Getting the most out of my Monitor 70's

jleonard711

I just got a whole new Polk 7-speaker setup (M70's in front, CS2 center, 4 x M30's surrounds), and I'm extrememly happy with them except for one thing - I hardly get any bass from my M70's. Before buying them I read comments from people who said the bass is so good from the M70's that some felt they didn't even need a subwoofer, but I'm not getting that at all. I have played around with every setting on my amp, but they just don't seem to have any bass no matter what I do. I do have 2 subs so it's not an issue when I have those running, but there are times when I like to listen to music in 2ch direct mode with just my fronts and that is when I miss the bass. I have an Onkyo SR607 and I have my front speakers set to FULL with the bass setting at +6 (above that the sound gets really muddy). What gives? I do have them in a fairly large room (~4,000cu ft, 15x22x12), so I'm wondering if I just don't have enough power driving these things to get the punch that I'm looking for? Any suggestions?

krauley

i dont have a reply as to how to get more from your 70's but right now im listening to mine and the bass is just wonderful. hopefully you will sort it out but i feel these speakers are truely good speakers especially for the price. good luck

curved

jleonard711 wrote: »

I just got a whole new Polk 7-speaker setup (M70's in front, CS2 center, 4 x M30's surrounds), and I'm extrememly happy with them except for one thing - I hardly get any bass from my M70's. Before buying them I read comments from people who said the bass is so good from the M70's that some felt they didn't even need a subwoofer, but I'm not getting that at all. I have played around with every setting on my amp, but they just don't seem to have any bass no matter what I do. I do have 2 subs so it's not an issue when I have those running, but there are times when I like to listen to music in 2ch direct mode with just my fronts and that is when I miss the bass. I have an Onkyo SR607 and I have my front speakers set to FULL with the bass setting at +6 (above that the sound gets really muddy). What gives? I do have them in a fairly large room (~4,000cu ft, 15x22x12), so I'm wondering if I just don't have enough power driving these things to get the punch that I'm looking for? Any suggestions?

Get an external amp.:D

concealer404

You aren't feeding them enough power. Unfortunately, your receiver also doesn't have pre-outs.

tonyb

Do you have a sub in the mix ? If so,what are they crossed over at? The receiver should power them fine. Make sure your speaker connections are correct and no plastic coating from the cables are stuck inside the binding posts at either end.

Upstatemax

It's all in the power...

An Onkyo SR607 is never going to provide them with the power they need to sing loud and hit hard.

My Denon 2808 powers my Monitor 70's pretty well and it still eats at me that I know there is A LOT more of this speaker than I have yet to open up... Without external amplification to open them up, that's the best your going to do.

curved

tonyb wrote: »

Do you have a sub in the mix ? If so,what are they crossed over at? The receiver should power them fine. Make sure your speaker connections are correct and no plastic coating from the cables are stuck inside the binding posts at either end.

That will power it fine at low to mid-levels. Upstate said if perfect - if you're looking to get more punch, better soundstage etc, get an external.

wutadumsn23

curved wrote: »

That will power it fine at low to mid-levels. Upstate said if perfect - if you're looking to get more punch, better soundstage etc, get an external.

+1, but unfortunately your AVR doesn't have pre-outs so if you wanted to add one you would have to step up to the SR 7XX series from Onkyo. I heard my 70's in 2 ch. mode a few weeks ago and they were like a whole new speaker.

-Jeff

cnh

POWER....is the key to 'more' bass from 70s. Firstly, the Onkyo 604 (I had one a while back is actually a bit more powerful than a 607 even though they're both rated 90w/channel.

I've run my M70s on a 600 series and on an 805 (130w/channel, 50.9lbs--almost twice the weight of a 607?)....Better BASS!

Add an Adcom GFA-555 power amp to the Onkyo and the 70s take another step up!

Add a good pre-amp, tube buffer and a first class CD/SACD player with upscale DACs....just bumped yourself up another notch--time for new speakers!

Now having said that. The M70s will not put out as much bass as a 1000 dollar 500 watt sub. They put out a nice 'tight' bass down to about 40hz--but probably more like low 40s, maybe even 45hz. It is punchy and authoritative but not HT LFE bass!

cnh

polknewby

+1 cnh, I have the 70s and have an avr w/o preouts as well ..have my crossover set to 80 on my avr w/ the rest sent to my psw505..bass is pretty good out of the 70s but can tell they could use more power..but for my room size currently sound good...good luck with them..also what size wire are you running?

tonyb

curved wrote: »

That will power it fine at low to mid-levels. Upstate said if perfect - if you're looking to get more punch, better soundstage etc, get an external.

That goes without sayin'....but as noted,he doesn't have pre-outs. A new avr and an amp maybe more than the dudes willing to throw out there. This is why I have always said when shopping for an avr, number one on the options list is pre-outs.

Regardless, my comments are on the assumption he wants to work with what he has, but if he has the coin,then hell yes,amp 'em up baby.

jleonard711

What sucks is I actually just bought a new receiver as part of this whole package, and I didn't even pay attention to the fact that it didn't have pre-outs because I have never used an external amp and never thought I'd need one. I do have a SpeakerCraft 7ch amp with line-level inputs, which I believe is rated at 150w/ch - could I use that to boost the power to my whole system?

