i have a few newbie questions

[1fastz28]

first off i'm kinda torn between what speakers to get, i'm either going to order the new rti'7s, 9's, or the lsi 15's i work for a vendor so i get them at a pretty good discount. but they are going to ONLY be used for stereo, no home theater. if i go up to the 15's i assume i really wont need a sub, since they have one built in, but would i still need one with the 9's? also i read alot about pre-amps. most of my reciever knowledge is for A/V receivers like yamaha, pioneer, denon, onkyo etc. what kinda power do i need to push these speakers? finally i'm going to be getting a turntable, i found all my dads old lp's and i've bought a handful over the years, but i know absolutely nothing about turntables. what can i get without spending tons of money, i see some for like 25k, and individual cartridges into the thousands, i dont want to spend crazy money, but i dont want to get crap either. any help would be appreciated, i know i threw alot out there

[danger boy]

the nice thing with having a subwoofer in your system.. is that you can increase or decrease the lows as needed. with a speaker like the LSi9's you can't... not unless you monkey with the bass knob.
so get yourself a subwoofer.

turntables seem to be a somewhat selective thing.... everyone has their favorite brand and model.

there are lots of people who just got back into albums here recently.. they will chime in soon. check back often.

Welcome to club Polk :)

[1fastz28]

cool, oh one thing i'm actually looking at the rti-7/9's not the lsi's

[hockeyboy]

The LSi's are a better speaker across the board IMO. However, remember that the LSI's will need a lot more power. While this doesn't necessarily mean powering with a separate amplifier, most will tell you that's what you need. It does mean you need a very powerful receiver at the minimum to drive them properly.

I would also plan on adding a sub down the line no matter which line you get.

[1fastz28]

The LSi's are a better speaker across the board IMO. However, remember that the LSI's will need a lot more power. While this doesn't necessarily mean powering with a separate amplifier, most will tell you that's what you need. It does mean you need a very powerful receiver at the minimum to drive them properly.

I would also plan on adding a sub down the line no matter which line you get.
yea, i've never actually heard the lsi's i just know how much i love the RTI's so i just assume i'll love the lsi's more so. i want to go as cheap as possible without giving up alot of quality, i know thats very hard with audio, but i'm getting married soon, and i know once i'm married, i'll never be able to get any of this stuff :)

also if i'm only doing stereo would i notice a big jump with SACD/DVD-Audio?

[danger boy]

go with the RTi line.. there are many more models in that line than there are in the LSi line..

to really take advantage of SACD and DVD-Audio.. you need to be sure your receiver has at least 5.1 analog RCA inputs... if it does.. then you would most likely hook up your player that way to your receiver.. people hate it, because it means more money they have to invest in cables.. which can get expensive. Most people prefer instead to just get a really good quality CD player.. and with the right recevier/amp, it can sound really, really good.

for the most part.. stores don't carry SACD or DVD-Audio discs anymore. both my Best Buys stopped about 6 month's ago.

[1fastz28]

what would be conisdered a good cd player? i'm looking at a pioneer DV48AV

and as far as recievers go, i assume once i get up to arround the level of a denon 2308/onkyo 805/yamaha 861/pioneer vsx90 that i'd be ok, am i correct in assuming this?

[1fastz28]

what would be conisdered a good cd player? i'm looking at a pioneer DV48AV

and as far as recievers go, i assume once i get up to arround the level of a denon 2308/onkyo 805/yamaha 861/pioneer vsx90 that i'd be ok, am i correct in assuming this?
? ttt

[hockeyboy]

Those would be okay for the RTi but not the LSi. Is there any reason you have to have a 7 channel AVR? If you are driving only speakers you might save some dough getting a 5 channel amp with a few more watts, although you can often use the extra channels. I have a 5 channel system and a 7 channel amp. I added passive subs (meaning they don't plug into the wall, the work more like a speaker) and power them with my 7 channel amp. You also might consider

That's a nice DVD player but keep in mind that you can get a nice Sony blue ray player that up converts for the same money. The blu ray will not play SACD but obviously will play blue ray and standard disks. If you are talking about getting something that will last a while the blue ray might be a better choice, unless you are looking for a multi region player which is why you spend the extra moolah on the Panny.

[hockeyboy]

Better yet, save the money and get a PS3 for your blue ray player. Then you can jam games on it too.

[1fastz28]

thanks for the advice, so you dont think i'd really notice a difference between cd players unless i went to some super high end proprietary cd player?

[skipf]

If it were me starting out I'd definantly go with the LSi series. You will need an amp with about 250WPC to properly power them. Oppo multi disc players are very reasonable and IMHO the best player available in their price range. For a TT I would get an old AR and invest in a good cartridge. You can pick up an AR-Xa which is a strictly manual belt drive (no cueing) for less than $75 and pair it with a $3-400 cartridge and it will sound better than any TT/cartridge combo in that price range.

[1fastz28]

If it were me starting out I'd definantly go with the LSi series. You will need an amp with about 250WPC to properly power them. Oppo multi disc players are very reasonable and IMHO the best player available in their price range. For a TT I would get an old AR and invest in a good cartridge. You can pick up an AR-Xa which is a strictly manual belt drive (no cueing) for less than $75 and pair it with a $3-400 cartridge and it will sound better than any TT/cartridge combo in that price range.thanks for the advice, what would be a good cartridge to start off with? do cartridges go bad?

[hearingimpared]

Welcome to Club Polk.

As far as cartridges "going bad" they do have a life span just like any electro/mechanical device but I wouldn't worry about it if you take good care of it.

Under $400 carts I like are the Dynavector 10 x 5, Sumiko Blue Point Speciall EVO III, any of the Benz Micros, etc etc. I could go on and on here but I think your best bet would be to check out some of the reviews, online, and narrow the field then come on back and ask about specific cartridges.:)