please critique my home theater selections...........

[burnout42]

Hey all. I'm in the process of researching for a home theater in my living room. On the audio side I am leaning toward this setup:

Reciever: ONKYO TX-SR875

Fronts: Polk RTi8's

Center: Polk CSi3

Surrounds & Rear Surrounds: Polk TC615i in walls

I have limited space to the sides and rear of my sitting positions, so in walls are going to be a must. I am on a budget, so I thought spending my money on a good receiver, fronts and center I will see the biggest return. Plus, if I ever move I have a really good system to build off of........in walls are not my first choice, I would much rather go with RTi4's for the surrounds but - what else can I do. Any tips or suggestions are welcome. Thanks guys.

[skykeys]

Not sure if this will help, but just in case . . . .

I just put a surround in-wall / in-ceiling system in my family room, so not a "real" HT per say. I had some sitting position limitations: my couch is right up against the back wall, so in-wall rears would not work; you would not hear the (rear) L/R dispersion and the speakers would simply be way too close. So I went with in-ceiling speakers for the rear, and they work well.

I used the LC80i's for the in-ceiling rears, (it's a 5.1 system), and I'm quite happy with them. I believe there is a TC80i series that would work for you equally as well if you decide on in-ceiling rears.

The ceiling location works well - right above the sitting positions at the ends of the couch. I have the LC265i's for Front L/R, and upgraded to a LCi-RTS-C for the center. DSW-500 sub. I love it.

Regards.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I'd look at something other than Onkyo with the RT series speakers. Personally I find that combo to be a tad too much on the bright side. I'd look at something along the lines of an HK or Denon, or maybe Outlaw Audio or NAD depending on how much you have to spend.

[burnout42]

22 people looked at this and only 1 reply?:confused:

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

2...replies

[Imperitor]

A lot of people like to read and do not have enough knowledge yet to post anything you would find helpful. Me being one of them.

[Sami]

If you're on a budget, I would suggest trying the used market before buying new. Do you need HDMI switching? Are you going to listen to music?

Hard to critique that selection, it's pretty solid. I don't know if the Onkyo is bright but if it is like Danny (Polkmaniac) said, I would look for something else instead. Yamaha is another bright brand, at least it used to be, so a Denon or Harman Kardon perhaps. Something like the HK 2xx series is a solid receiver and doesn't cost too much, plus it has preouts for external amp for future upgrade.

[burnout42]

If I could find the room for a floor standing speaker for surrounds....and I went the 5.1 route to save some $.......could I use a pair of Monitor 50's for surround speaker with the above stuff?

[cfrizz]

Welcome Burnout.

The Monitors are a different series & not timbre matched to the RTI's. If you can listen to the RTi's with the 875, you will be able to tell if it is too bright a combination. Otherwise, you picked some fine equipment.

[Sami]

I would not use towers as surrounds. Bookshelves are good as they need to be above ear levels for optimum surround effect.

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines/home-theater-speaker-layout-an-essential-guide

[maximillian]

If you can buy a CSi5 and have the space for it, generally it's recommended over the 3. The 3 is good though.

Check the used market. Sometimes there are good deals. I watched an auction end last night with no bids on a used demo CSi5 and RTi6's for about $480 shipped. I think it's because people

Look at FXi's for surrounds as well. They may fill the space better than bookshelves.

Don't forget the sub. It will be required for action movies. And don't forget to put aside some money for cables. They can add up.

[xandra]

so I thought spending my money on a good receiver, fronts and center I will see the biggest return
Your thinking here is on the money.

If you want to save some bucks... You might want to consider Onk's 805 instead of the 875. You'd lose:
One HDMI (this could be a deal breaker for you) but if your the sort who only connects Cable & a DVD player it's a non-issue.
10 watts power ( neglible difference)
And PERHAPS a biggie to you: Reon video processing. I can't comment on the quality or value of this - some seem thrilled, others find it troublesome: read up on it at avsforum if you wish...

If the Reon or HDMI matters to you, stick with 875 otherwise the 805 could save you BIG bucks.

[Montoya]

I have tc80i as surrounds and tc620i as back surrounds before this I had the rti4 as surrounds and i prefer the tc80i as a surround speaker. They are matched up with rti12 as fronts and a pioneer elite 81txv. Not to bright in my opinion and the stealth install is professional looking.

[Rike255]

Very close to my setup (I have the 805 not the 875) and I absolutely love it! Good buys man!

[engtaz]

I'd look at something other than Onkyo with the RT series speakers. Personally I find that combo to be a tad too much on the bright side. I'd look at something along the lines of an HK or Denon, or maybe Outlaw Audio or NAD depending on how much you have to spend.

