Well I got the speakers, but I need help with the reciever

[k9cj5]

I just bought the monitor 70's for the front and 60's for the rear. Now I'm searching for a receiver but I have no idea what to look for. I tried to go to fry's electronics to get an idea but I think he just confused me more. It will be a 5.1 setup. I don't want to spend more than 500 but I will. I want to do it right the first time and not look back and wish I had gotten something else. Any info you guys can give me would be very helpful. Also the Polk audio CS2 doesn't look like its available anymore, what would be a good substitute.
Thanks again.

[grimmace19]

Look used at the Onkyo 7** or 8** line on ebay. A used 807 can be had under 5. It allows all the new audio formats and has preouts for an amp down the road. And for now the 130wpc to your monitors will be more than enough. Also, just wait it out for a cs2. They come back onto newegg all the time. Otherwise if you are in the denver area you can buy the one I'm selling...

[Erik Tracy]

There's a bunch of CS2's up for bid on Polk's ebay site....go bid!!:D

[outfishing88]

I have 70's in the front and 40's in the rear. I also have a cs2. I love the system. I would recommend the nr 807 by Onkyo. I paid like 700 on newegg and as the second poster said you can find cheaper deals on ebay. It has preamp, and pandora. It streams from a media server. It is really nice, I like everything about it. it's a 7.1 receiver, but I use it as a 5.1 and bi-amp the front Monitor 70's. I would definitely recommend finding a deal and spending a little for more for the nr807.

newegg has the cs2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290213 it's the new model for 2010.

[nedh84]

newegg has the cs2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290213 it's the new model for 2010.

You can almost buy the CS20 for that price. Any bonus to the CS2 or the CS20?

[k9cj5]

Thanks for all the replies. Anyone know if they 807 has HDMI version 1.4? Or is that important?

It allows all the new audio formats and has preouts for an amp down the road.

What does an amp do for you and why is it important?

it's a 7.1 receiver, but I use it as a 5.1 and bi-amp the front Monitor 70's.

Whats bi-amping? And what does it do for your home theater.

[nedh84]

An amp gives the speakers the headroom they need to breathe so to speak. A cheap power supply will dammage your speakers and is no good. You need clean steady power. Believe it or not it also improves the sound. Now if your amp is rated at 200watts per channel that means it can go UP TO 200W. This doesn't necessarily mean that it will hurt your speaker or provide a butt load of power all the time. Contrary to what you might believe a strong power supply is BETTER for your speakers as long as you aren't driving them to ear bleeding levels. If you don't have enough juice you will cause your speakers to Clip and that basically means blow up your tweeter in the long run.


Bi - Amping. Some speakers have two inputs. One powers the tweeter and the other powers the woofers. Normally there is a crossover plate that connect the both so you only need to use one of the two input options to power all of your speakers. So Bi-Amping and Bi-Wiring utilize both those input options. Now bi-wiring is kinda useless and can be explained better by searching some of the threads in the forums. Bi amping is using two different amplifiers with the same input to power each of the separate inputs. When it comes to music it is supposed to really improve the sound. I'm not sure how exactly as I haven't tried it yet. I trust the polkies tho. I don't think it's necessary for home theatre purposes.