Help adding Speakers to a Pair of Monitor 60s

Justin30

Hi,

I listen to mostly music and very little HT. I purchased a pair of Monitor 60s. The speakers are hooked into a Haman Kardon 3490 receiver. The receiver/amp pushes 120 watts a channel.

The HK is able to drive two pairs of speakers and two subwoofers. I listen to a lot of Jazz, but enjoy Rock, Country, Blues and some Classical. I have noticed that the Monitor 60 do not seem to do as well with rock, especially the tweeters. They seem to wash out with some Rock, but with acoustic style music, the speakers appear to do well and it seems to be their forte.

I am looking for more presence in my music. The speakers sound good but there does not seem to be a sense of the musicians in the room. I think the speakers may be missing some of the mid range. I am satisfied with the bass from the speakers. I could just be expecting a lot from the speakers. I think for the price that they are an excellent deal.

I was thinking about adding a pair of bookshelf speakers to add to the Monitor 60s. Would adding a pair of Monitor 40s give me more presence and a better sound stage? I was also looking at some of the other bookshelf speakers by Polk. I do not think the wife will go for two sets of tower speakers, so I was looking at bookshelf speakers instead of tower.

Perhaps, I should upgrade the speakers to another set of Polk tower. I know that sometimes you can get deals on refurbished speakers

I am on a limited budget, so I am trying to tweak as much sound out of my system as possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

Justin

mopar paul

I wouldn't add another pair os speakers to the mix, you'll wind up with all sorts of issues like crosstalk, mixed imaging etc., not to mention your ohm loading. Sell what you have and step up to something better if your not happy, but a bandaid solution will not make you happy in the end. There are a lot of used speakers out there that are a steal right now given the economy.

nguyendot

More is not always better. Try tweaking other things like placement, wiring, room treatments first.

Justin30

I have tried everything with the speakers. I used a heavier gauge speaker wire and moved them around the room. I tried bi-wiring them. I really did not like them bi-wired.


I think you might be right about looking for another set of speakers used. I may just try to save up some money and upgrade them. I purchased them for 109.00 a piece, so I could still sell them without much loss.

I have wondered about SVS floor speakers but would have to sell a couple of things to pay for them.

The problem is that I live in a small town and really am far away from big cities. I live in central PA, so I am very limited to my choices.

Is there any other tower speakers that would be great for music under a 1000.00 for a pair? I really value clarity and sound stage. I am looking for a natural sounding speaker.

Justin

nguyendot

Natural? That would be B&W. They aren't bright in any areas...but expensive.

Give Klipsch a go if you want..but I do like Polk quite a bit. Try some RTIA7's then.

keeneyrm01

You might like the Polk RTiA7's.

Justin30

It sounds like the RTi7 have a warmer sound from some of the reviews that I've read. This may be a good option to look at.

Has anyone compared the sound of the monitor 60 to the Rti 7? Would it be that much of a step up in quality from the Monitor 60 to warrant the price?

keeneyrm01

I did a direct compare between the Monitor 60 and RTi A5 and liked the A5 a little bit better but not much. I think going up to the A7 would be a pretty good jump in quality but the M60 is hard to beat for the price.

wutadumsn23

+1, if you have tried everything with the 60's then sell them and move up the chain. Adding another set of speakers up front won't solve your problem. The LSi 7's or 9's would be an incrediable upgrade for music, but def. not budget friendly. Your AVR would have a hard time powering them to potential as they are 4 ohm speakers, and you would have to add an amp to bring them to life. Also, the lack of pre outs on the HK would require an upgrade of your AVR as well to be able to run the amp. Look into the RTiA7's, they will probably be your best bet, but keep in mind that your source is going to be the determining factor in how they sound, the more power you can give those speakers, the better they will sound. Again, bringing in the lack of pre outs on the AVR and external amp problem, lol. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

-Jeff

dorokusai

How this thread segways into spend money recommendations, without trying to talk about the problem, kinda boggles me. No offense to the original response but the rest of this is a reply to a reply....not so much the original problem. Or am I reading this wrong?

