[[email protected]]

hello all,
I am in the process of setting up a home theater and could use some
help (I know almost nothing about speakers). I have several speakers
currently that i'd like to utilize along with a receiver that i have
yet to buy to make this thing work. I have two boxes w/ 2 8" bass
drivers, 5" mid, and 1" tweeter in each that can handle 400W max power.
In addition i have a set of 5 surround speakers (2 front, 2 rear, and
a center, each 100 W max power) and a 500W powered sub. I guess my
question is, if i buy say a 7.1 Channel receiver, what is the best way
to use the speakers? (I'm not particularly concerned with using all of
the speakers, so if its best that dont use all of them, thats fine) If
the reciever provides 100 W per channel, is that enough to drive my
400W max towers or will they be sufficiently underpowered. In an
effort to provide more power to these tower speakers if necessary, is
there a way to wire mulitple reciever channels to one speaker? Any
input or direction would be appreciated.

[[email protected]]

On 15 Jan 2007 12:52:04 -0800, wrote:

hello all,
I am in the process of setting up a home theater and could use some
help (I know almost nothing about speakers). I have several speakers
currently that i'd like to utilize along with a receiver that i have
yet to buy to make this thing work. I have two boxes w/ 2 8" bass
drivers, 5" mid, and 1" tweeter in each that can handle 400W max power.
In addition i have a set of 5 surround speakers (2 front, 2 rear, and
a center, each 100 W max power) and a 500W powered sub. I guess my
question is, if i buy say a 7.1 Channel receiver, what is the best way
to use the speakers? (I'm not particularly concerned with using all of
the speakers, so if its best that dont use all of them, thats fine) If
the reciever provides 100 W per channel, is that enough to drive my
400W max towers or will they be sufficiently underpowered. In an
effort to provide more power to these tower speakers if necessary, is
there a way to wire mulitple reciever channels to one speaker? Any
input or direction would be appreciated.


Don't pay too much attention to the power ratings on home theater - they are
usually marketing numbers, not factual or meaningful numbers...

You'll find today that most stuff works together, EG I just set up a sub with a
sensitivity of only 86db, with a system using speakers of 99db, and I was able
to set it up well balanced using the level control on the sub.

Also note that you'll usually be listening only to a few watts, the only time
you'll need lots of power is during explosions!

As for your speakers - only 5.1 is universal on DVD's today, don't sweat the 6
or 7...

Try your matched setup of 5 speakers first - then try your towers at the front
side positions.

And one last thing - NEVER CONNECT 2 CHANNELS TO ONE SPEAKER!

And never run a common ground wire for stereo or more speakers - you could blow
the amp - they often have independent virtual grounds. each speaker gets 2
wires to the amp independent.