Just joining the polk crowd

specd_out

Well let me introduce myself My name is Willie and I am just starting to get into some quality sound for my HT. I am familiar with Polk My father had a set of early 90's book self speakers that had a grainte looking encloser the speakers where roughly a 4X6 size. he also had a polk down firing sub. both which ran off of a carver setup.
I am now 25 and have made it my goal to replicate that quality. I was searching around for a set of monitor 60's and ended up finding a brand new set of RTI A5' in cherry for $450 at Sound Advice. I also got a set T-15's from best buy for $50 and a PSW10 for $100 from Best Buy aswell.
Anyway I previously had a 7 year old sony home theater in a box.
The improvment as you can imagine is amazing. But since I am using the old amp from my HT package which has some power, 100watts @ 8 ohms but the quality isnt all there. What I am wanting to do is find a AVR that will give some decent power so that i can cleanly power these speakers. but not break my budget. Since i didnt plan on spending this much money on speakers my AVR budget is now around $300 or less. I want to find something wih some pre outs so i can upgrade in the future

I have searched and searched if you have any ideas on what other terms to search let me know.

Sorry for the long post but thaks for your help

leroyjr1

$300 is a tight bugdet for a AVR with preouts. You will definately have to go used of refurbished. Look on Ebay and audiogon for a Harman Kardon 247.Great receiver with a warm sound. A little something to tame those highs some. Also look at a Onkyo 705. A receiver with pre outs is definately the way to go.

Welcome to the forum.

specd_out

Thanks for the info. I know that 300 is tight. used or refurbished is what I was hoping for. I just couldnt pass that deal up on the RTI A5's

leroyjr1

The rti a5 is a great Home theater speaker.

LandShark

I have the Onkyo 705 and it's great. Everything you need as far as adding HDMI based equipment and the sound is clean and smooth.

thsmith

You should be able to find a new Yamaha 663 for that price or near it. Has the new HD Audio codecs and pre-outs.

Look on Yamahas web site for a list of etailors and start calling them, if you mention you are an AVRForum member you get a better price.

kolky

What other devices do you have (i.e. TV, DVD, game console)? How are you connecting these (HDMI, Component)?

The reason I ask is that to get a AVR with pre-outs in your price range you are probably going to be looking at used AVR.

I have the A5s and they do not take much power to run especially when you are crossing them at 80hz (which I am assuming you will do with your sub). Personally for that price range I would try and go with a receiver with some of the newer technology such as Audessy, and HDMI pass through. You will have plenty of power to run those speakers and can upgrade later when your budget permits, and you will probably miss that newer functionality before you will miss an amp to run the A5s.

Though if you absolutely need pre-outs the Yamaha 663 is not a bad option. I did not choose it becuase it only has 2 HDMI ins.

Others without pre-outs you may want to look at are Onkyo and Denon.

ben62670

Another vote for the HK

specd_out

thanks for or your help so far guys
Here is my setup

Sharp Aquos 37" 720p
Xbox 360 - Componet Video direct to TV Audio - optical Direct to Sony AVR
Sony 5-disc Dvd player (main cd player) exactly same as the xbox
Verizon Fios HD TV - HDMI to tv

As far as HT I love my AVR it does a great job for how old and cheap it is. The main reason I want something new is because I want so better quality when I listen to music. I love the sound I have now with my AVR set in 2 ch with the sub active. I just know that it will improve much when i get a quality amp.

Do you guys run your viedo conections through your AVR or just the audio. I have always been brought up that why run signal through more than you have to. All it seems to do is lower the quality of the signal. has this change with the newer AVR

I have alot to learn regarding AVR setups and where the quality really is. I am used to school of thought that more watts equals more power which means louder, and better. which isnt entirly true. I for see much more searching in my future on this forum. Anymore advise please post it up

kolky

I run all my video through my AVR (I think most others do as well). Here are a few reasons I do it.

- Lack of HDMI inputs on TV (I only have one) I have 3 on the AVR
- Ease of video switching. The AVR does all your switching so the TV does not have to switch inputs. Also much easier to set up a remote that way.
- Many of the AVRs will upscale video to the TV.
- Cable management is much nicer. Only one HDMI cable running to the TV rather than many HDMI and component cables.
- Running all your audio through HDMI to your AVR.

You should also not see any loss of quality doing this.

Hilbert

I run my cable box directly to TV (Vizio, good value for money) so I can watch the news or football without turning on everything. Most Polkies however seem to enjoy turning on everything.

Have run DVD player both through AVR (Yam 663) and directly to TV. Can't see any difference in picture quality. Sound quality better through AVR.

george daniel

good luck in your journey and welcome to Club Polk.

Sherardp

Welcome to the club and nice setup you have in the works.

reeltrouble1

george daniel wrote: »

good luck in your journey and welcome to Club Polk.

upon the path babbling bones you'll hear, all clicking with glee, but none with clarity or certain certainty.

RT1