Home Theater Setup

gvatty

I have R50 as my mains now. I want to get Polk Monitor 50s or 60s. Is the M50 better than the R50? Is the M60 better than the R50? I'm going to use the "inferior" as the new surrounds. Are Polk Monitor 40 speakers overkill for back surround speakers? Are Monitor 30's good enough? (it only saves me $50) I have an Onkyo 804 receiver and a Klipsch Synergy Sub-10 as my other components. I'm replacing Sony cube HTIB speakers as back surrounds. I just have an apartment 15' x 18' x 8' space. The system will be used 95% of the time for home theater.

wutadumsn23

I am not familiar with the R50's so I will leave them to the real experts. I do, however, own Monitor's all be it Monitor 70's but they are in the same food chain as the 50's and 60's. You don't have a huge room to fill, but I would recommend the 60's, for the prices they can be had for they can't be beat IMO. Newegg had a sale on them a few weeks ago and they often have them on sale there so I would keep an eye on them there. Right now they are $150 ea. with free shipping, link below. As for your surrounds the 40's will not be overkill, I have them and they work great. Only problem with them is they are huge and are not wall mountable like the 30's (lack the keyhole slots) but can be put on stands/shelves easily enough. The 804 is a pretty solid unit and has pre-outs as well so you will be able to add an external amp in the future if you wanted to. My room isn't much bigger than yours and I run Monitor 70's, CS2, and Monitor 40's with an Onkyo TX-SR806. Are you trying to run 7.1 or 5.1? In your room I think a properly placed 5.1 would out perform a cramped 7.1 if you were looking to move the "losing speakers" to surround duty. The extra $50 is worth it to have the 40's IMO. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290017 link to the 60's at the Egg

kawizx9r

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

I am not familiar with the R50's so I will leave them to the real experts. I do, however, own Monitor's all be it Monitor 70's but they are in the same food chain as the 50's and 60's. You don't have a huge room to fill, but I would recommend the 60's, for the prices they can be had for they can't be beat IMO. Newegg had a sale on them a few weeks ago and they often have them on sale there so I would keep an eye on them there. Right now they are $150 ea. with free shipping, link below. As for your surrounds the 40's will not be overkill, I have them and they work great. Only problem with them is they are huge and are not wall mountable like the 30's (lack the keyhole slots) but can be put on stands/shelves easily enough. The 804 is a pretty solid unit and has pre-outs as well so you will be able to add an external amp in the future if you wanted to. My room isn't much bigger than yours and I run Monitor 70's, CS2, and Monitor 40's with an Onkyo TX-SR806. Are you trying to run 7.1 or 5.1? In your room I think a properly placed 5.1 would out perform a cramped 7.1 if you were looking to move the "losing speakers" to surround duty. The extra $50 is worth it to have the 40's IMO. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290017 link to the 60's at the Egg

+1
Youd be surprised to find alot more happy monitor owners than you thought you would. How much are you really looking to spend just on a pair or the entire setup? You can go slowly such as, pick up a pair of fronts if and when you can score a deal while theyre still hot. Move the R50's to the rear for surround duty and go on taking it a step at a time picking and replacing said-components. Just my .02

Btw Welcome to Club Polk the forum that'll drain your wallet!

concealer404

I'd grab some M70s for the front, move the R50s to the rear.

I thoroughly enjoyed my R50s, that being said...

wutadumsn23

If you do go down the road to the 70's they can be had for $229.99 at the Egg, free shipping. You will not be dissapointed, as kawi (Frank I think, I am terrible with names) said depends on your budget and what you are looking for in the end. From what I have read and cnh (I think) has said, big diff. between the 60's and 70's in overall sound. Give us a budget and maybe we can help a little better. Either way you go, 60's or 70's the CS2 is a must for your center, don't skimp on that one.

-Jeff

kawizx9r

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

If you do go down the road to the 70's they can be had for $229.99 at the Egg, free shipping. You will not be dissapointed, as kawi (Frank I think, I am terrible with names) said depends on your budget and what you are looking for in the end. From what I have read and cnh (I think) has said, big diff. between the 60's and 70's in overall sound. Give us a budget and maybe we can help a little better. Either way you go, 60's or 70's the CS2 is a must for your center, don't skimp on that one.

-Jeff

Freddy but A for effort. By the way are speakers the only thing youre currently replacing? And I'll agree on the CS2, alot of people here picked up the CS1 keeping a tighter budget just to find themselves upgrading to the CS2 a few months down the road. Don't skimp out on this, it's your most important speaker imo.

gvatty

Thanks for the quick replies. Today I could get the m50s and M40s. Or I could just get the M40s today wait 30 or 60 days and pick up the M60s. Or I could wait a little longer and pick up the M70s. Are the M50s better than the R50's? Are the M60's that much better than the M50's or should I wait for the M70s? I do have the CS2 as my center now.

wutadumsn23

kawizx9r wrote: »

Freddy but A for effort. By the way are speakers the only thing youre currently replacing? And I'll agree on the CS2, alot of people here picked up the CS1 keeping a tighter budget just to find themselves upgrading to the CS2 a few months down the road. Don't skimp out on this, it's your most important speaker imo.

