New to the home theater system

[kokidpham]

Hello, Im new to the home theather system, ok here is my first purchase and first time have home theather system...(Cant wait for these to delivery to try it out)
1 x POLK AUDIO MONITOR 40 (rear)
2 x POLK AUDIO MONITOR 70 (Front)
1 x POLK AUDIO CS2B II (center)
1 x POLK AUDIO PSW505 ( sub)

Receiver Pioneer VSX-820 ( bought that on black friday sale for 200$)
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-82...1707143&sr=8-1

My question is can this receiver make good sound on the speakers I just bought? or do I need to buy a powerful receiver?

Second, what speaker wire do i need to buy for these speakers?

[kawizx9r]

Very nice, you got an entire matching setup and receiver all together.

The Monitor-line speakers are fairly efficient and easy to drive, however if you ever feel the need to upgrade you'll want a receiver with pre-amp outputs (yours does not have them) for adding an external amplifier. With an external (more powerful amp) you'll have the option to either power your current speakers even more (greater bass/dynamics/headroom/etc) or the option to add even better, power-hungry speakers because you'll have the ability to power them with a powerful amp.

One thing that alot of people aren't aware of is that speakers are prone to blowing out/being damaged when they are underpowered as opposed to being overpowered. Turn the volume up loud while underpowering a speaker and you're just setting it up for it's own demise.

Last but not least, when you have everything hooked up the sound quality will be sub-par. Give your setup some time to break in before passing off any judgement or before you start cranking things up, especially your sub!

-Freddy

PS Welcome to CP!

[codyc1ark]

Second, what speaker wire do i need to buy for these speakers?

Welcome to Club Polk! Sounds like your going to have a nice set-up for starters. A few questions to help us out, what are you connecting to your AVR? A lot of newer components use HDMI which I like, its easy to use and you only have one cable to carry everything. I've only used the Monoprice cables, but can tell you I'm very happy with them as they do not cost a bundle. I'll let others speak for speaker wire, as I have not explored that area yet and I'm using some monster wire that I purchased about 10 years ago.

Good luck with your new audio experience!

[kawizx9r]

Forgot about the speaker wire, for your system I'd recommend something like BJC's Belden 5000 - http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/

[kokidpham]

Forgot about the speaker wire, for your system I'd recommend something like BJC's Belden 5000 - http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/

I look up and cant find the BJC Belden 5000, but I saw Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG) is that the one u recommended? but its out stock already

[tonyb]

Don't mean to step on any toes here, but that Belden cable looks like regular Home depot 12 ga. with a nicer jacket. I could be wrong, at my age the eyes play tricks on ya.

[cnh]

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!!

That's pretty similar to the setup I run except for the receiver and sub. Since you already have the Pioneer 820 I wouldn't worry about that at this point. M series are pretty efficient speakers! But in the future you might consider upgrading to a Pioneer that has pre-outs like the Pioneer VSX-1120 or the VSX-32 or even the Elite SC ICE amp series?

Most good heavy gauge cable will do you for 'now'. But as you move forward you may want to spend more on cabling. I, myself, am remiss in this area?

cnh

[kokidpham]

after research to buy the speakers wires, I saw 12ga, 14ga, 18ga. Which one do u guys recommend for my speakers? Also what is pre-out do? does it really make my speakers get louder and sound powerful?

[kawizx9r]

Also what is pre-out do? does it really make my speakers get louder and sound powerful?

Here's a pic of an AVR (receiver) with pre-amp outputs.



When you utilize them, what you're doing is instead of using the built-in amp in your AVR, you run RCA's from your pre-amp output to the inputs of an external amp and use that to power your speakers.

There are even lower rated amps (lower than some receivers) that sound better because they're delivering either higher-current or just have better characteristics than the amp built into the receiver.

When you do this, you are now using your AVR as a processor/preamp.

PS The preamp outputs are on the bottom right of that picture.

[kokidpham]

thx everyone for your input....Im thinking getting speaker wire from walmart (Unlimited Pro A/V Series 14AWG Speaker Wire 50 feet) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cables-Unl...ns-50/15406401 Can I buy one of these speaker wires and cut it to 5 strings (since i got 5 pieces of polkers speakers) and connect it to my receiver?

[Lasareath]

Freddy said it perfectly.

My brother-in-law kept blowing out his radio shack speakers because he wanted more volume and he kept turning up the volume knob to 10. I tried to teach him but he was simple minded. I guess that's why he's not my brother-in-law anymore ;)

So don't turn it up past 7, that is the safe point. If it is too low for you at 7 then you need more power.

Welcome to Club Polk!

Lasareath

Very nice, you got an entire matching setup and receiver all together.

The Monitor-line speakers are fairly efficient and easy to drive, however if you ever feel the need to upgrade you'll want a receiver with pre-amp outputs (yours does not have them) for adding an external amplifier. With an external (more powerful amp) you'll have the option to either power your current speakers even more (greater bass/dynamics/headroom/etc) or the option to add even better, power-hungry speakers because you'll have the ability to power them with a powerful amp.

