Some miscellaneous questions, please?

[Doc Mark]

Hello, Friends,

I have a couple of miscellaneous questions, if I may?

1 - can someone please explain the HT terminology to me, re: "2.0, 2.1, 5.1, 7.1" etc.? I'm guessing it has to do with how many speaker sets the receiver supports, but I'd love to know, for sure. Thanks!

2 - Does anyone know the actual density of the "high density particle board" that JBL used to make all our beloved old systems? To my eye, it really looks more like medium density, and not high density. I have enclosures I built back in the '80's, and the particle board looks very close to how it did when new, tight structure, and no flaking, or disintegrating. I've noted on some of the older, used, JBL cabinets, the particle board is prone to chipping, flaking, and disintegrating. Any ideas? Thanks!

3 - Along a related vein, I note that lots of older JBL grill frames were made of particle board, and that they tend to snap quite easily. Are any of you replacing those grill frames with some made of tight plywood, like thin Baltic Birch? Thanks!

4 - Regarding the H93/2311 short horns, I note that some folks do not care for them, and have commented on them being somewhat harsh and overpowering. I also seem to remember that comments were made about tweaking the crossover to compensate for anomalies in the driver's response. Can someone point me in the proper direction to a schematic for making a custom crossover for that horn, used with a 2445J driver, please? I note that JBL sure used that horn a lot, in systems like their wonderful 4350, and home systems like the S22-1, and the S8-2, plus many others, I'm sure. If this horn has problems, why did JBL use it so very much, with the ever popular 375 driver? I'd appreciate any information you can share with me, and also any comments regarding using this horn/driver combination. Thanks!

I know I have more questions, but that's all I can remember, right now! Thanks, again, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[rdgrimes]

1) The ".0" or ".1" refers to the presence or absence of a LFE channel. Some newer receivers refer to being ".2", but this is not really accurate, they are just referring to the presence of 2 sub outputs for the single channel. The "5." or "2." refers to the number of channels in program content. So, 5.1 is actually 6 channels, as long as you are talking about true discrete channels. Just to confuse you further, there are a number of formats, mostly older, that do not contain discrete channels but "matrixed" channels that are derived by processing. Dolby Surround is such an animal. And, there's "6.1" which can be either discrete or matrixed for the 6th (rear) channel depending on the source. Most older Dolby Surround is 2.0, but older DTS may be 3.0. Still confused?

[Doc Mark]

Hey, rdgrimes,

HOLY MOLY, CHICKEN SOUP!! Man, that's enough confusion to keep me going for quite some time!!!! :blink::blink: Seriously, thanks, very much, for the information. I'll have to check our H/K AVR 20 and see what kind of system it is, as we have never used it for more than just 2-channel stereo music reproduction. Thanks, again, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[hjames]

Hey, rdgrimes,

HOLY MOLY, CHICKEN SOUP!! Man, that's enough confusion to keep me going for quite some time!!!! :blink::blink: Seriously, thanks, very much, for the information. I'll have to check our H/K AVR 20 and see what kind of system it is, as we have never used it for more than just 2-channel stereo music reproduction. Thanks, again, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

I looked up your AVR20 at the Harman Kardon site -
http://www.harmankardon.com/specifications.aspx?cat=&ser=&prod=AVR20&sType=H

Looks like you'll want something with more power to make sure you don't damage your speakers by running them with too little power when in surround mode ...




Power Output : STEREO - 60 watts per channel @ 8 ohms
SURROUND - FRONT L & R, CENTER 50 watts per channel @ 8 ohms
SURROUND - REAR 20 watts per channel @ 8 ohms Total Harmonic Distortion : STEREO - @ 8 ohms 0.09%
FRONT L & R, CENTER - @ 8 ohms 0.3%
REAR - 1% (8 ohms)
Of course, one quick answer would be to take the Preamp Out for your front channel, feed it to a higher wattage Poweramp, then run THAT to your front speakers ... Thats basically what I do with my HK receiver for my fronts (except I biamp the front output and use 2 poweramps).

With mine, I can still use my remote to mute the system when the phone rings, control volume, switch sources, etc

Preamp Outputs : Main, Center, Rear

[Doc Mark]

Morning, Heather,

Thanks, very much! After reading your comments, I checked out my H/K receiver, and indeed, it does have main, center, and rear, pre-amp outputs! This is very cool, as I can use both of my H/K 870 amps, plus the 60 watt amp in the receiver, or I can use my Crown DC-300A's, in mono-mode, in conjunction with the other amps, should I choose to go that way. Great idea! Thanks, very much!! The 4333 project, which is still moving right along, will make use of bi-amping, and also lots of "mix and match", in regards to drivers, amps, and other such things. Again, thanks, very much, for your thoughts and suggestions! Much appreciated, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[rdgrimes]

Morning, Heather,

Thanks, very much! After reading your comments, I checked out my H/K receiver, and indeed, it does have main, center, and rear, pre-amp outputs! This is very cool, as I can use both of my H/K 870 amps, plus the 60 watt amp in the receiver, or I can use my Crown DC-300A's, in mono-mode, in conjunction with the other amps, should I choose to go that way. Great idea! Thanks, very much!! The 4333 project, which is still moving right along, will make use of bi-amping, and also lots of "mix and match", in regards to drivers, amps, and other such things. Again, thanks, very much, for your thoughts and suggestions! Much appreciated, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

Check your manual, you may not be able to use BOTH pre-outs and speaker outs. Usually you can use one for some channels and the other for other channels.

[hjames]

Check your manual, you may not be able to use BOTH pre-outs and speaker outs. Usually you can use one for some channels and the other for other channels.

For my Harman Kardon AVR335, I run front left & front right preamp outputs and feed those signals to external amping and my big monitors.

I use the internal amps and speaker out for Front Center, for Left rear and Right rear -
when the system is in surround mode for movies and SACDs, etc

I only power my sub amp up when we're watching action-TV (Sarah Conner, Numb3rs, etc) or movies.
I take the receiver's LFE channel out (preamp level) and, using a Y connector, feed it to left and Right INs of an old HK Citation 22 amp.
Left feeds an MK Volkwoofer (with its plate amp removed) on my left wall. Right out feeds a JBL B-380 on the right.
2 subs are better than one!

Been working fine with minor variations for well over a year now.
The HK will do 7.x channel surround but I think in our small room 5.x channel is just fine (x is sub channel - was 1 sub, now using 2)