Onkyo 737 & RTi12

marksmith413

Hello everyone,

I've been looking through these threads and haven't found a specific answer to this. I have the Onkyo 737 as my receiver. Polk CSi5 center & RTi 12 for the left & right, then some small satellites for the rears.

My first question: how do I get the best sound out of this setup?

An important note, I'm in an apartment, this is used primarily for TV,Movies & Games and will never (at this time) be used at high volumes. We are less than 10ft from the TV and the rears are directly to the left & right of the couch, not super far which makes the rears a little annoying honestly.

Secondly: What's the best choice for rear speakers with this setup?

I also have 2 of the Onkyo Atmos speaker/add-ons which will prevent me from Bi-Amping (which from what I've read doesn't do much anyway)

Is this receiver capable of using an external amp? What kind should I get under $300-400? Will this only make them less distorted when they are loud?

Also - we keep the bass fairly low as well.

At some point we will be in a house and allow these to open up with some volume, but that wont be for a few years.

I also have the Roku 4 which is exciting to stream movies from VUDU in 7.1 with 4K resolution and Atmos support.

Any advice would be awesome.

Thank you!

Onkyo 737: http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=TX-NR737&class=Receiver
Onkyo Atmos Speakers: http://www.uk.onkyo.com/en/products/skh-410-118692.html
Sony TV: XBR65X850A

tonyb

Hi Mark,

First things first, welcome to the club. Seeing that your in an apartment and volumes will most likely be kept to a minimum, you'll do fine with that receiver. However, when the time comes to move to your own place and you have the room, you'll want to add an amp to get the most out of those RTI's. Parasound 1200 or 1500, or B&k amps pair up well and used can be had in the 4-600 buck range.

Unfortunately, you'd also have to get a receiver with pre-outs as yours doesn't have them and you won't be able to add an amp to that particular model.

As for surrounds.....Polk FX, FXI series would work well and can be stand mounted or wall mounted. Look used and save some coin.

BTW.....I see you have the Sony 850a. I'm on the hunt myself for a 65 850b or 810c, how do you like yours so far ? Picture is the most important thing for me as smart functions and 3d will never get used probably. The Triluminous displays are awesome on the Sony's.

jeremymarcinko

Those are some big speakers in a small space...I would set the crossover on the onkyo at or around 80-100 hz and get a small sub to handle the low hz. This way the the large mains and center are not overbearing and you will gain some clarity and happier neighbors. For surrounds, assuming they will be close as well, I would recommend the smaller of the FXi series. Other bookshelf types (rti4) may be somewhat directional if they are place to close. Enjoy...that's some nice gear for ht.

marksmith413

Thanks everyone!

@tonyb I really love my 850A. The picture is amazing. I used to be a plasma snob, only interested in Panasonic. However once 4K was announced and everyone exited the plasma market I decided to (forced to) finally try it. It's the best picture I've had on a TV and believe me, I was trying to find things wrong with it to prove myself right about loving plasmas. The blacks are deep and the whites are bright, especially with the 850C series having the HDR capabilities with 4K native and the H.264/265 built in to stream directly on the TV from Netflix & Amazon in 4K. The B series also has the codec built in, but I'm not sure if it has the HDR functionality.

For mine I had to get the Roku 4 to allow that (which is much faster anyway) but I've had the tv for almost 2 years with no 4K content to watch. So thanks to Roku I finally can. I tried the Amazon Fire TV but it only pushes out 30fps & no 5.1 on Netflix which isn't acceptable for my use. The Roku has been a champ so far.

That really sucks about the 737 though. Granted it was only $400 so I'm not out too much, but I figured since it was originally $1,100 it would have all the necessary things. Can't fault them too much though since I didn't even know about adding extra amps when I bought it, so I wasn't looking for it.

What's your opinion if I can upgrade to the A9 & A6 Center for $500 more than I paid for the 12's. Newegg is offering an exchange since they only sent me one 12 (waiting on the other, I'll know if it's even going to come by Monday)

I paid $299 for the 12's and $299 for the CSi6. I can get the A9 for $450 and the A6 for $299. Is the difference really worth it? Other than aesthetics, they do look a heck of a lot nicer than the 12's.

marksmith413

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

Those are some big speakers in a small space...I would set the crossover on the onkyo at or around 80-100 hz and get a small sub to handle the low hz. This way the the large mains and center are not overbearing and you will gain some clarity and happier neighbors. For surrounds, assuming they will be close as well, I would recommend the smaller of the FXi series. Other bookshelf types (rti4) may be somewhat directional if they are place to close. Enjoy...that's some nice gear for ht.

Any tips on how to set the crossover? I'm not sure what that means.

Thanks!

F1nut

Get the A7's and A6 instead. That AVR will never drive the 12's or A9's properly. You'll not be happy and might end up thinking it's the speakers. It isn't.

You set the crossover points in the AVR menu. Set all speakers to small and the sub at 80Hz.