 setup are encouraged to put the surrounds on the side rather than the back. They are called LS (left surround), RS (right surround), LBS (left back surround), and RBS (right back surround). The lingo may change a little bit, but the 2 rears are intended to be for 7.1, not 5.1

So, my rears are in the right place? They're on the wall behind my listening position, so that's all fine, correct?

[progers13]

Technically no. In a 5.1 setup, they should be on the left and right of you (not behind). But in reality, you should set them however works best for you. I would recommend plugging the wires into the terminals for the LS and RS on the receiver (and then rerunning your auto-cal program), but the world's not going to end if you leave it as is.

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by progers13

Technically no. In a 5.1 setup, they should be on the left and right of you (not behind). But in reality, you should set them however works best for you. I would recommend plugging the wires into the terminals for the LS and RS on the receiver (and then rerunning your auto-cal program), but the world's not going to end if you leave it as is.

Plugging it into the Surr. Back / Amp Assign?

The panel it's hooked into now would be the right terminals for my 5.1 though, right?
Or should I put it in the Surr. Back / Amp Assign?

[Steve]

You have your speakers connected correctly as they are now. The term "rears" is incorrect and misleading when it comes to speakers. There are no "rears". There are surrounds, which go on the sides, and there are surround backs, which go in the back. A 5.1 system consists of 2 mains, a center, 2 surrounds, and a subwoofer. A 6.1 system is the same except for the addition of one surround back speaker, and a 7.1 system adds 2 surround back speakers to the 5.1 layout. Just because you put your surrounds on the back wall in your 5.1 setup does not mean you should connect them to the surround back connections on your receiver. If you did then you would hear only the information meant for the surround back channels that's found only on blu-rays with 7.1 soundtracks. Click on the following links for more information and guidelines for setting up 5.1 and 7.1 systems.

Dolby

THX

[horror4life245]

Originally Posted by Steve

You have your speakers connected correctly as they are now. The term "rears" is incorrect and misleading when it comes to speakers. There are no "rears". There are surrounds, which go on the sides, and there are surround backs, which go in the back. A 5.1 system consists of 2 mains, a center, 2 surrounds, and a subwoofer. A 6.1 system is the same except for the addition of one surround back speaker, and a 7.1 system adds 2 surround back speakers to the 5.1 layout. Just because you put your surrounds on the back wall in your 5.1 setup does not mean you should connect them to the surround back connections on your receiver. If you did then you would hear only the information meant for the surround back channels that's found only on blu-rays with 7.1 soundtracks. Click on the following links for more information and guidelines for setting up 5.1 and 7.1 systems.

Dolby

THX

Thanks for all the info! Very detailed!

One more question. What are the differences in noises between the back surrounds and the side surrounds?

[Steve]

Originally Posted by horror4life245

Thanks for all the info! Very detailed!

One more question. What are the differences in noises between the back surrounds and the side surrounds?

Movies that are encoded in 5.1 have sound dedicated to 5 distinct and separate speaker channels, which are the front left and right, center, and surround left and right, as well as a subwoofer. Every speaker has a specific location and overall your speakers are meant to work together so that sound transitions between them smoothly. You don't want to get any wired for the wrong position by accident. For example if you were to swap the wiring for the left and right speakers you might see a car pass from left to right, but you would hear the sound go from right to left. Obviously this would be very irritating. In a 7.1 soundtrack all that's happened is that two more distinct and separate speaker channels have been added and they are supposed to go behind the listener (as shown in the diagrams at the links I provided earlier.) This is to further enhance the engulfing experience of surround sound. However, not a lot of material is encoded in 7.1 yet, but many receivers can matrix a 5.1 track into 7.1 to make use of your surround back speakers. It's recommended though that if you don't have the proper space available behind your seating position to just stick with a 5.1 setup. The consensus is that a properly set up 5.1 system will sound better overall than an improperly set up 7.1 system. If you're listening to a movie with a 7.1 soundtrack on a 5.1 system, the receiver will account for this and combine the surround back sound information into the surround speaker channels so you're not missing any sound.