Opinions on my first system

[wutadumsn23]

Hello all, just wanted opinions on how to maximize the sound of my current system. It is the first one I have built myself, and did it all for about $2000. I was wondering if I made the right choices in my equipment and if not any ideas on how to make it better. My receiver is the brand new Onkyo TX-SR806 with HDMI upscaling, my fronts I chose to run 2 Monitor 70's, my center channel is a CS2, my surround speakers are Monitor 40's and my sub is a PSW125. The only thing I don't have that I am considering is an amp to bi-amp my front and surround speakers, the ones I am considering is either 1 Onkyo A-9555 or 2 Onkyo M-282's. I have a soft spot for Onkyo products and I know there are better options for Amp's but I am on a budget and 1 amp for $400 or 2 for $400 is about all I want to spend. I also have a 60" Sony SXRD KDS-60A2000 (about 2 1/2 years old) and my Blu-Ray player is a Sony Playstation 3. Let me know how I did, and any ideas would be welcome. Thanks.

[tcrossma]

I didn't do the shopping and the math to verify the amount you spent, but in terms of equipment I'd say you put together a good HT system. All of the pieces should work together quite nicely.

Since you are running the Monitor series speakers, which are pretty easy to drive, I'd probably say it might not yield much of a benefit to bi-amp. If you are looking to push more power to those 70's I'd suggest maybe picking up an inexpensive used 2-channel amp (I'd recommend an Adcom) and running the 70's off the amp and letting the receiver handle the rest.

Either way, enjoy your new system!

[broncsrule21@]

Good start. IMO it would be a waste to bi amp your surrounds. Just not needed. But you can bi amp your fronts without buying an external amp if you are just running 5.1.

Good luck.

[wutadumsn23]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate the information on bi-amping, I wasn't too sure if I was going to do it or not, but judging by the responses so far it looks like if I do bi-amp it will only be the 70's. I got all of my speakers from Circuit City, except for my 40's (I bought those online, cause CC had none) and all of the speakers I got (except the sub) were on clearance and were floor models too. I got a 10 year warranty on them, so I have nothing to worry about, but they were in excellent shape non the less. I just bought Ironman today in Blu-Ray and I can't wait to watch it later. It will be the first Blu-Ray I have watched since putting this system together about a week ago. Thanks again.

[Polksaladanni]

Real Bi-Amping consists of removing the internal crossover and using an external Electric XO then, running power to each driver. Electrically , speakers with dual inputs and jumpers are already pre-biwired from the jumper across the 4 posts. The power splits at the jumpers.

You have a nice set-up. Move your speakers all around to see what sounds the best to you personally.

Paul

[wutadumsn23]

Wow, that went wayyyyyyyyy over my head, lol. Looks like if I do bi-amp, it will be the lay-person way, lol. Thanks for the compliment and the info Paul.

[Polksaladanni]

In other words it's really complicated and not worth it unless you have a recording studio and you have to have your monitors exact. If your Onkyo is 7.1 channels. Do this, get 12Ga wire for the Low In , and 16Ga for the Hi In. Set your surround back channels to "Bi-Amp" and you will have 4 seperate channels driving the two front speakers. If any thing it will eliminate the "supposed" crosstalk on a single cable to the speaker.

On HT it's more about video and scaling than audio now. I've decided that compromises are OK for the sake of decor. So enjoy what you have because you are most likely going to be thrilled with it when you get your speakers placed right. It took me forever the first go round.

Paul

[wutadumsn23]

Thank you for dumbing that down for me Paul, that makes much more sense, lol. My Onkyo is 7.1 so I will try the bi-amping you told me about, will that make much difference? Also, will that accomplish the same thing that an external amp would do? According to Onkyo my 806 puts out 130 watts to all channels @ 8 ohms, and the amps I was looking at the A-9555 and the M-282 put out 120 and 140 watts respectively @ 8 ohms.

[ben62670]

I wouldn't bother BiAmping with a receiver. Receivers have an allotted amount of current. BiAmping doesn't really increase power. You are better off not BiAmping with your setup. Also you need to set the levels with an SPL meter. It's more hassle than its worth.
Ben

[wutadumsn23]

Ben, any reason why you think I am better off not bi-amping with my setup?

[ben62670]

You can try it. I actually encourage you to, but I think you will not see any gain to it. Post #9 pretty much says why.
Ben

[danger boy]

Hi Paul,
Welcome to Club Polk, neighbor. I am in Spokane.

Bi amping with a receiver is most cases isn't worth the hassle.. because a lot of receivers don't have enough power to notice a difference. A receiver or amp may be listed as 130wpc, but they don't pump out 130wpc all the time. and when you have several speakers hooked up to a receiver. all pulling power from it. it may lower those wpc down quite a bit.

Let me know if you need any help and I can help you out in here or in person.

AL

[McLoki]

Welcome to club polk. While bi-amping will probably not be worth the effort. If you really like the idea of an external amp - just get one and hook it to the front speakers. (running the center and rears from the AVR) It will power your larger front speakers more effectively leaving more in the AVR to run the rest of your speakers.

I am not saying your setup needs an external amp, just if you want to use one - using it as a single amp for your front speakers may give you better sound overall than trying to bi-amp it with your AVR.

Enjoy the new system - If it were me rather than spend $400-$800 on amps, I would invest that in a better subwoofer. (guess it depends on the movies you like to watch) Either way, welcome to club polk where our motto is "We can spend your money faster than you can make it....." :D

Michael

[wutadumsn23]

Thanks for all the advice and danger boy if I need a hand with anything I will be sure to let you know since you are so close. Overall I am happy with my system, just wanted to know what everyone else thought. As for a better sub, that was my most expensive speaker I bought ($250, marked down from almost $400) lol, but I will look into it Loki.

[Ricardo]

Agree with the subwoofer upgrade. That's where you will see the biggest improvement. You don't know it yet, but you are missing a lot by not having a better sub.

Welcome.

[strider]

Nothing new here, but anyway...

Bi-amping is something to try, sure, but I wouldn't expect anything mind blowing, if you noticed anything at all. The way I understand it, most AVR's have "X" amount of power to drive your speakers. "X" is a lot lower then 130 watts by 7 channels. The receiver is sending the power to the channel that needs it the most at any given time. Basically, bi-amping your front soundstage wouldn't take you from 130 watts for each speaker to 260 watts for each speaker.

Is there a reason why you want to upgrade, something you're trying to correct? If it were me and I had a new set up, I'd live with it for awhile. Try setting up the speakers differently (locations, cross over settings, levels) and see what sounds the best. If you have some coin to spend, get a set up DVD (Avia, I think, is a good one) and an SPL meter from Radio shack. They'll help you optimize your set up. Get it set up right, then we can start helping you spend all your savings.:D

[wutadumsn23]

I'm not necessarily trying to upgrade, I was just curious if anyone had any ideas to fine tune/optimize what I already have. I have gotten some great info. so far and was curious about bi-amping either through the receiver or an external amp, but will probably just leave well enough alone. My Onkyo receiver came with a little microphone device for setting up the speakers and setting the levels and what not automatically, but I haven't done it yet. I pretty much blew my wad on this setup, thanks to a very generous wife who allowed me to double what I said I was going to spend in the first place, so any other additions besides maybe an amp or two would be atleast a year away.