My polk setup...what would sound better for around same price?

thsmith

xcapri79 wrote: »

I've run my RTi8's nicely on my Onkyo 506. They are not connected right now, but I'll try it myself tonight with a movie and adjust the settings from large to small. The RTi8's are easy to drive with just about any decent receiver. Right now though, I side with Dangerboy with this one, the Polk Gurus are usually 99.99% right.

The RTi8s with the 606 and with my Denon 2808 just did not have much impact when set to large. Thats why I went to SDA's.

If I remeber when I used REW the RTi8s were flat down to 35 hz but there was no punch.

The OP should try both for an extended period but I bet he come back saying SMall sounds best.

I listened to my RTi8s in large when I sold my sub and was waiting for the upgrade sub to arrive and it was very weak on the low end stuff.

Now, if he had a high current amp maybe he could get more from them but I doubt it.

YMMV

Polkie918

Ok, I checked and here is what everything is set at...

auddessey ON
Bi-Amped ON ( yes I have the metal jumper removed.)
front 60hz (i just changed I belive it was set to 20hz or something like that)
center 40hz
surround 100hz
lpf of lfe 100hz
double bass OFF

and

level calibrations
left -5 db
center +1
right -5
sur right -5
sur left -6
sub -2(I also noticed this was set at -15DB so I changed it to -2DB)

thats all from auddessey I believe..

also I went through the whole menu and could not find how to change the speaker size....



thanks hope this helps

leroyjr1

Your center seems kind of high. What you need to do is first rerun audessey. Then set everything to small/80hz including your sub.. Sometimes the receiver after audessey will set your speaker to large/full range. Then get yourself a SPL meter and set all the speakers at the same spl level.

What do you have your bass and treble set to. What do you have your sub volume on the plate set at?
I'm guessing your sub is set high because audessey set it very low on the receiver.

CA_Bill

Polkie918 wrote: »

I have

onkyo 606
rti8 fronts
csi3 center
fxia4 rears and a velodyne sub...


I do like the sound alot but when I really want to crank a dvd at like 50+ volume ....explosions and loud parts of the movie dont sound right to me...maybe to much highs??? I dont know alot of people say they sound bright....??

what do u all think and for the money do I have a great setup?

I listen to NO music...just tv and movies...

any help would be great, thanks!!

I have a similar setup (606, RTi 8's, CSi-A4, RTI-A1's plus DSW PRO 500 SW).

My recommendation is to run Audyssey EXACTLY as stated in the manual using a tripod. Next, set the speaker crossover frequency to 80 Hz for all speakers. Set the low pass filter for the subwoofer somewhere between 80 to 100 Hz (you need to experiment with this to get the best blend between the subwoofer and front speakers).

Could you get better sound with a higher power amplifier? Yes, of course. The same hold true for speakers and other components. The search for perfection goes on forever. However, this should give you the best sound possible for your present set of equipment.

Regards,

Bill

Polkie918

Ok. I just RERAN Audyssey and set everything to 80HZ....I noticed that my level calibrations was the same as above......which is fine but it put my sub at -15DB....so I changed it to -2DB....is that smart or what should I change it to?


Bass and treble are BOTH set to +4 db

on my actual sub on the back, I got the knobs (which I just adjusted to) 80HZ and then the volume is set at exacly 1/2 way...


anything else I should change or look at?

thanks for all the help so far.

thsmith

Polkie918 wrote: »

Ok. I just RERAN Audyssey and set everything to 80HZ....I noticed that my level calibrations was the same as above......which is fine but it put my sub at -15DB....so I changed it to -2DB....is that smart or what should I change it to?


Bass and treble are BOTH set to +4 db

on my actual sub on the back, I got the knobs (which I just adjusted to) 80HZ and then the volume is set at exacly 1/2 way...


anything else I should change or look at?

thanks for all the help so far.

Go to radio shack or borrow a friends SPL meter and level balance your sub to the mains. Personally I have my treble and bass set to 0db. Since you have XO set to 80hz in AVR then set XO to out on your sub. That allows the AVR to control XO.

How does it sound?

Have you tried changing your speakers to small yet?

Sami

thsmith wrote: »

Have you tried changing your speakers to small yet?

