Polk Newbie -- Receiver Advice

acieloha

Just purchased my 1st set of Polk speakers. Look mighty impressive, I just need to get in gear and pick out my receiver to power them.

Monitor 70 II Fronts
CS2 II Center

I've been looking at the following -
Onkyo HT-RC180 refurb
Marantz SR5005
Harmon Kardon AVR 2600

Any suggestions? Open to others too. Looking to stay under $600.

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!

Those are all good brand HT AVRs. What you need to consider is which models have pre-outs for external amplification down the road and for improved resale value!

I know the HK pre-outs start at the 3600 model. Not sure about the Onkyo or Marantz...will have to look them up!

I know the Marantz 6000 series does and that the Onkyo 700s and above do.

The Onkyo HT series are AVRs that probably come with HT speaker packages so I'm not sure what the 180 corresponds to.

OK, the Marantz 5000 series and the Onkyo HT-180 also have pre-outs, so you're good there.

Also, the Marantz and the HK are warmer sounding than the Onkyo. That might be a consideration.

cnh

Knucklehead

something with pre-outs...my suggestion is Pioneer....maybe used?


Yep, what cnh said.

acieloha

Thanks guys for all the insight, great forum.

From what I've read, this particular Onkyo is almost similar to the 807, minus a few things. Similar original price point, but the refurb is going for about 65% off retail. +1 for Onkyo. It has a lot of connections, an extra HDMI and zone than the Harmon Kardon and Marantz, but I am worried about the sound quality to it. -1 for Onkyo.

I have been looking at the Pioneer vsx-1120 as well.

these all seem to have similar functionality, making it more difficult.

michael1947

hello there folks, i just joined up. i am in the process of setting up a new room, have purchased some new components and could use some advise.

the room is 20 x 25 with 8 foot ceilings and in my walkout basement with a 5x9 cotout for a bar area. carpet on the floor about 50 square feet of window glass which will be "blinded."

i am setting up the room as a workout room with a treadmill, ellipitical, spinning bikes and exercise matts. as i plan to spend some money on the room it must also work as a home theater allowing occasional movie time with the latest greatest stuff. my family room houses a 16 year old home theater with yamaha and klipsch stuff and works....terrific 16 years ago and with todays standards....just ok.

so far i have have accumulated 3 polk cs2's in cherry as i thought one would work for a center and the other two mounted up in the corner of the ceiling soffits angled downward. i have a pair of monitor 40's on the way along with with a micro pro1000.

i have a new pioneer 8020 and blue ray connected to the internet and a hitachi 42" still in the wrapper. i have been setting this up for the past 2 months as i await the completion of the physical reconstruction of the room, another month or so.

i have a lot of old stuff (just like myself) sitting around and thought i would put it back into use....a kenwood 205 et all with 150wpc, some jbl4411's and some ar1's from back in nixon first term...maybe it was lbj. i have decided to keep everyone in the closet and buy new stuff as i just like the way it looks and have planned to complete the setup with either 2 or 4 monitor 70's.....but

recently i see some nice stuff on polks ebay site and the art9's look really cool and so do the lsi25's. so my question(s) to you all are: what to do.

everything purchased so far can be either returned or used elswhere. if i go with the high end a9's or lsi's what will be good accompliment speaker wise, will the stuff already purchased work with them, how much power do i need, can i use my old kenwood 205 to help drive the system in tandem with a newer receiver, why does it seem that electronics manfactures are more interested in i-pod docking and games than listing head-room.

thanks. michael

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!

You've got quite a few questions above that would benefit from you starting YOUR own thread on this?

That way more people will catch it and help you. One quick suggestion for you. If you're going to use 3 CS2s and two M-40s.....I'd put the M-40s as L/R, one CS2 as the center and maybe use the other CS2s in their normal position (horizontal) as surrounds?

cnh

AudioGenics

Welcome to Club Polk !

might want to ' kick some tires ' by visiting your local area stereo shops
to twist some knobs and see some receivers up close to compare.

take your time before making any decision.

Good Luck.

tonyb

You have a pretty big room there. If you want to go floor standers like the A9 or LSI series, you will need an amp and a receiver with preouts to get the most out of your system in a big room. Best to get a budget,then we can better steer you towards good sound.

stillen

The Pioneer Elite recievers with ICE amps can power 4ohm speakers no problem with little if any loss.

dvran

If I were you, I'd go with either an Onkyo 608 or 708. The 708 has pre-outs but I wouldn't spend the extra $$ if it's not worth it to you.

The Onkyo's and the Monitor series pair up real nice.

TECHNOKID

Welcome to Club Polk acieloha

Also, the Marantz and the HK are warmer sounding than the Onkyo. That might be a consideration...

... and IMO, they are also of better quality and resale value than Onkyo's AVRs. You also have my vote on Pioneer (perhaps used Elite??) AVR has a great alternative.

TECHNOKID

Welcome to Club Polk michael1947

As cnh suggested, you should start your own thread so we can provide you help and feed back there as it can be confusing trying to respond to different people and needs within the same thread

joeyf

Another vote for Pioneer. I just got a VSX-1020k a couple weeks ago and love it. I looked at the 1120, and for me, the price difference wasn't worth it.

I actually bought a Denon originally, but took it back because I realized that I basically got ripped off feature-wise for the price. I'm not sure how much of a difference the THD actually makes in this price range, but I didn't find another receiver with a lower THD than the Pioneers (.05%). The rest were advertising around .08%.

BtrSound

You should have gotten the 1120. HT is an addiction and you will eventually want to upgrade, which will prequire preamp outputs. I made that costly error. Bought a Denon 1911, but 4 months later had to buy the 3311. I am going to use the 1911 in my basement HT, but still wish I would have bought the 3311 to begin with.

cfrizz

Welcome to all you newbies. Get a receiver that has all the bells & whistles you want it to have, but make sure that it DOES have preout inputs for future amplification upgrades.

joeyf

BtrSound wrote: »

You should have gotten the 1120. HT is an addiction and you will eventually want to upgrade, which will prequire preamp outputs. I made that costly error. Bought a Denon 1911, but 4 months later had to buy the 3311. I am going to use the 1911 in my basement HT, but still wish I would have bought the 3311 to begin with.

Considering that my last setup lasted me 8 years and it was pretty basic, I think I will be OK. And worst case scenario, my 8 years of not spending anything on audio equipment will justify some additional splurging . Besides, I'll need something to put out on the back patio, so the 1020 can go in my bedroom and the bedroom one can go out there, and I also plan on turning one of my spare rooms into a game room. LOL

On second thought, best buy gives reward zone silver members 45 days to return... I think I'm at about 20 days. Darn you!!! LOL

larry777

I also learned the hard way of not buying my first AVR with PREOUTS. I recently wanted more power, and with preouts,I would have an Amp right now. Instead I had to purchase another AVR with Preouts ( SC-35 ). Alls not lost though, as I can use my first AVR downstairs in another H/T room I am going to setup. Plus the SC-35 sounds so good I may bypass the Amp altogether. But if my Denon AVR 888 had the preouts, I would have picked up a used amp.

gsxr141

joeyf, what did you pay for the 1020? bestbuy has the 1020 for $549, and the 1120 on sale for $519. i would definitely return yours and order the 1120.

joeyf

I got the 1020 on sale for $395. I did see that the 1120 was on sale. It was actually on sale for that same price when I bought my 1020. The $125 difference wasn't worth it to me. Since the Monitor series speakers that I have are pretty efficient, I think I'll be fine with what I have for this system.