Help on rears and sub

didibrink

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am getting a house built and im putting together my first mancave. This is my eqipment I have so far:

Reciever-Onkyo 709
Center-Polk Audio CS20
Fronts-M60s(may upgrade to M70s)
Panamax M5100

Im debating on what kind of surround and rears to get though i already have a set of M40s. Im looking for advice on what kind of sub in a $200-300 budget and rears to purchase.

drummer86

keep the 40s and spend it all on the sub. Others will recommend the best subs to get. Be warned, if you go with the m70's you're going to want a to get a separate amp to really make the upgrade worth it. You should be happy with the m60s for quite a while. They're very decent speakers for TV and HT.

didibrink

thanks alot drummer86. would it b recommended to get a 2nd set of 40s to make it 7.1

teamjhertz

Only do 7.1 if you have the proper room for all the speakers. If not, do a 5.1 set up. It will sound best in the room. I would focus on a sub purchase and then worry about the rest after you have the sub

djperez81

I would use the 40's as rears and just keep it a 5.1 till you can get a seperate amp, when your drive all 7 channels on your 709 it greatly diminishes the wpc. I would spend my money on a good sub or even a nice 3 or 5 channel amp.

jbooker82

I dont know. Maybe the newer Onkyo's dont drop off as bad.
Take this TX-NR807 for example.

Onkyo rates is at 135 wpc with 2 channels driven.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-NR807&class=Receiver&p=s

Home Theater Mag rates it this way.
http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr807-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures
0.1% distortion 105.5 watts 5 channels driven
1.0% distortion 122.0 watts 5 channels driven

Turn on the rear back surrounds for a 7.1 and it gets worse.
0.1% distortion 29.9 watts 7 channels driven
1.0% distortion 33.0 watts 7 channels driven

Falls off pretty bad when powering a 7.1 system


Now look at the newer versions. Take the Onkyo TX-NR609 for example. This would be considered the newer version, but little brother to the TX-NR807, TX-NR808, TX-NR708.

Onkyo Rates it at 100 watts 2 channels driven.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-NR609&class=Receiver&p=s

Home Theater Magazine
http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr609-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures

Five Channels Driven
0.1% distortion 81.0 watts
1.0% distortion 95.1 watts

Seven Channels Driven
0.1% distortion 77.7 watts
1.0% distortion 88.9 watts

It appears that the newer Onkyo's do not fall off as hard as the older ones do when you power a 7 channel system.