Audio no0b here

to0z

I have Polk Audio monitor 70 and monitor 60 with Harman Kardon AVR 347, is this enough to start a decent home audio set up? if yes what would be the best set up. and if not what else should i get to get it started. Any help will do Thanks in advance

CTTE

Welcome to CP!

That's a good start. HK and Polk sound good together. If you want a center channel, the CS2 is the proper match. If you want a subwoofer, search the forum for recommendations that fit your budget.

Read the HK manual and run the setup with the microphone. You may want to tweak it some afterwards.

Don't turn it up too much running off of the receiver; about -12 should be your max volume before you start clipping.

Your AVR has pre-outs, so you can add an external amp if you want to. We can help you spend your money - how much you got?

mmadden28

2 channel or 5.1 Home Theater?? 2 different animals in a sense.
Do you have a pair of 70's and a pair of 60's or one of each?
If you have 2 pairs (4 speakers) that'll get you started-you could run Phantom center channel for now.
If HT is your goal you want:
Front, Left and Center speakers
Surround speakers (at least 2, 4 if you want 7.1, but 5.1 is usually sufficient for most-you can always add later)
Decent subwoofer for your room.
Then to step it up another notch later, look into an external amplifier to power the speakers instead of the AVR running them, at least the front stage (L, R, & C) with a 3 chanel amp, or all 5 with a 5 chanel amp. This can take you so many places and price ranges so see if you even need to by getting your basic setup done first and 'see' how it sounds to you.
Don't get too hug up on speaker cable choices right away, esp not for a HT rig--just use a decent 14-12 gauge wire such as from BlueJeans cable, etc. Don;t use any crappy 18 gauge or thinner wire.
As CTTE said--what's you're budget--I'm pretty sure whatever it is, the folks heer will help you break the budget real quick.

That's all I have right now--dozing off as I type...
Welcome to CP.

polkfarmboy

Get some nice speaker cables and a tube buffer

mmadden28

mmadden28 wrote: »

...
Don't get too hug up on speaker cable choices right away, esp not for a HT rig--just use a decent 14-12 gauge wire such as from BlueJeans cable, etc. Don;t use any crappy 18 gauge or thinner wire.
...

I should clarify a bit---16 guage may do as well, really depends on how long the runs would be to the rear surround speakers and such. The longer the run, the thicker the gauge should be to reduce any losses to added resistance.

12 gauge is being perhaps overkill--I had my outdoo speakers in mind which are about 125' away--they'd be better with 12 gauge but would also work with 14 gauge.

So stick with 16-14 guage. 14, if you have a choice, would be preferred.
Not so much an issue for the front speakers since the runs will likely be short, but something to consider for the surrounds.

to0z

Thanks guys for the welcome and WoW I guess it is more complicated that what i expected, I know about HTB but I guess this is more complicated for me, Don't really have that much knowledge bout this so forgive me if my questions sounds very noobish

@CTTE why would it start clipping? is the AVR don't have enough to power Monitor 70 and 60? and about the pre amp, how does it work? I have another Onkyo receiver don't know the model coz it's in my storage, but can i use them at the same time? and how. I haven't really thought of a budget coz i wasn't really expecting it to be this technical, and don't really know what i need.

@mmadden28 what is better and what is 2 channel, btw I have 1 pair of each (4 speakers) I have an audioquest bi- wiring cables with banana clip. what should i use for the front speakers and where should i put the other one? should I use the SB/MULTI? and what is phantom center channel

@polkfarmboy what is a tube buffer?

again guys sorry im still learning all this, just tell me if it's too much for a beginner to do this stuff and budget wise how much does it cost to just do the basic for now on what i have thanks again

mmadden28

What's you're priority? A Home Theater setup for Movies or Music or a good mix?

"2 Channel" is a dedicated Stereo rig. usu. for music only. You can sink a lot of money into a 2 Channel rig and would usually make different decisions and such for such a rig (such as higher end speaker cables, and speakers, separate preamp, amp, tube buffer, interconnect cables, etc, etc). Don't worry about a tube buffer and such things for your HT. HT applications (movies, games and TV, are not as finicky.)

Some dedicated to the hobby or with loads of money might/can combine a good 2 channel setup with their HT setup, and in some cases that is the only option (no separate room for a dedicate Stereo rig). It really all comes down to the level of gear you are using, how much you have to spend, and ultimately how happy you are with the end result. Some are happy with an entry to mid level HT, but want High end for the dedicated rig.

Since you're new at this game and have no budget, start slow. Start with what you have and get it working good along with help from this forum. Then as you desire more or find a budget to start spending on upgrades, you'll have a better idea where to concentrate your money.

For now you can get away with the 70s as your main L & R, and use a phantom center (set the center speaker to "None" in the AVR setup.) Use your 60's as your surrounds.
A sub is not required, esp if you have a very small room, but most certainly IMO enhances a HT setup--some floor standing speakers may not even require a separate sub (again depends on the amp and the rooms size).

Use your HK as your amp to drive the speakers. The HK has preamp outputs which means that you can connect to an external amp and connect your speakers to the external amp instead of the HK. An external dedicated amp will usually yield better results than what you would get from the amplifier internal to most receivers. The HK would then still be used to do all the control and sound decoding/processing--it would be used as a 'Preamp' in that case. This is good, this means you can upgrade later without having to buy a new receiver--just an amp. Within reason, you can never have too much power.

Your next logical purchase IMO is probably to get a decent center speaker.

Sounds like you have some decent cables for the Fronts. Bi-wiring is not required, but since you have the cable and speakers that support it why not. Just connect one side (the single connector pair side) to the HK ad the other side (the dual pair side) to the top and bottom posts on the speakers, (Remove the jumper between the posts).

Where are you seeing SB/Multi?

Give us some more info about any other gear you have, such as a sub. What kind of room is it? How big?, etc.


Don't feel stupid about any questions. The folks on this board will help get you educated and on the right track.

jimmydep

Very good explaination Mike^^^^^^

I agree with Mike, Take it slow. You have a very nice starter system.

to0z

Very helpful explanation indeed, I might to go for the HT set up and like you said might upgrade later, I have a 20x20x15 room size, it's pretty much open space for now but might convert it to another living room. I also have another receiver Onkyo HT-557 and some SW, Polk Audio RM705 and a Kenwood 35HT

And for the SB/MULTI here's a link http://www.elektrogalerie.cz/tvorbatest/images/imgharman/Harman%20Kardon%20AVR%20347-z.jpg. don't really know what's that for. Tahnks again for the info

CTTE

to0z wrote: »

And for the SB/MULTI here's a link http://www.elektrogalerie.cz/tvorbatest/images/imgharman/Harman%20Kardon%20AVR%20347-z.jpg. don't really know what's that for.

That stands for Surround/Back Muti-Room. You use this for the back speakers if you're running 7.1, or you can use it to run 2 channel to a separate room.

RTFM

to0z wrote: »

@CTTE why would it start clipping? is the AVR don't have enough to power Monitor 70 and 60?

It'll power them fine as long as you don't expect concert level volume.