So im very new to Home Theater Audio (had a question or two)

ocn4lc4pon3

Ok where to begin my name is EDD and im 31. I have never really been into Home Theater Audio until recently. I have a very high end PC & PS4 and have always used PC speakers such as the Klipsch pro Media 2.1s but decided as of lately im tired of these already done up systems that sound good but nothing special.

I decided that on a budget that I would put together a Home Theater system & I was working on a budget. My question is did I do okay or did I make a mistake anywhere. I was limited to my shopping choice of BestBuy because I had a bestbuy gift card to pay for most of the items & did some price matching to amazon to drop the price a bit.

I game alot, listen to some music & watch tons of blurays

Setup:

Receiver:
Yamaha RX-V375

Speakers:
x4 Polk T15

Center:
Polk CSM

Sub:
Dayton Audio SUB-1200

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

Polk T15s are not exactly Polk's best effort. They're pretty much cheap entry speakers in their lowest series. It would be better to match the CS10 with its TSI 100 bookshelf brothers, at the very least.

If budget is a concern, I'd recommend thinking about the Andrew Jones SP BS 22lrs. Get two pairs and the matching center when they're on sale. The Dayton Sub is OK for an entry level sub. The Pioneer (Jones) speakers will sound better than the T15s. And can often be found on sale for less than 100 a pair.

If you have some fantastic deal on T15s (like 4 for $100). They will provide a passable HT set up.

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3

cnh wrote: »

Welcome to Club Polk!

Polk T15s are not exactly Polk's best effort. They're pretty much cheap entry speakers in their lowest series. It would be better to match the CS10 with its TSI 100 bookshelf brothers, at the very least.

If budget is a concern, I'd recommend thinking about the Andrew Jones SP BS 22lrs. Get two pairs and the matching center when they're on sale. The Dayton Sub is OK for an entry level sub. The Pioneer (Jones) speakers will sound better than the T15s. And can often be found on sale for less than 100 a pair.

If you have some fantastic deal on T15s (like 4 for $100). They will provide a passable HT set up.

cnh

thanks & no I did not get the speakers at some cool deal. I actually paid 200 for all 4. I can return them no problem there which is more then fine. I do appreciate the info on this

B Run

+1, you'll be so much happier with those Pioneers!

ocn4lc4pon3

B Run wrote: »

+1, you'll be so much happier with those Pioneers!

i do appreciate it. I am boxing the Polks up as we speak and getting ready to return. Should of asked before buying I guess but all is ok. Sucks I join a Polk club and now Im buying Pioneers lol

cnh

If you have that CS10 you could match it to 4 x Polk Monitor 30s for $200 from Polk's ebay site. This is the OFFICIAL Polk Ebay site so you buy from them, direct.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-Monitor-30-Series-II-BLACK-Bookshelf-Speakers-NEW-PAIR-/390778296452?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item5afc339884

The M-30s are the predecessors of the TSI-100s and the drivers are almost identical.

I do think that I still might give the nod to the Pioneers. But the M-30s are not bad. And can probably put out some volume even with that Yamaha!

cnh

felipe

Those pioneers are a level or two above the t15s, but IMO for HT I'd have to give the tsi100s ( monitor 30s) a nod above the pioneers. I have both the pioneers and the tsi 100s, and for music..the pioneers. For HT...the tsi100s (monitor30s). Hope this helps ;-).

ocn4lc4pon3

ok guys here is another question. According to the specs of my Yamaha Receiver it can do 100 watts per channel. I am debating this long and hard about tomorrow. I am returning the Polk T15s and im going to pick up something different from bestbuy. I do not like the sound at all on these Polks. No matter what I do they sound just OK but nothing fancy so Ive come up with a small list of OPTIONS that im going to buy instead and I need your help on which to get.

im limited to bestbuy as i have a gift card that will cover any of these speaker setups

1. x2 Klipsch KB-15 ($230.00 Pair)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/icon-5-1-4-2-way-bookshelf-speakers-pair/2138167.p?id=1218310759891&skuId=2138167&st=categoryid$abcat0205000&cp=1&lp=13

2. x2 Pioneer SP-FS52 Floor Speaker ($126.99 Each)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/5-1-4-floor-speaker-each/5086937.p?id=1218610014331&skuId=5086937&st=categoryid$abcat0205000&cp=1&lp=6

3. x2 Pioneer SP-BS22-LR ($126.99 Pair)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/4-bookshelf-speakers-pair/5086955.p?id=1218610014045&skuId=5086955&st=categoryid$abcat0205000&cp=1&lp=3

Another quick question: The Pioneer Sp-FS52s are rated for UP TO 130 watt peak power so obviously my receiver wont push these to there max. Would that truly effect the sound? The Klipsch state "Handles up to 340 watts peak (85W RMS)" so can my receiver push these as well? Sorry for the stupid questions just trying to this TIME buy something good

Quote:
on a side note if I buy the Pioneer SB-BS22-LRs I will have enough to add in a center but all the other speakers I wont be able to buy a Center for about a month or two

Zentish

Those pioneers get great marks for the price! I've auditioned them and was very impressed.

