5.1 System 80% music and 20 % others!

Crot

Hi, I know this question might be repeated 1000 times and you are bored answering the same, "go and audition them"

But aside that Im a noob that is starting to appreciate excellent sound but might not yet know what excellent sound really is, I wanted to ask you a few questions but taking into account I dont have the chance of auditioning because Im in a foreign country where that really is not an option.

So, I have an small living room and I used to have the Logitech Z-5500 until they broke, I felt those were really great speakers and every afternoon I used to sit down and listen for hours just to appreciate the nice sound.

Few years later I started to miss a great sound and those afternoons listening to good music and made a mistake I feel, I bought an accoustimass 6 paired with a Pioneer receiver, the pioneer is mid range so I feel the problem are the speakers, Im not satisfied at all they sound barely ok for me, and the bass? well, no bass as you have previously mentioned because yes, I have read a lot around here.

Bottom line is Im looking for a system that is compact but with great sound, I have up to 1200 dollars to invest andmy living room is 12 x 18 feet only, but I like ground shaking deep bass.

I took a look around and Im very interested in the Tl 250 polk system, paired with the PA-120 subwoofer, Im also interested in the Klipsch 1000 and the Definitive technology 800.

Being that said, I dont know if the 8" subwoofer of the Klipsch will be enough for me, or if the def tech as well, maybe comparing them to the Z-5500 woofer.

I was also interested in buying the satellites of either system and pair them with the PA-120 what are your opinions, again, maybe comparing to the Z-5500(I know this might be an stupid comparison, but yes, still a noob)

If someone does not fall asleep reading all of this, I would greatly appreciate the help.

PS: Can I replace the cubes of the accoustimass for the Polks or either other ones in the same range of power? any good to do it?

rpf65

Welcome to Club Polk.

Not sure if your looking for a complete 5.1 system or replacing sub plus a speaker or 3. At any rate, I would probably look at Polks Monitor Line. Can be found on=line at good pricing, and do well with music. I would also get a 10 inch or larger sub. For the sub you may also want to look at SVS, HSU, or Epik subs.

tonyb

I believe the OP is looking for a compact system. The Polk line of TL's is a nice well balanced system. I would hit up a DSW subwoofer or one from HSU,SVS,Epik, Rel, Velodyne. Many to pick from but if you like super deep, get one with at least a 10 inch woofer, preferably 12 inch.

Any certain reason the speakers have to be that small ? Bookshelf speakers/monitors, coupled with any of the subs I mentioned should give you leaps and bounds better sound quality.

Crot

tonyb wrote: »

I believe the OP is looking for a compact system. The Polk line of TL's is a nice well balanced system. I would hit up a DSW subwoofer or one from HSU,SVS,Epik, Rel, Velodyne. Many to pick from but if you like super deep, get one with at least a 10 inch woofer, preferably 12 inch.

Any certain reason the speakers have to be that small ? Bookshelf speakers/monitors, coupled with any of the subs I mentioned should give you leaps and bounds better sound quality.

Hi guys, thanks a lot for answering.

I dont have much space for bookshelf, I need them to be on wall, no other way, I basically dont have more furniture than the stand where my tv is which is basic.

So I dont have any bookshelf space, but I would say I can do with no more than 10 inc speakers that are able to be mounted on wall.

A friend has a Sub Definitive tech 800 which he wants to sell to me, but those are 8" and Im not sure if thats what I want, hes basically almost giving it away though, any thoughts? Anyone knows the Z5500 bass so I can compare!

Any recommended speaker setting I could buy from Polk that you guys recommend, Im a bit lost on which configuration would be best, but again, I need them to be on wall.

I will take a look at those recommended SUVs, thanks again!

Emlyn

If I was looking for a compact system in that price range, I'd probably go with the TL350 five speaker system and a DSWPro550wi subwoofer. Should come in under $1200 if you shop around. The DSWPro550wi is one of the subwoofers Polk recommends as a good match for the compact system.

