What will go good with Onkyo TX - NR609 Amp?

doogie182

Hello!


I was looking for some help and what better place then to come here and see if the experts can help. I have a Onkyo TX - NR609 amp and i was looking for some advice for some floor speakers and a good sub to go along with this amp. Any ideas on which speakers would sound good with this amp? I tend to listen to rock music and movies. I would like to watch movies and feel like I'm at the theater such as watching a good Transformers 3D movie. Sadly my budget is about 700$ for floor speakers total and 300$ for sub. I was looking at the Polk Audio TSi500? Any help would be great!



Thank you!

jbooker82

I would go with a pair of RTI A5's or A7's over the TSI's. By the way you can get the Monitor II sereis speakers from New Egg for cheaper and they are the same as the TSI's only cosmetic diffences.


As for a sub look for the Polk DSW Pro660WI from new egg this weekend. It usually goes on sale saturday and sunday.

doogie182

Oh nice i did not know they were the same. i see you have the RTI how is the bass with them? Also how were they modded? (by trey)

jbooker82

They have good bass but you have to have the power to run them. I only turn my sub on when playing video games or when watching blue rays. Your AVR will run RTi A5 with no problems, but they won't play as low because they lack the 7" woofers that the A7's and A9's have. Your onkyo 609 will run the A7's ok at normal volume but will probably struggle when you start to really crank it up, say around 72-75 on the volume knob. The Onkyo TX609 doesn't have pre outs so you cannot hook an external amplifier up. 709 does, so if there was any way you could exchange it while it is still new that might be something to look in to.

My onkyo 808 ran my RTi A7's fine. If I had to do it over again and never got an external amp I would probably have still bought the A7's. Knowing that I now have a Carver A-753x 250 watt x 3 channel amp I would have went larger and got the RTi A9's. I think there is some value in running a tower that has a woofer or two even if your powering them with a reciever.

Bottom line is any speaker will sound better and be more dynamic if you feed it lots of clean power.

As for nodded by trey. I took the crossovers out and sent them to trey. He replaced the capacitors and resistors with better quality ones.

RTi's are known to be a bright speaker. They have a sharp treble sound. That is what makes them an awesome home theater speaker. The mods make them a little less sharp on the top end.

doogie182

Well to be honest i did not buy a amp yet but i was close to buying it last night but i wanted to see what people had to say. I'd love to get the 709 if it was not 500+! lol. Would the Onkyo HT-RC360 be the same as the 609? I see newegg has a great deal on the 360 right now. I like the look of the RTi 7's would you say that the RTi will hit much lower then the monitor II ?


I even tried to find a place in town that might have some but i could not. So! Sorry for all the questions! I would just like to find something all together for around 1200-1300$ and be happy for at least 3 years


How much do you recall trey charged you for that mod if i end up finding some RTi's. Again if you have a idea of a amp in mind I'm open ears!


Thanks again!

jbooker82

Check out accessories 4 less. They sell refurbished onkyo, maranz, and dennon AVR's. You can add on a 5 yr warenty for 60 bucks. New ones only come with a 2 yr warenty.

Geoff4rfc

doogie182 wrote: »

I would just like to find something all together for around 1200-1300$ and be happy for at least 3 years

Considering you said you'd like to have the feeling that you're in a theater, I don't think it's going to happen. I'd say, save and shop around a bit more.

I started with an Onk 807 which does have pre-outs. I'm on my third upgrade of speakers now and I just started 2 1/2 years ago with my first purchase of audio equipment.

Each time I had my set up going, I thought I had the "theater" feeling. But you learn more about what is out there and your curiosity tends to take over (mine anyway), then your need for "feeling" starts to grow hungry.

I went from Onkyo HTIB speakers, to Polks top Monitor line and now with the top of the RTiA line. With my AVR and two amps and my current speaker set up, I'm pretty happy, but still looking over my shoulder at all the other cool stuff that's out there.

Try saving a bit more, make a nice semi future proof purchase i.e. something with pre-outs, some just above average speaker choices and a decent sub, a very nice sub btw can make all the difference in your set up.