I 2nd this opinion.

engtaz

[burnout42]

Guys, I value your opinions as far as receivers go, but as far as I can tell the ONKYO is tops for features for the price. I would LOVE to spend less on a receiver, but the things I am looking for are:

- HDMI switching so I can hook everything up with 1 cable to the receiver, then 1 cable to the display.....I HATE SPAGHETTI!!!

- TrueHD / DTS decoding for Blue Ray / HDDVD

- at least 3 HDMI in ports

Before I thought about the sr875 I was looking at the sr705. It is WAY less and does all of the above, however....I was also looking at a 50" 720P plasma. The 720P upscaling of the SR705 would have suited me perfect, but now I am re-thinking the 50". My seating position is going to be between 7-8 feet away from the screen, and at that distance I"m worried about the picture quality on a 720p 50". I have since given more thought to a 42", namely the Panasonic TH-42P700u. It is a 1080P set and I figure I will need full 1080P upconversion of video, hence the SR875. Would I be better off with the Monitor series for use with the ONKYO? Here is a possible layout for my living room home theater using towers for fronts and fxi's for surrounds in a 5.1 setup:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/gnfury/livroom004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/gnfury/livroom005.jpg

After more research last night, I came across the Polk FXi speakers. I like the idea, but I have a question......if you look at the pics above, the speaker on the left wall would be firing backwards, but there is no wall there to bounce the sound back towards the seating position like there is on the other side.....with this rule out using the FXi's?

[DPT]

Well if you look at my signature you will see that I am using orb audio mod 2's as my surrounds to make a 6.1 system. I, like you was reluctant to buy an in wall speaker to make my 5.1 into a 6.1 due to knowing that I would be moving soon in a few years and wanting to take my speaker investments with me. Prior to this I had a 5.1 system using polk Rti's as surrounds.
I am also using an in wall as my center but constructed a box for it to make it an on wall.
I also have an Onkyo 905 and all I can say is definitely run the Audessy. After I had installed the Orbs, i messed with the speaker calibration manually and felt like i may have made a mistake in choosing the orbs. However, I finally had time last night to rerun the Audessy with the new orb speakers and WOW! It really makes a difference. The speakers fit seamlessly together and sound amazing! I know the tweeters are different than the Lsi's but damn if i can tell with real listening tests.
Just get the Onkyo in whatever you choose to get. The Audessy is worth the price.

[skykeys]

I was curious about the Onkyo, having read several posts in this forum. People seem to like the brand here. So I did some research. While still generally favorable, there are a few negative comments that are probably worth checking. These are from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000OBLARW/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?%5Fencoding=UTF8&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R2R2DFCV9UJTLS

The fact that the Onkyo runs really hot is a concern for me personally. I currently have a Yamaha RX-V620, a middle of the road model (from 7 years ago). I like it a lot, and I have never had a problem with it. Per my previous post - I've recently upgraded my speakers (as part of a family room remodeling project) and went with in-walls, so the receiver is driving LC265i fronts, LCi-RTS-c center, and LC80i rears. The receiver handles them just fine.

I suggest at least checking out the new Yamaha RX-V663 or V863, among other models. If I ever get around to upgrading my receiver, which probably won't happen for a while, I will seriously consider the V663 or V863 - as my budget allows. :)

Regards, and good luck.

[BIZILL]

check my sig. the only complaints i have are a few lip sync issues. most don't notice them. the 805 and rti combo was too bright...until i ran the audyssey.

[kl3640]

I have never been a big fan of Onkyo products, but that's just a matter of taste more than anything (i.e., I don't like the style, look, layout, usage, remotes, etc.).

[xandra]

Burnout42: ...but as far as I can tell the ONKYO is tops for features for the price

Burnout: you're totally correct about this.. Think you'll also find Onkyo's setup, interface etc excels.
You were wise going with 805/875: you may not have noticed but the 805/875 have Burr Brown DAC's (not so on the 705) --- just one of those little details that often don't show up in comparison charts. (I wish I'd gone to 805 or 875 to start).

The downside to the Onkyos (805/875) is that they run hot, are huge (will need mucho room), some seem to have lip sync issues (worse? than other brands.)

[dbryant]

Just my opinion but I would spend more on the speakers than the receiver. I would adjust your ratio. I would jumo up to the RTi10, or 12's, maybe even something from the LSi series and spend much less on the receiver. I have seen the 805 for around $600. I prefer Harman Kardon. You could pick up something like the avr-247 and upgrade the speaker choices...