Apartment Audio System (many, many questions inside)

Notorious

So next weekend I move from my current studio into a one-bedroom and I'm'a have a sound system in each room of the apartment. Bathroom is a ghetto Sony boombox. Right NOW, the main room sound system consists of a Kenwood VR-7070 pushing two Yamaha bookshelf speakers I got open-boxed at Best Buy for $50, and a ****-but-cheap KLH center/rear channels 3-pack I got for $20. Of course, my long term plans consist of four Polk floorspeakers. The bedroom sound system upon move-in will just be my DJ monitor, as the turntables are in the bedroom.

So, here are the questions.

The first concerns the bedroom audio system. Long-term, I'm looking to add three bookshelf speakers to the bedroom, where my computer desk also is. That is, two speakers on the computer desk and one for the back right behind the computer desk, with the DJ monitor doubling as the back left. Also, I will be mounting an 8-ohm 12" Rockford Fosgate sub that I already have laying around in my bed.

I would like to get a (relatively) cheap stereo receiver that can power three bookshelf speakers and the bed-mounted subwoofer. That means it needs to be able to push an uneven load with the bed-sub hooked to the left "B" channel sucking as much wattage as the other three speakers combined. Is this possible? Or am I going to have to buy a seperate amp for the woofer?

I'm looking at one of the two Harmon/Kardon stereo receivers for the bedroom. What have the experiences of the forum members been with those models? Will they push the sub and three bookshelf speakers?

Concerning the main room sound system, my VR-7070 is rated for speakers beween 8-16 ohms. Polk's FAQ reccomends you buy a receiver that lists ratings for 4-ohm speakers, and it's good advice, but the closest thing to the 7070 is the Harmon/Kardon AVR 375 which is like twice the price. So, the question is, will Polk speakers not respond to certain frequencies as well if I use them with the Kenwood?

I suppose that's all the questions I have for now, although I'll probably think of more and post another length message in this thread later on :P

---Notorious

F1nut

Welcome to the forum.

Why would you want to have a sub mounted in/under your bed???

Tour2ma

Notorius,

First, welcome to the Forum.

Second, please pardon our Club eunuch. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Now as to your questions:
You're not going to be able to drive 3 bookselves and a sub off of a 2 ch receiver, and that's all you have. Your B channel is intended for a second zone. Running both zones A and B simultaneously drops the impedance the amp see and can stress the amp as a 4 ohm speaker would.

PartsExpress sells plate amps cheap for subs. Others can guide you to choosing one better than I.

Now that leaves three speakers and the unbalanced load you mentioned. Anyway, you could mock up a center-ish channel, but it seems like you are trying to achieve surround sound with the Dj rig patched in. At any rate, I don;t see a 2 ch receiver getting you there. It seems to me a 5 ch AVR is better suited. If you think used, you should be able to find a suitable one.

As for HK, it's got a good rep and a fair following round here...

F1nut

eunuch, huh? See if I get those AR's then.

I'm sure he wants the sub under the bed to FEEL the sound, but in doing so it will be like putting the sub inside of a chamber resulting in some funky sound waves, IMO.

Tour2ma

WAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Notorious

Originally posted by F1nut
eunuch, huh? See if I get those AR's then.

I'm sure he wants the sub under the bed to FEEL the sound, but in doing so it will be like putting the sub inside of a chamber resulting in some funky sound waves, IMO.

Well, I'm going to be making my own sub box with the correct amount of in^3, adding thicker wood on the bottom as needed to raise the height so it's almost flush with the boxspring and then sliding that under the bed so that the sub fires up. So I don't see how it'll be any different than having subs in the trunk firing towards the interior of the car...

Notorious

Originally posted by Tour2ma
Now that leaves three speakers and the unbalanced load you mentioned. Anyway, you could mock up a center-ish channel, but it seems like you are trying to achieve surround sound with the Dj rig patched in. At any rate, I don;t see a 2 ch receiver getting you there. It seems to me a 5 ch AVR is better suited. If you think used, you should be able to find a suitable one.

Hmm, didn't think of used. But a quick search on eBay found that HK sells refurb. AVR125's for as low as 60-80 bucks, depending on how many people were bidding. And since the bedroom speakers are all going to be (relatively small) bookshelves, the 125 has enough power. So I think I've found my bedroom receiver.

As for the amp, I checked partsexpress and this looks like a pretty good deal, especially since I could bridge it and get 120W RMS, which is more than enough to blow the sub long before the amp dies.

And all this for under 200 bucks altogether.

Domo Arigato Mr Tour2ma, will post again in this thread once I actually have some of the stuff installed.

gatemplin

Notorious,

First of all, you have picked a car sub amp. Look for a plate amp at Parts Express. They go for about $150. I have HK avr110 (older model of 125) and I like it. You can also find cheap HK's at Harmanaudio.com. You will probably like the sub in the corner of the room better ( you will still feel the bass). I also saw a Dayton 10" sub with amp for like $130 at PE. F1 is right, the sub will likely sound weird under the bed. You will probably hear whoosing.

Notorious

I wonder about putting the sub next to the bed...?

edited to add: or at the foot of the bed, but front-firing into the frame.

danger boy

Notorious,

sounds like you know your car audio quite well.. home audio is a whole nother story and vice versa. Welcome! the guys on here can lead you down the right road.

Have fun and ask lots of questions.

Edit: I looked at parts express.. get the sub amp with the remote control..

gatemplin

Welcome Notorious,

In general subwoofers sound best in or near a corner. You can certainly experiment and tweak you system, that is half the fun IMO. Once you get your sub, you can place it in your listening position and crawl around the room, listen for the spot that sounds best to you and then put the sub there. This will usually be the best placement. And it is usually in a corner. Keep us informed about your progress. If you want to learn more about home theater check out
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=120328