If the crossover is set to 80Hz, then they should be set to small by default. If set to large, most receivers take out the option to set crossover as it is no longer used. Small is the way to go with a subwoofer.

Bass and treble to 0 like you said, unless that is something Audessey changed. This might actually be one of the items causing the problem.

cnh

A correction, please. The Onkyo 606 is a 90 watt/channel receiver. It might not put that out with 5 channels driven but it WILL produce more than that with two channels driven. Hence the Rti-8s should be no problem to drive as they are 8 ohms, and not that much more difficult to drive than my M70s which play LOUD enough off the previous Onkyo 605 even with a CS2 (large center) and M30 surrounds. Can you use more power? Yes? Do you have 'enough' yes! That Onkyo is a high current receiver only 10 watts less than the 706. With a similar high current peak. You'll not hear much of a difference between the two amp sections.

BTW, I use the Double Bass feature on mine and the M70s set to FULL RANGE still play LOUD!

cnh

Polkie918

yea...I did not see any option to change the speaker size at all so im assuming changing it to 80hz took that option out....

to the above post about the sub and XO? crossover?

so far it does seem to sound a bit better but havent craked a good movie yet.

Sami

Polkie918 wrote: »

to the above post about the sub and XO? crossover?

Yes, XO = crossover.

Have you changed the bass and treble yet? If not, do that and run Audyssey again.

leroyjr1

cnh wrote: »

A correction, please. The Onkyo 606 is a 90 watt/channel receiver. It might not put that out with 5 channels driven but it WILL produce more than that with two channels driven. Hence the Rti-8s should be no problem to drive as they are 8 ohms, and not that much more difficult to drive than my M70s which play LOUD enough off the previous Onkyo 605 even with a CS2 (large center) and M30 surrounds. Can you use more power? Yes? Do you have 'enough' yes! That Onkyo is a high current receiver only 10 watts less than the 706. With a similar high current peak. You'll not hear much of a difference between the two amp sections.

BTW, I use the Double Bass feature on mine and the M70s set to FULL RANGE still play LOUD!

cnh

It's rated at 90 watts but is only putting out about 40 watts.

Polkie918

I changed the bass and treble to 0db....I need to rerun audessey again??

Sami

Polkie918 wrote: »

I changed the bass and treble to 0db....I need to rerun audessey again??

I don't have any Audyssey equipment but the way it work I would assume you do need to run it again.

cnh

leroyjr1 wrote: »

It's rated at 90 watts but is only putting out about 40 watts.

In surround? Right? Because it can put that 90 out in 2 channel both channels driven. You're right most receivers fall to half or less their rated power except for Harman Ks because they rate actual power, all channels driven.

cnh

cnh wrote: »

In surround? Right? Because it can put that 90 out in 2 channel both channels driven. You're right most receivers fall to half or less their rated power except for Harman Ks because they rate actual power, all channels driven.

Power Bench tests for Onkyo 606 (UltimateAVmag.com)

This graph shows that the TX-SR606's left channel, from Multi input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads continuously at 1 kHz, reaches 0.1% distortion at 115.3 watts and 1% distortion at 141.4 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 162.9 watts and 1% distortion at 222.1 watts.

With five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads, the amp reaches 0.1% distortion at 81.2 watts and 1% distortion at 109.4 watts. With seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads, the amp reaches 0.1% distortion at 73.2 watts and 1% distortion at 87.4 watts.

The manufacturer's stated distortion of 0.08 % was reached at 71.8 watts with seven channels driven into 8 ohms. However, the specs are stated for two channels driven, so looking at the graph, the amp reaches this distortion level at nearly 115W, which is considerably above the stated power spec.

Admittedly this is only at 1khz but even so, the 2 channel rating full range is at least 90w x 2.

Mike21

Don't give up on the 606 yet. Its quite a good receiver. The recommended min wattage for the 8s is 50wpc. That means the 8s will sound okay at 50w if not driven hard. I mentioned 130wpc in order to begin getting the most out of the 8s.

I recommend that you get the EQ squared away first and then see how you like it. BTW, if the 606 is like the 605, there are no preouts to add external amplification.
Mike

Polkie918

yes, there is no preputs.....sounds better now so far...I dont think I need to upgrade yet...thanks for all the help everyone!!

danger boy

after you rerun the audessey check again to be sure your bass and treble are still set to 0