AV receiver for Polk LSiM 703,707,706

Ross99

I want to buy a 5.0 system of LSiM 703,707,706 for my home theater.

Do you have a similar set up? What amps/receivers are you using? what di you recommend?

Would be great to get some feedback!

Jimbo18

Ross, Most people on here are going to advise you that a receiver is not going to have enough power to drive that setup very well. There are various power amplifiers that you can find recommended in the forum.

Ross99

Hi Jimbo

Thanks for your reply

I am quite new to this and I am walking blind would be great to get any advice..

I looked at Yamaha RX-A3070 or denon 3400.. something that is ca $2000 but I'm not sure if this is a good choice..

Thanks!

tonyb

The Yamaha is a great choice, and should drive those speakers well. All speakers can benefit from some good clean current a separate amp provides, but your best bet is to try it first with a receiver of that Yamaha's caliber, and then see how you like it. Can always add an amplifier later if you think you need more power.

mlistens03

The speakers could be powered by those receivers, but they would never be able to deliver what they are truely capable of. In other words it would work, but it probably wouldn’t sound great, and wouldn’t necessarily safe for either the speakers or receiver. They would be better off with a 7 channel amplifier (it won’t have volume control, so you will still need to buy a receiver or a HT processor, that has full preamp outputs) and then just bypass the built in amps on the receiver you use.

I personally use a Crown XLi 800 power amplifier, which I really like, but it is only a 2 channel, so you would have to buy 2 or 3 to power the whole setup. And it is a professional amplifier, that would be used for concerts and the like. I personally think it sounds great, but others here would argue that comment. The real selling point for me is that it was cheap, and I mean like $200 a piece new.

Used is also not a bad thing, almost everything other than my amplifier in my setup is used, and it still sounds great. So I would look on your local Craigslist and eBay, and see what there is in your area. If you are looking for a good (not amazing) receiver that you can probably find for cheap, you could get a Yamaha rx-v665, which is what I use. It has full preamp outputs, and sounds nice, and for serious listening has a pure direct mode, with no filters in the amp being used.

While I would like to think of myself as knowledgeable on this subject, i am really just starting to get into high end audio, buying my first good pair of speakers in summer 2017, so there are probably people who know a lot more about this stuff that could help more than me.

Micah

rpf65

Both of those AVR's will run your set-up. I ran the 705's and 706 with a Yamaha RX-A2060 for a short while before adding an amp. Very noticible improvement in sound quality after adding the amp. Sound quality is the reason for adding amps, although you can safely run them at higher volumes.

They use different calibration programs. Many fans of Audyssey, which Denon uses, but I personally didn't feel there was much difference from YPAO. Neither was perfect, and I made slight changes to both of their final results.

If your going to use an AVR to power your speakers, just be careful with the volume knob.

Ross99

Many thanks! so let's say I will go with Yamaha RX-A3070 or RX-A2070.

Now sorry for a newbie question..How would I connect the Amp? source->amp->AVR->Speakers?

what amp would you recommend? rpf65 what amp are you using? thanks!

mdaudioguy

source->AVR->amp->speakers

Ross99

so what amp would you suggest for this setup?

mdaudioguy

Lots of brand recommendations on here if you read up. Maybe consider a 2 or 3-channel amp to keep the cost reasonable, if that's a concern. Connect the amp to front left and right (and center, if 3-channel). Connect surrounds (and center, if 2-channel) to AVR. A nice AVR such as what you're considering can handle the reduced load just fine.

Ross99

thanks mdaudioguy

So what you're saying is avr for surround + stereo amp for fronts. The part where I'm still lost is that sound would still go through avr and than to amp. Is there some kind of pass-through in avr's? or how does it work?

Also it is quite a lot of kit and I do not have a lot of space..

I have looked through the forums and found following amplifiers as recoomendations:

• Cambridge Audio CXR 200
• Onkyo TX-RZ1100
• Marantz SR6011
• Arcam FMJ AVR390
• Primare SPA23

some of them really pricey.. any thoughts, recommendations, experiences?
Would be great if I can fit around $2000
Thanks!

mdaudioguy

You seem to be confusing AVRs and amplifiers. Your list includes several AVRs. An AVR needs pre-out connections on back to output any or all of its channels to an external amp. The Yamaha AVR models you mentioned above are good options with pre-outs. Amplifiers have an input for each channel. You'll need an interconnect (IC) cable for each channel you want to send to an external amp.

cfrizz

mdaudioguy wrote: »

You seem to be confusing AVRs and amplifiers. Your list includes several AVRs. An AVR needs pre-out connections on back to output any or all of its channels to an external amp. The Yamaha AVR models you mentioned above are good options with pre-outs. Amplifiers have an input for each channel. You'll need an interconnect (IC) cable for each channel you want to send to an external amp.

Welcome Ross! To expand on the above....

You will run the speaker wires directly to the amplifier, you will use IC's from the amplifier to the Preouts on the receiver. The speakers are powered totally by the amplifier.

Get the Yamaha RX-A3070 or RX-A2070 which has preouts and go from there.

rpf65

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAC2250V2

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAC2125V2

https://www.musicdirect.com/power-amp/NAD-C-268-Stereo-Power-Amplifier

Here are a few budget friendly amps that should work. There is also the used market, if you're not opposed to that.

Curious as to why you don't want to run a sub?

mlistens03

I might get some hate for this one, but for your fronts you could use a Crown XLi 800 professional amplifier, which is what I use in my setup. It actually sound pretty nice, but it is probably no match for a real home audio amplifier. But, if you have to buy new, and you need something cheap, this is a good option (I think anyway)

bikerboy

Buy my B & K Reference 200.5 and a receiver with Preamp out puts! !!!!!!!

Gerres26

bikerboy wrote: »

Buy my B & K Reference 200.5 and a receiver with Preamp out puts! !!!!!!!

I have a minty B&K reference 20 pre/pro that would match up nicely with his 200.5. Let me know if interested.

mrloren

Frist get a good AV Receiver like the Yamaha 2070 or 3070. maybe look for a deal on the 1060/2060/3060. Marantz are also nice AVR the 6011 would do you nice.

Once you have the AVR setup, save some coin for a good amp.
B & K
Parasound
or even Emotiva

Once you have the amp you will need good RCA cables to run from the AVR to the amp. You will remove the speakers from the AVR and hook them to the amp. This will turn your AVR into a pre-amp processor.