Since you'd be buying the subwoofer independent of the speaker system, you'd have no problem using the subwoofer with other speakers later on if you wanted to get larger speakers or just something different. Some all in one systems that include a subwoofer in the package limit flexibility if you want to upgrade later on. And, if one part breaks you don't have to trash the whole system.

Crot

How does the Pro cinema 800 subwoofer compares to a normal 10" one? it speaks about radiador and having 27% greater radiating area than a normal 10"

deronb1

Crot wrote: »

How does the Pro cinema 800 subwoofer compares to a normal 10" one? it speaks about radiador and having 27% greater radiating area than a normal 10"

Its a good sub. Your room really is not that small. It is about the same size as mine and I run a 10" JBL. I could easily go with a 12inch (that came out wrong). Look on NewEgg. Great prices on good gear. You will have a blast spending 1200 there. Lots of Polk stuff as well as others.

monepolk

You mentioned the TL250. I have those and they sound great for HT. In fact I'm still using them as surrounds in a couple of configurations.

Emlyn

Crot wrote: »

How does the Pro cinema 800 subwoofer compares to a normal 10" one? it speaks about radiador and having 27% greater radiating area than a normal 10"

Definitive has always made nice subwoofers also, especially compact ones with high output. The ProSub 800 has one active 8" driver and one 8" passive radiator, so that's why they can say it has more radiating area than a single 10" driver. One critical thing to look at with subwoofers is the frequency response at -3dB. Definitive doesn't list this for some reason, instead citing only the total frequency response to say it goes to 20Hz. In a way, it's a deceptive practice. That doesn't mean it's not a good subwoofer, they just aren't sharing important information on its real performance.

If your friend is selling it for a very good price, it's a good choice for a compact system.

I suspect one of the problems you have with your current system is that the subwoofer doesn't go very low, and the satellite speakers don't either. You likely have a sound frequency "hole" where the satellite speakers and the subwoofer included with the sysem don't adequately cover the frequency spectrum smoothly.

Better speakers and a good subwoofer will solve this if properly set up. Definitive, Polk, and Klipsch are all good choices, just different flavors.

Crot

Emlyn wrote: »

Definitive has always made nice subwoofers also, especially compact ones with high output. The ProSub 800 has one active 8" driver and one 8" passive radiator, so that's why they can say it has more radiating area than a single 10" driver. One critical thing to look at with subwoofers is the frequency response at -3dB. Definitive doesn't list this for some reason, instead citing only the total frequency response to say it goes to 20Hz. In a way, it's a deceptive practice. That doesn't mean it's not a good subwoofer, they just aren't sharing important information on its real performance.

If your friend is selling it for a very good price, it's a good choice for a compact system.

I suspect one of the problems you have with your current system is that the subwoofer doesn't go very low, and the satellite speakers don't either. You likely have a sound frequency "hole" where the satellite speakers and the subwoofer included with the sysem don't adequately cover the frequency spectrum smoothly.

Better speakers and a good subwoofer will solve this if properly set up. Definitive, Polk, and Klipsch are all good choices, just different flavors.

I ended up buying the tl 350s and bought the procinema 800 sub my friend offered me, thanks a lot for the help provided.

I had another concern / question.

The accoustimass module I will replace, has RCA connectors that go from the SUB to the satellite cubes, I made a pretty clean installation last time wiring everything through walls and I was thinking on leaving the installation as is and just use those already installed wires, but the RCA connectors are a problem.

Question is, if I use a female to female adapter and then a "Y" splitter to finally solder banana connectors and connect to receiver, will that be safe? I mean Im an experienced soldering and with electronics but not sure if doing all those connections will lower the quality of the audio considerably?

Other possibility is of course just cutting the RCA connectors and soldering bananas there but I feel that would be a crime to cut those BOSE cables.

tonyb

It's a crime to use those Bose cables. Buy some new ones and use the Bose cables to fish it in and out of the wall.