Help with PS3, Denon AVR788, and lost bass

[franklrb]

I know this is going to be stupid but I just want someone who has some idea what they're talking about to confirm that I'm an idiot. So, here goes...

I recently had my old Technics AVR/amp die and purchased a Denon 788 to go with my two speakers. Now, before, my sound was great. And since the Denon did HDMI, I figured this would be a no-brainer. But I've noticed, particularly with BD, that the movies sound so light. The bass I came to love is gone. (Yeah, I didn't expect this. My bad.)

Now, two questions:

First, is it worth taking the Denon back and getting a whole 5.1 system as opposed to adding on to eventually create a full surround system? As of now, I'd like to basically just get the two mains to output some kind of bass but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, especially since I dropped about 500 on the receiver alone. If the HTIB would work for me, I'd take the Denon back in a hearbeat, I guess, since the PS3 will do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of the different audio formats, at least I understand them.

Second, I have a sub that was a part of a friend's system that he was replacing. Just to be stupid, I brought it home and plugged it up to the RCA jacks from my Comcast DVR and all of a sudden, it worked. Problem? I can't do the same with the RCA cord with my PS3. Would an adapter make it so I could hook this ole sub up to the Denon for the time being until I'm ready to make a move?

Thanks in advance guys...

[earthquake]

Only you would know if a HTIB works for you.

If you only want to worry about the front 2 mains then stick with the receiver and add on. You CANNOT do this with HTIB.

Your sub NEEDS to be hooked up to the receiver. Use SUB OUT or LFE OUT jack.

If you are hearing less bass it might be a set up menu feature that is overlooked. You'd have to tell me what your current settings are.

Also need to know size of speakers.

[NineseveN]

If the speakers are capable of outputting bass with the old receiver, then the Denon should be able to do the same. It's likely a configuration issue where you have the bass routed somewhere else by default, the bass is turned down, you have some sort of crossover setting that's drawing the bass from the main channels or you're not in a 2.0 mode on the receiver (bass gets routed to the sub which isn't there). This should have all been spiffy after the initial setup, so it might be a good idea for you to run through the options menu again after reading the manual on how to set it up. The Denon will be much better than just getting an HTIB. Keep it and add speakers and a good sub to it as you go.


For the sub, there should be a pre-out for the subwoofer at bottom-center on the back of the AVR, use an RCA-type cable to connect it to the sub, then go from there.