onkyo reciever with amp?

chadjessie@hotm

Newbie here. Hi.
Planning an upgrade for current 5.1 system to 7.1
The Plan: rti 12's up front, csi5 center, psw505 sub, and four rti 6's for the surround.
I'm not looking for anything to crazy cost wise but was considering the onkyo tx-sr674 for my reciever. I have the rti 12's and they really do need the power that everybody says they do to sound great. Would onkyo's amp m-282 work for just powering the rti12's with the reciever powering everything else?

Ern Dog

Welcome to Club Polk. Nice choice of speakers.
The Onk avr and amp will work just fine for your system. However, I'd recommend getting a different avr because the Onk combined with the Rti's will be a very bright sounding combination. I'd pair up the Rti's with a warmer sounding avr such as an HK or Denon. I started out with an Onkyo and found that switching to a High Current HK avr made the world of difference. Plus you can find one for the same price or less than the Onk. The same goes with the Onk m-282. I've never heard Onk's amps, but if it were me I'd go with a little better amp with more wpc to power the 12's. Just my 2 cents.

chadjessie@hotm

Thanks for the input. Good to know. What exactly do you mean when you say the onkyo and the rti would have a bright sound as compared to the warmer sound from the hk or denon? Do you know what hk avr would compare to the onk 674? Would it have hdmi hookups that the onk has(2 in and 1 out with upconversion) ?

Sherardp

my setup is similar to what youre try to achieve with your setup. I went with a pair of Outlaw Audio Monoblocks

cfrizz

Welcome Chad. What bright means is that the tweeter makes instruments like horns & cymbals & some vocals will be so loud & sharp that they will overpower just about everything else. For me, that makes it unlistenable after about an hours time, since I will have a headache!

chadjessie@hotm wrote:

Thanks for the input. Good to know. What exactly do you mean when you say the onkyo and the rti would have a bright sound as compared to the warmer sound from the hk or denon? Do you know what hk avr would compare to the onk 674? Would it have hdmi hookups that the onk has(2 in and 1 out with upconversion) ?

chadjessie@hotm

Thanks for the input guys. Very helpful. So is the overpowering tweeter problem directly from the onkyo avr? Or is this something that can be toned down?

cfrizz

The problem is with the RTI's tweeter which is known to be bright. It's fine when it comes to movies, but is often described as bright when it comes to music.

Some AVR's are known to exacerbate the brightness, mostly Yamaha's are the culprits. I'm not sure about Onkyo's. I do know that Denon's are said to be better matches with RTI's as well as HK's.

chadjessie@hotm

Ok, well I might have to rethink my avr idea. Any suggestions on which hk's or denons would be comparable to the onk 674. I guess I like the power (95x7) and the 2 hdmi inputs and 1 output of the onk.

cfrizz

http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3251.asp

BAD ASP

For what its worth. I had an Onkyo until I heard the Denon. A friend is in the custom HT business and he recommended that I check out the Denon 5700. He told me that the Denon folks put a little more effort in their boards etc.
I will be using the Denon as a pre with the amp I just bought. Incidentally I still have the onkyo for a second system. I am convinced that the Denon has better musicality and the Denon has more watts so its more impressive in the HT mode. Just my 2c.
Good Luck with whatever your choice they're both good units.

chadjessie@hotm

I was just checking out the page of denon avr's that cfrizz sent(887). I am torn as to which one. They basically have the same specs for about the same money. I wish they made the denon in the silver. I couldn't find any if they do. Anyway thanks for the input everyone and I guess I will have to do a little more research before I decide which one! But which ever I choose I should get some kind of amp for sure for the rti12's right?

Ern Dog

chadjessie@hotm wrote:

But which ever I choose I should get some kind of amp for sure for the rti12's right?

