Is it worth going from Monitor 30s to Monitor 50s for fronts?

Chaoski

Just got upgraded my speakers from sucky Bose (god I've been missing out SO much).....decided to go with PSW505, CS1 Center and I already had Monitor 30s so for now I will use them for fronts.

I'm just wondering if it's worth getting Monitor 50s as fronts and if I will even notice any difference?

I have a denon 1609 and it's about 75watts per channel. So far (although I only had the speakers for a day and still have lots of tweaking to do) it seems like Monitor 30s can handle anything I throw at them.

Does it even make sense to upgrade and move 30s to rear Surrounds? (I currently have Bose back there)

I'm getting a feeling that it won't make much difference at all, but wondering what you guys think.

TIA

Zeros

I would absolutely move the Monitor 30's to the back and use Monitor 50s up front if it is in the budget. I use RTi8's up front and Monitor 30s for side surround and really think it works well. I think you would be pleasantly surprised with the difference in the front sound stage by using the Monitor 50's.

If this is for home theater, I would also consider upgrading your center to a CS2 possibly. That will also make a large difference. And away we go, down the upgrade path.

FYI you can get the cherry Monitor 50's at Newegg for $80 shipped each right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=YK757P2mEeGlxvLLArRDVQGO9_cyz93_0_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16882290205

27dnast

I'm in a similar situation... considering a move like that in the rtia line...

You should google the benefits of towers vs bookshelves. Lots of interesting dialog... and about a 50/50 split on what is really better for home theater in the prices ranges we are talking about...

Good luck!

Chaoski

Zeros wrote: »

I would absolutely move the Monitor 30's to the back and use Monitor 50s up front if it is in the budget. I use RTi8's up front and Monitor 30s for side surround and really think it works well. I think you would be pleasantly surprised with the difference in the front sound stage by using the Monitor 50's.

Hmm

Zeros wrote: »

If this is for home theater, I would also consider upgrading your center to a CS2 possibly. That will also make a large difference. And away we go, down the upgrade path.

I just upgraded from Bose. The difference between Bose and CS1 is HUGE. Chances are, I won't be upgrading my speakers for another 10-15 years or so.

I considered CS2 but my receiver just doesn't push THAT much power.

Also I'm a keeper, once I do my research and pull the trigger...I live with my decisions/accept them (regardless of the consequences).

Zeros wrote: »

you can get the cherry Monitor 50's at Newegg for $80 shipped each right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=YK757P2mEeGlxvLLArRDVQGO9_cyz93_0_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16882290205

Yea I seen that. Waiting for Black ones to go on sale. My set up is all black.

Chaoski

27dnast wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation... considering a move like that in the rtia line...

You should google the benefits of towers vs bookshelves. Lots of interesting dialog... and about a 50/50 split on what is really better for home theater in the prices ranges we are talking about...

Good luck!

Yea I'm getting mixed feedback.

I think Towers will give me some benefit in sound and LOT of benefit in looks hehe.....I mean the center channel does overpower the rest right now but I still have some tweaking to do and possibly even run the Audessy thingy (I set it all up manually for now).

I believe the woofer is identical but Monitor 50 does have 2 and of course the cabinet size SHOULD make a difference. The question is does it actually make a difference... I'm just trying to figure out how BIG of a difference (enough to justify $160 bucks)

Zeros

I'd usually go say go listen to them somewhere to make your decision, but since no B&M stores sell the monitor 50s anymore that is kinda tough.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

Yes, M-50s will improve your set up. If possible think about M-60s even. Not that much more at newegg when on sale. CS2 for the center. Yes, again. 50 percent of surround content comes from that channel.

Need to listen to something "like" the M-50 or M-60. Go to a Best Buy; the new versions M-50 is like a TSI-300, and the M-60 is similar in sound to the TSI-400s. BB carries both in most of their stores!

The 1609 is an entry level receiver but once you set all you speakers to 80hz that should allow it to power even M-60s, and definitely the 50s!

The sub will pick up the LOW end and free up more power for other speakers!

Enjoy!

cnh

Chaoski

I believe I set my Sub to 80hz and rest of the speakers to 100-120 or so....

Correct on my Denon, it's a low end BUT it's been REALLY great. I really like it for # of reasons:
- dirt cheap (got it for $169 bucks brand new)
- ZOne 2 (using analog)
- it's a denon/great for movies

I don't mind the shortfalls of no Audio over HDMI and have been able to go around it nicely.

I always have an option of adding 2 pairs of Monitor 50s and using A+B line if I do require more power hehe

cnh

Set everything to 80 hz and see what that sounds like. All your speakers can reach to 60hz. Why cross them over so high? The lower the crossover the less "localizable" the bass will be.

cnh

Chaoski

Will do, noticed they were actually preset to 80 by default. Will have to put that back.

