New to Polk Audio

newcastle90

Hey everyone, i recently started looking into home theater audio and always heard polk to be a good brand and hearing them in Frys just blew my mind so i figured i'd purchase a system for the home. I just got the Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1-Channel 3D Ready A/V Receiver, Monitor 40 series II as my surround speakers, and the CS2 series II as my center speaker. Im kind of on a budget for my front speakers and subwoofer. Any advice on what i should get would be much appreciated! Im looking at getting Monitor 70 series II floorstanding as my front speakers and the PSW Series PSW505 12" Powered Subwoofer. Yes? No? Maybe? any advice on my system would be awesome! thanks!

pyrocyborg

Hi! Welcome aboard!

First of all, we could help you best if you tell us about your listening area: your room size, it's shape, your listening distance from the front speakers and so on.

I tell you that, because sometime, people get a pair of towers while a good sub and a good pair of bookshelf speakers could do the same job and be less stressful on the receiver. Please note that bigger towers requires more power, and while a receiver might be enough to some people taste, it might not be to yours, especially if you're into "loud volume listening" (and if you have a bigger room than average).

If you're listening at low to moderate volume, I think almost every Monitor series speaker will be more than adequate. Towers requires more power than bookshelf, but as long as you don't kick the volume in all the way up, you shouldn't be underpowering them (which is, by the way, more dangerous than overpowering a pair of speakers as all you're sending to your speakers is a lot of distorsion)... If you don't crank it up loud, be free to choose whatever speaker you prefer.

Geoff4rfc

Welcome to the forum!

Nice start indeed. Like Pyro suggests, the size of your room is going have an impact on where you go next. Your AVR is a nice one but doesn't put out huge amounts of power and by the looks of the specs, doesn't give you pre-outs for an amp.

Maybe the 40's as mains and 30's as surrounds, or keep the 40's in surround like you want, and do 50's for mains. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry, I don't have any experience with Polk subs.

bansheesho

I would suggest either the Monitor 60s or the 70s... I have the 60s and I really like them, but if I could do it again I would go with the 70s for two reasons one being the 70s ability to reproduce lower frequencies better and secondly when I am watching movies I like to feel things explode or helicopters or gunshots and the 70s having more and larger drivers I think would do a better job.

Oldfatdogs

Hay Newcastle,I have the Monitor 70s,40s and cs2.They sound good to me,are there better? Sure but for a budget setup they do everything I want .I don't use a sub but If that's what you want get it,there's allot of the guys that prefer to have one.Enjoy your new speakers.Dan

bansheesho

Also, if you are on a budget you should give the Polk eBay store a glance (good prices on manufacturer refurbished products)... Also check out newegg.com... They have some really good deals on Polk speakers sometimes if you don't mind waiting for them (and use camelegg.com to check price history)

I would get a sub, but I can't comment on the one you have selected.. I do really like my 660wi it has tons of hard hitting and clean bass..really good for movies.. depending on your budget there are some other brands out there that are worth a good look... Epik is one of them.. someone else will have to fill you in on the rest.

tommyt21

newcastle90 wrote: »

Hey everyone, i recently started looking into home theater audio and always heard polk to be a good brand and hearing them in Frys just blew my mind so i figured i'd purchase a system for the home. I just got the Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1-Channel 3D Ready A/V Receiver, Monitor 40 series II as my surround speakers, and the CS2 series II as my center speaker. Im kind of on a budget for my front speakers and subwoofer. Any advice on what i should get would be much appreciated! Im looking at getting Monitor 70 series II floorstanding as my front speakers and the PSW Series PSW505 12" Powered Subwoofer. Yes? No? Maybe? any advice on my system would be awesome! thanks!

I had almost this exact system I was running a pio 1021 and used t90e's (monitor 60's) as fronts before I took my upgrade. It's a really good budget system and does well with music for the price point.Get some M60's In my opinion. Check new egg great prices. I Sold the entire thing to my brother in law for $300 (family discount) LOL

Lietuvis91

M60s with a decent sub is a heck of a nice budget combo in my opinion. I ran that for a while and loved it. M70s are better if you don't plan on buying a sub, but they need more power than your receiver can provide to really do a good job, so I'd still stick to m60s.

[Deleted User]

newcastle90 wrote: »

Hey everyone, i recently started looking into home theater audio and always heard polk to be a good brand and hearing them in Frys just blew my mind so i figured i'd purchase a system for the home. I just got the Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1-Channel 3D Ready A/V Receiver, Monitor 40 series II as my surround speakers, and the CS2 series II as my center speaker. Im kind of on a budget for my front speakers and subwoofer. Any advice on what i should get would be much appreciated! Im looking at getting Monitor 70 series II floorstanding as my front speakers and the PSW Series PSW505 12" Powered Subwoofer. Yes? No? Maybe? any advice on my system would be awesome! thanks!

First off, welcome to Club Polk and congrats on your system. If you are looking for upgrades, be patient, things usually come up for sale here at decent prices. Cheers. :cool:

janmike

Welcome to Polk Audio.

newcastle90

Thanks everyone who replied! To answer the room size question, im not too worried about that. right now i am setting up my system in a 15x20 room but will be changing rooms with this system at varying times. as of now all i have is the m40 and cs2 and these speakers are amazing! with this advice i plan on getting m60 as my front speakers, and im going to look around a bit more before i decide on a subwoofer. thanks again for this advice!

Oldfatdogs

Newcastel,I think you will like the 60 with the 40s and cs2.Keep your eye on newegg they always have good sales.Dan

george daniel

welcome to Club Polk

newcastle90

welp, went with TSi400 towers 40% off

newcastle90

anyone have an opinion on a subwoofer? i know the more i spend obviously the better i will get, but it seems the reviews for the $200-$300 subs are a bad choice. i'll probably end up spending close to $500 for one, so now you know my budget! :P but any help on which one would help a lot!

drummer86

If I had the coin right now I'd be auditioning an Epik Legend and an HSU VTF-2 Mk4. Heard great things about both. Might be a good place to start looking...

Lietuvis91

If its 50/50 music/movies then I would look for a nice 10inch. It's easier to blend in for music then a 12 inch. If its for mostly home theater then 12in without a doubt.

teekay0007

I'd look at the Polk DSW Pro 500 subwoofer. It's one of the best sounding subs I've ever heard - at any price. It's a very versatile 10" sub with great thunderous bass that is also very responsive with no boominess. It's also a downfiring sub that comes in a flat black and has a great and easy-to-use remote control, all features which I prefer. It's in the price range you mentioned above and the feedback on the Polk site is phenomenal for it - don't just look at the number of stars for the ratings, but actually read the reviews. They often come up on eBay at a good price, even for new ones, or for refurb's from the Polk ebay store. Might even be available from Newegg who has some nice sales on Polk subs from time to time.

tonyb

newcastle90 wrote: »

Thanks everyone who replied! To answer the room size question, im not too worried about that. right now i am setting up my system in a 15x20 room but will be changing rooms with this system at varying times. as of now all i have is the m40 and cs2 and these speakers are amazing! with this advice i plan on getting m60 as my front speakers, and im going to look around a bit more before i decide on a subwoofer. thanks again for this advice!

Welcome to the club.
Take your time, do your research on a sub, set your budget. Plenty of subwoofer makers out there to wet your appetite. Polks dsw line or micro pro line is worth a look, or subs from HSU,SVS,EPIK, and a cast of others. Really depends on budget.

newcastle90

So far loving my new speakers!! building a custom entertainment unit at the moment but will post pics once its all complete and set up!