New to Home Audio, could use some advice.

wxcarne89

Hello,
I am pretty new to A/V setup. I am a computer engineering major, so I am good with electronics, but I know very little about setting up my speakers. I thought maybe someone on here could enlighten me on the answers to a few things I know so little about... This week my friend was generous enough to sell me CS2 center, A PSW10, and pair of monitor 40's for about 200$. He picked them up on Newegg's open box section for this price, and ended up continuing to use a pair of acoustic research towers he already had. I didn't have a receiver but I managed to find a broken, and ancient, kenwood vr-209 500W at a local thrift shop for 7$ and after cleaning the heatsink and circuit boards it is working well.

I am not an audiophile by any means, so please forgive my third grade terminology. I plan to buy a new receiver pretty soon, but i'm just kind of biding my time, waiting on a good deal. Currently I have the PSW10 connected with a rca splitter from the Sub out on the amp, and the monitor 40's are connected via the upper terminals. I have read in the forums that the psw10 works better using the RCA terminals? What I am curious about is utilizing the extra terminals on the monitor 40's, to be very honest I am not even sure what they are, or what to do with them . I have also noticed what I think is a "Crossover?" on the back of the PSW10, once again I just really don't have a clue how it works, if it is something I should even bother with, and at that I don't have a clue how I would connect it.

I am getting ready to build stands for the monitor 40's which I plan to use as fronts, I was thinking about 26"?

Thanks in advance, and sorry to ask such a petty question. If any one could even refer me to a website with an explanation of what I am look at, that would be great! I am guessing this isn't something I could wire using my current receiver, but I figured I should find out what is required etc. before I purchase a new one. It is hard to do research when you do not even know what you are researching!

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

You've got yourself a nice "starter" system there for a good price. In the long run you can always move the M-40s to surround duty and get some towers up front (but that's not necessary now).

Not familiar with that Kenwood. Can it do Dolby Digital and DTS surround 5.1 or 7.1?

If the receiver is a Digital surround AVR (can identify this by the logos on the face-plate; look for Dobly D. and DTS). Then you'll need to set the sub crossover on the AVR (in the sub menu) and at least match that or higher on the Polk sub. Start at about 80hz and see how that sounds!

As for height. You want to get the tweeters on the M-40s at ear-level when you're sitting.

The dual speaker terminals on the M-40s are for Bi-amping and Bi-wiring. You need not worry about that at this point. Keep the metal connectors (known as "jumpers") on so that the top and bottom terminals are connected and simply wire one set of terminals to the receiver (top set or bottom set.)


As for future receivers. You'd be good with something like an Onkyo 709 or a Pioneer 1120 in the 4-500 dollar or more range (mid-level). I wouldn't go much lower than these models because you lose what you need to "upgrade" you system with lower models.

Take care!

cnh

bansheesho

Newegg had a good deal on the pioneer 1121-k the other day for $399.... It isn't @ that price now, but may come back if you are patient... A lot of receiver for the money, has all the latest features and pre-outs if you want to add a power amp later.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117401

wxcarne89

Thanks for the advice!!!

The receiver is rather old, probably late 90's even!!! For the low low price of $7 it can't be beat though, haha. It is a 5.1 receiver, and it is "Dolby Digital" according to the face. It also states on the back that its video 3 input, is the "Dolby Digital" input, which is a fiber optic. I have been using that. Does anyone have any input related to whether or not my sub would sound better using speaker wire and the crossover, or RCA? I have read some very contradictory information about the PSW10 and RCA, Vs. crossover and speaker wire.

I had some extremely novice "hardware" questions too, I didn't really see a place on the forum for it, but I thought someone might have time to give me some advice?

I am currently torn between going ahead and ordering a pair of Polk monitor 30's, (from Polk's eBay store for $90 shipped) for surround, or staying with a 3.1 system for the time being. Then later down the road grabbing some towers (such as the Polk Monitor 60's or 70's), then moving the monitor 40's to the rear.This may be a dumb question but, do the monitor 60's or 70's have a much better quality sound then my 40's, or would it just be louder? I do 80% of my listening at low volumes. I saw a great deal on 50's, but it seemed redundant to match the front and surround speakers? Especially because I hear that the cs2 is a little big for the 40's, and I feel like long term I will want Towers, it's an ongoing internal debate... I guess to really sum up what I am asking, am I missing much without surround speakers? Thanks Again!!!!

cnh

I'd keep the sub on the RCAs, you're fine there!

And wait for the larger towers (M-60 or M-70). The CS2 is NOT too big for the M-40s--a large center is a great investment because about 50 percent of surround info is carried by the 'center' speaker.

I run a 3.1 surround system in my basement (too lazy to run wire through the ceiling for the surrounds!). And it's acceptable (you will want to add those surrounds eventually).

The Kenwood will do you for now. I have an old Dolby surround Kenwood collecting dust somewhere that was pretty heavy and pretty powerful.

Take care.

cnh

bansheesho

I would second waiting for the towers and moving the 40s to the back.. keep an eye on newegg (use camelegg.com to check price history), the Polk eBay store, and the marketplace here for some good deals...

squeeb

"New to Home Audio, could use some advice."

The best advice I could give you: If you like your money, stay away ... stay far, far away!

Welcome to the club.

wxcarne89

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice.

Ended up grabbing some old jbl 2500's for 40$ at a pawn shop today, to use as surround for the time being, and tehn get some monitor 70's later. They sound "ok". I found an extremely "vintage" chrome pioneer receiver, in my parents garage today too, I have decided to restore it. I can't think of the model number now, but it is really interesting how the knobs and everything work. It has a system where the knobs are attached to a wire, and as you turn the knob the wire is reeled in moving a "Latch" inside the receiver. it also uses some kind of light bulb to light up the display. kinda irrelevant but cool, as a engineering student I find it pretty fascinating.

Squueb,
you certainly are right about that! I've always had a weakness for high-end consumer electronics, haha. i've spent a fourtune on updating all of my computer systems in my home recently. Networked hard drive, High end desktop, new laptop etc. I thought computer stuff was expensive, but I am now seeing that you can blow some serious cash on high quality audio fast!