Deciding on my first polk HT set up

birdguy

I need some advice choosing speakers for my living room. My living room and dining room are connected, so it's essentially one huge rectangular room with bay windows in the living room (around 26 ft x 12 ft total, the living room area is effective half of that 14 x 12).

I am going to place my tv and speakers across from my sofa on the short dimension of the living room area (about 10 ft between speaker and my head), the love seats are about 7 ft from the TV and speakers. The room is currently pretty echoey as I haven't put up much decoration nor curtains. How much speaker do I need for this setup?

I am looking for a 3.1 setup for movies (35%), TV (50%), music and games (15%). Can I get away with two bookshelves plus a center and subwoofer, or do I need floorstanding speakers? My ears are not trained, I have always had a hard time differentiating between moderately good sound and excellent sound. Budget is not a big concern as I can add over time, but size might be, the wall I am putting my TV on is only 77 in (ends near the entry way), the TV is 50" diagonal. The floorstanding model might be too big next to the media bench (that I haven't purchased). I guess I want to know if space limitation dictates that I need to go with bookshelves, will they suffice?

I am looking for polk model recommendations.

curved

What are you going to power the speakers with?

If you had an amp I would go with the LSi7's or 9's - LSiC center.

If not - you could pick up some RTiA3's or RTi6's with a CSi5/CSiA6 center

birdguy

curved wrote: »

What are you going to power the speakers with?

If you had an amp I would go with the LSi7's or 9's - LSiC center.

If not - you could pick up some RTiA3's or RTi6's with a CSi5/CSiA6 center

I wasn't planning to get an amp, and I haven't decide on a receiver, but probably Onkyo sr606

curved

I would go with the RTi line. Easy enough to power and will sound the best for you needs.

You said you prefer not to have floorstanders, but by the time you add speaker stands, you're at the same width. The RTi floorstanders are about the same width as the bookshelfs ~8inches.....you can get the RTi8's for a steal right now.

Thoughts?

Menasor

I'm pretty much in the same shoes as you and I decided to go with the RTi8's. At their current closeout prices, their price to performance ratio is really good. Most people have recommended the CSi5 as the center... especially if you're going to watch TV and movies a lot where dialogue would be an important factor.

cfrizz

Welcome to Club Polk!

Even though you aren't planning on getting an amp right now, that may very well change in the future. It so often does in this hobby, especially if you hang around here!:eek::D

Speakers improve greatly with more power. So in order to be prepared for the future, get a receiver that has preouts. Try to get a deal on the Onkyo 805.

Owner's rave about this receiver & it has all the bells & whistles (including preouts) to keep you happy for years.:)

birdguy wrote: »

I wasn't planning to get an amp, and I haven't decide on a receiver, but probably Onkyo sr606

Menasor

Yup, from what I read, the 805 is great. The 705 is great and has pre-outs as well. If you want to save space and money, get the 705. The 805 is BIG! You can't go wrong with either though.

leroyjr1

birdguy wrote: »

I need some advice choosing speakers for my living room. My living room and dining room are connected, so it's essentially one huge rectangular room with bay windows in the living room (around 26 ft x 12 ft total, the living room area is effective half of that 14 x 12).

I am going to place my tv and speakers across from my sofa on the short dimension of the living room area (about 10 ft between speaker and my head), the love seats are about 7 ft from the TV and speakers. The room is currently pretty echoey as I haven't put up much decoration nor curtains. How much speaker do I need for this setup?

I am looking for a 3.1 setup for movies (35%), TV (50%), music and games (15%). Can I get away with two bookshelves plus a center and subwoofer, or do I need floorstanding speakers? My ears are not trained, I have always had a hard time differentiating between moderately good sound and excellent sound. Budget is not a big concern as I can add over time, but size might be, the wall I am putting my TV on is only 77 in (ends near the entry way), the TV is 50" diagonal. The floorstanding model might be too big next to the media bench (that I haven't purchased). I guess I want to know if space limitation dictates that I need to go with bookshelves, will they suffice?

I am looking for polk model recommendations.

How much room do you have for a center? Where are you going to put it. Also floorstanders or bookshelfs both will work fine. What's you budget and what other components are you running?

birdguy

leroyjr1 wrote: »

How much room do you have for a center? Where are you going to put it. Also floorstanders or bookshelfs both will work fine. What's you budget and what other components are you running?

I should have plenty of room for a center with my TV on the wall. The center can go in the media bench or on top. I want to assemble a 3.1 system eventually, I am willing to build with a couple to start with and add more later.

I went to a local store today and listened to Monitor Audio RS bookshelves and floorstanders, they sounded pretty good. How does Monitor Audio sound compared to Polk Audio. He said because my room is echoey, he recommended Monitor Audio that's less bright than Klipsh and Boston Acoustics which he also sells. He said Polk is also bright. Is the recommendation of less bright speakers good for echoey rooms a valid one? I don't live near a big city to have access to listen to all the various products, te only Polk near me is Best Buy's Tsi and the listening environment is pretty terrible.

leroyjr1

This might help

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72866

birdguy

curved wrote: »

What are you going to power the speakers with?

If you had an amp I would go with the LSi7's or 9's - LSiC center.

If not - you could pick up some RTiA3's or RTi6's with a CSi5/CSiA6 center

What's the difference in soundbetween RTiA1 and RTiA3? The A3 is only a little bigger, is there a big difference in sound?

curved

birdguy wrote: »

What's the difference in soundbetween RTiA1 and RTiA3? The A3 is only a little bigger, is there a big difference in sound?

-Soundstage
-Bass will hit lower and a little harder