My potential set up

Kings County

So I'm looking to put a nice lil set up together...

I'm looking to get


txsr576
a pair of tsi 400's
ts200's
psw125
and the cs10

I am not the best with audio equipment, but I have always wanted a nice lil set up... Would this combo work well together? I don't wanna get the whole 7.1 right now, I'll upgrade to it eventually but for now I'm looking at this.My main thing is the receiver, I'm hoping it can handle my speakers

Any input is appreciated

wutadumsn23

The 576 will have no problem "powering" your speakers but keep in mind that the 400's operating range is from 20-200W and 80W is towards the lower end of their power range but will still work fine. The 200's normal operating range is 20-150W so again no problem, and the CS10's range is 20-125W. I would IMO however, recommend upgrading your center to the CS20, since the center is probably the most important speaker in your HT especially for movies and what not, and from what I hear the CS20 is a marked improvement over the CS10. PSW125 no problem since it is a self powered sub and a fairly decent one at that, I have one and it works just fine in my humble little setup. The only thing I would recommend, and this is looking long term and depends on your budget is I would look at getting a "better" receiver that has pre-outs for adding an external amp down the road. From what I can tell the 576 doesn't have pre-outs and those TSi's can handle alot more power than the 576 will be giving them.. Now keep in mind that the 576 will power your speakers it's just that the closer you get to a speakers "happy point" the better they will sound and I can guarentee that 80 or so watts is not the happy point on those 400's. I'm sure you will get other suggestions as well, this forum is full of people who really know their stuff. Welcome to Club Polk and any more questions feel free to ask.

Ender

Budget and room size/setup is pretty important for the best recommendations.

Kings County

Well, I think the receiver is 100 watts per, at least I hope it is, thats why I upgraded to it over the 507 which i was going to initially get.

And I was really considering upgrading to the cs20, now I say upgrade yet I really dont know anything abuot these things, I've never owned any speaker systems or receivers, this is my first system, and to be honest the main reason I'm getting this is because of the price I'm getting it for.

Can anyone suggest another receiver that would fit better and wont break the bank, I wanna keep this under $1,300 so I can get my plasma, I'm at $1,069
right now, but this is all gonna have to be shipped to Texas so thats gonna be at least around $300.

The thing I'm worried about is the set up from what I hear with the 576 is a pain, so yea. The one I was considering was the 706, its quite a jump in price though so I need to be convinced, but from what I hear the quality is great and real easy to set up and control. BUT if the 576 will do a decent job for me right now I'd much rather stay with that and just upgrade my center, that way I can get my plasma asap rather than waiting

P.S I dont know where this set up is going since im looking for as new place, ill say it wont be a huge room, but its gonna be a house so no real neighbors to worry about, hope that helps for suggestions

Kings County

Ok so I have done some thinking, and Im not gonna jump for the 706... too much of a jump, and I need a tv to go with this lol, im willing to take the jump to the 607, it has a lot more features than the 576, anyone have the 607?

this may sound dumb but sound quality wise is it a huge difference? (again I know nothing about audio equipment.)

Ender

I am pretty sure it's mostly watts and features difference.

Btw, send me your local craigslist location link. Maybe I can find you some good vintage gear. Texas has a decent supply of vintage Polk.

Kings County

well im in new york right now lol, just gonna be moving to texas which is why im getting the system, keep me entertained if i dont like it out there much

but yea i have mostly decided on the 607, might as well, has a lot more features and more hdmi inputs... the only thing is that it has 90 watts per chan, im assuming that would be fine, reviews have said that it stand uop with higher end models until u crank it up real high

wutadumsn23

IMO you won't hear/notice much dif. between the 576 and the 607. According to the Onkyo website they list the 576 as 80W per channel @ 8 ohms, and the 697 is listed at 90W per channel @ 8 ohms. One drawback to both AVR's is the fact that neither one has pre-outs for adding external amplification, which may not seem like a big deal now but if you want to push some real power to those 70's in the future you won't be able to add an external amp to either of those receivers. Just food for thought.

Kings County

yea i was reading that as well... can anyone suggest a different receiver? my budget is around 400-500

DanAckerman

I have a fairly similar setup.
TSi400's fronts
TSi200's surrounds
CS10

I'm running on a Denon 688
and only have a PSW10 right now.