One thing that alot of people aren't aware of is that speakers are prone to blowing out/being damaged when they are underpowered as opposed to being overpowered. Turn the volume up loud while underpowering a speaker and you're just setting it up for it's own demise.

Last but not least, when you have everything hooked up the sound quality will be sub-par. Give your setup some time to break in before passing off any judgement or before you start cranking things up, especially your sub!

-Freddy

PS Welcome to CP!

[Lasareath]

after research to buy the speakers wires, I saw 12ga, 14ga, 18ga. Which one do u guys recommend for my speakers? Also what is pre-out do? does it really make my speakers get louder and sound powerful?

I'd say at this point, 16ga would be fine.

If you upgrade to a new receiver and an external amp then you'll want to upgrade your speaker cables as well.

[Lasareath]

thx everyone for your input....Im thinking getting speaker wire from walmart (Unlimited Pro A/V Series 14AWG Speaker Wire 50 feet) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cables-Unl...ns-50/15406401 Can I buy one of these speaker wires and cut it to 5 strings (since i got 5 pieces of polkers speakers) and connect it to my receiver?

That price seems high.

Look at this:

$19.33 for 100 feet (with shipping from Cali to NJ it comes out to $27.33)

and yes you can cut it down to the lengths you need for each speaker.

Try to keep the lengths the same if possible. for the front three speakers I like to keep all 3 wires the same length.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[Lasareath]

And get some banana plugs while your at it:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[kokidpham]

thx Lasareath, how many banana plugs should I get to fulfil these speakers?

[newrival]

10 banana plugs and 10 spades. Doesnt look like your amp will take bananers. you need 2 bananas and 2 spades per channel. bananas at the speaker and spades ath the receiver

[nguyendot]

10 banana plugs and 10 spades. Doesnt look like your amp will take bananers. you need 2 bananas and 2 spades per channel. bananas at the speaker and spades ath the receiver

What makes you think the VSX-820k won't accept bananas?
I had this receiver and it takes bananas just fine. It's spades that it probably won't take, as the binding posts have a groove around them that would make it difficult to use spades.

[newrival]

What makes you think the VSX-820k won't accept bananas?
I had this receiver and it takes bananas just fine. It's spades that it probably won't take, as the binding posts have a groove around them that would make it difficult to use spades.

The picture a few posts back that said it was the receiver in question made me think that.

Youre pic shows it with 5-way BP's but the one farther up does not. I was only analyzing the info given.

[WilliamM2]

The picture a few posts back that said it was the receiver in question made me think that.

Youre pic shows it with 5-way BP's but the one farther up does not. I was only analyzing the info given.

That's a Denon, but it will take banana plugs too, as soon as the caps/plugs are removed.

[kokidpham]

My speakers just arrived to my house, I don't think I could wait any longer to buy speaker wire or Banna plug online . Tommorow I will just go to the radio shack and buy speaker wire and try it out...BTW can I just buy speaker wire there cut it out and then strip to connect between my receiver and speakers without Banna plug?

[nguyendot]

The picture a few posts back that said it was the receiver in question made me think that.

Youre pic shows it with 5-way BP's but the one farther up does not. I was only analyzing the info given.

Information given from OP's sig:
1 x POLK AUDIO PSW505 ( sub)

Receiver Pioneer VSX-820 ( bought that on black friday sale for 200$)
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-82...1707143&sr=8-1

Then the pic given before mine clearly states DENON on the bottom right. It said it was AN avr, given for illustration, not the receiver the OP has.
Information was given. Like the search function we have here, all you have to do is look.

[kokidpham]

Hello everyone, I just finished hook up my polk audio to the receiver but the sound is ok not that great, do i need to buy AMP to power these speakers up? or should i buy expensive receiver?

[newrival]

Information given from OP's sig:
1 x POLK AUDIO PSW505 ( sub)

Receiver Pioneer VSX-820 ( bought that on black friday sale for 200$)
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-82...1707143&sr=8-1

Then the pic given before mine clearly states DENON on the bottom right. It said it was AN avr, given for illustration, not the receiver the OP has.
Information was given. Like the search function we have here, all you have to do is look.

I'm not sure I'm following what youre trying to say about the search function, or what I would possibly search the forum for, but you are correct in that I didn't read the post.

[newrival]

Hello everyone, I just finished hook up my polk audio to the receiver but the sound is ok not that great, do i need to buy AMP to power these speakers up? or should i buy expensive receiver?

koki, You're receiver is rated at 80W/ch, but it doesn't mention that the spec is while all channels are driven. Often times this is only measurable at stereo or even one channel driven when dealing with budget receivers. The reality is that with all channels driven the wattage might be something like 30W-50W (some have even been lower). Your speakers are actually somewhat inefficient at only 90db/1W/1m. This means it takes 31 watts to get you to 105db @1m which is somewhere closer to 100db at the listening position. This is somewhat loud, but this is pretty easy to get to during a movie. Lets say in a dynamic portion of the movie it gets to 107db at the listening position youre right at 80W and deffinitely clipping. The other problem is that you're likely witnessing terrible distortion through that amp section.

Anyways, my suggestion is get a good receiver. or a decent receiver and a good amp. just thought I'd give you a sound reason to do so.