First time Polkie

shinewald

Hi guys,
I have been reading you all for some time and now need your help. My room is aobut 20' long by 16' wide with 9' ceilings. I am in the process of setting up my HT. I have been looking at different front towers have narrowed down between the RTIA5's, RTIA7's or the RTI10's. due to space, I can only use the CSIA4 centre speaker. I will be getting a sub as well. I saw the PSW125 and it is a monster in size so I am now thinking perhaps the DSW pro 500 as it is a little smaller. Can anyone please help me out with some advice on which would be a good mix?

packetjones

Welcome to the club.

i have the A5's and the A4 center. I like them quite a bit. I also have the psw110 and am currently looking to upgrade it. If you select the A5's you will want to get a good sub to go with them. What AVR are you going to use? If you have not decided yet I would make sure that i get one with pre-outs so you can add an amp later if you want/need to.

MANSKITO

shinewald wrote: »

Hi guys,
I have been reading you all for some time and now need your help. My room is aobut 20' long by 16' wide with 9' ceilings. I am in the process of setting up my HT. I have been looking at different front towers have narrowed down between the RTIA5's, RTIA7's or the RTI10's. due to space, I can only use the CSIA4 centre speaker. I will be getting a sub as well. I saw the PSW125 and it is a monster in size so I am now thinking perhaps the DSW pro 500 as it is a little smaller. Can anyone please help me out with some advice on which would be a good mix?

If your going to get a Polk sub Don't buy from the PSW line, I know some people have had good luck with them but I'm not a fan. If your budget limits you to the PSW line of woofers try another brand maybe for bang for your buck subs

The DSWpro line or better yet the MicroPro line are solid choices. The 500 is smaller and IMO will out preform the 125 any day of the weak.

As for speakers a lot of that depends on what you plan to power them with, what AVR/amp are you planing on using?

hearingimpared

Welcome to Club Polk shinewald!

wutadumsn23

MANSKITO wrote: »

If your going to get a Polk sub Don't buy from the PSW line, I know some people have had good luck with them but I'm not a fan.

Finally, something I can disagree with you on Manskito!! I knew this day would come, lol. While I admit that the PSW series is not Polks premier sub line, I have the PSW125 and IMHO, it is a very good sub for the price. Also, the 505 has had nothing but rave reviews, and for $250 shipped, it is hard to beat. While I will admit the DSW series is better, I am in no way shape or form regretting my purchase. If affordability is an issue, IMHO you won't be dissapointed by the PSW series subs. Welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

ben62670

Welcome to club Polk!

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk....PSW125 is not a bad sub....it does not chuff and vibrate its port wildly, like a PSW10. PSW 505--even better! DSW 600 still better. Look at your 'budget' and decide....

Enjoy your Rtis...good HT!

cnh

shinewald

thanks for the advice. I have not bought my receiver yet but am looking between teh yamaha 6250b, denon avr790 or the pioneer vsx1019ahk. anyone that I should lean towards?
If I select the A7's should i be worried about the A4 ctr? also any issues with too much base with the A7's and a good sub? I have heard that sometims the base can cancel each other out. I will be using this for 95% HT.

sageleo

I would look for a pioneer 9040txh, 1080p, hdmi, and the all so important pre outs just incase you want to add more power down the line.

MANSKITO

shinewald wrote: »

thanks for the advice. I have not bought my receiver yet but am looking between teh yamaha 6250b, denon avr790 or the pioneer vsx1019ahk. anyone that I should lean towards?
If I select the A7's should i be worried about the A4 ctr? also any issues with too much base with the A7's and a good sub? I have heard that sometims the base can cancel each other out. I will be using this for 95% HT.

My vote is For a H/K, Pioneer elite, or an Onkyo and to forget the Yamaha. Denon AVRs I can't say I have heard much other then on show room floors if you find a good deal on one you should be fine.

Of all the AVRs that i heard (in my price range) The H/K and Onkyo stand out as better then the rest and the Yamaha and Sony AVRs stand our as worse then the rest. But if i had to pick a brand that is my favorite based on what i have personally heard when it comes to absolute sound quality that would be H/K.

But like others have said make sure your AVR has pre-outs because most likely there will come a day when you will want that feature if your serious about audio.

