Surround Receiver Recommendations for Classic Polks

adcprod

I want a new receiver that can actually drive the Model 10s, Monitor 7s (and newer bookshelf Polks) without making me mad. I have a Sony receiver that I spent way too much for a while back and when I finally hooked my Polks up to it, I was pretty unimpressed. My el-cheapo 2-channel (with lower watts per channel) does much better. I suspect there isn't enough current.

So question one, when shopping what must I look for? RMS=?

Do some brands do better than others in general? I hear a lot about Onkyo these days.

Does this have more to do with a lack of a sub? Even so, I'd like to actually at least hear what I know these speakers are capable of. I don't need to rattle my entire house, I just want good consistent sound. (As an aside, my Sony will not even properly move the passive subs in the Model 10s in 2 channel mode.) The crossovers are set to big speakers in front.

Is surround sound only for bookshelf speakers?

Thanks!

Poee7R

You have reached the limits of that reciever I would think. I'm not one to bad mouth a product, but I dont have much faith in Sony audio, they're ES line is a whole other beast. But beyond that, you can get a reciever to better handle those speakers.

I havent tried what you're asking with a pair of 7's and a pair of 10's. So with that being said. Depending on your preference in sound, Onkyo and Harmon would be my suggestion.

The Onkyo/Polk mix has always had a nice sound to my ears. Something there thats hard to pinpoint, but its there. Others have debated that they can be bright, and depending on model/speaker combination, I would agree.

The other side is Harmon, which as a brand flavor is more laid back. So if you find yourself becoming fatigued after listening for a little while, this may help. Not to mention it may suit your musical preference's.

Only issue I have with HK is they're reliability seems to be lacking these days, Onkyo also has problems with heating etc, so basically its a toss up against sound and features.

On to watts. Here you need to look for quality over quantity, not that quantity is a bad thing. A 60-70 watt HK would (imo) tear the legs off a 100 watt sony. I personally use a 50 watt integrated amp in my home office, and it can run you out of the room if need be.

Since you didnt mention a budget I really couldnt recommend a model, but with the Onkyo's try to go with a 700 series at a minimum. Or rather, and with either brand, try to buy one with pre-outs so that down the road if you would like to get into a seperate amplifier, you have that option with existing equipment.

There are other brands out there (Pioneer/Elite, Yamaha, etc) but for what you are asking I think you may be happy with either Onkyo or Harmon. And of course if your budget allow's, you can go with other higher end brands that would bring a smile to your face.


Dave

BAD ASP

I have had an Onkyo and a Denon and for my ears I prefer the Denon. The Denon model, that I still have and use on a separate system, is the 5700. It powers my 3.1 tl's just fine. It's very musical and it also works great in 5.1. I do use a powered sub though with the mains set at small.

Marty913

A great response from Poee7R, I agree completely (so who cares, right). I might add that my experience with driving SDA Polks (very difficult) led me to believe that very, very few modern receivers can drive difficult loads. I have tried Onkyo (fire hazard), Pioneer (a little underpowered), and Yahama (very very very underpowered), and lastly - Harmon Kardon.

During a month+ period this year while my Carver was being repaired I hooked up an HK 240 in 5.1 channel mode (50 real watts X 5 or 7). It drove my SDA 1C mains and SDA 2 surrounds a whole lot better than I ever expected. No, it didn't blow out the doors and my now returned Carver is back in it's customary place BUT even the fact that it could drive 4-6 ohm loads to very comfortable listening levels was amazing.

Like the man said, QUALITY power not over-inflated watts-per-channel.

schwarcw

I like Marantz and Parasound products. These products are reasonably priced and have proven performance and quality. The old Polks are not particularly efficient speakers. So, I would recommend your receiver be capable of 125 watt/channel or more. Both Marantz and Parasound have receivers capable of this.

rayslifecycle

Been there - done that - had an onkyo that I was quite happy with - but it was a proloigic reciever and did not do 5.1........so I bought a Sony 5.1 reciever and had to run it at 60-75% of max to get the same sound I got from the Onkyo at 30%of max.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a decent reciever to drive my monitor 10s - and I am very happy with the denon I bought - also runs at about 30% of max.........but I suggest you stick to the model numbers that are 4 numbers (2808, 3808) and not 3 numbers (889, 989) as they have better quality comonents - starting with the 3808 - they are made in Japan - below that model - they are made in the 3rd world (I think)

Also has pre-outs for adding a separate amp in the future.......good idea for growth

BAD ASP

I looked on fleebay and found this number for a denon 5700. I will attest to it being a solid receiver. I have no affiliation with this one for sale but it's priced right. ebay #280267305510

tugboat

I'm currently using the Denon 5803A and it runs my SDAs quite nicely. It puts out 200wpc into 6ohms (1.2TLs nominal rating). While not stated in the specs, it can run 4ohm and is stable down to 3.2ohms (according to THX testing). Still, I never crank it as it would be too loud for comfortable listening. It also has 2ch pure direct mode that cuts out all video circuits and then combines 4 burr brown DACs per channel for better decoding of digital sources.

I'm very happy with it's quality and sound. I've attached a link below to a review of the AVR. I've seen them go for under 1K on ebay. The only drawback is it doesn't have HDMI switching (I went with an external HDMI switcher anyway).

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/denon-avr-5803

ben62670

I had an HK235, and loved it. Don't let the watt number scare you. 50wpc HK was better than 110wpc Yami. If you go HK please let it breath. To many people cramp their receivers, and wonder why they die.

lakesailor

I agree with much of what has been said. For the money the Harman/Kardon AVR254 is a good buy. Two things I like is that it has onboard Faroudja video processing and also has the proprietary Logic 7 sound circuits that was developed by Lexicon. All in all it’s a fair bit of technology in the AVR254 for not a ton of money.