Good luck and wise spending.

jbooker82

Onkyo TX-NR709 $430
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXNR709/Onkyo-TX-NR709-7.2-Channel-3-D-Ready-Network-A/V-Receiver/1.html#!warranties

Some times new egg will have a blow out special on the RTi A's. They usually dont last long and the sale on them can be few and far inbetween. Polk's ebay page is a nother good place to look for RTi's. You can also go with the older RTi sereis. The RTi8's are supose to be the same thing as the RTi A5's. The A5's just have a newer design cabnet. RTi10's would be the older RTi A7's.

Polk's ebay page.
http://stores.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-Direct

The DSW Pro 660 WI is currently on sale for $349 from new egg. I have seen it go as low as $299 or $329.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290227

The RTi sereis is just a better speaker. The voices will sound cleaner, and the bass will be more accurate. I would take the smaller RTI A5's over the TSI500's or Monitor 70's.

Here is where you can find info about Trey's mods. Mine were done before he started doing the aluminum binding plates.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?128992-Vr3-Fortress-Edition-Mods

jbooker82

What all equipment do you have now and what all are you looking to do.

A 5.1, 7.1 for home theater, or 2 channel for music?

doogie182

Ok guys here is what i have going on... About to buy this what do you think?


Onkyo TX-NR709 or 807 ?


KEF Q700 Q Series 6-1/2 inch Black Floor standing Speaker


Or should i keep with the polks? I'm just worried about the highs.. I like to hear bass as much as anyone else but hate to have the crazy highs and have to mess with the settings to tone it down. If i like a song or a movie im going to crank it! but dont want to be drowned out by the highs to much. What do you all think?


Thanks again for taking the time to help me!!

Geoff4rfc

doogie182 wrote: »

Ok guys here is what i have going on... About to buy this what do you think?

Right on, JBooker has done a lot of homework for you, good stuff there.

Your choice on receivers is a good one, both have pre-outs but the 807 does have more power if you take your time adding an external amp.

I don't know anything of the KEF Q series other than the top of the line of that series gets great reviews from members here.

The RTiA series is in my opinion is pretty awesome for both H.T. and music. The A7 lacks a tad bit in midrange when compared to the A9, but a lot of members here are very happy with their A7's. I'm so happy with my A9's I'm getting a second pair.

You will need power to drive the RTiA series but your avr choice is good to get you by until you can upgrade with an amp.

doogie182

Sadly JB right now all i have is a nice sony 3D tv and some really old polk floor speakers.

And try not to shake your head when i say this... But when you say external amp im thinking more car wise. How is this done other then using the receiver? I'm still trying to study up on this Bi-amp deal as well of course i want to get the most out of my amp but i thought if you get a sub the amp on there is for the back speakers? Again please no face palm or head shake! ><

Geoff4rfc

No worries my green brother. I am still very fresh myself, so I won't offer anymore than my meager experience will allow.

When I was getting my first amp, I didn't have a clue how it was going to work with my avr, like connection wise. Plenty of patient members here to offer help with first time newbies.

The pre-outs on the back of the avr allow you to connect an external amp of your choosing via RCA type interconnects. Everything is pretty much labeled so you just connect A to A and B to B so to speak.

You run speaker wires from the amp to the speakers and you're in.

I chose Emotiva amps mostly due to budget, they're affordable and in my opinion, give a good bang for the buck. Emo's not the best amp out there and not the first choice for a lot of members here, but, it gets the job done in my H.T. and so far, that's good enough for me.

hochpt21

If your receiver has pre-outs as others have mentioned, you can add an external amp. When you do this you connect the amp to the receiver with interconnect cables and connect the speakers to the amp rather than the receiver. You would then be using the receiver for the processing and the amp would be powering the speakers.

External amps typically provide more clean power to your speakers which help bring out the full potential of your speakers. Some speakers are harder to drive and require more power than your reciever alone can give them.

hochpt21

BTW, doogie...welcome to CP!

jbooker82

doogie182 wrote: »

Ok guys here is what i have going on... About to buy this what do you think?


Onkyo TX-NR709 or 807 ?


KEF Q700 Q Series 6-1/2 inch Black Floor standing Speaker


Or should i keep with the polks? I'm just worried about the highs.. I like to hear bass as much as anyone else but hate to have the crazy highs and have to mess with the settings to tone it down. If i like a song or a movie im going to crank it! but dont want to be drowned out by the highs to much. What do you all think?


