Building home theater for friend

[Syndil]

Just helped a friend spend a bunch of money on a brand new home theater setup utilizing an Onkyo receiver and Polk Monitor speakers, all purchased from Newegg. Some of this stuff was on sale only through 1/22, so we felt kind of rushed to buy it. Here's what we bought:

Onkyo HT-RC360 ... $329.99
2x Monitor70 Series II ... $149.99 each
CS2 Series II Center Channel ... $119.99
Monitor40 Series II ... $119.99 pair
DSWPRO 660wi subwoofer ... $329.99

Total (free shipping): 1,199.94

Since the sale ended 1/22, this same setup from Newegg would now cost you 1,689.94 today, even with the available promo codes on the Monitor70s and Monitor40s, so I'm pretty proud of the bargain. Saved $490. Nothing to sneeze at, I think.


Anyway, I think I did OK with the selection of gear, especially since he is coming from a HTIB system and he is pretty happy with that. Ignorance is bliss type thing, I guess, but I figure this new system should relatively blow his mind. On the other hand I'm not a receiver guy (I prefer a pre/pro + amp) and haven't really researched them much, so I welcome any thoughts or insights into the receiver choice. Can always send it back if I chose wrong. I am thinking that since he only has room for a 5.1 setup, I can use the extra 2 amplifier channels to bi-amp the Monitor70s.

[Obsession18]

Do not bother using the extra 2 channels to bi-amp the Monitor 70's, I tryed it with a Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH on my old RTi-10's and it was a waste of time, no difference. What I did not understand at the time is that the receiver will NOT put out 110 watts into 7 channels simultaneously, the true simultaneous output into 7 channels is around 30 - 35 watts. In the case of your Onkyo you have about 200 watts total to feed all 7 channels simultaneously.

[EndersShadow]

As stated bi-amping from a reciever is worthless. Beyond that he's got a pretty good setup.

My only suggestions would be to make sure to place the sub in as ideal a position as possible doing the sub crawl.

Beyond that, run the Auto-Calibration software and let it take care of things for you. You can probably set the Front crossover around like 60-80 if you wanted more low end from the Monitor 70's, as I believe the auto-cal will either set them as "Full" which I wouldnt use, or @ 80hz which you can go a bit lower if you want.

If he needs mounts for the Monitor 40's tell him to get AM40 Pinpoint Mounts (~60 bucks for the set) as those are what I had my Monitor 40's on.

Enjoy!

[Syndil]

Kind of surprised about the bi-amping. I know bi-wiring is useless, but if there are an extra 2 discrete amplifier sections that can be put into service for bi-amping the Monitor70s... Or is it that they are not discrete?

[disneyjoe7]

Kind of surprised about the bi-amping. I know bi-wiring is useless, but if there are an extra 2 discrete amplifier sections that can be put into service for bi-amping the Monitor70s... Or is it that they are not discrete?

It's more of the power behind the amp sections, then the amp sections them self.

Think if it like water, if a 1" feed pipe flows X then can it flow 1/2" pipes as .5 X four times as will as 1/2" pipes .5 X two times? The answer is NO.....

[anonymouse]

Kind of surprised about the bi-amping. I know bi-wiring is useless, but if there are an extra 2 discrete amplifier sections that can be put into service for bi-amping the Monitor70s... Or is it that they are not discrete?

When they say discrete, they mean that the amp boards themselves are discrete. They all however share the same power supply internally. So that's the single resource that is limited, and why bi-amping is a waste of time.

[tonyb]

Agreed with everyone above, hook those puppies straight up, that receiver should have no problem running those speakers. I would suggest however you read that receivers manual front to back and pay attention to the setup process involved. AVR's take alittle more to get setup right.

[Syndil]

Gotcha on the bi-amping. Already began reading the manual since I will be the one setting it up. Basic configuration seems straightforward but there are a lot of extra features to play with.

Thanks for the help, everyone.