new guy- need help regarding 4 ohm speakers

dirtmodified32

i am building a 16 X 24 'home theater'/ living room. i bought rts-100's for the left, right and center speakers, rts-fx's for the rear surrounds and csw155 with amp. i am now trying to find what reciever/ surround sound to get. my problem is that the polk tech support said 'make sure i get a receiver that runs 4 ohms...' i saw a websight that said if the unit has a switch for 4 to 8 ohms, leave it on the 8, besause the 4 position just detunes the system to protect from overload... can some of you please guide me, what would be a good system to look at to run these speakers the best?
cooling should not be an issue, cabinet has a fan with air circulating from basement below to cool.
p.s. please keep recommendations low tech, i have no idea what i am talking about here...

ben62670

First welcome to Club Polk.
I can't find any info on your speakers. Could you please double check the models you have.
Thanks
Ben

dirtmodified32

sorry
lci-rts100 'in ceiling' http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/inceiling/hidden/lcirts100/
lci- rts fx 'built in surround' http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/inwallsurround/hidden/lcirtsfx/
csw 155 'built in subwoofer http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/inwallsubs/hidden/csw155/

ben62670

You really should go with separates(amp, and Processor) with those speakers. They deserve it. A receiver will not do them justice IMHO. What is your budget set at for a receiver? Others will chime in so take your time on this important piece of gear!
Ben

ben62670

BTW let us know what wires you are planning to run for these. Once in the wall you are stuck with them!

dirtmodified32

ben,
(regarding wires... i agree 100%, framing is up, but not drywalled yet... that was going to be my next question)
i would greatly appreciate your advice, feel free to give a rookie some guidance on how to pick 'seperates' and amp etc. and what wires to consider.
i have never done anything like this befor, so i am trying to learn as much as possible.

ben62670

Where are you located? When are they closing it up?

dirtmodified32

ohio, between cleveland and youngstown

xandra

Wow - intriguing Polk's doing 4ohm/THX built ins! Sortof makes sense, if you're gonna bother with the effort and expense of a built in, why not go top-of-the-line.

dirt... (if I may call you that), at this stage, think your prime concern will be placement.

Dennis Gardner

xandra wrote: »

Wow - intriguing Polk's doing 4ohm/THX built ins! Sortof makes sense, if you're gonna bother with the effort and expense of a built in, why not go top-of-the-line.

dirt... (if I may call you that), at this stage, think your prime concern will be placement.

I agree placement is important, between Cleveland and Youngstown, I prefer speakers closer to Cleveland......:D

xandra

Cute

dirtmodified32

placement is pretty well covered, primarily determined by the construction of the room, i had to go in the ceiling for the fronts- but those speakers project at 45 degrees. the rears are flat in the ceiling- but that part of the ceiling is angled at 34 degrees to the horizontal. both of these angles project at the seating arrangement just about perfect.

dirtmodified32

after reading many posts, i think emotiva xpa-5 looks like it should run these speakers well. but i need to find a preamp process. i do not need a top of the line pre/pro, at this point, my surround sound will be for dvd's and movies on the digital cable. but i would like to have a seperate amp to optimize the speakers since i can always change processor if something changes

ben62670

I have been thinking about this. The fronts really should not be up high. It just won't work right. What about some LSI9's on stands? They may be pointing at you, but it will be coming from above. Not from the screen. It just won't work. I know you said you can't put them in the walls. Are you sure something can't be done?

dirtmodified32

any comments about the emotiva xpa-5- good or bad?

dirtmodified32

any advice about a preamp/ process?
i would prefer 5.1 for the HT
plus 2 for speakers on patio

dirtmodified32

any thoughts on what wire i should use.
fronts are about 16 to 20 feet each
rear are about 35 feet each

dirtmodified32

thanks in advance

Dennis Gardner

I like this speaker cable since it meets code.http://www.cobaltcable.com/in-wall-speaker-cable.htm

dirtmodified32

ben,
i know what you mean... i went round and round trying to find a way to put the fronts at a more normal height, the tv sits on a 16 foot wall, it takes up the middle 5 plus feet, then there is an opening for a hallway to the left that is 4 ft wide, the corner is only about 7 inches to the edge of the hall opening, and the side of the tv only has about 5 inches to the other side of the opening. also, there is no room above the opening because of the header. i hope i described that ok...
anyways, the left front is screwed up for speaker placement, in wall, tower, or bookshelf, because of that opening. unless i go up into the ceiling. according to page 2 of the cutsheet on the fronts, the angle of projection is 45 degrees, http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/LCi-RTS105,100.pdf
my calculations put that coming down to the floor just in front of the sitting area.

ESavinon

I recommend The Onkyo Pro pr-sc885p preamp.
It will be a great match for that Emotiva amp and you can run multiroom configurations with it.

dirtmodified32

ben, i forgot to mention...
the tv will be mounted on the wall, centered at about 54 inches, that makes the top of the tv at 72 inches plus, which makes the speakers only a couple of feet higher than the top of the tv since it is not sitting down on a tv stand.

ben62670

That helps. I would call Polk CS, and tell them your situation. The SQ will be fine, but the localization kinda scares me. Hopefully others will chime in. I would also ask if the speakers should be mounted upside down.

Eric W

ben62670 wrote: »

I have been thinking about this. The fronts really should not be up high. It just won't work right. What about some LSI9's on stands? They may be pointing at you, but it will be coming from above. Not from the screen. It just won't work. I know you said you can't put them in the walls. Are you sure something can't be done?

:cool: Ben, I can understand your concern. I'm quite a stickler about the "proper height" and proper placement in a theater (or any for that matter) system- and normally we do not recommend ceiling speakers for the front channels because they are downblasting. However, the RTS100's are an exception with their angled baffled fronts which project the sound across the room rather then down. They are perfectly suited for front channel/ceiling use- provided the ceiling isn't super high. They image so well that it's difficult to tell they are projecting out of the ceiling. They're also the first THX Ultra 2 certified in-ceiling speaker.

Provided the room acoustics aren't horrible and the construction and placement is proper, the OP will have spectacular results