New - Just Bought Some Awesome Polks and Need Advice
RedDuke
Posts: 8
I just bought my first Polk speakers recently. My fist purchase was a pair of RTA 8T's for $150. This weekend I picked up a pair of RTA 11T's for $100. The guy I bought the 11ts from has 4 Monitor 4's he said I could get for $120.
I'm driving all this with an Onkyo NR-626. It's a 7.2 rated for 115w @ 6 ohms.
How am I doing on value as far as what I spent already and are the monitor 4s worth $120? I was hoping to get something that had similar power draw at the RTA 8t and 11ts (25-250w like the full size monitor 5's)
I have noticed some tweeter distortion in high frequencies at loud volumes. Also, I'm pretty sure the 8Ts clipped watching a movie when I was running in stereo. The same distortion is present in the new 11ts as well.
Does that mean the NR-626 is under powered? (I'm pretty sure I'm woefully under-powered)
What type of center channel would compliment these old polks well?
I'm considering getting some Crown STi1000 Amps for each pair in the 7.2. The Crowns are definitely affordable but are they good quality? (I know I will have to get another receiver for this to work, that's okay I have become slightly obsessed with all this)
The master plan is 11t's up front, Monitor 4's in the middle, 8t' in the rear, undecided subs, undecided center channel, Monitor 4's overhead for ATMOS.
I'm driving all this with an Onkyo NR-626. It's a 7.2 rated for 115w @ 6 ohms.
How am I doing on value as far as what I spent already and are the monitor 4s worth $120? I was hoping to get something that had similar power draw at the RTA 8t and 11ts (25-250w like the full size monitor 5's)
I have noticed some tweeter distortion in high frequencies at loud volumes. Also, I'm pretty sure the 8Ts clipped watching a movie when I was running in stereo. The same distortion is present in the new 11ts as well.
Does that mean the NR-626 is under powered? (I'm pretty sure I'm woefully under-powered)
What type of center channel would compliment these old polks well?
I'm considering getting some Crown STi1000 Amps for each pair in the 7.2. The Crowns are definitely affordable but are they good quality? (I know I will have to get another receiver for this to work, that's okay I have become slightly obsessed with all this)
The master plan is 11t's up front, Monitor 4's in the middle, 8t' in the rear, undecided subs, undecided center channel, Monitor 4's overhead for ATMOS.
Comments
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IMHO, yeah, that receiver isn't going to cut the mustard. Look for a dedicated amp too from the likes of Parasound, B&k, Sunfire, McCormack.....used, don't buy new and save a ton of coin. Get yourself some decent cables too if you don't have some.
Loud is subjective, you shouldn't be going anywhere near the 0 mark on a digital volume dial. Stay around -10 or lower to be safe. I'd stay away from the Crown stuff as they are mostly used for Pro applications and not exactly the best for home sound quality. Just sayin'...and good luck with the new toys.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Could use a single Monitor 4 as a center, should be timbre matched enough and surrounds don't need to be so those height channels can be something different. The CS250 is also timbre matched well with my RTA11TLs. I agree with Tony....get an amp to power those, that is a lot of speakers with a lot of channels.Just a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member -
@codycatalist I should mention the Monitor 4's he offered me do not have the Silver Peerless SL2000 tweeters in case that matters.
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Your 8ts and 11ts should too unless they are the TL model with the sl3000. If that is the case the cs250 will timbre match them.Just a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member -
Yeah they both have the SL2000's. Thanks.
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@codycatalist I should mention the Monitor 4's he offered me do not have the Silver Peerless SL2000 tweeters in case that matters.
I am not sure what you mean by the above. I assume you are familiar with what the peerless tweeters look like and when the SL2000's look like. The early M4's had black peerless tweeters. The mounting plates were metal. IMO these M4's have some value. There are some with the SL1000 tweeter. These had a flat silver metal plate and looked similar to the peerless, except they were all silver looking. I don't recall M4's with SL2000's. I think they switched to 5jr's. These had the SL2000 and a slightly larger cabinet. There were many iterations of M4's, plus later versions I would not call vintage. I would say they would work well as "small" surround speakers.
Here is more information on the vintage M4's and if you are interested.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2263561/#Comment_2263561 -
Read that as they had SL2000s hahhaJust a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member -
@pkquat I meant that the Monitor 4's did not have the SL 2000's. Both my 11t's and 8t's have SL2000's and I don't know if they would compliment my towers.
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I am not sure what center would timber match the SL-2000 other than something also with the SL-2000 (ie. older Monitor 5jr). If you give the RTA-11T the RDO-194 treatment then the CS250s would match pretty well.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
Without knowing which tweeters they have, it is tough to guess. The SL2000s do stand on there own in some ways. I think the peerless tweeters would match well with RD-0194 tweeters. M4A's with the square tweeter might be ok, but a little soft compared to the SL2000. I think they would do ok for sides or fill. They are not strong on bass.
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Well let me see..... Try this one & get back to me. I have always wanted to hear one
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boston1450 wrote: »Well let me see..... Try this one & get back to me. I have always wanted to hear one
I have 2, awesome centers... -
The CS350-LS is an superb center. Polk's TOTL at that time. Not as good as my custom, but excellent none the less.Home Theater/2 Channel:
Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer
dhsspeakerservice.com/ -
westmassguy wrote: »The CS350-LS is an superb center. Polk's TOTL at that time. Not as good as my custom, but excellent none the less.
