help with RTI 150 AND PIONEER D509S

PolkWannabie

Regarding receivers to essentially be used as pre-amps or to only amplify center / surround channels, I agree entirely. The object almost becomes to get the receiver with the features you need/want and that has as little amplification as possible. Higher amplification will be wasted when supplemented by another amplifier and one would most likely get all the amplification for center and surrounds by finding a receiver that has the features that one wants.

Be CAREFUL though about assuming online retailers are authorized just because they say they are. Always check with the manufacturer as the online folks are not likely to be authorized to sell most things unless they have a brick and mortar store and even then they are probably bending the rules. That doesn't mean that they can't be utilized, they can, but one does need to pay attention.

bullwinkle1968

Originally posted by Polkmaniac
Bullwinkle:

www.accessories4less.com is good for Marantz products. Honestly, I don't know of many sites, I typically buy used. If you can get past the mind block of buying used (took me a while) then you can really snag some good deals on Ebay and www.audiogon.com. Of course, it's a risk, but to buy from an authorized dealer usually costs quite a bit more... However, I'm finding more sellers on Ebay that are authorized online retailers, so you may have more luck there than you think.

You can also try the Harman Kardon site I think it's www.harmanaudio.com, they usually have stuff out there...

Also, keep an eye on the flea market on here. All these guys on here are good people and are fair...

I'll offer my $.02 on a receiver purchase: This is only my opinion, others may or may not agree:

1. Having those beasts as front speakers, you're going to want a separate amp any way you look at it. So, keeping that in mind, you don't necessarily need a receiver with 150 WPC, becuase you're only going to be using it for the center, surrounds, and maybe to bi-amp the 150s...so you can save some money there...
2. Thought I don't totally buy in to 'name brand shopping' there is a lesson to be leared there. If you're going to buy another Pioneer, grab one in the Elite Series...the regular series just won't cut it...same with Sony, if you're going to buy Sony get the ES line...
3. Make sure that it has preamp outputs

Some brands you should look at:

Denon
Harman Kardon
Marantz
Onkyo
Pioneer Elite
Sony ES (though not my personal choice)
NAD
Rotel
and a whole bunch of others...

Some stuff you MAY want to avoid - sure I'll get flamed for this list

Phillips
Kenwood
Sherwood
Technics
JVC
Anything RadioShack
the regular Sony and Pioneer stuff
you get the picture...

4. As for the amp, that's going to depend more on your receiver purchase. I'd start with the receiver becuase that's where you'll be needing to choose based on features and stuff. It's easy to find an amp to tailor to almost any situation, so you shouldn't have trouble there...just worry about the receiver first...

i am just worried about buying used or buying from a unauthorised store i saw a onkyo for sale on a e-bay website and it speifiaclly said new in box it gave ou a 30 da money back or exchange but it specifically said no implied manufactured warrenty.

i just do not see how these people can ge ahold of brand new reciever not a last year model a thi year model and i was the best oe onkyo made just under the flagship one i think it was called the 901 normally sells fr 1499 i saw it for on ebay in a brand new box looked like it was pic taken in a warehouse for 899.99

disneyjoe7

Onkyo 901 for $1499 on sale for $899.99 good price, but won't drive 150's too well, IMHO. It will drive 150's but you will still have shut down problems. Peak db are 102 - 103 nice but not great in my eyes. My onkyo is the older model like this 901 it's a 898 the 901 added a LAN input for internet radio. It rated for 110 watts per channel, but I do think like others here need 200 watts or more. Acdom amps used come to mind if cash is the issue, or best bang for buck is the issue.

Originally posted by bullwinkle1968
i am just worried about buying used or buying from a unauthorised store i saw a onkyo for sale on a e-bay website and it speifiaclly said new in box it gave ou a 30 da money back or exchange but it specifically said no implied manufactured warrenty.

i just do not see how these people can ge ahold of brand new reciever not a last year model a thi year model and i was the best oe onkyo made just under the flagship one i think it was called the 901 normally sells fr 1499 i saw it for on ebay in a brand new box looked like it was pic taken in a warehouse for 899.99

bullwinkle1968

if soe one out there can giveme a website or two to investigate who is the numeruno best maker of recievers and amps. i am looking for a review website or a book lke pc magazine who rates the makers about how and what make them the best in their business.

thanks

please send reply to my e-mail since after tonight i probably wil not be able to talk on here.

bullwinkle1968@comcast.net

thank you in advance.:D

PolkWannabie

There are not a lot of good producers of receivers. Someone mentioned several in a previous post. There are loads of good producers of amplifiers.

As far as url's go where you can find reviews. Do searches on the net for a particular receiver like the TX-NR901 you were looking at on eBay along with the word review and you'll come up with enough to keep you busy for some time ...

For example ...

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/main.html
http://www.epinions.com

Check the manufacturers sites through Audiogon ...

http://cgim.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/manu.pl

or just search for a particular type of device ...

http://www.audiogon.com

Look at other forums ...

http://www.avsforum.com

This is hardly a comprehensive list, but you get the idea.

disneyjoe7

Bullwinkle1968,


I was not saying Onkyo doesn't make good stuff. It's just the 901 won't make you happy with 150's IHMO. I have the model older then this it has preamp outputs so I can add an amp in the future on this receiver. I give the 901 & 898 (the older model) a thumb up due to the Pure Audio mode, just great for 2 channel music. This may not be the best 2 channel stuff, and I understand but not bad for HT and 2 channel modes.

In short if looking for the best move for 150's that is adding an amp. Given what you wanted to spend I would say used, Acdom or Sunfire. So if your receiver has preamp outputs adding an amp is your well lets say "Best Bang for Buck" route.

bullwinkle1968

thank you.

and since your being nice to me i am going to apologise to you also.

sorry for being an ****. i wasn't tring or wanting to be.


thanks again.