That said I would go for more for your sub. The 400's already go very low and there are times when I'm wanting a little more boom. I know the 125 is a much better sub than the 10, but if you haven't bought yet I would shop a bit more.

As to the receiver... A big part of this decision is what do you need. Are you looking at HDMI? HDMI sound? Need S-Video or Composite hookups? If you don't have to have the newest and the greatest right now, look at closeout deals on older models. I was able to get my Denon for under $170. Does it do everything I want? No, but at the price it works fine while I figure out what I really want. There are some good deals running around if you don't have to be the first on your block to have the newest model.

Kings County

Well price wise I get good deals on everything with my employee discount. I'm going to be using the set up mainly for movies music and gaming. I want my receiver to be versatile which is why i stepped up to the 607, I initially wanted the 706 but I'll have to see what I can get it for. I should have probably mentioned this system is going to be bought in august.

The reason I was looking at the 706 was because I'd be able to add an amp since my main concern is having a receiver that doesnt really take advantage of the speakers.

I was initially was going to go with a simple 2 speaker set up but figured, I get the equipment for so much less now, rather buy a whole system now before I leave the job.

In any case the price is leaning me towards the 607... but I will most likely get the 706 and just be done with it. From what I can tell the 706 will fit my needs and if down the road i wanna add a lil more power to it I can.

What I'm looking to set up btw is an hd cable box, ps3,360,wii and down the road a cd changed, I'll also be getting the onkyo ipod dock, but that doesnt really factor inn to the connections I guess

cnh

If you can find a Harman Kardon AVR 254 in your price range...WHICH is POSSIBLE it has pre-outs! Don't let the low power ratings scare you away....it probably puts out as much as that Onkyo in surround channel formats! It'll sound good with your TSIs as well as allow future external amplification. I'm normally an Onkyo guy...but the 254 sounds great and has more hook-ups than the 600 series!

cnh

Kings County

so after a lil bit of thought I have decided to change the set up. Im thinking of going with the tsi 300's and 100's and the cs 20 with the psw125, and just stick with the 607, is this a bad decision? Im thinking whether the tsi200's would make a big difference. I cant get the 100's for $103 for the pair and the 200's for $152 , should I just go with the 200's or the 100's? i mean are they that much of a difference. I figured if i go with the 100's I could just find some rear speakers to round out my 7.1

wutadumsn23

I use the Monitor 40's (same speaker as the TSi 200's) as my surrounds and they do a very good job. I know there are a few people here who have used them as fronts in a HT setup, but I don't know how they liked it. I would also venture a guess to say that you wold hear a noticable difference between the 200's and the 100's as your mains since the 200's have 2 5 1/4 woofers and the 100's only have one. As for the 300's I don't know how much of a difference you would notice between them and the 200's, their specs. are pretty close and they have the same amount of woofers, just a diff. enclosure. hopefully someone with better knowledge will be able to help you there.

DanAckerman

I might be kind of a heretic voice on this, but I would worry about the CS20 overpowering 300's.

Beyond that if it's not a huge room, you should be able to get by with the 300's. The case will add a bit more to the bass, when compared to the 200's.
Although depending on what sort of amp you get, it would be almost tempting to experiment with using two pairs of 200's as the fronts to your system.

As to the 200's or 100's.... Well you are getting more of a deal for the 200's. I've seen 100's on sale at NewEgg for $125, but the lowest I've seen the 200's is $199. So I don't know if that is strictly in your math, but it is worth some consideration.

cnh

Hey Dan,

CS20s will not overpower the 300s; I know a few people who run that set up! And sure its nice to have 200s as surrounds but I run M30s (100s) and have no desire to upgrade to the larger speaker--but I'd NEVER downgrade my system from the CS2(20) to a CS1(10)--much more important than having another speaker in your surrounds IMO.

Just set all your speakers to small. And turn up your SUB! That'll take care of most things.

cnh

Kings County

so far this is what I have going...

Center - CS20
Floorstanding - tsi300's
sides - tsi200's
surround - rm 101's
receiver - I've decided to go with the 607

Are the rm101's worth even getting? I havent heard anything on them, but I could get the pair for around 50.

