Building up my HT a bit and have some questions?

mostlyharmless

I recently took the plunge into HT and purchased a VSX-30 receiver and a HTIB. I quickly realized I had the bug and purchased a set of monitor 50s, a CS-10 center channel speaker and a pair of R300s. (Currently using the monitor 50s for fronts, the r300s as rears, and 2 of the speakers from the HTIB in a box as rear surrounds, along with the 8 inch sub that came with the HTIB).

I don't have an absolute ton of money to spend upgrading. However, I'd like to purchase a pair of monitor 70s to replace the monitor 50's up front so that I can move the 50's to the rear. This is going to happen for certain along with, hopefully, a BIC pl-200 as a new subwoofer as this will be primarily for HT.

My question becomes this. Would it be worth it to purchase, say, a set of monitor 30s or 40s for front high/front wides. Or would it be better to purchase a CS-2 for the front (to better match the monitor 70's), and another cs-10 and then use the pair of cs-10s as front high wides? or by switching them to the back and using the r300s or monitor 50s as wides? Any thoughts on this? Perhaps I'm over thinking this? I'm sorry if this sounds silly, but I'd really appreciate any input from some of the more experienced members. Thanks in advance

deronb1

mostlyharmless, (Hitchhiker ref?) I am not sure how much you would benefit using towers for surround in HT. 70s upfront for sure. Especially if you are going to listen to music in stereo mode as well. All good speakers though. I have never heard a BIC sub, but it gets good write-ups on Amazon. I do have a pair of BIC bookshelf speakers which sound pretty nice.

mostlyharmless

Yeah I've read that rear channels are best handled by dipole bookshelves that can be mounted high. Unfortunately, I've already purchased 2 sets of towers I just need to figure out how to best work everything I currently own with a new set of monitor 70s and one other (as of yet undetermined) purchase to fill out a 9.1 system. I guess I should have made that a bit more clear in my original post. Sorry about that

Lietuvis91

This many speakers is a heavy load for that receiver to carry. I hope it really makes the adversised 80w x 7 ch, because the towers are going to need every drop of it.

Using 2 cs1s as wides sounds like an interesting idea, I doubt you will find anyone here that has tried this however. I would definitely agree with getting a cs2 to match the m70s, or possibly a 2nd cs1 to use together with the one you have already and run them both as centers, if space allows of course.

mostlyharmless

I was wondering about that myself. If I continue to 'add' to this a piece at a time, do you know if I can add 2 channels amps one at a time with this particular receiver? Or at all? I hate being so ignorant about all of this, but I appreciate the help and I figure adding a piece or two at a time will help to keep the WAF low. )

deronb1

A 9.1 system would require another amp? Does the Pioneer have pre outs?

mostlyharmless

Hrmmm...I don't think it does ( Sigh. Apparently I didn't do enough homework on all of this prior to buying the receiver. Ahhhhhhh live and learn. )

Lietuvis91

Your receiver does not have pre-outs for external amp hookup. So if it turns out that the receiver is not pushing this speaker load to your satisfaction you will not have the option to add more power with an amp. With this particular receiver, I would stick to smaller speakers if you want a 7.1 configuration.

BTW: 7.1 is all your receiver is capable of. You either run

1) rear surrounds OR 2)front highs or wides

You cannot do BOTH 1 and 2.

Just as a sidenote: I was in a similar situation about 2 years ago. I got my onkyo 608 ( no pre-outs) and then bought m70s m60s cs2 and atrium 5s for a 7.1 setup. My receiver CHOKED! Everything sounded dull and anemic, it was not pleasant to listen to. So just a word of caution: big towers need good power to sound like they should.

mostlyharmless

Hmmmm....I see, well thank you for the information lietuvis91 and deronb, perhaps a sale and purchase of a better receiver with pre-outs is in order before anything else? ) Good lord, what have I gotten myself into....

Lietuvis91

Haha! You're just getting your feet wet... maybe you should stop before you get in too deep. The more you learn and the more gear you buy... the uglier it gets! :eek:

A good piece of advice to follow is: set a plan with what you will get and budget! And DO NOT allow yourself to spend over +/- a few bucks of that budget. Otherwise, it can get out of control real quick, because there is always something just a little better for just a little more money... Good luck!

deronb1

I have said that numerous times. I think, after I got married was the first

atlanticjay

mostlyharmless, I feel your pain. I am in a similar situation, just building up my first HT. I've stuck my toe in the water by purchasing a Yamaha RX-A800 and looking at some configuration of the Monitors.

When I discovered the Monitors at a great price point (much lower than anything else I was looking at), I was ecstatic, thinking how much I would be saving myself. But now I'm thinking about the 70s for fronts, and/or running a 7.1, which will probably choke out my receiver (rated 95 wpc), so I've started looking at external amps as well - which will raise my cost back up to if I had purchased more expensive speakers!

It's a fantastic hobby...

mostlyharmless

Well, I think at this point I'm probably still going to purchase a pair of the monitor 70s. If the receiver barfs under the pressure, all the more reason to upgrade :P. I can live with anemic sound until I can afford a better receiver capable of acting as a pre-amp. ) Wish I would have had a better idea when I first ventured into all of this.....

pdxfj

You've been sucked into the never ending void.. Much like a black hole, but much more damaging to your wallet.

Don't try and push things too hard with that AVR and all those speakers. I was in the same boat as Lietuvis and have done extensive upgrading since joining this board. In the end I'm very happy with my setup.

mostlyharmless

Haha, quick update to this resurrected thread, but since I posted this I've since upgraded to the Monitor 70s in the front, moved the 50's to the back, sold my VSX-30, purchased a VSX-32 and an A2-300. The R300's are going in a box until my pocketbook can recover a bit enough to buy a couple of power amps to run the a couple of more channels. Can't thank you enough for all of your help out here on this forum!

Btw, it all sounds *godly* thus far