Yes, for sure get an amp for the 12's. Running the 12's off an avr would work, but it would be like having a fast sports car and only driving it at 55mph. Having a seperate 200wpc amp will power the 12's to their potential. It is not about making the speaker play louder, its about the speakers producing their full frequency range. They will hit both lower and higher frequencies, plus the music will have more depth. There are lots to choose from: adcom, outlaw, Parasound, B&K. Your money will go further if you buy a used one.

For the avr, go to an electronics store and demo an Onk, a Denon and an HK- let your ears be the judge. Get all the features you want, but try not to chose by just looking at watts, specs and price.

chadjessie@hotm

Thanks ern. I think that is what I will do. I am grateful for all of the input. I didn't realize that there was such difference in sound in the avr's. I think I will also look at a 200 wpc amps for the 12's. thanks.

scottvamp

I have had Onk and Polk Rt's for over ten years. I never would call my sound bright. After all the years, i find mid-range to be bit muddy with the two.
Onk have always been a great bank for the buck equipment and after owning 5 recievers, they are all in perfect operating shape. 8 years ago Denon was not even talked about. But in the last 5 years they have really stepped up to the plate.
And i do have a M-282 stored away that i used to 7 channels with. It worked great. Very solid 2 channel amp.
Just my 2 cents - never understand where all the ONK bashing comes from. I get HT magizine and the reviews are always top notch. Nothing about them being too BRIGHT to own.....................

Serendipity

I have an Onkyo TX-SR702. I don't think it is very bright with my Definitive BP10B's. To some extent, however, pairing an Onkyo with Polk RTi speakers might sound a bit bright.

azfabshop

Ok, heres a question on this thought... If you hook up your receiver to an amp thru pre-outs will the "brightness" be changed by the amp you choose or will that remain the same? I'm hooking my Harmon Kardon to a Marantz amp will this affect the sound quality?

chadjessie@hotm

Funny. I was just looking at my original plans. Wow how they changed Final setup includes: Harman Kardon avr645, AudioSource 2 CH Class T Digital Stereo Power Amplifier, Rti12 center, rti6 fronts, fxi5 back surrounds, rti4 side surrounds, 25-31 pci svs sub. A few things are a little experimental but hopefully everything works out.

Sansui

chadjessie@hotm wrote: »

Funny. I was just looking at my original plans. Wow how they changed Final setup includes: Harman Kardon avr645, AudioSource 2 CH Class T Digital Stereo Power Amplifier, Rti12 center, rti6 fronts, fxi5 back surrounds, rti4 side surrounds, 25-31 pci svs sub. A few things are a little experimental but hopefully everything works out.

I had an Onkyo 304 and three weeks ago upgraded to a Denon 887 which I'm using with the Polk RM20 speaker package and I couldn't be happier! Now I know what the people here meant when they told me the Onkyo is "bright". I don't know about HK but a new Denon (bought from an authorized dealer/listed on denon.com) comes with a two year warranty and reburbs come with a 90 day warranty. The 887's cost is $699.00 as opposed to HK's 645 for $1,499.00.

engtaz

Went from Onkyo to Denon and whole new sound experience appeared.

engtaz

chadjessie@hotm

Yeah I looked quite a bit at the denon 887 and 2307ci. I liked them and they seemed like they had what I wanted and I found some really good prices on some too. In the end I went with the hk refurbished from harman direct (500.00) with full 2 year warranty. I figured I would be happy with either brand but liked the overall looks and performance of the hk. Also a totally personal taste thing came into play. I like the clean front avr's (with not a lot of buttons) and that was one drawback for the two denon's. Neither one has the front cover. Like I said totally personal preference!!:D I was pretty confident in both of there sound being great.

reeltrouble1

What is bright? Why do I get the feeling its viewed as a something unwanted? I have used an Onkyo for years, it sounds detailed with CD's, maybe this is bright? It has clarity, focus and coherence. I have a Denon and an H&K as well, they sound the same as the Onk, nice, clear detailed music. Not the best I have ever heard by any means but nice, I dont know about the use of this word "bright". I have a boom box when I put a CD in it, it sounds muffled, bad stuff, I have a radio it sounds harsh when you turn up the volume, it makes my ears hurt, I would call it harsh.