Not to derail the thread but how does it stack up to the CS400? -
Never had ears on the CS400, so can't comment.westmassguy wrote: »The CS350-LS is an superb center. Polk's TOTL at that time. Not as good as my custom, but excellent none the less.
Not to derail the thread but how does it stack up to the CS400?
Home Theater/2 Channel:
Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer
dhsspeakerservice.com/ -
The CS-350 is now what I'm hunting. I'm going to see how they sound together. It looks like the best fit.
I wonder. How hard would it be to build a center out of two RTA-8T's. I could use the SL2000's and have matching tweeters. -
@boston1450 @westmassguy I picked up a CS350 for $75. It pairs very well with my 11T and 8T's. Thanks.
@tonyb I desperately need to get some amps though. What do you guys think about the Crestron CNAMPX-7X200? It's 200Wpc RMS. I really want the Emotive XPA Gen 3. One day.
I'm now looking to get 4 Monitor 5's for the surround and height. Any thoughts on subs? For all I can tell modern subs are fine. I was thinking two Klipsch R-112SW's. -
@boston1450 @westmassguy I picked up a CS350 for $75. It pairs very well with my 11T and 8T's. Thanks.
@tonyb I desperately need to get some amps though. What do you guys think about the Crestron CNAMPX-7X200? It's 200Wpc RMS. I really want the Emotive XPA Gen 3. One day.
I'm now looking to get 4 Monitor 5's for the surround and height. Any thoughts on subs? For all I can tell modern subs are fine. I was thinking two Klipsch R-112SW's.
CS350 for $75 is an awesome score. Congrats! -
i would look at one SVS, HSU, or Rythmik subs before I looked at 2 Klipsch subs.
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This is going from memory, but at one time, we had a Polk Monitor "4" variation, that had some odd number.
Forget what it was called but it had the one woofer, and the square tweeter, but the number was different.
Maybe something to do with video or surround or SDA back in the day, but forget what it was intended to do or why it was special. -
Id like to hear how you like the cs350 ? Great find BTW .... JIMBO18 id like to know that also The cs400 & the cs400i are both vnice sounding cchannel speakers IMO (have owned both). Subwoofer depends on likes & budget.... Im using a cs1000p (has 2 small powered subs-i think its basically a cs400 with subs on ends) with 1c SDA's & the bass from the speakers alone seem great to me. Im not into massive bass myself & i may have been happier with cs350 over the cs1000p. Wife then & placement steer'd me to the cs1000p. No complaints with 1000p on movies. Kinda happy with it-like the cs400'i'. I would have to do more listening on the cs1000p to recommend it to someone. Ive owned/used it for 8 months or so & havent even fully played around with the sub yet to get its fullest potential. I am using a Acurus 200+3 amplifier for center & rears which i love. Using Parasound 385+2 for fronts. Id like to get a 5channel amp. Too many hobbies
& small wallet Post edited by boston1450 on.. -
Monitor 5's or 5jrs? 5's I think 5's would be big for the ceiling, but good for surrounds. They have more bass output than 5jrs and the 5jr+, but it still rolls off quick. If you can boost the bass the 5's will have more headroom than the 5jr+. I'm curious though whether 8T's or M5's have more bass.I'm now looking to get 4 Monitor 5's for the surround and height. Any thoughts on subs? For all I can tell modern subs are fine. I was thinking two Klipsch R-112SW's.
2nd this.i would look at one SVS, HSU, or Rythmik subs before I looked at 2 Klipsch subs.
I think he was looking for 4, M5's, not M4's or M5's. The M4A has the square tweeter, and was common. There was the VS (Video Shielded?) series, that are rare. They all used the square tweeter. As I recall they had sizes and specs. equal to M4A, M5jr, & M5Jr+ (except the PR was different). The VS series used magnetically sheilded drivers.This is going from memory, but at one time, we had a Polk Monitor "4" variation, that had some odd number.
Forget what it was called but it had the one woofer, and the square tweeter, but the number was different.
Maybe something to do with video or surround or SDA back in the day, but forget what it was intended to do or why it was special. -
Hey, Boston 1450. I sent you an email as I'm not sure how to pm here.
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@boston1450 so far I like the CS350. I didn't get to use it long before my house sold. I'm in the process of moving and will give you guys a report after it gets set up with propper amps.
@pkquat definitely Monitor 5 Jr's and I think they will have more base than the 8T's.
Having to move has changed my project direction. Atmos is going to have to wait. I'm stopping at 7.2 and hoping to score a Used Preamp Processor and an Emotive XPA Gen 3 7x200 @8ohms.
I think I'm going to put the 8T's as surrounds and get some monitor 10's for the rear to go with the 11T's up front. My new home will have a pretty large room and I'm worried the 5Jr's won't be enough. -
building a center channel speaker w/drivers you have and the matching tweeters is a very good idea as long as the drivers are in proper working order and you have a crossover to match/cabinet volume/resonance and the know-how to accomplish the task. it would be a good project while making use of what you already have. give it a shot , you might be surprised!
