Take a Peek at my BAMTM Set-Up. Then answer some questions!

[chibahawk]

I also built the entertainment center 8)

Well there's my babies running off an Onkyo 605. I think they sound real awesome but I just got a question regarding cross-over settings on the amp.

I'm pretty sure I had blown a Dayton driver by accidentally crossing a speaker over at passive or 60hz or something like that so I replaced that. Right now all speakers are crossed over at 150hz. Good/Bad?


Also-
I get some kind of interference/buzzing from my speakers occasionally. I've already narrowed it down to when I'm watching cable and I have my lights which are set on a dimmer on. Would that have to do where the box has the cable running behind the wall with electrical wires or something?

[Hdale85]

I don't know how you could possibly blow those with a 60hz crossover setting. They should play well below 150hz. I would say you may have had a faulty driver. As for the buzzing dimmer switches are pretty notorious for giving off electrical noise.

[dawg1161]

How does your center channel sound ? Just curious with it being on its side. I have a buddy that wants to try this design. Great looking setup by the way, you did a very nice job.

[Gir]

A friend and I built a pair of BAMTM's with two W8 in the bottom of each one, and we decided on crossing them at 120Hz since the subs were in stereo. You'll probably want to cross over at around 90Hz, maybe 100Hz. These little guys can run fairly well at full range, however, so I'd probably contribute it to faulty drivers as well. How loud were you playing them? Did you hearing a mechanical "clink" or a "clunk" sound before/when it went bad?

Nice looking setup, BTW!

[chibahawk]

Thanks for the comments fellas...

-dawg1161: I think the center sounds great but honestly this is my first project and HT setup so I wouldnt have much to compare to. I've heard all around that the BAMTM on its side is not a big difference... make sure its horizontal though!

-Gir: When my driver went the speaker would start making a pop or a rattle sound on lower notes. Someone mentioned it might have been the lead tinsil hitting the cone? Something like that.



But yeah I'd love more feedback regarding this issue because I'm not sure what to leave these crossed over at. I had originally though 80-120hz was a decent range or I thought that 80hz was recommended so I'd like to figure out if the speakers can get that low.

Also I was told my dimmer probably was the culprit, anyone know any tips to reduce the noise without calling an electrician to switch the dimmer?

[peter_m]

You can use a power conditioner... looks like a power-bar/surge protector... or you could turn off the dimmer completely and use a smaller light source like a table lamp...

[servicetech]

I see you are using a Sci-Atlanta box, these are notorious for buzzing problems. Are you using the digital or analog output from the box? Are you running the audio through the TV or straight from the box?

Then again buying a low noise dimmer (or using a different light source) may fix the problem. Poorly grounded cable connections can cause buzzing problems also.

[chibahawk]

Yeah I'm running Digital cable from the box and the audio through the TV then HDMI out to the receiver (think that makes sense)

Also the buzzing noise only happens when the cable is on, not when I'm watching anything on the PS3 or Wii.

[chibahawk]

A friend and I built a pair of BAMTM's with two W8 in the bottom of each one, and we decided on crossing them at 120Hz since the subs were in stereo. You'll probably want to cross over at around 90Hz, maybe 100Hz. These little guys can run fairly well at full range, however, so I'd probably contribute it to faulty drivers as well. How loud were you playing them? Did you hearing a mechanical "clink" or a "clunk" sound before/when it went bad?

Nice looking setup, BTW!

Also I should mention that I do have a Dayton DA-120 Sub hooked up. So I had only run these full-range before I bought the sub - which is when the speaker went bad of course

[Hdale85]

Since you have a sub I'd cross them at 80hz.

[servicetech]

Yeah I'm running Digital cable from the box and the audio through the TV then HDMI out to the receiver (think that makes sense)

Also the buzzing noise only happens when the cable is on, not when I'm watching anything on the PS3 or Wii.

