HT amplifier question from 68 year old hobbiest!

BRBest · May 3

I am not a total newbie, but my knowledge of electronics is definitely out dated and could use some help from this forum.

My hearing is not very good anymore, and I love watching movies with the tired old woman who has been married to me for 45 years! I am contiplating purchasing an amplifier for my older 7.2.2 system and would like some honest opinions on the direction I should go.

Here is the scenario. My seating is 3 meters (9 feet) from my front stage. My normal listening level when with the wife is set about -14db, at which the sound & clarity is awesome. When watching alone the volume is usually cranked up to -5db for full a emersion feel. At this level and to 0db clarity suffers and it sounds (feels) like the speakers are struggling.

I am considering buying a Monoprice "Monolith 3-Channel" (200 watts X 3) for the front stage and let the AVR handle the remaining surround speakers, or the "Monolith 11-Channel" (200 watts X 3 & 100 watts x 8) so that I can add two more height speakers and run plenty of power.

My main objective is more clarity at reference levels. I can live with the 7.2.2 just as easily as moving up to a 7.2.4. Your humble opinions please. Do I need an amp at all? Do I only need a 3 channel? Or do I move up to an 11 channel?

HT:
TV - Sony XR-77A80L (4K UHD)
AVR - Pioneer SC-LX704
Front L/R - Polk RTi-A9's
Center - Polk CSi-A6
Surrounds - Polk RT-16's
Surround Back - Polk RTi-A1's
Height Speakers - Polk M Series M5's
Sub Woofers - Polk PSW505 x 2

rooftop59 · May 3

Welcome to the forum! I haven't hear the monolith amps, but I love my sub! They are supposedly made by ATI in California, and very well built. I say give the 3 channel amp a shot. Or maybe the 5 channel for those bigs surrounds, but I do t think you need to go higher. Whatever you do, I would love to hear your thoughts on the amp!

VR3 · May 3

I understand you are struggling with hearing loss. I will say that playing a system regularly at 0 to negative 5 will tax most systems.

I definitely recommend good external amplifiers for the front left right and center

BRBest · May 3

Thank you to both rooftop59 and VR3! It seems you are both in agreement regarding a 3 channel amp for the front stage.

pitdogg2 · May 3

BRBest wrote: »

Thank you to both rooftop59 and VR3! It seems you are both in agreement regarding a 3 channel amp for the front stage.

Yes the A9's are very power hungry

VR3 · May 3

I would also recommend replacing the subwoofers as having a solid low end may allow you to turn down the volume while still having the feel.

The 505s are your weak link imo

BRBest · May 3

Thank you Pitdogg2, I have heard that.

VR3 - I suspected as much, but did not want to admit it. What would be your recommendation for subs? SVS?

VR3 · May 3

I would go powersound audio for theater which is founded by one of the original svs guys. Tom V, the V in svs

https://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/subwoofers/products/ev1513m

BRBest · May 3

Thank you VR3, I will check them out now.

rooftop59 · May 3

BRBest wrote: »

Thank you Pitdogg2, I have heard that.

VR3 - I suspected as much, but did not want to admit it. What would be your recommendation for subs? SVS?

I'm sure @VR3 has a solid suggestion. I have owned so...many...subs, and the monolith 15 inch is easily the best I've owned for home theater. And it goes on sale for $1000 pretty regularly, which is a steal.

I would also consider this one: https://hsuresearch.com/collections/collections-true-subwoofers-subset-collection/products/vtf-3-mk5-hp-subwoofer

BRBest · May 3

@ Rooftop59 - When I saw that you had a Monolith 15 in your game room, I was immediately curious about it. Naturally there are some really nice high end subwoofers (and speakers for that matter) for a very high end price. I am not opposed to the prices, but when buying two, this does become divorce worthy according to the wife. Especially when my first thought was for an amp. Now I am considering doubling or tripling my expense for all three.

How well do you like the Monolith 15?

VR3 · May 3

An example, it would take 16 x psw505 to equal these higher end subwoofers and even then still not compete below 30hz

rooftop59 · May 3

I love it! It's extremely well-built, and it rumbles and rattles the room. It's next to the couch so my kids calls it the butt massager lol. It's the only sub I've had the hits very hard all the way down into the mid teens. Obviously, lots of others can do that, but never for a price I was willing to pay. I had a definitive technology supercube reference that weighs 110 lbs and has a 14 in driver with two 14 inch passive radiators, and if it was a dual purpose system I would have kept the def tech due to it being a bit faster and tighter, but while it was an awesome HT sub also, the monolith (at about 2.5 times as big lol) was clearly digging deeper and had greater output.

Depending on your room, I don't know that you need two subs. With a good external amp I would run the A9s full range, and if you're AVR has a good calibration system that includes the sub, I would start out with one and go from there. But remember that the monolith 15 is 130 lbs, so you may want some help!