Damn, I was close. Atleast I had the F right, lol. I agree on the center being themost important speaker, it carries something like 70% of the load in the audio track.

kawizx9r

gvatty wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies. Today I could get the m50s and M40s. Or I could just get the M40s today wait 30 or 60 days and pick up the M60s. Or I could wait a little longer and pick up the M70s. Are the M50s better than the R50's? Are the M60's that much better than the M50's or should I wait for the M70s?

I wouldn't rush it to be honest, unless you don't mind having an extra set of speakers because sooner or later I could see yourself looking at monitor 60's/70's then moving the 40's/50's to the rear and not even using your r50's.....unless youve got 7.1 but then again I wouldnt use that myself unless I had a fairly large room.

wutadumsn23

gvatty wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies. Today I could get the m50s and M40s. Or I could just get the M40s today wait 30 or 60 days and pick up the M60s. Or I could wait a little longer and pick up the M70s. Are the M50s better than the R50's? Are the M60's that much better than the M50's or should I wait for the M70s?

All I know is the 70's will knock your socks off. I haven't heard the 60's or the 50's but bigger is better right, and they don't get any bigger than the 70's in the Monitor line. Maybe not much of a diff. between the 50's and the 60's but I would have to say a pretty noticable diff. between them and the 70's. I would get the 40's now if you can get them at a good price, because they will end up being your best bet for surrounds in either scenario. If you can get a listen on the 50's see if you like them, just don't ever listen to the 70's and you will be fine, lol. As Freddy said, take your time and do it right the first time, all depends on your budget and what you are happy with.

-Jeff

gvatty

Thanks again. I'm thinking about the M60's or M70's as the mains, moving the R50 to be the surrounds and the M40s as the back surrounds.

wutadumsn23

Also forgot to link the CS2, it can be had for $149.99 at the Egg, free shipping.

-Jeff

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290024

kawizx9r

If not you can always pick up BLOSE, they can be had for cheap and no one really wants them lol....thats for another thread anyway

wutadumsn23

kawizx9r wrote: »

If not you can always pick up BLOSE, they can be had for cheap and no one really wants them lol....thats for another thread anyway

LOL, found a listing last night for BLOSE Lifestyle 25 series II w/ stands for $800, needless to say it is about the third listing and third price drop, lol. He started out at like $1200 I think. Tricky guy put Polk as one of his hit words, lol.

gvatty

Thanks Jeff. I have the CS2 now, with my R50 mains, Sony SS-MF550H as my surrounds and Sony cube HTIB back surrounds and a Klipsch Synergy sub10 subwoofer.

wutadumsn23

gvatty wrote: »

Thanks Jeff. I have the CS2 now, with my R50 mains, Sony SS-MF550H as my surrounds and Sony cube HTIB back surrounds and a Klipsch Synergy sub10 subwoofer.

Oh ok, cool. Must have missed that, lol.

kawizx9r

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

LOL, found a listing last night for BLOSE Lifestyle 25 series II w/ stands for $800, needless to say it is about the third listing and third price drop, lol. He started out at like $1200 I think. Tricky guy put Polk as one of his hit words, lol.

JERK haha, I've found several crappy items when typing in denon, polk and such for my keywords. I even get these stupid HTIB's even "AUDIOPHILE QUALITY"

concealer404

I'd just save for a set of M70s and run those as your mains, and put the R50s in the back. If you're satisfied, keep 'em. If you're not, replace with M50s maybe.

If that were me, that is.

mystik610

I had the R50's for about 6 months, which I upgraded to the TSi300's (the update the monitor 50). I had the TSi300's for about a month.

The Monitor/TSi line is a definite upgrade from the R50's. They're a lot more detailed at the highs, and image much better than the R50's. While the R50's have more mid-bass presence, they always sounded muddy as hell to me. The lack of imaging and inability to produce details without getting overbearingly loud doesn't make them very good rear speakers IMO.

Sell the R50's on craigs list and you should have enough to get a pair of Monitor 30's.

RandyBox

It would be a great time for Newegg to drop the 70's back down to $179... Been a while so maybe you should subscribe to the email promotions and watch for a coupon if you're going to be waiting anyway...

BTW, I have the 70's as fronts and 40's ($129 pr.) as rears. Love them!!!

Regards,
Randy

polkanddie

That reminds me, I really wish I hadnt sold my R50s, they really would make good rears...so sad.