A friend of mine gave me this receiver and I like it, no real problems so far. But I was given this with no manual (and no remote) and I hooked up everything, including two sets of working speakers ('front' speakers and then the other pair into rear).
The problem is only the front speakers work. Do I need to run things through the DVD/5.1 inputs? And if I have multiple inputs (tv, computer, etc), how do I get them to work also? Does it matter that I don't have a center channel speaker hooked up at the moment?
I'm also just on the verge of purchasing a new receiver with a A/B speaker setup, if I can't get this resolved. Should I just go ahead and do that?
If the receiver is less than five yrs old, you should be able to download the manual. A universal remote should work. Having a ctr spkr is a good idea and you probably need to have some sort of surround on to get sound from the rear speakers.
Why add another amp? What good will that do? You are trying to get sound from the rear speakers. If there are preamp outs on the receiver, they are probably your zone 2 & 3 outputs for listening to music in another room. You should have a 5.1 surround mode for dvds and pro logic for vhs. Prologic should work with cds as well. If there is no sound in the rear speakers still, try tech support. It may have to be serviced. Any idea why your friend gave it away? He might not have wanted the repair bill.
Shawn, don't panic YET. Plenty of time later to do so!
If you have 2ch hooked up....not 5.1 or whatever, you should get 2ch out? No? If you can get to a remote or use the onscreen display, maybe you have a 'synthesized' surround sound mode from stereo. If the back speakers don't work then, you may actually have a problem.
Any way to get a 5 channel input? From a DVD player thru an optical cable? The optical cable is dirt cheap.....maybe 15$ at Walmart, which will certainly do for tests. Play a movie and make sure the DVD player is setup for 5.1 output......It may say Dolby or some such.
I'm going to look up the manual. I'm sure it says more than sh*t.
Receiver is about 7 or 8 years old. And while it does not appear to have an optical input, it does have discrete 5 ch inputs. Try to find a source with 'em and try it. You'll need a bunch of RCA cables!
It also DOES have Dolby Pro Logic so if you can figure out how to get it there, you should be able to get .....sort of.....surround sound.
Can you spend the coin on a universal remote? That may be an option, too...... It is just possible that SOME features can only be gotten to with the remote. I hate that.
"The problem is only the front speakers work. Do I need to run things through the DVD/5.1 inputs? And if I have multiple inputs (tv, computer, etc), how do I get them to work also? Does it matter that I don't have a center channel speaker hooked up at the moment?"
You only need to run those source players which are truly multi-channel through the DVD/5.1 inputs. That means you only need to run a DVD player through those inputs as it's likely to be your only multi-channel source player. CD's and tapes, MP3's, TV's, computers and phono will not produce - and therefore do not require - a multi-channel input. (The exception would be a computer with a multi-channel output which is unlikely to exist here.) Just plug the interconnect cables from each component into the inputs as labelled and, if there's no label for "computer", use something like "aux" instead. However, you can't expect two channel sources to play in all channels. If you play a CD for example the receiver will detect a two channel source and automatically switch to two channel output which would not include the rear speakers. Same for any other two channel source; two in gets you two out unless you start punching front panel buttons and get to a point where you don't belong and shouldn't have arrived at with your present set up.
Everything should plug into an appropriate input meaning the inputs are all "high level inputs" - with the single exception of any "phono" inputs on the receiver. Do not use "phono" for anything other than a phono. (There probably isn't a real phono section in this receiver but just avoid "phono" for now anyway.) You can plug a computer into any high level input, say, "Aux". Or you could plug your TV into "Aux" and your computer into any other input other than "phono". If you simply avoid using "phono", you can fill all other inputs with anything you want. The receiver doesn't care whether a TV is plugged into "TV", only that the input is a high level source which everything other than a turntable ("phono") will be. Do not plug into a "tape out" or "vcr out", use only jacks labelled to be inputs.
But, the bottom line is you can't expect more than two channel sound from any two channel source in your present set up.
"Does it matter that I don't have a center channel speaker hooked up at the moment?"
