Connecting Your Equipment; Determining The Speakers' Application; Some Tips For Improving Sound Quality - Pioneer VSX-821-K Operating Instructions Manual

02

Connecting your equipment

02
Chapter 2:
Connecting your
equipment

Determining the speakers' application

By connecting the left and right front speakers (L/R), the center
speaker (C), the left and right surround speakers (SL/SR), the left
and right surround back speakers (SBL/SBR) (or the left and right
front height speakers (FHL/FHR)), and the subwoofer (SW), a
surround sound system up to 7.1 channel can be enjoyed.
The 5.1 channel surround system is the most commonly-used in
home theaters. To achieve the best possible surround sound,
install your speakers as shown below.
5.1 channel surround 6.1 channel surround
system: (Surround back) system:
R
L
C
SW
SR
SL
7.1 channel surround
7.1 channel surround
(Surround back) system: (Front height) system:
R
L
L
C
SR
SW
SL
SBR
SBL
10
En
Important
• To connect the surround back or front height speakers, an
additional amplifier is required. Connect the additional
amplifier to the PRE OUT SURR BACK/FRONT HEIGHT
outputs of this unit and connect the surround back or front
height speakers to the additional amplifier (see Connect the
surround back or front height speakers on page 11).
Another way, you can use the speakers connected to the B speaker
terminals to listen to stereo playback in another room. See
Switching the speaker terminal on page 12 for the listening options
with this setup.
R
L
C
SW

Some tips for improving sound quality

SR
Where you put your speakers in the room has a big effect on the
SB
SL
quality of the sound. The following guidelines should help you to
get the best sound from your system.
• It is best to angle the speakers towards the listening position.
The angle depends on the size of the room. Use less of an
angle for bigger rooms.
FHR
• Refer to the chart below for placement of speakers you intend
FHL
R
to connect.
C
SW
SR
SL
R
L
Main zone
Speaker B
SW
FHL FHR
C
L R
30 30
120 120
SL
SR
60
SBL SB SBR
Place the surround speakers at 120º from the center. If you,
-
(1) use the surround back speaker, and, (2) don't use the front
height speakers, we recommend placing the surround
speaker right beside you.
If you intend to connect only one surround back speakers,
-
place it directly behind you.
If the surround speakers cannot be set directly to the side of
-
the listening position with a 7.1-channel system, the
surround effect can be enhanced by turning off the Up Mix
function (see Setting the Up Mix function on page 30).
• For the best stereo effect, place the front speakers 2 m to 3 m
apart, at equal distance from the TV.
• If you're using a center speaker, place the front speakers at a
wider angle. If not, place them at a narrower angle.
• Place the center speaker above or below the TV so that the
sound of the center channel is localized at the TV screen. Also,
make sure the center speaker does not cross the line formed
by the leading edge of the front left and right speakers.
• Surround and surround back speakers should be positioned
60 cm to 90 cm higher than your ears and titled slight
downward. Make sure the speakers don't face each other. For
DVD-Audio, the speakers should be more directly behind the
listener than for home theater playback.
• Try not to place the surround speakers farther away from the
listening position than the front and center speakers. Doing so
can weaken the surround sound effect.
• Place the left and right front height speakers at least one meter
directly above the left and right front speakers.
• If you're going to place speakers around your CRT TV, use
shielded speakers or place the speakers at a sufficient
distance from your CRT TV.
• The subwoofer can be placed on the floor. Ideally, the other
speakers should be at about ear-level when you're listening to
them. Putting the speakers on the floor (except the
subwoofer), or mounting them very high on a wall is not
recommended.
• When not connecting a subwoofer, connect speakers with low
frequency reproduction capabilities to the front channel. (The
subwoofer's low frequency component is played from the front
speakers, so the speakers could be damaged.)
• After connecting, be sure to conduct the Auto MCACC
(speaker environment setting) procedure.
See Automatically setting up for surround sound (MCACC) on
page 20.