Sorry for the newby post... I have a Denon 2900 player attached to a Denon 2803 receiver. A Pink Floyd multi-channel SACD plays perfectly. A Kinks hybrid SACD Surround only plays two channel (small Front Left and Right), not even with the subwoofer. Obviously sounds poor. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Thanks, Brian
Thanks for the response! I've uncovered part of the problem. The Kinks Velvel SACD releases were incorrectly labeled as SACD Surround Sound. They are only SACD Stereo. The part I haven't figured out yet is how to get the SACD stereo signal to INCLUDE the subwoofer to support my little speakers.
You won't get a sub signal unless there is an lfe signal on the recording. These are analogue connections so the only signals are those provided by each "live" channel or connection.
Thanks, My Rantz. So let me make sure I understand... Since I'm effectively using two small speakers (supported by my subwoofer)for my Front L&R speakers, I am in trouble with a SACD Stereo recording, as it will usually just feed the two Analog channels of the front speakers. It would seem that in a home theatre arrangement, having 5 smaller speakers with a subwoofer would not be uncommon ... but it won't play well with SACD unless it's a multichannel.
They're NHT 200 bookshelf speakers... I don't know the frequency range, but they're too small to support the low end. I am convinced there is a setting I'm missing in either the 2803 or 2900 that would enable the basic speaker/subwoofer crossover to function in SACD stereo mode. I agree that the LFE role of the subwoofer doesn't exist in these recordings. As a matter of fact, in the audio setup for the 2900 there's a specific menu item to enable "subwoofer support" in 2 channel stereo mode .... it just doesn't seem to work. I've sent a note off to Denon support as well.
Have you tried changing the setting from Multi channel to 2 channel for listening to stereo only recordings. Maybe you need to do this for the subwoofer support in 2 channel stereo mode.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what/if Denon says. Please keep us posted.
The answer is.... so far I have gotten no response from Denon :-(. I'm going to give it another shot this weekend including your 2 channel recommendation. Thanks for your help, and I'll let you know if I succeed.
I spoke to Denon this afternoon (not a particularly friendly person). Apparently the 2200 model had a 2-channel bass boost menu toggle to support my problem but the 2900 does not have this feature even though it is the successor to the 2200. The technician understood my situation very clearly and indicated with the 2900 you get what the disc provides. If your speakers are set up 5.1 through the reciever with the subwoofer in LFE out, you will ONLY activate the subwoofer if the SACD provides a minimum of a 2.1 signal. They are sorry they didn't maintain the 2200's feature as this is causing them grief, but "that's life". At least I know it wasn't something I did wrong. It might be time to rethink this purchase. Thanks again for your help!