suggestions for initial a5 setup

[smiji]

Hey all,

I'm somewhat patiently waiting for my a5 and a1b center to arrive. While waiting figure i'ld see if anyone has any specific advice for those who are just setting up their systems.

Mine will be paired to an onkyo 809 and in a room with wood laminate floor with throw rug and roughly 22x17x9 with the shorter far wall from the setup relatively open to a kitchen. I have mirage os3 rears for 5.1 setup with lp about 12 ft from speakers. 70/30 ht/music

Just curious on tips as far as crossover settings, positioning, break in, etc that people have found best in their setups. While every room is different and need its own setup TLC I'm interested in what folks have found best in their setups.

Thanks!

[slansing]

Looks like both of us are patiently awaiting! Mine should come tomorrow, sounds like we are using the same receiver too. As far as crossover, I'll more than likely be crossing at 60hz. I plan on playing some bass heavy selections to loosen the woofers up a bit at a pretty good volume.

[smiji]

well I just got them in today and started some basic setup for them. So far I have to say i'm pretty impressed. They are way more solid than I expected, even after reading up on the build quality etc. They really surprised me on how they are larger/bulkier than I thought but they tend to just nicely blend into the background of the room quite well.

I haven't optimized the location/placement or any of the electrical setup such as crossover, audysey, etc. yet but have been mostly just doing some non-critical listening with them in "Pure" mode with no filtering with various music and TV sources to get the flavor of them so to speak. So far it's a pretty large step up from my previous speakers (mirage v2 fs and center) The dialog and mid-bass is significantly cleaner and the extension is WAY more than the mirage slender frames could drum up... My wife has been in and out all day and she even mentioned that she could tell there was something different in these and seemed like a good upgrade. Well she said that in between eye rolls at me acting like a kid in the candy store at least...

Will let them play overnight to break-in a bit and do some more fine tuning before doing any really intensive comparisons but so far I'm really impressed! Glad I took the plunge.

[D'Argo]

well I just got them in today and started some basic setup for them. So far I have to say i'm pretty impressed. They are way more solid than I expected, even after reading up on the build quality etc. They really surprised me on how they are larger/bulkier than I thought but they tend to just nicely blend into the background of the room quite well.

I haven't optimized the location/placement or any of the electrical setup such as crossover, audysey, etc. yet but have been mostly just doing some non-critical listening with them in "Pure" mode with no filtering with various music and TV sources to get the flavor of them so to speak. So far it's a pretty large step up from my previous speakers (mirage v2 fs and center) The dialog and mid-bass is significantly cleaner and the extension is WAY more than the mirage slender frames could drum up... My wife has been in and out all day and she even mentioned that she could tell there was something different in these and seemed like a good upgrade. Well she said that in between eye rolls at me acting like a kid in the candy store at least...

Will let them play overnight to break-in a bit and do some more fine tuning before doing any really intensive comparisons but so far I'm really impressed! Glad I took the plunge.

Glad to hear that you are really impressed with the A5s. They will open up some more as you break them in.

Experiment with the placement (moving them to and from boundaries/walls and sliding them from side-to-side). You can also experiment with the port plugged or open. I prefer the ports open and a bit closer to the back walls but as you said this is room and taste dependent. I also placed my A5s on my kid's rubber-mat to isolate them from the floors vs. putting on the spikes.

Have fun experimenting and enjoy!

[smiji]

Thanks D'Argo! Great advice and the setup and tweaking is a big part of the fun! I like the rubber-mat idea I may have to borrow that idea and try it out, the spikes are nice and beefy but won't play well with the flooring we have in the room.

[D'Argo]

Thanks D'Argo! Great advice and the setup and tweaking is a big part of the fun! I like the rubber-mat idea I may have to borrow that idea and try it out, the spikes are nice and beefy but won't play well with the flooring we have in the room.

Yes, the flooring was the same concern I had as well. I just cut my kid's rubber mat flooring to size. It was a cheap solution that worked for me. For my A2, I used the isolation mopads to tilt them up a bit. It was a more expensive solution but worked well. A yoga block could've worked as well but the isolation mopads looked better.