VSchneider

Years ago I helped a friend install the same set of Monitors (50, cs1, 30 anchored to tall stands behind a couch) with a smaller sub after he heard my RTi's. 80 Hz crossover worked well, too.
The difference between Monitor 50 and 30 was obvious for music, less so for TV and non-action movies when we used 30's before the towers arrived.
One thing to note about Monitor 50 is how compact they are, which could be a + or - depending on each setup.

Chaoski

VSchneider wrote: »

Years ago I helped a friend install the same set of Monitors (50, cs1, 30 anchored to tall stands behind a couch) with a smaller sub after he heard my RTi's. 80 Hz crossover worked well, too.
The difference between Monitor 50 and 30 was obvious for music, less so for TV and non-action movies when we used 30's before the towers arrived.
One thing to note about Monitor 50 is how compact they are, which could be a + or - depending on each setup.

That's pretty important for me as we will use this for music more than TV/Movies.

I'm ready for $80 a pop.

PS. Changed Denon set up for all speakers to 80hz. Not sure if I can tell the difference so far.

I've been also looking around at receivers and noticed that very few below $400 have 2 channel (A+B) let alone Zone 2. This 1609 was probably the best bang for the buck ever.

cnh

Actually the best bang for your buck in the Denon line would probably be the 190X series? A little more power and robust build quality. But the 1609 is OK.

I run an older Denon AVR 2807 in my secondary basement system and I will say that I find that Denon and Polk sound "very good" together!

Enjoy!

cnh

Chaoski

cnh wrote: »

Actually the best bang for your buck in the Denon line would probably be the 190X series? A little more power and robust build quality. But the 1609 is OK.

190x at the time was $350-400. For double the price I couldn't justify extra power/other features.

cnh wrote: »

I run an older Denon AVR 2807 in my secondary basement system and I will say that I find that Denon and Polk sound "very good" together!

Enjoy!

cnh

Agreed. Spent most of my day in the living room today. TV/Movies sounds just amazing. Music was great too.

I'm undoing 15 years of Bose damage.

Chaoski

Newegg has Monitor 50s for 89 bucks today....took the plunge.

:cool:

Upstatemax

Chaoski wrote: »

Newegg has Monitor 50s for 89 bucks today....took the plunge.

:cool:

Very nice! Enjoy the new system and make sure to let us know what you think of your new set up!

Stick around the forum and get to know some of the guys on here. Very helpful and generous bunch here!

jbooker82

The setting for your sub in your AVR is a low pass filter not a XO. The LFE track in movies is for sounds from 120 Hz and lower. So when you have your sub set to 80 Hz your missing out on the Low Frequency Effects above 80hz. Your AVR does not reroute the sound to your towers because it is a low pass filter, not a crossover.

The proper setting for the sub is 120hz.

jbooker82

https://audyssey.zendesk.com/entries/321931-lpf-on-lfe

cnh

First I've ever heard of this! What about Blu-rays?

Also I don't use Audyssey. I set everything manually with meters so I'm not sure this applies! It would seem to me that if this is true, you could just set your L/R to FULL range.

Does anyone else have some info on this. Why would such a setting be 120hz when that frequency is localizable? You can tell where a 120 hz signal is coming from, which defeats the purpose of using a dedicated sub, no?

cnh

jbooker82

From they way they explain it
, when you have a .1 audio source the .1 is for dedicated low frequency effects from 120 Hz and down. This sound is a seperate audio track. So if you ran your towers at full range and left the double bass off you would still get bass from the sub but it would only be from the .1 LFE audio track. If there was a sound below 120hz that they wanted to come from the left or right it would come out of the tower since the sound would not be in the LFE audio track. When listening to a sound source with no LFE track you would get no bass out of the sub at all. It would come out of the towers.

Chaoski

Upstatemax wrote: »

Very nice! Enjoy the new system and make sure to let us know what you think of your new set up!

Stick around the forum and get to know some of the guys on here. Very helpful and generous bunch here!

I def will.

I'm actually making some new shelves for my AV set up. Will post some pics as soon as it's done.

Def sticking around.

Chaoski

jbooker82 wrote: »

The setting for your sub in your AVR is a low pass filter not a XO. The LFE track in movies is for sounds from 120 Hz and lower. So when you have your sub set to 80 Hz your missing out on the Low Frequency Effects above 80hz. Your AVR does not reroute the sound to your towers because it is a low pass filter, not a crossover.

The proper setting for the sub is 120hz.

Really, I'm gonna try that.

PS. I'm not using Audisey thing either....

jbooker82

It isn't really an audyssey thing. It is how the audio is mixed on the source material.