newbie seeking setup advice

Tardcore

I pulled the trigger on a pair of Monitor 70s ($150), a CS2 ($100), a PSW10 ($100), and an Onkyo sr608 ($375). Now I am a bit of a quandry as to what to do with it all. Rounding out my system are 4 Polk R15s I had from my old patchwork system and a 100' spool of 16 gauge 4 conductor speaker wire I got for $15 at Best Buy.

I'm looking for feedback on 3 decisions that I made.

1) I elected to bi-amp the fronts. I do not really have a good space for a full 7.1 system. Is this the way to go?

2) Based on my above decision, I had an extra pair of R15s collecting dust, and since I had the 4 conductor cable anyway...I connected a pair to each side versus just 1x per side. I connected each pair as if I was bi-wiring a single speaker. Everything sounds fine, just wondering if this sort of set-up makes sense? I may wind up scrapping all 4 in favor of some 40s.

3) based on my usage of the system so far, the subwoofer may as well sit it out. Perhaps I just need to work with the settings some more. Does anybody have experience with that particular sub/receiver/fronts?

Echosphere

Bi-amping rarely hurts and if you have same quality cable for both runs, then go for it. If not, then don't. One set of good quality cables is better than 2 sets of poor quality and/or mix.

I usually find the simplest setup, with quality speakers is the best. 5.1 vs 7.1 with better gear usually sounds better.

Think of it this way: Would you hang with 5 well taking folks or 7 mumbling dorks?

Though, we can't answer all your questions about what sounds best. It depends on room size and acoustics and movie preferences.

Lietuvis91

wondering what the OP ended up doing and what results you got from it. Any updates?

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!!

Does your Onkyo do height and width front speakers? Because if so...there's your solution. Forget about bi-amping....use 2 R15s as height fronts, 2 as surrounds and you're done!

Or just go with the full 7.1...hang 2R15s in the back. R15s are good enough as surround support....

cnh

Lietuvis91

I am curious...

why do you say forget bi-amping? The receiver supports this function and so do the speakers. If it's offered, there must be some benefit, right?!

cnh

In most cases on a receiver like this Onkyo you don't actually benefit power-wise from bi-amping...because the speaker will still receive just the same wattage as it does with just one set of wires because the amps in the Onkyo do not have independent power supplies but draw their power from the same source...so the power is NOT additive. Therefore there should really be very little if any sonic benefit. I biamped a set of M-70s off a Denon 2800 series and then single wired...I ''really really" tried to hear 'a' difference but there was none. If you have two SEPARATE amps (units) then you can bi-amp and double your power.

cnh

Lietuvis91

cnh wrote: »

In most cases on a receiver like this Onkyo you don't actually benefit power-wise from bi-amping...because the speaker will still receive just the same wattage as it does with just one set of wires because the amps in the Onkyo do not have independent power supplies but draw their power from the same source...so the power is NOT additive. Therefore there should really be very little if any sonic benefit. I biamped a set of M-70s off a Denon 2800 series and then single wired...I ''really really" tried to hear 'a' difference but there was none. If you have two SEPARATE amps (units) then you can bi-amp and double your power.
cnh

This is what my ONKYO receiver manual says/claims:

Bi-amping the Front Speakers

The FRONT L/R and SURR BACK OR FRONT HIGH OR FRONT WIDE L/R terminal posts can be used with front speakers and surround back speakers respectively, or bi-amped to provide separate tweeter and woofer feeds for a pair of front speakers that support bi-amping, providing improved bass and treble performance.
• When bi-amping is used, the AV receiver is able to drive up to a 5.1 speaker system in the main room.
• For bi-amping, the FRONT L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’ woofer terminals; the
SURR BACK OR FRONT HIGH OR FRONT WIDE L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’
tweeter terminals.
• Once you’ve completed the bi-amping connections shown below and turned on the AV receiver, you must set the “Speakers Type” setting to “Bi-Amp” to enable bi-amping (➔ 41).
Important:
• When making the bi-amping connections, be sure to remove the jumper bars that link the speakers’ tweeter (high) and woofer (low) terminals.
• Bi-amping can be used only with speakers that support bi-amping. Refer to your speaker manual.

Is this how you hooked up yours? It will limit me to 5.1, but that's all the speakers I have for now, so it's ok.

mystik610

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

This is what my ONKYO receiver manual says/claims:

Bi-amping the Front Speakers

The FRONT L/R and SURR BACK OR FRONT HIGH OR FRONT WIDE L/R terminal posts can be used with front speakers and surround back speakers respectively, or bi-amped to provide separate tweeter and woofer feeds for a pair of front speakers that support bi-amping, providing improved bass and treble performance.
• When bi-amping is used, the AV receiver is able to drive up to a 5.1 speaker system in the main room.
• For bi-amping, the FRONT L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’ woofer terminals; the
SURR BACK OR FRONT HIGH OR FRONT WIDE L/R terminal posts connect to the front speakers’
tweeter terminals.
• Once you’ve completed the bi-amping connections shown below and turned on the AV receiver, you must set the “Speakers Type” setting to “Bi-Amp” to enable bi-amping (➔ 41).
Important:
• When making the bi-amping connections, be sure to remove the jumper bars that link the speakers’ tweeter (high) and woofer (low) terminals.
• Bi-amping can be used only with speakers that support bi-amping. Refer to your speaker manual.

Is this how you hooked up yours? It will limit me to 5.1, but that's all the speakers I have for now, so it's ok.

I had my RTi8's 'bi-amped' through the receiver, and saw no benefit. cnh is dead-on in his explanation of why it isn't even true bi-amping.

What you're really doing when you're 'bi-amping' through your receiver is bypassing your speakers internal cross-overs, and relying on your receiver to split the lower frequencies to the mids, and the higher frequencies to the highs....if the receiver is really even filtering the signal between the low level and high level out-puts. From my understanding, when you use your receiver to 'bi-amp' your speakers, a full range signal is sent to both the low and high level outputs (correct me if I'm wrong). If this is the case, the speaker will be louder when 'bi-amped', but the dynamic range of the speakers will suffer.

I tend to trust the speakers internal cross-overs more than the receiver, as the internal cross-overs in your speakers are designed with the frequency response of the tweeter and mids in mind.

Tardcore

Thank you for the feedback.

cnh - yes, my receiver (Onkyo TX-SR608) does support height/width fronts but the space I have isn't really ideal for it. I guess I could do height but wide would be a problem. Is the disparity in speaker quality not a problem with the height setup? When in doubt, my instinct was to simplify things and run everything through the better speakers.

Right now I have 2 R15s on each side of a couch basically stacked one on top of the other with each pair wired into a single channel.

The only reason that I went with bi-amping at all is that I got a good deal on some 4 conductor cable. If it's not doing any harm, I am inclined to leave as is.

Overall, the current setup is meeting my needs. My main complaint is the sub (psw10) but I think that I basically got what I paid for ($100). I am considering stepping up to the psw505.

chuckt62

mystik610 wrote: »

...What you're really doing when you're 'bi-amping' through your receiver is bypassing your speakers internal cross-overs, and relying on your receiver to split the lower frequencies to the mids, and the higher frequencies to the highs...

That statement in completely false.

The crossovers are still in the circuit, doing there job. They just don't have to filter out as much of the unwanted frequencies as they would otherwise. This can be clearly seen by reviewing the internal schematics found in the vintage forum.