Upgrading Surrounds

sterling bug

Was planning on upgrading the surrounds down the road but in Circuit City's ad today they have the R15's for $80 for the pair. I think these would blend nicely with my current setup. I am using Bose Model 21 bookshelf speakers as surrounds for now. Seems like a great deal for only $80 bucks.



Front-R50
Center-CSi20
Sub-PSW250
Surrounds-Bose Model 21
DVD Player-Pioneer DV-414
Receiver-Kenwood VR309
TV-Mits 48" 16x9 HDTV upgradeable

VR3

Bag em, get rid of those bose man. Buy em now, dont look back.

dorokusai

That is a good price and they do certainly match your current setup. Pick 'em up honcho

sterling bug

Picked them up tonight. Just finished watching "The Hunt For Red October" special edition, the R15's sounded great. Great movie too, first time I've seen it.

dorokusai

Sterling - Since you seem to have your "R" setup squared away, how about a review of your HT? Let us know what your settings are, and what movies and/or music you have demo'd? I think the forum would benefit from all reviews, and yours is most fit for that series. Just wondering.

Congrat's on your new purchase.

sterling bug

Will work on that review, never done one before but I will give it a shot. Hopefully I will post it tomorrow night, getting a little sleepy. Now that I have the R15's my system consists of all Polk speakers. I now feel complete.

Shizelbs

Sterling,

Congrats. I have a similar system to yours. The only difference being my fronts are R40's. I am really enjoying, as I am sure you are too now. I think we are a rare, or unspoken species of the R series among the RTi, SDA, and LSi junkies. Let us not forget that the R series are still very enjoyable.

Glad to hear that you went with Polk to complete the surround. I felt a lot better once I did it too. Have fun watching movies for a while.

sterling bug

Thanks Shizelbs. The R series is a very nice line of speakers, especially for the price. I'm glad I went with them.
I am going to give this review thing a shot so here goes nothin. First off I will give the equipment that makes up my home theater.
Mitsubishi 48" 16x9 HDTV upgradeable, Pioneer DVD player DV-414, Kenwood AVR VR-309, and Sony CD player CDP-211. Now for the wonderful Polk speakers. Fronts-R50, Center-CSi20, Subwoofer-PSW250, Surrounds-R15. Before I list the settings on my receiver I first must mention that Dr. Spec helped me immensely with my setup. I thought I was always getting good sound but it could be better. So I posted a thread and Dr. Spec had me change my settings and it was a big improvement. The sound seemed more clear and dynamic. My receiver settings are as follows. Sub=yes, Front=normal, Center=yes, Surrounds=yes, Left channel=0dB, Cch=+1dB, Rch=0dB, Surrounds=0dB, Sub= -3dB. Distance between the t.v. and our seating are is 12ft. I should also point out we live in an apartment so it probably is not the best enviornment for home theater but we do have a spacious living room so its not that bad.
Movies I like to demo are "Attack of the Clones", "The Phantom Menace", "Independence Day", "U-571", "Gladiator", and "LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring". I like to use these because I feel they offer the best audio and video quality.

I still have a lot to learn with home theater and all the technical terms that go with it so this review isn't on the technical side. Thats why I go to this forum because I learn things. As far as the R series goes they are great sounding speakers especially if your on a tight budget. The speakers have a nice blend and clarity. I never have any trouble hearing dialogue with the center speaker as I did sometimes with my old one. The sub has a good bass with settings at low pass 160 and phase at 0.
I upgraded the fronts in November and the surrounds this past Sunday and I don't look back at all. Next on the upgrade list a progressive scan DVD player and new receiver.
This is my first review so hopefully its not too dreadful and for anyone interested in the R series I hope this helps.

dorokusai

Any place where you can enjoy the fruits of your labor is fine Bug. Big room, small room, its you who is happy/unhappy with it.

The R series is Polk's entry level, but I still feel its beyond regular speakers. They perform well, they cost less, and who can beat that?

Simple review, but a review nonetheless. Settings were included and that's cool.

Did you experience any bottoming out? or loss of clarity demo'n those movies?
What impacted you the most in watching them individually?
Did you change any settings mid-way thru the movies?
Have you calibrated w/ Avia(or other) per Dr. Spec/ others?

Just a couple questions.

Tour2ma

sterling bug,
Nice write up. Look forward to more from you...

sterling bug

Thanks for the nice comments Tour, I appreciate it.

As for your questions dorokusai here I go. I don't recall any bottoming out but the clarity is what made me start my thread on settings. When watching "Attack of the Clones" at the end when the imperial march is playing and the ships are taking off and the troops marching the music was hard to hear and just didn't seem like it sounded in the theaters. It turned out my settings were too high and once I adjusted it I tried that same scene again and it was much better.

What impacts me the most with those movies I listed is the great use of surrounds. If I have the choice I always go with dts sound as I feel its better in the low end than Dolby Digital. Can't go wrong with either really.

I have the Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up DVD and used that mostly with my tv settings. Did not use it that much with the audio side of things because I am happy with Dr. Spec's recommendations. It was pretty easy to use with step by step instructions and it improved the picture quality. Its good tool and it cost only $20. Someday down the road I would love to have the tv professionally calibrated.

dorokusai

Cool Bug, that's perfect, just was wondering about some tidbits is all. Nice job, and its nice to know that their is yet another educated listener in the world