That Yamaha RX-V375 seems to have some decent power. If you have space, you could also consider some older "vintage" POLK gear from EBAY or Craigslist. Depending on your area and what you can find, older POLK speakers can anchor a very fine home theater system and give you an excellent two channel music experience as well.

I bought my POLK monitor 5's in 1985 and they're still going strong in my 6.1 system.

ocn4lc4pon3

So I'm at bestbuy right now and I'm not understanding this I'm testing everything they have in stock. The pioneers bs22 bookshelfs seem dull to me but a paid of insignia ns-sp213s sound much clearer and brighter?

May e it's the way these are setup but the pioneers seem not so good for clarity.

Then they have tsx110b polks for 229 that sound amazing but at 230 pair.

hochpt21

Buy what sounds best to your ear. Doesnt matter the brand or reviews or price.

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3 wrote: »

So I'm at bestbuy right now and I'm not understanding this I'm testing everything they have in stock. The pioneers bs22 bookshelfs seem dull to me but a paid of insignia ns-sp213s sound much clearer and brighter?

May e it's the way these are setup but the pioneers seem not so good for clarity.

Then they have tsx110b polks for 229 that sound amazing but at 230 pair.

Not surprised. The Pioneers almost never sound like what they SHOULD at Best Buy! One reason is that at the SAME volume the Polks are more "efficient" and will, therefore sound stronger/louder. The Pioneers are less efficient so they need just a little more power--not a lot but some.

As for those Polks, they're A LOT like the M-30s and will match the CS10 center. They'd probably be fine! But you'd be better off ordering the M-30s from Polk's ebay site for $100 a pair!

Power ratings on receivers are mostly nonsense. That Yamaha probably drops to 30 watts a channel in 7.1 surround. Manufacturers never give you real world all channel surround ratings. So you're not going to blow anything unless you CLIP the amp, which will be easier than you think on a low power Yammie. So BE careful with your volume knob!

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3

Yeah that's what is throwing me off is the pioneers in store sound like veal. Actually a lot of the speakers here do sound like crap. How can a insignia ns sp213 sound so great and sound better then any speaker on the shelf. I'm assuming things are just not setup correctly here.

I think I'll take the pioneers home and test them out at home rather then sitting here playing with something that might not be setup right. The pioneer bs22 all over the net yielded fantastic reviews but in store I'm not hearing it

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3 wrote: »

Yeah that's what is throwing me off is the pioneers in store sound like veal. Actually a lot of the speakers here do sound like crap. How can a insignia ns sp213 sound so great and sound better then any speaker on the shelf. I'm assuming things are just not setup correctly here.

I think I'll take the pioneers home and test them out at home rather then sitting here playing with something that might not be setup right. The pioneer bs22 all over the net yielded fantastic reviews but in store I'm not hearing it

Good idea, you can always return them! I had the same experience several times. Every time I compared the Pioneers to a number of others at BB, they always sounded recessed and dull by comparison. But I kept reading these glowing reviews of them, so the last time they went on sale I picked up a pair. Thought, what the heck, I know those BB guys always screw things up with their displays. So I hooked them up and I could NOT believe just how different they sounded! Like a NEW speaker.

Have fun!

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3

As stated none of these speakers sound good at all. They just don't sound correctly setup not even klipsch or polks they sound off

ocn4lc4pon3

hochpt21 wrote: »

Buy what sounds best to your ear. Doesnt matter the brand or reviews or price.

I tried to buy what sounded good what my problem was nothing sounded great I listen to everything they had everything sounded off muscle and even the subwoofers sounded generic so I couldn't really go lol based on sound quality

I figured I would take speakers home and try them out for myself I bought the Pioneer bs22 all Best Buy kept trying to do was to get me to spend the most money they kept telling me not to go with the pioneers and to buy more expensive Polk Audio's and othersbefore I left the salesman told me he thinks I made a bad choice by buying the pioneers

ocn4lc4pon3

i have a question for you guys that can answer. I am running onboard realtek audio on my PC and in the settings its asking me what HZ I should choose. I chose 16bit @ cd quality & it boosted the sound and made it sound amazing but should I be choosing 24bit?

cnh

There are mixed opinions about up-sampling from CD quality. I'd say you play around with the settings and see if you hear a difference. A lot will depend on the DACs in your computer, or if you have your PC digitally outputting to a receiver, then the DACs in the receiver!

cnh

ocn4lc4pon3

I wanted to say thanks to all who helped. I am VERY pleased with the new setup. I snagged myself x2 Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelfs & a Pioneer SP-C22 center.

I am looking into a sub I might go with the Pioneer SW-8MK2 subwoofer just to keep the setup the same unsure of that at the moment

Zentish

Glad it's working out for you!

rooftop59

ocn4lc4pon3 wrote: »

I wanted to say thanks to all who helped. I am VERY pleased with the new setup. I snagged myself x2 Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelfs & a Pioneer SP-C22 center.

I am looking into a sub I might go with the Pioneer SW-8MK2 subwoofer just to keep the setup the same unsure of that at the moment

No reason to buy a sub that is the same brand. By the best sub you can get for the money. The dayton would be much better than the pioneer. Also, if you're on a really tight budget I would recommend this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/331132591755?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I just bought the 10 inch version and it is a VERY good sub for the money. Good luck!