You have an HDMI cable from the box to the TV?
Audio then comes out of the TV and into the stereo? Is this a optical connection or standard L/R cables?
TV's do not generally have HDMI out (I've not seen any, and I repair them for a living)

Or are you running standard video from the cable box to the TV and running HDMI from the cable box to the stereo?

Ideally you should be running HDMI from the box to the TV and an Optical cable from the Box to the Stereo.

[chibahawk]

You have an HDMI cable from the box to the TV?
Audio then comes out of the TV and into the stereo? Is this a optical connection or standard L/R cables?
TV's do not generally have HDMI out (I've not seen any, and I repair them for a living)

Or are you running standard video from the cable box to the TV and running HDMI from the cable box to the stereo?

Ideally you should be running HDMI from the box to the TV and an Optical cable from the Box to the Stereo.

Just checked on how it was wired.

Right now I've got the Digital Components (Blue/Green/Red) running from the box to the TV.
The RCA (red/white) audio cables run from the box to the Receiver.

The TV is connected to the Receiver via HDMI.

[servicetech]

I think your hookup is incorrect by the way you described. I don't see how the 5.1 sound to makes it from the cable box to the receiver.

I don't see what function the HDMI cable has going from Receiver to the TV. HDMI is an input on the TV, is the HDMI hooked to the output or input of the receiver?

I would run HDMI (or component, if box doesn't have HDMI) from the cable box to the TV, use the optical output from the cable box to go direct to the receiver. This way you will be getting a 100% digital connection from the cable box to the receiver, you won't believe the difference in sound on Hi-Definition/5.1 programming. As an added bonus the buzzing would probably be gone.

Your DVD player should be connected the same way, optical cable to the receiver and HDMI or Component cables to the TV.

There is no need for the Receiver to have any connections to the TV for Cable/DVD.

[Alaric]

I had my cable company replace my Scientific Atlanta box with an old p.o.s. Pioneer-and it was an improvement. I run component from cable box to tv and digital audio to my Onkyo receiver. That way I get the 5.1 signal into my receiver.

[chibahawk]

Originally I had the Component connections directly hooked into the receiver but when the buzzing was occurring I tried different combinations to see if anything would change. When I had the component cables hooked into the receiver I actually had a horizontal scrolling bar on the picture with buzzing. When I put the component cables into the TV- the bar went away.

The HDMI is hooked up to the Output on the TV and the Input on the receiver. I'm also going to upgrade my RCA cables... they were a pretty cheap set and the sheilds could be garbage on them..

[servicetech]

If audio is run straight from the Cable box to the Receiver why not replace the RCA cables with an optical cable? Shielding and signal loss won't be an issue with a digital connection. Try hooking an optical cable straight from the cable box to the receiver and you will see what I mean about sound quality. Be sure the optical input is activated in the menu.

What is the model# on your set? This is the 1st I've heard of an HDMI out on a TV. Are you using the HDMI cable get audio from the TV to the receiver?

Does the cable box have HDMI out? If so, why not use that instead of the component cords to get video from the Cable box to the TV?

I've had quite a few complaints from people who use receivers as video switches, it's the 1st thing I check on those "weird picture" calls. My theory is always run video straight from source to the TV and Audio straight to the receiver. Keep an all digital connection if possible. I see the attention to detail when people here build speakers, why ruin the signal before it even gets to the amp? Saving a few tenths of an ohm on an inductor or using a high dollar cap is so minor to the amount of distortion that an analog switch in a TV or A/V receiver adds.

[chibahawk]

I'll definitely check into replacing the RCA with an Optical cable.

And my fault- I'm thinking Input on the TV not output.

The cable box doesn't have HDMI out. So I'm going to leave the Component video connected to the TV and then grab an Optical cable for the audio.

Thanks- I'll let you know how it goes in a bit.

[servicetech]

What is the HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV for?

I think you will be shocked by the difference in sound quality in a digital signal vs analog, especially on 5.1 sources. Be sure to disconnect the analog wires when making the digital connection, this will ensure the optical cable is actually carrying the audio.