BRBest · May 3

Now I am getting confused a bit. We have all stopped talking about the original amp question, and have moved to the subwoofers. Is it the general consensus that I should be looking to the subs before I attempt the purchase of an Amp? Or is everyone trying to spend my retirement fund for all of the above? LOL

rooftop59 · May 3

BRBest wrote: »

Now I am getting confused a bit. We have all stopped talking about the original amp question, and have moved to the subwoofers. Is it the general consensus that I should be looking to the subs before I attempt the purchase of an Amp? Or is everyone trying to spend my retirement fund for all of the above? LOL

3 channel amp and one good sub lol.

Or, try the amp first, run the A9s full range, and see what you think.

VR3 · May 3

I am of the personal belief a competent subwoofer will allow you to listen at much lower overall volumes

BRBest · May 3

Thanks All I truly appreciate this advice.

pitdogg2 · May 3

Now back to that retirement money......How much we getting.......

rooftop59 · May 3

VR3 wrote: »

I am of the personal belief a competent subwoofer will allow you to listen at much lower overall volumes

I think that's probably right but it's also definitely true that good clean power allows you to listen at lower volumes...

My other thought is that you will get a LOT more bass out of those A9s with 200 wpc of good, clean power. And Ed Mullen of SVS found that with a little eq those subs were pretty solid down to 25 hz. So, again, you might be happy with just the amp. But I know you'll be happy with the amp and a kickarse sub 😂

Emlyn · May 3

Try setting the center channel level up a couple dB above normal manually. Easy enough to change back to flat if it doesn't sound better.

But I do agree with all of the above that the receiver isn't getting the best out of the RTiA9s or CSiA6. Those are big speakers that can handle a lot of power for the front soundstage. My first move would be to get a 3 channel amp. I'd only consider an 11 channel amp if moving to a dedicated home theater pre-amp/processor, which would go up a significant level in performance but price too.

treitz3 · May 3

Me thinks a dedicated amp for the front three and a wholloping sub would be the ticket for success in this case.

Please allow me to offer you a very warm welcome to Club Polk, @BRBest

Tom

BRBest · May 3

Wow this is an awesome group of people, and I couldn't appreciate all the advice more! Thank you all so very much. Since I have liked my HT setup prior to this, I think I will take everyones advice in this manor. I will try the "Monolith 3-Channel" (200 watts X 3) for the front stage and let the AVR handle the remaining surround speakers. While the wife calms down enough to purchase subwoofers, I'll try Emlyn's suggestion and turn up the Center channel a touch. Then taking both Rooftop59's & VR3's suggestions. Instead of the two subs, I'll take the cost of two subs @ $2.5kish, and purcase one (as rooftop suggest) high end sub (as VR3 suggest).

Thank you all so very much, and I may have to sell an oil well or two for this LOL.

pearsall001 · May 4

Hi BRBest & welcome aboard! You certainly came to the right place for audio advice. Stick around & we'll definitely show you how to empty that wallet lickety split! Lol!

You already got fantastic advice and I totally agree. Adding a 3 channel amp will yield fantastic listening results & take a hefty load off of the Pioneer AVR to just have it power the surrounds. You'll notice it immediately.

You definitely want to ditch the Polk subs... definitely the weakest link & limiting performance factor in your system. Again great sub recommendations have been given. However I highly recommend sticking with dual subs. Even 2 smaller subs vs a single larger sub will give you better in room bass response. Of course budget always comes into play.

Have some fun!

Emlyn · May 4

I agree with the dual subwoofer suggestion. They really add to immersion. Also, with the subwoofers set up right there may not be as much need to turn the overall volume up as much to feel a real impact. That would remove some of the "breaking up" sound quality from the RTiA speakers when they are played at high volume.

But get the amp first.

BRBest · May 4

Thank you pearsall001, again everyone is so helpful.

BRBest · May 4

Thanks Emlyn! I will get the Amp first.

BlueBirdMusic · May 4

Perfect responses by ALL for knowledge, empathy and thoughtfulness.

As one older than BRBest, I give all comments an "AWESOME".

Makes a person feel really good!

BRBest · May 4

AGREED BlueBird! Some times when you think the world is falling apart, you meet good people like these on the forum. Then the whole world looks a little bit brighter!

rooftop59 · May 10

BRBest wrote: »

AGREED BlueBird! Some times when you think the world is falling apart, you meet good people like these on the forum. Then the whole world looks a little bit brighter!

Any decision yet? Pics or it didn't happen!

BRBest · May 10

So far I have not pulled the trigger yet. I am leaning towards the following two subs. The HSU Research "VTF-3 MK5 HP - 15" Ported Subwoofer" or the SVS "SB-3000 - 13" Sealed Subwoofer". The Monolith 15 is just barely too large physically to fit my spaces (I am still going to run two subs). The two 15" HSU's (600watts RMS) will just barely fit with some alterations. The 13" SVS' (800watts RMS) will fit perfectly without alterations to my spaces.

Thoughts?

VR3 · May 10

Did you check out power sound?

HT amplifier question from 68 year old hobbiest!

Answers