Tired of searching-Need Help!

[uncmike]

Hey everyone, I've been searching through the forums for a few days now and decided it was best to join the group. I need some advice from experienced users. I'm looking at getting a new center and mains but can't decide.

Current setup:
Denon AVR-4306
Mains-Rti a7 bi-amped
Sub.-Velodyne DPS-12
Center-RM8 (I know - it's a fill-in speaker)

Looking at getting the a9's and moving the a7s to the rear. Also probably the csia6 for the center. I've thought about the lsi15, but have read that certain denon receivers won't power the 4ohm speakers well. Would the lsis as fronts and a7s in rear be too much for the 4306? I also have an option of adding the rti10s in addition to make a 7.1 setup. Would anyone recommend this or would it be overkill? How much is a reasonable price for the rti10s? I have read about adding an external amp, but can't seem to find any home theater specific amps for a good deal.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I couldn't seem to find the right answers by searching the forums. Any advice/comments are appreciated.

[nguyendot]

Welcome to the forums!

How big is your room? 5.1 vs 7.1 in smaller rooms is useless, the effect is too close together.

As far as LSi15s, it depends if you want to do movies more than music. They are more geared towards music, whereas the RTi A9's are geared towards home theater. Denon makes great amps, I use one myself, but for 4 ohm loads I would definitely get an external amp. The difference is amazing.

Your center choice seems very good. A9's in front and A7s in back would be a great combination if you have the space.

How are your mains bi-amped right now? Is it through the receiver with the surround back channels?

[uncmike]

right now the room is not that big, but we are moving soon and the room will have 10 ft ceilings, and is about 15X25, but I could find out the exact measurements though. It's a pretty big open room. The speakers are bi-amps through the denon with the back channels.

How much is a decent external amp for that set-up. Although this will be used for about 75% Movies and 25% music. It sounds like the a9 would be a more practical (and less costly) choice. Thanks for the response

[nguyendot]

For a room of that size 5.1 should be fine, unless the back wall is 25 ft wide with the rear speakers mounted on the very edges of the room.

Amps can range in price from very low to very high. A favorite on this forum is the Adcom GFA-555, which runs around $350 used.

[kawizx9r]

+1 on everything nguyendot said.
I'd stick with the RTi series being that it's cheaper, its more aimed torwards your type of application, and leaves you with extra cash to put down on an external amp. You can even pick up a nice 3 channel and apply more power to your entire frontstage. The LSi series seem to be much more of a musical speaker, but who knows you might want to start a 2 chan setup later in the future.

[mdk5068]

"The speakers are bi-amps through the denon with the back channels"

I may be wrong but I seem to have heard from people on here that this does not increase the power because the channels all pull from the same amp in the receiver? If I am totally wrong let me know.

In terms of 5.1 and 7.1, a lot of people say that 7.1 is not the most prevalent format for movies these days, implying that the additional 2 channels would be wasted.

In terms of the speakers you have, if I were configuring a 5.1 system in a room that size (which is exactly what I have now, a 15x24, with rti a7's and fxi a4's), I would throw some fxi's at the back and use the a9's as fronts. Someone told me in my searching process that having powerful speakers in the back like the a7's might be a waste of speaker. This would lead me consider selling the a7's and grabbing some fxi a6's for your backs. If you want a 7.1, for the money you would get back from the a7's you could grab two sets of fxi a6's. Just a suggestion, feel free to discard.

[McLoki]

For the speakers - stick with the RTiA (although with the 9's you may still want to consider at least a 2 channel amp)

5.1 should be fine in most rooms (especially rooms where your seating is at or very near the back wall)

Good luck,

Michael

[uncmike]

Thanks guys, so now I'm feeling better about the a9's. Let me ask a question about external amps. Looked up the Adcom GFA555 and similar models. A used one is definitely possible. So even though the 4306 can handle the rti a9s for mains, csi a6, and rti a7 for rears, it would be recommended to get an external amp?

I was looking at diagrams and it seems that the speakers are hooked up to the amp and then a single (regular) cable is ran to the pre-out in the 4306, correct? Sorry, but I never even heard of separates until a couple of days ago.

So the denon would still control the volume and sound adjustments, the speakers would just be getting more "clean" power?

What about the GFA6000, better to have 5 channel amp, or higher powered 3 channel amp?
Adcom GFA-7400 5-Channel Amplifier a good choice for $350?

MDK5068- "I may be wrong but I seem to have heard from people on here that this does not increase the power because the channels all pull from the same amp in the receiver? If I am totally wrong let me know."

Don't each of the channels in the 4306 have their own discreet amplifier per channel and would make bi-amping beneficial?

[kawizx9r]

uncmike, the bi-wiring/bi-amping in my personal experience has differed between different types of receivers. Some people use their A/B speaker outputs and biamp with those, others do what you did and depending on the receiver, it's not always the same. Same goes for sound quality, you might hear a difference, you might not.
As far as seperates go, external amplifiers in general provide cleaner, more powerful sound being that it is dedicated to doing just that as opposed to a receiver that handles with processing sound/etc on top of any video you're running through it as well. As for 3 chan or 5 chan, if the funds allow for it, and you're really looking to get the most out of your speakers then by all means get a 5 chan, but alot of people just go with a 3 chan as your frontstage makes up for most of the soundtrack heard in home theater anyway....your center channel playing about 60% of it alone.

[kawizx9r]

Got so caught up in all that...almost forgot. If you're going to run either the 7's or even 9's up front, check out the CSi A6 center channel.