PolkWannabie

This is a peculiar hobby ... There really is no one best manufacturer of receivers or amplifiers or anything else.

As a generalization there are different levels of price and then peoples individual preferences at that price level.

Amplifiers are a good example. You can probably find a decent used amplifier somewhere as someone suggested for $200-400. However there are also amplifiers you could spend $20,000 - $40,000 and more for ( Like these which list for $120,000 - http://www.krellonline.com/html/m_MRS.html ). I might like to have an amp that belongs in that latter group but there's better than a real good chance I never will.

Not to mention that you'd have to have a fork lift to move it.

PolkWannabie

I apologize too ...

We all have to trust someone, sometime ... From my own personal perspective this is a good place to be. I very much like this hobby, but there are loads of people here who know a lot more than I do who willingly share that information just for the asking.

bullwinkle1968

my pioneer doesn't have pre amp on the back on for center and sub only

so here is my question is there a amp maker either used or new that i can run my outputs of my receiver(not preamp out puts) the regular out put that go to m speakers. is there an amp that i can buy that can handle the input of my out put and double it or just add to it some way. this maybe stupid to you all but it has been suggested to me by a friend to use a car amp and run my wires into them and for powering the amp use a 12 volt regulator to power the amp.

Tour2ma

Not in the home audio world that I am aware of.

And I would keep car gear in the car, not the living room.

Having no pre-outs on Pioneer reduces your options considerably.

I see that Dennis backed up my points on the fans treating the sympton and not the cause of you AVR issues.

bullwinkle1968

yes i think i read that. but eventually i do believe even with the fans sooner or later the reciever will burn out i do believe would you think so to.

also since you a polk expert what is bi amping and bi wiring
if you would please could you explain it in detail and to make it a little easier on me you you e-mail your details to me when you get a chance. soi can print it out and save it.

i am just trying to figure out if i can do something with the inputs and out puts on my sub. my sub is the psw350 it is wired by sub wire but it also has the speaker input and out puts on it and i do not understand what those are for and if i can use those inputs for something else.

anyway my e-mail address is

bullwinkle1968@comcast.net

AsSiMiLaTeD

Originally posted by bullwinkle1968
yes i think i read that. but eventually i do believe even with the fans sooner or later the reciever will burn out i do believe would you think so to.

also since you a polk expert what is bi amping and bi wiring
if you would please could you explain it in detail and to make it a little easier on me you you e-mail your details to me when you get a chance. soi can print it out and save it.

i am just trying to figure out if i can do something with the inputs and out puts on my sub. my sub is the psw350 it is wired by sub wire but it also has the speaker input and out puts on it and i do not understand what those are for and if i can use those inputs for something else.

anyway my e-mail address is

bullwinkle1968@comcast.net

OK, if I were you I wouldn't worry about bi-wiring for now, as you've got other pressing issues. So, I'll just skip that altogether. Bi-amping is what you wanna know about:

If you look on the back of your 150s, you'll have two sets of speaker connections on each speaker. The top set powers the smaller driver and the tweeter (the two 'speakers' in the top of the cabinet. The lower set of jacks powers the lower three drivers, this is where you're getting all your bass in these speakers. Right now, if you look you'll see that there is a small metal jumper connecting the two sets of speakers posts, so that when you connect speaker wire to either post, the signal is sent to all four. So you have a single source powering the entire speaker.

Bi-Amping: Take that metal jumper that connects the two sets of posts out completely (keep it somewhere that you won't lose it). So now the top half and bottom half of your speaker are operating independently of each other. If you take the speaker wire from the Pioneer and plug it in to the top post, you'll notice that you'll only get sound from the top half of the speaker, same logic goes for plugging the wire into the bottom. So what you want to do when bi-amping is take speaker wire from one amp and connect it to the top, and another amp and connect it to the bottom, so that you increase total power to the speakers.

There are several ways to do the above. What I would start with (an in fact what I am doing now) is this: buy a receiver that has outputs for an external amp, called preamp outputs. Buy a stereo amp to help drive the front speakers. You'll run one set of speaker wires from the receiver to the speakers, probably the high posts, but it depends. Then you run cables from the receiver's preamp outputs to the stereo amp, then run more speaker wires from the amp to the other set of posts.

There are other ways to go, but I find this to be the least expensive up front with the flexibility to add more amps later. One thing to consider when taking this route though, you'll need to make sure that what ever receiver you get is capable of sending a signal through the preamp outputs AND driving a speaker load through it's own amp simultaneously. I think that most receiver do, you'll just want to make sure before hand...

disneyjoe7

Bullwinkle1968,

Hey did you see this in the Flea Market area?

It may just the little up grade you need for the pre amp outputs for an Amp down the road.

00p225
Polkie

Registered: Jan 2004
Location:
Posts: 34
Harman Kardon AVR 500, sale/trade for preamp?
I'm thinking about selling my AVR 500 to help finance a preamp upgrade in my main system. The HK is in mint condition with remote, has Dolby Digital, DTS, 2 optical and 2 coaxial digital inputs, tape, cd, dvd, 3 video, and 6 channel direct input as well as pre outs for all channels including subwoofer output. 70 wpc in surround mode. Comes with original box and manual.

$250 shipped to the lower 48. If interested, shoot me a pm, or if you have an extra preamp laying around let me know what you have and maybe we can make a trade.

If someone is really interested, and has a good rep on the forum, I'd be willing to ship it at my cost to you for auditioning. The return shipping would be at your cost however. Thanks.