Questions about Monitor 70's

boomerfss

Hi. I thought I would post a few questions in one thread to save space.

First, this site has been a great resource. My Monitor 70's have gone through their break in period and sound way, way better than when I first brought them home. This took about a month.

Questions:

1. I have read information here on proper power to the speakers. Does my (new) Onkyo HT-RC180 do the job, or do I need to buy an additional amp as well? [HTML]http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-RC180&class=Receiver&p=s [/HTML]

Also, if I do need an additional amp, what would you recommend? How much?

2. I have been reading up on reference levels as the receiver is TXH 2 certified. Reference level is 0, but that is really loud. Given that I pretty much only use this as a HT set up and would only use reference levels for Blu Rays, is that an issue for this receiver and speakers? That being said, I don't think I could watch a movie that loud anyway.

3. I bought the CSi A6 center as it was a great deal. I didn't understand timbre matching at the time, but I can't afford the matching speakers and I don't want to downgrade my center. What differences in sound quality will I notice if I keep the set-up the way it is? (So far, I am very pleased).

4. How far from the wall should the speakers be. They are quite large. Can the backs be very close to the wall?

Thanks.

cnh

That Onkyo looks a lot like an 80X series Onkyo? THX Select2? As such it should be able to provide enough power for the M70s as they are fairly efficient speakers. Will they sound Better with an external amp...sure! But I wouldn't worry about that if you already find them too loud?

While the CSI-6 is not an exact timbre match for the M-70s it is a better center than the CS2 so there are trade offs there. With a little equalization tweaking I'm pretty sure you could get a decent match to the Ms. I wouldn't worry about not having a CS2 if you have the 6.

Placement of M-70s depends a lot on your room, size, treatments, etc. All I can do is tell you how mine are placed in a 11.5 x 25 x 8.5' room with the listening space 11.5 x 16.5.

I have them about a foot from the back wall and less than a foot from the side walls because the room is so narrow; and toed in slightly toward the listening area which forms and equilateral triangle with the listening position.

The M-70s need some space between them to IMAGE well and a bit of boundary reinforcement to help with the bass extension. At least this is what they're like in my room.

Others will chime in eventually.

Enjoy...that's a nice setup!

cnh

boomerfss

Thanks CNH. Sounds like we pretty well have the same room dimensions. I think the HT RC180 is similar to the 80x series. It has the Audyssey EQ for auto set up .

After reading some of the other threads, I was worried about delivering enough power to the M70's so as to not damage the speakers. The only thing I turn it up really loud for is the blu rays. Given that it is a clean signal, I think it is ok. I also set the cross over to 80 hz.

Anyway, thanks for the reply.

over50

Above repy from cnh,what is equalization.

cnh

Every Onkyo has equalization settings at a number of frequencies that allow you to boost or subtract dbs from that part of the sound spectrum.

Just think about Bass and Treble knobs for example then imagine instead of two things to adjust you have several, i.e., 60hz, 120hz, 250hz, 1000hz, 3000hz, 8,000hz, 12,500hz and so on. This allows you to tweak the way a speaker sounds so it is useful above in trying to match a CSi A6 with the Monitor's less forward highs. Some Audyssey auto-set ups also equalize speakers with respect to each other and the room or have that option.

For music though, most 'purists' prefer to run the speakers FLAT or to defeat any equalization curves/adjustments.

Hence the PURE Audio option on many AVRs.

cnh

over50

Would you recommend running Audyssey or should i manualy adjust. what number hz should change to? or is it adjust and let my ear tell me if its correct.

tonyb

over50 wrote: »

Would you recommend running Audyssey or should i manualy adjust. what number hz should change to? or is it adjust and let my ear tell me if its correct.

Yes, run the Audyssey, but thats just a good baseline, then you can manually tweek the settings, and yes, let your ears guide you.