PSW-111 and Two M20s - now what?

fouraces

Hi Polkers,

I have recently purchased a pair of M20 speakers and a single 8" sub PSW111. I am looking for recommendations on what to do next.

I would like to go for a 7.1 setup for now for a small home theater room. Some options could be to use m30s or m10 for rear surround - or to even consider using the m20s as rear/surround, and getting something better for the front.

I really want to stay within the M series or comparable - this is not a budgeting concern, but rather a conscious decision to build a low cost modest-sized system. This setup is for the apartment that I stay in when I work in San Francisco, rather than the home I live in down in southern cal. (Think noise sensitive neighbors, and also the potential to pick up and move on short notice.)

Appreciate any thoughts folks might have on side surround, rear surround, and center channels.

I will mostly be playing blurays (off my laptop HDD) over HDMI and Comcast cable (also over HDMI) through my HD projector. And I'll play some music, too, also from my laptop / cd player.

Thanks,
Adam

grimmace19

Ahh, my first speakers were the m20s and from there I bought a cs1 center. I then found a deal on monitor 50s and moved the 20s to the sides.... if you are looking for low budget stuff I'd say the 50's and a cs1 are a step in the right direction. In a small area they sound fine and all 3 speakers would only run you about 270 new from newegg. As per backs with those speakers I would use something relatively small (rm6751, owm3, or something of that nature)

fouraces

thanks Grimmace!

fouraces

grimmace19 wrote: »

Ahh, my first speakers were the m20s and from there I bought a cs1 center. I then found a deal on monitor 50s and moved the 20s to the sides.... if you are looking for low budget stuff I'd say the 50's and a cs1 are a step in the right direction. In a small area they sound fine and all 3 speakers would only run you about 270 new from newegg. As per backs with those speakers I would use something relatively small (rm6751, owm3, or something of that nature)

I think I am going to get the CS2 since there isn't too much difference in price between it and the CS1.

Any thoughts on maybe m60s or m70s instead of m50 for the fronts, with m20 as sides?

I will probably go with grimmace's recommendation for the rears, after looking at them - unless there are some other ideas for these?

wutadumsn23

Hey four, welcome to Club Polk. I couldn't agree more with your decision to get a CS2, it will have a better chance of keeping up with the larger Monitor's you are thinking of getting. Keep in mind though that it is a pretty big speaker and can be hard to fit in most HT racks, but is def. worth the difference in cost, IMHO. If you have the room I would go for the 70's, they can be had for not much more than the 50's and 60's and are a very good speaker. I have had a set of Monitor 70's for about a year and a half now and I love them. Grim's recommendations are sound, but also look into the Monitor 30's or Monitor 40's as well, I had a set of 40's as my surrounds and they were very good. The 30's are much easier to wall mount, but the 40's can be hung too with a little effort. If not, get a set of stands and call it good. Good luck.

-Jeff

fouraces

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Hey four, welcome to Club Polk. I couldn't agree more with your decision to get a CS2, it will have a better chance of keeping up with the larger Monitor's you are thinking of getting. Keep in mind though that it is a pretty big speaker and can be hard to fit in most HT racks, but is def. worth the difference in cost, IMHO. If you have the room I would go for the 70's, they can be had for not much more than the 50's and 60's and are a very good speaker. I have had a set of Monitor 70's for about a year and a half now and I love them. Grim's recommendations are sound, but also look into the Monitor 30's or Monitor 40's as well, I had a set of 40's as my surrounds and they were very good. The 30's are much easier to wall mount, but the 40's can be hung too with a little effort. If not, get a set of stands and call it good. Good luck.

-Jeff

Thanks, Jeff, I think I'm pretty sold on the monitor 70s.

Just one thing, do you think the M70s and CS2 will be too much front end for the PSW 111 sub, since it is only 8"?

Adam

wutadumsn23

Honestly the 70's do have a lower -3db than the 111 does, but if you set the crossovers on the 70's to 80hz it shouldn't be an issue. I have a PSW125 which has a lower -3db of 34 and it pounds with my 70's set to 80hz.

-Jeff

fouraces

Thanks, Jeff!

wutadumsn23

Anytime man, glad to be able to help.

-Jeff

fouraces

I'm glad to be getting back into Polk Audio. I own whatever were the high end bookshelf speakers that they were selling back in September 2000. Really really heavy wood speakers with the matching center channel and 10" sub. I don't remember the model, but those things are awesome. They're stashed away now down south.

wutadumsn23

Gotta love vintage Polks, haven't heard many myself, but the ones I have heard were awesome. Heard them at a local Seattle mini meet and met some good guys there as well. Oh and won a pair of TSi 500's as well, lol. Link below, the last few pages have the pics. of the meet.

-Jeff

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93249

fouraces

Could start a new thread but - anyone have any thoughts on a receiver to drive all these speakers?

I am a huge denon fan and really want to lean toward the avr2309 or 1910, but I've heard fantastic things about the pioneer elite vsx-21txh and wouldn't mind giving them a chance. Something in the $500-700 range.

wutadumsn23

Either of the Denon's you listed will do a fine job of powering the speakers you have in mind. Obviously the 2309 is the better of the two. Having said that I wouldn't get either one of those if at any time in the future you plan on adding an external amp in the mix. Neither of them have pre outs needed for adding an amp, and even if you don't want one now, if you hang around here long enough, you will end up wanting one, lol. Pre outs are a very nice feature to have, and make your AVR very future proof. Deciding you want an amp down the road with an AVR that doesn't have pre-outs, will require you to buy a new AVR as well, and that will get pricey. The Pioneer you listed does have pre outs, and from what I have heard, the Elites are an amazing unit. I don't have any experience with them myself, but it seems anyone who has one or has heard one, is very quick to recommend it. I myself am an Onkyo man, and I would recommend them all day. I have a TX-SR806 which is a fantastic unit, but does lack a few options that previous models had. If you wanted to look into Onkyo I would look into units like the TX-SR706. TX-SR805, TX-SR806, and the newer NR series. Most will be in or around your budget, and you can sometimes get lucky in the used market. Good luck.

-Jeff

over50

Newegg has march madness monitor60 @119.00 free shipping
promo code EMCYPNP67. i have the cs2 and i`m really happy with the sound. the only negitive is the size, its kind of big.

wutadumsn23

Yeah, I posted that in the Deals of the day thread, IMHO, the 70's are worth every penny though. That is a killer deal on the 60's though. Also, that CS2 is a bit beefy, but alos worth every penny.

-Jeff

fouraces

Cool. I got two cherry monitor 70 and the cherry cs2 from newegg.

wutadumsn23

Awesome man, for the prices they can be had for these days, the Monitors are hard to beat. Get yourself a sub and some surrounds and you are in business.

-Jeff

fouraces

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Awesome man, for the prices they can be had for these days, the Monitors are hard to beat. Get yourself a sub and some surrounds and you are in business.

-Jeff

And I got the Pioneer vsx-9040TXH receiver. I really looked hard at the Onkyo (forget the model #, but it was the best-priced one with LAN networking) but it was too much money. I went with your recommendation of getting something with preouts (which put Denon out of my price range as their least expensive receiver with preouts is $1000.)

Should I put the M20s on the side, or in back? Any thoughts on what to get for the back, should I put m20 on the side? Or vice versa?

Adam

fouraces

And I got the Square Trade 3 yr warranty for my new Pioneer. They are supposed to have a good warranty and cover anything that is not accidental. I got out way cheaper than if I had bought the Pio Elite 21, because Pioneer does not cover any Elite branded receivers that are purchased online. And that sucker is $700 in the stores.