Yes, because there are no commonly used surround formats which do not include a center channel speaker. Without a center speaker you won't hear anything that sounds very good as most of the program material will be missing without a center channel speaker. You should be able to check whether the receiver is defaulting to a two channel ("stereo") output by looking at the front panel display when you are using a two channel source. If the display doesn't read "stereo" when a two channel source like a CD, MP3 or the tuner is being used, then you have problems which are going to be difficult to resolve with this receiver without a remote.
First, your DVD player is likely to be putting out multi-channel sound and you don't have the facilities to play true multi-channel sound where the vast majority of the sound comes from a center channel speaker. You're trying to drive a car with only three wheels attached. Before you buy another HT receiver or do anything else to this one, if you want true surround sound, you'll have to buy a center speaker.
You can for now set up your DVD player to only output two channel sound by using the player's internal set up menu (which should be accessible through the player's on screen set up display just as any other video from the player would be displayed) and moving to the "audio" or "set up" portion of the submenus then instructing the player to not use any output other than "front" only. That will give you two channel - front - speaker output on all sources with all the material which would otherwise be in five speakers coming from only the front two. The rear speakers will not play until you have a full surround speaker system attached. This is the easiest way to set up your system at present. Many listeners use only two speakers and do not feel they are missing anything from a relatively inexpensive surround receiver's sound. Better to do two channels well than more channels poorly.
You could buy a new remote for this receiver through Sony which is likely to cost between $65 and $85 and take an average of four to six weeks to arrive. Or you can buy a universal remote today for less money which will operate 90% of the functions of the Sony. The universal remotes will normally get you by with a Sony receiver and will allow you to acccess the internal menus of the receiver for set up once you get a center speaker. There's no guarantee of that as universal remotes range from the simplest at about $10 at the "$ store" to fairly sophisticated remotes for under $50-75 and true universals for over $400. You need someone with experience with the particular remote to advise you on which one will do the most with your receiver - or you need a good return policy from the "$ store".
You need to decice how much hassle you want to put up with from this particular receiver and how much money you want to put into something that was given to you. No matter what you do, if you decide you want a HT receiver with full surround sound, you should buy a center channel speaker first. There are workarounds to that statement but buying a center speaker is the most logical way to resolve all these issues when it comes to surround sound. If I were giving advice here, I'd tell you to head down to your local big box store like Best Buy and tell them your story. Then look at the price of a new receiver (they start at about $100-129) and then a workable universal remote for around $40-50. Figure out how much you can spend and go from there. But, for the most part, those rear speakers aren't going to make sound when you use a two channel source until you get a full surround speaker compliment and a workable remote. Even then most people listen to two channel sources with just two channel sound as processing usually sucks on HT receivers when it comes to stereo turned into something else. After you have a center speaker and either the remote or a new receiver, we can help you get the rest set up.
Jan, Won't the Dolby Pro Logic get ....sort of.....4 channels from 2?
without belaboring the point, I also suggested a universal remote and a discrete 5ch input.
I think the center channel will wait until he's got 4 ch which work. Also, and I know it is an inferior solution, you can do the 'phantom center channel' thing.......I have no idea how well that works......
If it connected properly, I'll bet the darn thing works.
That should work just for testing Leo, the center speaker is not an absolute must. However, it should be there in order to realize the full benefit of 5.1 channels.
Leo, I'm taking the approach that we need to convey information to a relative newby in HT set up. I don't think instructing Shawn - who is having problems with the owner's manual and is really wanting another amplifier - in how to go about that set up is the best use of the forum's resources. Shawn would appear to be unfamilair with the ins and outs of HT so let's keep this as simple as possible until Shawn decides in which direction he'll head with this system. It's the holiday season so maybe Shawn will have a new remote or even a new receiver come January 1st. Unless Shawn just doesn't grasp the instructions I provided, IMO this should get him through till he has money or a gift.
No problem, But I did keep it simple. Gave a couple ways to get the backs to work..... Key is his comment about the instruction book......I usually don't like 'em either, but can also find what I'm looking for.