I figure might as well go with the tsi 200's since im going with the 300's and saving like $105 on that.

plus I could always just use the 300's in my room and upgrade later. For right now I think thats a pretty decent set up. Now I just have to worry about how to connect all this lol, hopefully I can get some pointers on the other board.

wutadumsn23

Connections wil be a snap, don't even sweat that. Onkyo's come with very good instruction manuals and a very simple to read "quick setup guide" Everything is very well marked on the back of the receiver and color coded as well. Sounds like a pretty decent starter setup, and don't worry before long those 300's will turn into M70's and the surrounds will become Monitor 40's etc. lol. As for the rm 101's do you have room for a well setup 7.1? A well setup 5.1 will sound better than a cramped up 7.1 anyday IMO. If your room size doesn't accomidate a properly setup 7.1, I would just stick with the 5.1 and worry about 7,1 later. Upgrade bug bites early and often here. May want to invest in some speaker wire, since your setup ins't going to come with it, you will get plenty of feedback on speaker wire so I am going to stay out of that one, lol. Also are you planning on running HDMI? What type of TV do you have, is it HD? Just wondering as for your cable requirements and what not.

Kings County

Well I'm a actually going to go with the Panasonic Plasma TCP42S1

but yea as for the room dimensions, I dont even know, since I'm just buying this set up for where ever I move in to. But I figure if the room isnt big enough for a 7.1 I can use the rm 101's as the surrounds on my bed room, and just buy 400's, move the 300's to the bedroom and go with another cs 20 once I choose to add a bedroom set up... all depends

I haven't heard anything about the rm101's, I dont expect them to be amazing given the price, but are they substantial for a decent pair of surrounds?

Crown7

I saw ur handle, and I assumed you were from New York...I have the 606, and yes its nice, a godd beginner receiver, I'm along the same line like you. I was going to get the Tsi's but then I saw a deal on the RTI's and jumped on those. After listening to my setup for the last 3 weeks, I can see where fellow polkies would say that more power would make em sing...I'm starting to get the pre-amp itch, but I have a long way to go before I did that. I'm starting to hear the differences in the sound and 90 watts is no problem for the tsi's or whatever you put to them..but I get the feeling we can go deeper, deeper in the wattags dept. Good luck in texas!

Kings County

Thanks!

Yea I'll have to find out how to add more power, from what I hear I can't connect an amp to this receiver, hopefully there is some way. I wish I knew more about this, I guess I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

As far as the set up goes, I decided on going with the tsi400's tsi200's the cs 20 and the rm101's for surround. Now the sub, I'm getting the PSW125. Is that a good enough sub for this set up? I mean I have hear mixed things, some say it's good, some say its not powerful enough, what would the next step up be?

I may be getting a ride up to Texas which means ill save on shipping, which means i may be able to spend a lil more on the sub or maybe even step it up to the txsr706 and leave the speakers how they are.

wutadumsn23

I have a PSW125 that I use in my humble setup and it works very well. I haven't heard or used anything else besides my onld Onkyo HTIB sub that I had before this one and the diff. was night and day. I admit it isn't the best sub in the world or even Polk's best sub, but for what I paid for it and what I use it for it works very well. Sometimes too well, the other day I was wathching a movie late at night and had to turn it off and let my 70's take over because it was too much for that late at night. Don't sweat the 125, it is a good starter sub and if you are on a budget like me you can't go out and spend $600 on a "real" sub. For the speakers you have it will work well, IMO. If you are still going with the 607, you won't be able to add an external amp to that receiver, if you go with the 706 you will be able to since it has pre-outs. Good luck.

Kings County

Yea I'm going with 706, already have my eyes set on an amp I might get. Hopefully the price of the 706 drops, I can get it for $540 now, I really hope it drops to under 500 by the time I get it in september

Rodeo0530

If you're patient you'll find a 706 for cheaper than $540. I've seen 706's go for under $500 easily and I've also seen 805 and 806's under the $540 range. Just keep checking CL or use www.craigslittlebuddy.com to find some steals/deals sometimes. It's so hard to be patient though!

Kings County

Well I wanna get this from an authorized dealer rather than ebay/craigslist. I'm sure I can get it for less than $540 used or from ebay and what not but I rather buy it new.