Thanks again for taking the time to help me!!

I would take the Onkyo TX-NR709 over the 807. The 807 is two years, about to be 3 years older. The 709 has a better automatic calibration step. The 709 has Audyssee MuliEq TX where as the 807 has Audyssey MultiEq 2 automatic setup. The 807 is also no 3d so you will have to run seperate audio cables to the 807 and a HDMI cord to your tv. Where if you have a 3d reciever then you could run 1 hdmi cord from your bluray player, and then 1 hdmi cord to your tv. When you switch sources on the reciever it will change the video and sound with one push of a button.

You can always fill in the bottom end bass with the sub, and the DSW Pro660Wi is an awesom sub. I dont think the RTi's are to bright for music. It all depends on what kind of music you listen to as well. For classical it they probably are bright but for me listening to hard rock and metal they are not.

When you add an external ampifier it is much like doing it with a car. You have analog pre out (RCA) jacks on the AVR. You hook them up to the inputs on the amp. Hook the speaker wire up to the amp, then plug it in to the wall. Lower end AVR's dont have the amplifer pre outs on the back.

Also dont go crazy trying to get the highest wattage AVR you can find. Get one that has pre outs then when you feel you need more power then start looking for an amp. Wattage ratings can be miss leading. Most AVR's are rated with only 2 channels driven. So when your listing to a 5.1 surround sound the wattage is actually lower because your now driving 5 speakers instead of two. The newer Onkyo xx9's hold their power ratings better than the older xx8's or xx7's

Here is a review of the Onkyo TX-NR609
http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr609-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures
See how it is rated at 81 watts with 5 channles driven with 0.1% distortion. Now when they drive 7 speakers it drops down to 78 watts.

Here is a review of the Onkyo TX-NR807
http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr807-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures
It is rated at 105 watts with 5 speakers, at 0.1% distortion. When they use 7 channels it really falls off to 30 watts.

doogie182

hochpt21 !!!! Go badgers!!! (I live in madison)


Jbooker nothing but love for the huskers bro! How ever i plan being in Lincoln for the game this year. Moving on! Thank you for the time you spent to help me with all this.

I think i might try the KEF speakers and see how that goes.. To be honest I'm leaning towards them because of the extra sub drivers they have and size. Then again! I have no idea what both sound like.... Sounds like I'm buying a car or a house... Sorry.. But i do gladly respect your opinions and ideas because I'm the newb to all this. I think we have the receiver set now just the speakers. And yes i listen to rock / metal music as well.



Again thanks guys! ^.-

hochpt21

Nice! Go Badgers is F'n right. I'm 35 min away in Portage.

ravaneli

my rule of thumb is, if you don't have external amp get a tower with two mid drivers and no woofers. Leave the bass to the subwoofer and leave the towers easy to be powered.

here is a good deal outside polk world.
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-15535-wharfedale-evo2-40-tower-speakers-pr.aspx

bansheesho

I think i might try the KEF speakers and see how that goes.. To be honest I'm leaning towards them because of the extra sub drivers they have and size.

Just FYI there are only 2 powered drivers and a tweeter... The other 2 are non powered radiators. That being said I think they are really nice speakers. I have not heard the q700 but some think it has a slight lack of bass (which is why I opted for the q900). If you are in the states accessories4less.com has good prices... And don't worry about the "cosmetic blemish".... They appear the be NIB.. I found nothing wrong with mine and they come with full warranty

gp4jesus

jbooker82 wrote: »

...The RTi8's are supose to be the same thing as the RTi A5's. The A5's just have a newer design cabnet. RTi10's would be the older RTi A7's.

RTi vs RTiA: some things similar like drivers & how they're arrayed; some obvious & not so obvious differences. Closure on the outside; XO parts on the inside.

jbooker82 wrote: »

Polk's ebay page is a another good place to look for RTi's.
http://stores.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-Direct

You'll $ave a bunch! I did on all my Polk stuff.

jbooker82 wrote: »

Here is where you can find info about Trey's mods. Mine were done before he started doing the aluminum binding plates.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?128992-Vr3-Fortress-Edition-Mods

It's no accident Trey has a small but growing fan base.

Lots of good advice in this thread for the OP.

Enjoy, tony