And someone asked if I have a sub, and the answer is yes I have two. I'm definitely not lacking in the bass deparment when I have the subs running, it's when I have them off (such as in 2ch or "direct" mode) that I feel I need more bass from my M70's.

wutadumsn23

tonyb wrote: »

That goes without sayin'....but as noted,he doesn't have pre-outs. A new avr and an amp maybe more than the dudes willing to throw out there. This is why I have always said when shopping for an avr, number one on the options list is pre-outs.

Regardless, my comments are on the assumption he wants to work with what he has, but if he has the coin,then hell yes,amp 'em up baby.

That is usually my first suggestion when giving advice on AVR shopping as well, you may not know it at the time, but 9 times out of ten an external amp always makes it onto your wish list and an AVR without pre outs makes it impossible to do that.Like I said earlier, if you want more bass for those 70's an upgrade of your AVR will be the first thing you need to do, then add an external amp. Otherwise you are stuck where you are at.

-Jeff

jleonard711

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

That is usually my first suggestion when giving advice on AVR shopping as well, you may not know it at the time, but 9 times out of ten an external amp always makes it onto your wish list and an AVR without pre outs makes it impossible to do that.Like I said earlier, if you want more bass for those 70's an upgrade of your AVR will be the first thing you need to do, then add an external amp. Otherwise you are stuck where you are at.

-Jeff

Woulnd't my SpeakerCraft amp work? It has 8 discreet line-level inputs, and the output is 130w/ch (I said 150 earlier, but I checked and it's just 130/ch). Would that give me any better sound than the 90w/ch directly from my receiver? Or does an amp with line-level inputs not sound as good as one with input from a pre-out? I guess I can just give it a shot and see how it sounds.

sandworms

may be a dumb question but are your binding post tabs in place, are you getting any sound from the woofers? I have my 70's hooked up to an onk 705 and they sound fabulous ( no sub )

michael1947

In response to the question of the m70's I too have some questions. My m70's are still in the boxes awaiting finishing of my new room. On the additional amp why is it needed...will it only create more volume? I am hooking up my new system to a Pioneer 8020 with a pre out for the sub, a micro-pro 1200 wt 8"er and a pre out for the mains, where I intend to use the M70's. Would I run my pre out to my old Kenwood basic m1 and from the kenwood to the M70's and run a line from the speaker terminals from the pioneer 8020 also to the M70's on the additional speaker hook-up. ?? I will be using cs2's as rears and a spliced up center containing a pair of monitor 40's and an additional cs2. Would I also bi-amp the center threesome with another old Kenwood M1 and if so which pre-out would I use or would I hook up some daisy chain affair.....and which sound would I hear, the warm sound of the old Kenwoods or the new sound of the Pioneer (still in the wrapper) or is all of this sound of old and new amp power just subjective nonsence. thanks, michael

dnoyeB

Monitor 70s take 250W I believe. You will need probably 150W before they start pounding devilishly. I'm bi-amping mine. My amp is 100W per ch, and 100W was not enough for 1 Monitor 70.

m1aman

My Pioneer SX-950 puts out 85 wpc I believe. It will rattle the walls just fine. In fact I never go past about 40 percent.

Regalscenter7

yess bi amp them if possible. if not, use a line level input on one of your subs. i actually have mine daisy chained (2 psw505) sounds awesomee. ill post some pics if someone wants me to. but im not pullin my rig out unless someone wants me to ha

mystik610

michael1947 wrote: »

In response to the question of the m70's I too have some questions. My m70's are still in the boxes awaiting finishing of my new room. On the additional amp why is it needed...will it only create more volume? I am hooking up my new system to a Pioneer 8020 with a pre out for the sub, a micro-pro 1200 wt 8"er and a pre out for the mains, where I intend to use the M70's. Would I run my pre out to my old Kenwood basic m1 and from the kenwood to the M70's and run a line from the speaker terminals from the pioneer 8020 also to the M70's on the additional speaker hook-up. ?? I will be using cs2's as rears and a spliced up center containing a pair of monitor 40's and an additional cs2. Would I also bi-amp the center threesome with another old Kenwood M1 and if so which pre-out would I use or would I hook up some daisy chain affair.....and which sound would I hear, the warm sound of the old Kenwoods or the new sound of the Pioneer (still in the wrapper) or is all of this sound of old and new amp power just subjective nonsence. thanks, michael

It has less to do with 'volume' and more with presence, dynamic range, and sound quality. The monitor series is a more 'mass market' type series, and as such is designed to be driven by even the most modest AVR's (being 8 Ohms and all). Speaking purely in terms of volume, most receivers should be able to take even the Monitor 70's up to reference levels without any issues. It will take quite a bit more power, however, to really get the woofers moving, and the tone of the speaker will favor the mid-range drivers and tweets. Think about how much current even a modest subwoofer needs to fill a room with bass frequencies, put that in perspective, and you can see why a lot of people complain about how the Monitor 70s, despite being a full-range speaker, lack any bass impact when being driven off an AVR.