1 - It's not a speaker wire issue unless you wired something incorrectly...which I doubt given the issue. You should always do the simple checks first.

Was it awesome before and not now? You upgraded to better loudspeakers right? Have you calibrated your system? It wouldn't suprise me if you changed loudspeakers and heard a shift in soundstage.

I'd like to know....and so should the rest of the Polkies.

wutadumsn23

I was just giving him another route to travel Mark, it seemed he did everything he could to get the 60's up and running and wasn't happy with their performance. I know that I would try everything possible to make something sound good and not have to spend more money, lol. Without pre outs on his AVR though, he is kinda limited in getting more/better sound out of his 60's. If he had them, I would tell him to add an external amp and be done with it, lol. In the end it is up to him, hopefully he gets it right and is happy with the result, whatever it may be.

-Jeff

dorokusai

Jeff - Don't get me wrong, the help is awesome....some older members might actually learn something about that and try to contribute more often.

As efficient as that particular loudspeaker is, the external amplifier suggestion is a bit much for me....hey it's just an opinion. For me, I'd like to know a bit more about the big picture and not suggest something otherwise.

Kudos to the Polkies in here and I'm sure the answer will end up being pretty simple....or we'll send him to court and he can explain all this to a judge

wutadumsn23

dorokusai wrote: »

As efficient as that particular loudspeaker is, the external amplifier suggestion is a bit much for me....hey it's just an opinion. For me, I'd like to know a bit more about the big picture and not suggest something otherwise.

Very true Mark, being pretty limited in my experience the external amp was my first thought, but there are so many other things that could be tweaked before dropping cash on something that may not be needed. I know my Monitor 70's have never seen any power besides what my 806 sends to them and they sound awesome.

-Jeff

dorokusai

Take it from me, stick with awesome, worry about the stuff that doesn't.

Justin30

Here is the back of my AVR

http://www.webareal.sk/fotky5759/fotos/_vyrp11_41HK3490back.jpg

Here are the specs on the receiver
http://stereos.about.com/od/stereoreceiverreviews/fr/HK3490_2.htm

The HK 3490 has a lot of power. It has more power than the speakers really can handle. I can not turn them all the way up and would not do it anyway. I am probably using half the volume at most. One of the reasons I bought an HK was for clean power and clarity of the amp.

When I biwired the speakers I noticed an increase in the bass response. The highs were separated but the middle was flat. It just did not have a good sound to them with biwiring. I have played guitar and piano, although I am not a great musician by any standard, but I do have an ear for music. The monitor seem to have a very bright tone. I have had them for about a month now and played them everyday.

The M60s seem to really shine when watching movies.

I am not saying that the speakers are horrible or sound bad. They sound good and for the price I could not imagine getting the same sounding speaker from any another company for the price. I could be expecting a lot out of the speakers, especially for the price.

I am looking for a more realistic sound out of my speakers. The speakers have a more bright tone and I'm looking for a more warm natural tone. It is hard to describe and I know that the sound of a speaker is subjective and unique to each person.

I have the receiver setup to an HK DVD 48 player and also to my network. I am using the digital coaxial cable for the cd player and an optical cable for my FLAC, MP3s, and Radio files from the computer.

The room is carpeted and is roughly 20 x 17. It is not a sealed room but is opens to my kitchen.

I am thinking about taking my receiver and putting it in a smaller room with the speakers and see if I get any improvement in a smaller room. Perhaps the room is too big for the speakers. The speakers will still vibrate the rooms glass with the amp turned up to a little before half, so this may not be the problem.

I am open to suggestions. Maybe a good sub will fill any some of the missing sound. I do wonder about the treble on Rock. It just does not seem to have the same clarity and washes out. The treble with most Jazz music does not wash out, so it is not a problem with the speaker.