2. home-theater
  3. 137407-115924

How to get good sound out of this for music only?

I recently dug two older high end systems out of my brother-in-law’s basement and garage that he did not want (and had never used). One very high end system which is now in my home where I am really enjoying it even though I’ve never been an audiophile before now.

The second system may be hifi, might be mid-fi, I don’t know. It was clearly once used as a home theater system. Cosmetically everything is pretty beat up but it all works.

It consists of:

Rotel RSP-1066 Surround Sound Processor
Rotel RMB-1075 Five Channel Amplifier
Two Bowers and Wilkins CDM-9NT tower speakers
One B&W AW 650 powered subwoofer
One B&W CDM SNT speaker which I think was used for the center channel

I’ve got it all hooked up in my living room just to see if it will all work. See below (and I know none of it is positioned correctly yet):

https://images.nikonians.org/galleries/data/3564/IMG_1049.jpg

I’ll admit straight up that I have the manuals but have not read them.

Bottom line is, I’m not sure what settings I should be using on this home theater system for simple music. When I set it on two channel it sounds okay. The B&W tower speakers do not have the mid range clarity and brightness of my higher end system. The bass is not as tight.  When I use one of the other modes, with the center channel speaker and subwoofer (at low volume) it begins to sound pretty good. Again, I’ve made no attempt to position any of this since I don’t know where it is going to go. It might end up in my cabin or back in his basement. I’m going to try to get it sounding good enough to make his wife want to put it in their home....but that probably isn’t going to happen.

My question, without reading a manual full of stuff about video integration and surround sound modes, how should I set this up to sound good, it doesn’t have to be awesome, for just listening to music? Thanks for indulging my laziness.

George
n80

Showing 1 response by bondmanp

bondmanp
1,835 posts
 

If you are careful, you can use masking tape to fix the dented tweeter.  Gently apply the tape to the dent, and gently pull it
away.  When the dent pops out, peel, rather than pull, the tape off.  It is possible that the speakers need to be re-broken in if they sat so long.  Adhesives and other components i the speaker may have stiffened.  Putting some hours on the speakers could help.


Also consider improving your source.  Even a low-priced USB DAC (there are thousands of them out there) will be a step up over the audio output jack of your laptop.  And if you are using cheap cables, consider a small investment in some entry level audiophile cables and speaker wires (Morrow,  Audioquest, Pangea, etc.).  They also can make a difference, IME.


The B&Ws will usually sound better with help from a subwoofer, used in moderation, as will most speakers, IMHO. 


IIRC, the Rotel has some adjustability of audio parameters, like bass and treble controls.  You can use these to smooth out the sound a bit.  But, heck, if you prefer one of the surround music modes like Neo6, go for it.


Finally, a little time spent positioning the speakers could help the sound as well, even if the processor is set correctly for the various speaker distances.

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