Onkyo TX-SR508 and Polk Monitor 70's - Enough power?

The_Gladiator

Hi all,
I've been looking around forum gathering intelligence for some time.
I finally picked my setup. I'm VERY limited on budget now so I picked Onkyo TX-SR508 and 2x Polk Monitor 70. I will have just that for now (mostly stereo music).

My main question is: Does the receiver I picked have enough power for these speakers?

We rent an apartment, so I will definitely not play it loud or anything. I watch movies, listen to music and play XboX in a 14'x14' room.
I don't really need suggestions, rather just know if that is powerful enough so my bass freq do not suffer/I'm using the maximum bass these can put out.

Thank you for any kind of answer!

spock 2054

Welcome to CP.

If you watch movies, have you thought about adding a sub and/or surround speakers? For music, with the 508, bass response from the 70's should be fine - but for movies, you would be missing the added punch of a sub and surrounds.

The_Gladiator

Thank you

Sorry for dumb question but what you're basically saying is that I "would be missing the added punch" because of missing sub and not because of not enough power from the receiver?

I want to start with just 2.0 setup for now (being very limited $$$-wise) and I will have to make some sacrifices. But I hear you and I will probably have to supply the sub in the near future.

spock 2054

Exactly. Without a sub, I can hear the bass from my 70's at moderate listening levels - with the sub, I can feel the bass and low frequency effects. When you do pick up a sub, there are ways to isolate it so as not to piss off your neighbors...the joy of apartment livin'.

The_Gladiator

How to do you isolate it? Or what do you mean by that?
Yeah...can't wait to have a house in the future. We're already pissing off the neighbors downstairs with our jumping and scream while playing Kinect, LOL

Geoff4rfc

The_Gladiator wrote: »

Hi all,
I've been looking around forum gathering intelligence for some time.
I finally picked my setup. I'm VERY limited on budget now so I picked Onkyo TX-SR508 and 2x Polk Monitor 70. I will have just that for now (mostly stereo music).

My main question is: Does the receiver I picked have enough power for these speakers?

We rent an apartment, so I will definitely not play it loud or anything. I watch movies, listen to music and play XboX in a 14'x14' room.
I don't really need suggestions, rather just know if that is powerful enough so my bass freq do not suffer/I'm using the maximum bass these can put out.

Thank you for any kind of answer!

The 508 should do fine with the 70's, especially after break-in. Will you be getting max bass out put with that receiver? Since you'll only be driving 2 channels, I'd think you'd be getting pretty close.

logo896

Have you set bi amped them? Using your B channel for the lows and then A channel on the highs will help quite a bit. Make sure you remove the bridge plates though before you turn your receiver on.

cnh

You can drive M-70s with an Onkyo 50x but don't expect much bass response. You'd be BETTER off getting a SUB and crossing our M-70s over at 80hz so as to RELIEVE that entry Onkyo of the burden of those towers and allow it to do it's best serving the mid-bass and higher frequencies on your fronts.

On paper, M-70s are fairly efficient but in practice, you're powering 10 drivers between the two of them. I wouldn't go lower than an Onkyo 600 series with those in front and preferably a 708 or higher. But, as I said, for HT, a sub will serve you WELL. And you won't have to worry about the power.

cnh

marinpaul

I have the 508 with two 70's and no subwoofer. For 2 channel music it sounds great to me. And while I will probably will get a subwoofer in the future, the 508 does just fine with a CS2 center and OWM5 surrounds. Enjoy.

spock 2054

The_Gladiator wrote: »

How to do you isolate it? Or what do you mean by that?
Yeah...can't wait to have a house in the future. We're already pissing off the neighbors downstairs with our jumping and scream while playing Kinect, LOL

LMAO....Did a search of subwoofer isolation:
http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=subwoofer+isolation

Some of the Polkies suggest the Auralex SubDude...

inthewoods

cnh wrote: »

You can drive M-70s with an Onkyo 50x but don't expect much bass response. You'd be BETTER off getting a SUB and crossing our M-70s over at 80hz so as to RELIEVE that entry Onkyo of the burden of those towers and allow it to do it's best serving the mid-bass and higher frequencies on your fronts.

Agreed!

My M70 + 608 sound good in 2.0 mode but the bass is nothing spectacular.
In 2.1 mode the M70's get louder and sound much better since it's not having to worry about the stuff below 80hz.

The_Gladiator

One more question - how can one tells that the receiver doesn't have enough power for the speakers?
Is it that it cannot play that loud or is it that some frequencies will not be as strong as they should be?

Thank you

dvran

Do the Onkyo 608 and get a center since your apartment will limit the bass you can put out.

That way at least you have a front sound stage.

The_Gladiator

I just hooked the whole thing up over the weekend and I have to say that the TX-SR508 is more than adequate for those Polk Monitor II 70's!

This is my first REAL and TRUE audio system (used to have only PC speakers before) and I'm by no means an audioholic or professional listener and I LIKE a lot of bass.

This setup has so much bass that I had to actually tone it down on the receiver. It plays very loud and since we rent an apartment, I can play it only so much loud.

And because I'm not a professional, anything more expensive than what I had sounds much much better. So I think I wouldn't be able to appreciate anything better at this point - I couldn't tell the difference, I guess. After my ears learn, get used to a semi-pro sound and I "musically grow" (and we move out ) then I will get the rest of the 7.1 system this baby can handle.

So far, I've been very happy with this combo, which I use for music (rock), movies, regular TV and Xbox gaming.

Thanks everyone for their opinions

dnoyeB

I have an Onkyo HT-RC270. I played some jazz with my Monitor 70s. The volume was at max. It was very clear. It was not painful. This receiver does not have enough power to distort these speakers. There is much room left over. I imagine if I bi-amp them, I could get to distortion volume.

My present opinion is that the receiver has enough power to play music loud and clear. But on a friday night when I'm sipping whiskey and listening to undeground rap, I'm going to have to figure something out...

tonyb

dnoyeB wrote: »

I have an Onkyo HT-RC270. I played some jazz with my Monitor 70s. The volume was at max. It was very clear. It was not painful. This receiver does not have enough power to distort these speakers. There is much room left over. I imagine if I bi-amp them, I could get to distortion volume.

My present opinion is that the receiver has enough power to play music loud and clear. But on a friday night when I'm sipping whiskey and listening to undeground rap, I'm going to have to figure something out...

Volume at max ?? Not enough power to distort the speakers ??
Bi-amping to get to distortion levels ??

Best you stop on the cheap whiskey and start buying the good stuff.

dnoyeB

Its not that I like distortion. I'm trying to express that the amplifier is not enough for these speakers. It works, but i'm used to having to back off the volume.

mystik610

Provided you aren't severly underpowering a speaker (ie driving with an amp that can't dip low enough in impedence), adding external amplification has a lot more to do with dynamic range and sound quality than it does volume. Even a very efficient speaker like the monitor 50 will benefit greatly from being fed quality amplification.

That being said, the Monitor 70's are very efficient for a full-range speaker (90db efficiency), and they're 8ohm speakers. You should not have any trouble running them off an AVR, unless you're pushing them above reference levels for extended periods of time.