Fledgling audiophile looking to solicit advice

lpmagic

Hello All,

I am slowly trying to piece together a decent HT system. I started with a HTIB from Onkyo, it was ok, I bought it several years ago. It was a 7.1 system. I have since decided that I needed a little bit better sound, as music did not sound great and movies were loud but somewhat muffled or "muddy". What I need is advice as to what to purchase next, as with most folks I'm on a budget, so I need to know what piece will make the next, biggest impact on my system. I think I need to go for the center channel next but would love your help here is what I currently have:

Onkyo nr609 (brand new black friday purchase)
Polk Audio RTi8 front loud speakers (picked up for a reasonable price, and brand new)
Onkyo center (from HTIB)
10" powered 100W onkyo sub
Surrounds are from the original HTIB front louds.
Rear from HTIB

I know the HTIB stuff needs to go, but I'm fiscally challenged enough that I will need to piece this together one or two at a time, what should I get next????? and any ideas as to brand and particular type will be apreciated.....

PolkThug

Check out a Polk Center channel (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107CSIA4B/Polk-Audio-CSi-A4-Black.html?tp=189) if you can. Then you'll want to save up twice that (or more) for a sub.

D_M

In my opinion, you should just save and wait to take the plunge. Find a speaker that you like and build a system around that speaker. Determine the maximum amount of money that your willing to spend on a speaker and go from there.

PolkThug

DSkip wrote: »

http://www.frys.com/product/6895146;jsessionid=MzII-2wvnfZbLF7u694rzA__.node3?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Wow, I'd grab that if you can, they don't make those anymore. Great center at super low price. Yes, I am biased on that model.

codyc1ark

PolkThug wrote: »

Wow, I'd grab that if you can, they don't make those anymore. Great center at super low price. Yes, I am biased on that model.

Wow, I sold mine in that range a few years ago new, great new price! That would be my first move if I was the OP...

Oh, we can talk about subs on a day that you really hate your wallet!

lpmagic

I will go today and pick up that center at fry's it just so happens that there is a fry's, with that in stock, 20 miles away so a good start! thanks for the details I really appreciate it!

so you folks think a sub next?????? prolly have to wait another month until payday, but I look at that as shopping time
Tahnks again!

ravaneli

That center is a good deal and a good match - i recommend it too.

The surround and the backs.. keep for now. Not much flows through them anyway so the return on invested $$ is lower than when you invest on the front. Also, your receiver is not that muscular and will not properly power much more that this anyway.

I would get a better subwoofer after the center - should have it's own amp and will make a significant difference.

Then look for a pair of used monitor 30 or 40 for surround speakers..

mystik610

lpmagic wrote: »

I will go today and pick up that center at fry's it just so happens that there is a fry's, with that in stock, 20 miles away so a good start! thanks for the details I really appreciate it!

so you folks think a sub next?????? prolly have to wait another month until payday, but I look at that as shopping time
Tahnks again!

What's your budget for a sub? How big is your room and what is the layout?

lpmagic

mystik610

My room is about 20x30 or so in a rectangular pattern, if you were standing in the middle back of the room, the tv, reciever are in the front left corner (TV, Reciever, Front L,R, center channel) the listening area is about the front half of the room, with the surrounds and rear being placed in appropriate spaces to that end. I have no idea of what my budget is for a sub, but I'm trying to be a little on the skimpy side, always looking for the best deal, such as the csi 5 I just found for $179 with the help of the board, that was not beyond my budget. I'm waffleing hunh? well I suppose $200 is a starting point but I know you guys are gonna say more lol

One other question, should I crank up that Audessy every time I add a speaker or LEF ?
Thanks!!!!!!!!

lpmagic

I now have the CSi 5 and its huge, no worries I have plenty of room, but man is it ever Boomy, I htink maybe I have no idea how to set my eq up, should I just let Aydessey handle it?? or does that even do htose things, I'm very confused now, I anticipated way better sound out of the box, brighter more discernable speech, but it's not really there.....Help!

ravaneli

are you familiar with your AVR settings? Have you read the manual? Go through all the audio settings and turn off all audio processing of any kind, no EQ, no enhancements of any kinds. Turn any sound effects off, including Audyssey settings. Perhaps Onkyo owners can help u with those if you have questions, but don't be lazy and wait for other to take guesses instead.

F1nut

One other question, should I crank up that Audessy every time I add a speaker or LEF ?

Yes.

lpmagic

ravaneli wrote: »

are you familiar with your AVR settings? Have you read the manual? Go through all the audio settings and turn off all audio processing of any kind, no EQ, no enhancements of any kinds. Turn any sound effects off, including Audyssey settings. Perhaps Onkyo owners can help u with those if you have questions, but don't be lazy and wait for other to take guesses instead.

Well, I have read the owners manual for the avr and speakers, extremely thouroughly, and am familiar with all of the controls in all menus of the receiver itself, so I'm not being lazy about it but I seem to get deeper and deeper into trouble by making changes within the controls, Just because I have read the manual does not help me understand the jargon, or how it actually applies to my situation. So for now it sounds horrible, even though I now have (by polie standards) fair speakers RTI A8's and CSI 5 to go along with my junk and a decent AVR it sounds worse then before.
The best advise I have seen, at least for a baseline, is to set all speakers to small and set the crossover to 80 so I will try that tonight and see how it goes, right now I have the two fronts set to large, and the center set to large and I have no idea on the sub crossover. I'm trying very hard to understand and be a good little fledging audiophile, I just do not have the experiance, and so far I just keep getting deeper and deeper lol. Thanks for the inpout though I'm not trying to sound snappish, just trying to learn from you folks who actually know whats gfoing on

lpmagic

F1nut wrote: »

Yes.

Thank you

ravaneli

I have a feeling you have some funny processing feature on. Did you go over those and turn them off?

lpmagic

ravaneli wrote: »

I have a feeling you have some funny processing feature on. Did you go over those and turn them off?

I will need to re-look again when I get home tonight, I plan to just start from scratch, at this point I have no idea what is on or not, I feel foolish for haveing changed things so much that the baseline has dissapeared. I will look at the processing features, thanks

tonyb

Keep in mind when you run the auto calibration, the mic needs to be elevated to where your ears would be in the sitting position you will use. Also, while it's running, no other noise can be going on, no kids screaming, no dryer tumbling away, etc. When it's done, go back into the menu and see where it left your channel levels at. Sometimes the auto calibration doesn't get it completely right. You can adjust your center channel levels up or down as well as all the other channels and the sub. If your sub has a crossover on the back, turn it all the way up to it's highest value, you'll be using the crossover settings in the receiver instead. You can also adjust that up or down depending on the amount of bass you want the sub to handle.

I know the jargon can get confusing, but we are here to help so if your at home and can't figure something out, post right away and we shall try and answer as quickly as we can.