Take Classic 5.1 Home Speakers and Xonar Essence STX

[adam36912]

Hello everyone recently i have bought the take classic 5.1 speaker set and after about a month of having no idea how to set them up i finally have. But i have encountered many problems along the way. I have been able to fix them all without any help but right now i am stuck and this is my last option for help.

Problem: I have set up the satellite speakers and connected them to the sub-woofer via 16-gauge copper wire, and i have used PCA-cables to connect the subwoofer to my computer, VIA my new XONAR Essence STX sound card, BUT THERE IS NO SOUND! Countless hours have been spent trying to figure this out on my own but i still cant figure this last thing out please help.

 

[getochkn]

You need a 5.1 amp. Those speakers are not amplified. Directly from the manual for your speakers

"AMPLIFIER REQUIREMENTS
All ENERGY Speakers are designed to operate on a wide range of receivers and/or
amplifiers. The impedance for all models is rated at 8 ohms, allowing almost any
amplifier to function well. Of course, the better the amplifier and the system
components, the better the overall system will sound."


You will need a 5.1 amp and then with a surround amp, your best bet for sound would be hdmi, and making your sound card pointless.

you should have looked better and researched because you bought speakers than need an amp to feed a surround signal and that amp probably isn't to like anything that the sound card will output.

EDIT: it looks like the soundcard supports a toslink output so you could find a receiver with 5.1 optical digital and use that.

 

[adam36912]

Thanks soo much for your help.

I read the amplifier requirements and that the energy speakers are compatible with a wide range of amps etc i just misinterpreted in thinking that it wasn't necessary but thats besides the point.

Is HDMI a better solution than the toslink output?

Do you have any recommendations on the type of AMP i should get

Thanks again!

 

[getochkn]

meh toslink and hdmi both transfer digital audio, probably not a big diff. some of my audio equipment is both and sounds good.

what amp depends on how much you have, do you want to order or goto a store, etc.

 

[adam36912]

Ahh well if im not pestering you too much hmm $-max would be $200 i dont mind ordering or stores which ever is best thanks for your help

 

[adam36912]

OH and while im here 1 more question. do i plug the front channel speaker into the right or left part on the subwoofer?

 

[getochkn]

Maybe something like this. http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/onkyo-onkyo-325-watt-5-1-channel-home-theatre-receiver-tx-sr313-tx-sr313/10200603.aspx?path=3681a057934868dc38871fb0a9d2294den02 $229 but the cheapest 5.1 and a decent brand.

And no you don't plug the front speakers into the sub. Those speaker jacks on the sub are inputs, but you won't use them in your situation. You would connect a RCA cable from the amps sub-out to the sub input rca.

 

[adam36912]

Wow thank you i had no idea, ok im ready to get back to it on my own thanks alot where did you learn all this stuff?

 

[USAFRet]

I have the Energy Take 5, matched with a Polk Audio sub. Powered by a similar Onkyo amp as linked above.

Once you get it going, you will be amazed. Excellent sound for low cost speakers.

 

[adam36912]

Im from australia and the Onkyo amp is listed as $500 so im am gonna shop around maybe thanks alot

 

[ssddx]

prices in AUD in australia may be quite different than our prices. you may need to raise the budget just a bit (sorry to say)

you do not need to go with that particular model of onkyo amp (well you will actually be buying a receiver... so lets start calling it that shall we to avoid confusion..)

sony makes a 10.2 channel receiver which went on sale (in the usa) for $200 this winter. onkyo makes a few that were a bit more in cost.

look to see what kind of receivers from major brands are available at what costs in your country and post a few links to get opinions on if they will work or not.

 

[adam36912]

Hey ssddx thanks alot yeah calling it a receiver has narrowed it down .
Well i have been looking around the Onkyo seems to be the best so far i managed to find it priced at $389 at at an online dealer.

Since im going to have to save up for the amp do you think that any of the following match the Onkyo?

http/www.jbhifionline.com.au/home%20theatre/amps-receivers/sherwood-rx4209-stereo-receiver/667136
http/www.harveynorman.com.au/tv-home-theatre/home-theatre/av-receivers/yamaha-rx-v375-5-1-channel-av-receiver.html
http/www.harveynorman.com.au/tv-home-theatre/home-theatre/av-receivers/pioneer-5-1-channel-av-receiver.html

If not Onkyo it is for sure thanks again everyone

 

[USAFRet]

Your first link, the Sherwood, seems to be just 2 channel.
The other two would be fine.

 

[adam36912]

So in the end i purchased the Yamaha RX-V375
http/au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx-v375_black_a/?mode=model
And my final question is how do you connect the take classic subwoofer to it? because the manual only says that you can connect it via the subwooffer pre out but there is no port for that in my subwoofer

 

[ssddx]

front left connects to front left... (receiver to speaker..... ignore the speaker connections on the subwoofer)
FR to FR
Cen to Cen
LR to LR
RR to RR

the cable with the stripe is the black (negative) side on both the receiver plug/clips and the back of the speakers. (honestly it doesnt matter as long as you make sure to use it on only one color all the time but typically black is the one we select due to our electrical standards)

you will need to buy a subwoofer cable. that connects to the sub pre out on the receiver to the line in input on your sub (this is typically the input labeled "left")

 

[adam36912]

Yay everything is connected and working except the subwoofer i tried using a normal RCA cable to connect it to the reciever but theres no noise from the sub?

 

[ssddx]

with everything off you can try hooking up to the right connection instead and trying it.

if that doesnt work you can try a Y end (splitter) going to both left and right.

normally the left connection is a "line in" on most subwoofers though it might not be the case on yours.

before you do the above though in your receiver menu does it show a sub in speaker setup?

 

[adam36912]

yeah i did read something about that "Connect the subwoofer (SW) to the SUBWOOFER PRE OUT JACK" " Use a subwoofer equipped with built in amplifier" Also "AUDIO PIN CABLE" maybe thats not an RCA Cable?

Right connection alone tried and left connection alone tried.

Not sure what u mean by everything off though thanks

 

[ssddx]

well generally its not advised to connect speakers and/or subwoofers when your equipment is on and blasting out music. you could run into issues possibly which is why i said to have your equipment (in this case your avr receiver) turned off then turned on when you have the cables changed.

you could try using a 1xrca on the receiver end with a 2x rca on the sub end (or just buy a short 1 to 2 rca splitter and try hooking it up to both the left and right. some subwoofers appear to need this (though most work with just the left (or line-in)

the other way to hook them up is by speaker wire to the speaker wire connections.

Method 1:Connection using RCA cables.
Connect the RCA wire from the"Subwoofer/Pre-Amp Out" jack found at the back of the Pre-Amp to the LINE IN/SUB IN on the rear of the subwoofer.Note that Subwoofer need to connect to an AC source.
Method 2: Connection using speaker cables.
By utilizing speaker wire, on the back of the receiver, locate the right and left speaker outputs (front Speakers), connect the speaker wire to it and the other ends to the subwoofer Left and Right SPEAKER LEVEL IN.

 

[getochkn]

it should go with an cra cable from the sub out on the receiver to the left line in on the amp and make sure the powered switch is flicked on the sub. you need it in powered mode. also make sure you are watching something in 5.1 mode to really make the sub work to actually hear it.