RE: Polk Audio LSi series Home Theater (2)

[crmfmly]

Thanx a lot for all the RUDE comments. For one I never said I knew what I was doing. If you would take the time to look at my first post it specifically said I was new to all this. Well I wanna stay with Onkyo because I absolutely love my receiver and don't really know of any other receiver better than it but if there really is please feel free to tell me but not so rudely. I'm totally in love with Polk Audio speakers and don't wanna stray from them so could you please tell me a really good series to go with. I'd probably have to say that I watch movies just as much as I listen to my music so it's not one more than the other.
OK what do you think about this:

Onkyo TX-SR803 receiver
Polk Audio RTi 12 front speakers
Polk Audio LSi C center
Polk Audio LSi FX surround and rear surround

And for the sub since Polk Audio subs are such junk could you recommend a really good sub for both movies just as much as music?

And to the ones that don't post rude comments just cause I'm new I wanna give you a big THANK YOU!

[danger boy]

[jdhdiggs]

Uh, well, I haven't seen the first thread. I might recommend staying with one line across the front. If you like the LSi's, get LSi's, If you like the RTi's, get RTi's. Mixing doesn't seem to always work.

For subs, what price range are you looking for? Check out Svsubwoofers.com or HSUsubwoofers.com for some of the best bang for the $$$ subs. If they are too highly priced, look to paradigm or velodyne.

Oh yeah, I would strongly recommend not powering the LSi series or the RTi 12's off of a receiver. Not to say you'lll hurt anything, just the system won't sound its best and you won't get all the performance that you paid for.

[Zen Dragon]

Crmfmly:
There are personalities everywhere and sometimes you catch someone in an off mood or misinterpret your comments. As to your Onkyo...Onkyo makes some competitive medim quality receivers. Generally in the HT arena if you are looking for the big central units Denon, Harmon Kardon, Yamaha, and Marantz are the higher quality units. Different tastes will like or dislike some of these units. Onkyo has been pushing into this level as well and is getting close.
That being said I looked up the TX-NR100 and it looks like a monster. about $5000 Ultra THX certified. If you own it already it should perform well with some external amplification to the mains.
If you are only looking at this unit I would recommend the Denon AVR-4806 also THX certified for $1500 less. It has a little less rated power at 140 Watts, but you should only be driving the surrounds and rears with the receiver anyway and 140Watts is more than enough.
When you are driving power hungry speakers with low impedance loads they place a high current demand on the amplifier. Even modern all in one units, while some are manufactured quite well, can not match the ability to drive high current into low impedance loads as well as a dedicated high quality amplifier.
With both the Onkyo you mentioned, or the Denon I mentioned, you have the ability to take a pre-amplified output and send it to a separate amplifier for your main speakers. There are several members on this forum including myself who drive a system in this way. It allows you to properly feed your main speakers a high power amplified signal for 2 channel listening, and for HT you allow the receivers other amplified outputs to drive your surrounds and mains.
Not as good as a dedicated pre-amp for 2 channel listening, but a fairly solid compramise allowing good power for your mains, and a solid HT system.

[Zen Dragon]

Crmfmly:
I just noticed you changed your receiver selection in this thread. If you are dead set on the TXH ultra certification than the Onkyo you chose is probably a good receiver in that price range (about $1000) for new items. The Denon THX ultra certified units have a higher price point. Now that you have downsized the HT/processor unit, you want to start considering an external amplifier for the mains. The LSI's especially are power hungry speakers.

[ohskigod]

crmfmly

it seems your misinterpreting good advise as rude comment. even if some put it bluntly, what they are telling you is the truth. With LSi's you need high current to a) get it to sound at it's best, and b) reduce risk to damamge of speakers, or most likely the reciever. pick a flagship reciever from thebig names, Denon, HK, Onkyo... the 3-4000 jobbies, and you'd still have to keep an eye on the heat from the reciever to make sure your not screwing anything else up.

Early B called out the fact that many people who know what they are doing advised you of this, and you came back with the reciever and LSi again. leaving him to say "WTF?" for lack of a better phrase. while it was blunt, it was not out of left field. If you like us or hate us, thats fine...no prob. But please listen to us, we know what were talkin about here.

your going to spend ALOT of cheddar on this, including a lot of Polk purchases. Thats cool as hell, since POlk is a great company with remarkable customer service, but as I said before, doing it right will reap huge dividends in maintaining your equipment. Give Polk Customer service a call if you want our info corroborated.

by the way, the PSW1000 is a good sub, but many have issues with it since, while it plays at impressive SPL's on demand, it doesnt dig as deep as some here would like. Its not about boominess. Believe me SVS and HSU, they aint boomy. They do however punch deep, and for movies, thats the only way to fly. were talking well below 25hz (and even in the teens) without breaking a bead of sweat, this is where the psw1000 displays some kinks in the armor.

[Lowell_M]

My two cents...I am relatively new to this forum and new to most of the higher end HT concepts that are discussed here, but have learned much from these guys. Listen to what they are saying. I recently listened to a Harman Kardon AVR-635 receiver powering RTi8's, which are similar to my RTi70's. I was blown away by the performance of the 635. While the 635 is not the top of the line receiver by HK, it is right up there. Just for kicks I asked to listen to the LSi's that were on the floor as well. I was dissappointed and thought that the RTi's sounded far better. (midrange was week, treble didn't stand out, etc.) What I realize now from reading some of the information on here and recalling how the speakers sounded different is that what I was hearing was underpowered LSi's. Trust these guys, you won't like the sound of the LSi's unless you go with separates from any of the names suggested. Outlaw sounds like a great choice to me.

Otherwise...Go with the Rti's (all around), I still don't think you will be dissappointed.