I am unaware of this big difference in receivers they all sound about the same to me, pretty good for music although not much wow factor, great for HT. Not trying to discredit anyone, just do not get what is meant by this reference to bright, I certainly would not call the Onk's harsh.

RT1

cfrizz

Maybe it all depends on what speakers you pair the Onkyo with Ted. And I'm with you, harsh is a better way to describe (for me) the sound of tweeters that are so detailed & shrill that they give me a headache within an hours time.

I have yet to hear a metal tweeter that I can put up with. I've never listened to the RTI series, so I don't know if they come across harsh or not.

I know some of you describe my RTA-8T's original tweeter as harsh, but I never had a problem with it.

chadjessie@hotm

I really didn't know that "bright" was the word for it, but after knowing that, I definitely agree with cfrizz on the metal tweeter. The metal ones just sound so harsh or "bright" to me. I have some infinity's that are almost unbearable at higher levels. They have the C.M.M.D tweeter I think it is called. But as evident in this thread I didn't know what the term for it was. I am relatively new to the rti series but so far I think they are probably one of the best speakers that I have heard to this point. It might just be me but I think their silk tweeter sounds very nice and not to bright.

avguytx

Sansui wrote: »

I had an Onkyo 304 and three weeks ago upgraded to a Denon 887 which I'm using with the Polk RM20 speaker package and I couldn't be happier! .

Ok. That's like the bottom end Onkyo piece. Maybe an apples to apples comparison would be better than a raisin to a grape.

My opinion? Onkyo or Integra. I've ran them for 10 years and there's nothing else I would buy. But that's just me. There are lots of good lines out there....and they are VERY similar.

Face

My setup certainly isn't bright or harsh.

engtaz

Just do what is in your budget and what your ears like. I suggest that what ever you do, you get one that has 7.1 pre amp outs. You can than add amps per your budget to get to where you want.

engtaz

JoshParsons84

I have an Onkyo 503 hooked up to a pair of Monitor 40's. It seems lacking in movies and not detailed enough in music. Now my buddy would consider them to be "bright" but to me it's not detailed enough. Now tell me based on that would I like the RTi series better or the LSi series better?

JoshParsons84

I agree with engatz about the 7.1. Some people don't ever even like 7.1 or even consider going with 2 back surrounds, but you never know what's gonna be going on down the road. To me I like having 2 extra surrounds but some people consider it a distraction. The saying "use your ears to judge" is probably the understatement of a lifetime, because in this business that's the only way you know what's a "good" speaker what's a "bad" speaker. People's taste's in the way a speaker sounds are so different, that no 2 people's are alike. That's why for one sole person to be completely happy in the choice they made they really have to go out and listen and hardcore demo the speakers they think they might be interested in purchasing. That's just how I feel about the whole thing.

ILeigh

OK - Time for me to get my feet wet...another newbie. RTi1Os, CSi5s, and monitors the rest of the way around on a 7.1 along with a PSW12 (perhaps a Little light there) anyway the Yamaha 5960 doesn't seem to cut it, I'm looking hard at the Onk 804, or the Pioneer 84tx. what I'm hearing is leading me to believe that it might better be to amp the fronts separately. and I never even thought of a denon. I like the THX certification I've heard it produce much tighter Thump! any direction or experience out there with similar configs? I'm prepared to drop about a grand into the Amp. what say you all?

Sherardp

Save the coin and buy a power amp if your current AVR has preouts. Use the AVR as your pre/pro and let the power amp handle the speakers. A multichannel adcom, sunfire, earthquake sound, outlaw audio are a few to check out. You can check out audiogon for excellent prices on used amps or the flea market here.

cfrizz

THX certification doesn't mean squat, so don't worry about it.