If your all about HT buy the biggest sub(s) you can afford and have room for. HT is about clarity in details and shock and awe. And IMO big subs do shock and and awe the best. Your speakers should be great picks baring you get an AVR/AMP that has enough CLEAN power for all those drivers.

shinewald

if I am not going to be cranking the volume up unless watching a movie the odd time, wich speakers am I better off with?

MANSKITO

shinewald wrote: »

if I am not going to be cranking the volume up unless watching a movie the odd time, wich speakers am I better off with?

Not about Volume, if you want Pure SPL just buy some MTX boom box of a speaker. Its about absolute sound quality, as a general rule of thumb the bigger and the higher up a product line a speaker is the better it will sound, it may or may not be able to give you higher SPL. With that said really any tower or even a book shelf in the RTI A speaker line is MORE then good enough for what I think you are trying to do. Any of those speakers will fill your room with awesome sound at any listening level that won't cause hearing damage if you have a an AVR/AMP of matching quality.

So the A5s will save you money, but they will be some what worse when it comes to sound quality however if it was me, I would just save the money and put it into a better sub for the reasons of HT.

MANSKITO

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Finally, something I can disagree with you on Manskito!! I knew this day would come, lol. While I admit that the PSW series is not Polks premier sub line, I have the PSW125 and IMHO, it is a very good sub for the price. Also, the 505 has had nothing but rave reviews, and for $250 shipped, it is hard to beat. While I will admit the DSW series is better, I am in no way shape or form regretting my purchase. If affordability is an issue, IMHO you won't be dissapointed by the PSW series subs. Welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

When it comes to subs my PSW10 has let me down time and time again. I love the Polk brand, but at the same time I have no love for the 3 letters PSW. I know the PSW110 and higher up the PSW line are good subs for the money.

But IMO the "for the money" is key in that statement, if you remove the price tag IMO none of the subs in the PSW line are what I would call musical. Great for HT maybe but not music.

They handle electric and percussion bass some what well, but and this to me is a big BUT the moment you try some string bass(or any other bass close to that nature) with them, IMO they produce a sound that is completely alien to the sound that I have associated to strings. Frankly it sounds like crap.

Over all the PSW subs are a good value but IMO you need to look to some other brand (I can't name one because I have limited experience in bang for your buck subs at this price point, but I'm sure others could) or and this is what i believe will produce better results save some more money and take another step up the line if you must have a musical sub, but for HT PSW subs are GREAT.

wutadumsn23

MANSKITO wrote: »

When it comes to subs my PSW10 has let me down time and time again.

Nuff said, lol. The PSW10 is the bottom of the food chain for the PSW series and trust me the 125 and above are very good subs. May not be great for music, but I use mine for 95% HT and it does a very good job in my humble setup. I agree that there are better subs out there, but it was hard to beat for what I paid for it when I got mine.

-Jeff

domflane

I'll have to disagree with Manskito here too. "Worse sound quality" is not how I would describe any tower in the RTiA series, especially if you're talking HT. The A5's are very capable speakers and offer a significant savings over the A7's. The A9's are a different animal altogether now, but I chose the A5's from Polk direct and they sound great. IMO, if you can't fit or afford A9's, go with the 5's and save the extra cash for a sub. Also, don't worry about the CSiA4, I ran a CS10 with my RTiA5's for months until my A6 came and I really had no complaints other than it not matching.

Also, if sub size is an issue I would also stay away from the newer line of PSW's. The older PSW's, like my 650 and the PSW1000 /1200 etc. are great, but the newer ones just don't stack up. Go with DSW or Micropro. Klipsch makes great compact subwoofers too and there's this awesome little gem Bob Carver designed call the Sunfire True Sub that is unmatched in performance for its size. And they're getting pretty reasonable on the used market.

For AVR's I like Harman Kardon too, but they're all I've ever had. I've demoed some others (Onkyo 807, Elite SC series, etc.) but their performance didn't justify the insane price, to me.

Good luck with whatever you choose, you will love it. Welcome to club Polk.

shinewald

Thanks so much for the advice. It is such a big decision for me and I am a newbie at this. I really like the A7's and think I will go with them...pairing them with the A4 ctr and I will look at a good sub. and receiver as well. If anyone has any other tips or advice for me..please speak now.....