I also like the H/K amplifier sections; although it is conservatively rated at 50 watts rms/channel it can also put out up to 35 amps of peak deliver current – this is way more important to deliver on the transient peaks you get in both 2 channel and H/T applications. As Ben said; you would be surprised how 50 watts of H/K power stacks up against 100 watts from Sony and others.

I have the slightly older AVR 654 and use it in a secondary H/T and Gaming room and am very impressed with it. It outperforms my Pioneer Elite that I now use in a basement system where the gym is located. I have had zero problems with my H/K but if you read up on them others have had issues. Good Luck.

Motzart

lakesailor wrote: »

I agree with much of what has been said. For the money the Harman/Kardon AVR254 is a good buy. Two things I like is that it has onboard Faroudja video processing and also has the proprietary Logic 7 sound circuits that was developed by Lexicon. All in all it’s a fair bit of technology in the AVR254 for not a ton of money.

I also like the H/K amplifier sections; although it is conservatively rated at 50 watts rms/channel it can also put out up to 35 amps of peak deliver current – this is way more important to deliver on the transient peaks you get in both 2 channel and H/T applications. As Ben said; you would be surprised how 50 watts of H/K power stacks up against 100 watts from Sony and others.

I have the slightly older AVR 654 and use it in a secondary H/T and Gaming room and am very impressed with it. It outperforms my Pioneer Elite that I now use in a basement system where the gym is located. I have had zero problems with my H/K but if you read up on them others have had issues. Good Luck.

I have always found this to be true with H/K.....low wattage don't mean spit with em.
It must be the internals cuz I have heard a simple 85watt kick it.

Now as for a receiver to drive some nice speakers (140 watts x 7).....
IMHO the killer system to have for a very nice price is the Yamaha RX-V2700!
MSRP is $1700 but they go threw the bay well under 1k.

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=451511&CNTYP=PRODUCT&LGFL=Y

Pushes some serious wattage and has some killer features.
IF I had the speakers for the driveage I'd have one!!
(The only person who would be mad is maybe your neighbor)
But that's just my 2 cents....if it's worth that? :rolleyes::D

BIZILL

i'm using a harman/kardon avr 7300 in stereo mode and it's making a pair of sda-srs's sing music. (temporary) i don't blast it too loud. but that **** keeps up.

adcprod

Thanks guys for the great recommendations. I am on a budget right now as we just bought a house, but I'll keep a lookout on craigs and ebay!

TroyD

I've got an older Denon 3600 (or 3300..something like that) and it drives my 2.3tl's just fine....

BDT

ESavinon

Buy separates. They're plenty of online companies that will sell separates for the price of a good receiver.

cfrizz

Agreed. Look at getting a prepro/amp combo from Outlaw Audio or Emotiva.

Welcome to Club Polk.

ESAVINON wrote: »

Buy separates. They're plenty of online companies that will sell separates for the price of a good receiver.

bsoko2

I'm running my Monitor 10's with Outlaw Audio M2200 mono blocks.

Bill

bikezappa

Sony receivers suck IMHO. Way over rated power specs. I did the same thing you did about 15 years ago twice by buying sony receivers.

I'll never buy a sony receiver again.

Schurkey

Is there a receiver on the market today that ISN'T Communist-sourced, or otherwise a total piece of junk?

Not that I'm aware of. Even HK has moved production to China--as if Taiwan and South Korea weren't cheap enough to do business with. Corporate greed knows no bounds.

At this point in time, the best you can hope for is to buy a "real" amp/preamp-processor combination from a legitimate (quality-based, not price-based) manufacturer; (generally very expensive) or you buy a USED amp/preamp-processor combination from a legitimate manufacturer which, while it carries some risk, will probably beat out any "new" equipment you could purchase for double the price. You must, of course, be very careful when buying used equipment.

tugboat

Schurkey wrote: »

Is there a receiver on the market today that ISN'T Communist-sourced, or otherwise a total piece of junk?

Not that I'm aware of. Even HK has moved production to China--as if Taiwan and South Korea weren't cheap enough to do business with. Corporate greed knows no bounds.

At this point in time, the best you can hope for is to buy a "real" amp/preamp-processor combination from a legitimate (quality-based, not price-based) manufacturer; (generally very expensive) or you buy a USED amp/preamp-processor combination from a legitimate manufacturer which, while it carries some risk, will probably beat out any "new" equipment you could purchase for double the price. You must, of course, be very careful when buying used equipment.

My Denon was made in Japan, and unless something has changed, they're not a communist nation. As for the quality of the unit, it has recieved high marks from all the reviews I've read and from me. It's a quality built unit and has better DACs than many separates.

I know many here and other places like to bash receivers and AVRs. That's okay, not everyone wants to piece together a system from individual components.

mhw58

Schurkey wrote: »

Is there a receiver on the market today that ISN'T Communist-sourced, or otherwise a total piece of junk?

Outlaw receivers are fantastic and are built in Massachusetts I think.
Mike

bsoko2

mhw58 wrote: »

Schurkey wrote: »

Is there a receiver on the market today that ISN'T Communist-sourced, or otherwise a total piece of junk?

Outlaw receivers are fantastic and are built in Massachusetts I think.
Mike

No, China! Only sold in Massachusetts. However, they do have higher specs so you get the amps that they advertise.

Bill