Home Audio Questions (Updated)

[Darrell]

I'm getting a pretty basic 5.1 surround A/V receiver in a few weeks; it's an anniversary gift from my employer, so I have no choice in its make or model. For the record, it's an Onkyo, I believe this one:

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX- ... ceiver&p=i

65 watts per channel at 8 ohms, or 90 watts at 6 ohms. I've been looking at Amazon and elsewhere on the web for suitable speakers, with a budget of ~$400-$500. Any recommendations? I get a bit lost with the power specs of various speaker systems, as power ratings aren't all specified the same way--RMS, peak, 8/6/4 ohms, etc., etc. A few I've considered:

Logitech Z-5500:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Cert ... 150&sr=8-1

Polk Audio RM-705:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-RM705- ... 150&sr=8-6

Klipsch HD-300:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-HD-300-De ... 50&sr=8-12

Harman Kardon HKTS-15:

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-HKT ... 50&sr=8-13

Recommendations, dos/don'ts? Am I correct in thinking that the powered subwoofers' power ratings will make up for the receiver's power? That is, will 65 watts to the subwoofer be enough for a 200 watt rated subwoofer? Whatever, I'd like to get a good match between the receiver power and the speakers.


Also, I'd like to run my old turntable to the receiver. It doesn't have a phono jack, so I gather I'd have to get a phono preamp and run it through an AUX port on the reciever. Suggestions?

I blew up my old amplifier a few years ago, and never got around to replacing it. I also got rid of my old 15" four way speakers at that time. They were huge. This seemed like an opportunity, so I chose the above receiver to get going. I'm not looking for a high end system, just something decent for audio and to go with my TV for movies and such. I'm still using a 32" CRT TV; I'll keep it 'til it fails, then worry about getting a flat screen monitor.

[sam]

The Logitech speakers don't merit your consideration. Those are computer speakers, not home theater speakers.

From your list, I like the Klipsch best, then the Polks.

Check out the threads on the AVS forums. Search on budget speakers, and you get quite a few hits

Just my $0.02.

[rightisright]

+1 on the AVS forums.

[sam]

To amplify (heh) what Chris said, I have a pair of JBL L100T speakers I use for listening to music, that I bought over 20 years ago. They still rock with my Yamaha R-9 Class A amplified receiver. And I still have my Denon turntable connected, too.

My H/T speakers are also JBLs that I bought as separates (center and surrounds), and a Sony sub-woofer. They are pushed by a high end Onkyo 7.1 receiver, though there still aren't may 7.1 sources.

[Dedicated_Dad]

You might also keep your eyes open and beat the bushes in every Goodwill or Salvation Army and the like in your area. They often don't know what they have, and sell at prices that make people who DO know do a spit-take. Another GREAT option is storage-unit auctions.

I've found Bose speakers for $10 a pair. My current setup uses 4 "Realistic" speakers, from back in the day when they made GREAT ones. I've had a couple of friends offer me serious money for the Front-Left/Right speaker pair -- I paid $40 including a high-end set of components and turntable from the same vintage. The set ran to $1500 in the 80s. The rear-pair are also Realistics, though not as large as the fronts - friends set their value a bit lower but not much so - my friends are cheap bastiges like me so I know they weren't making "generous" offers.

I've seen pairs of Bose 501 or 901 for as little as $10 -- even if you had to replace all the woofers and tweeters (for the 501) thats still a steal!

DD

[308Mike]

I've got some old Pioneer speakers that are close to 30 years old, and the outter edges of the woofer cones are rotting out. I found these guys in Orange County, CA, who have replacement speaker components and can completely refurbish your speakers for a FRACTION of the cost of replacement.

I'm probably going to be shipping them my two towers and have them completely gone through - then they should last another 30+ years.

[Darrell]

I'm resurrecting this thread--I held off buying anything, due to the economy, not wanting to spend money at the time, etc. Well, I've been working tons of overtime, and thought I might pull the trigger on some decent speakers as a Christmas present to myself. To clarify things a bit: I do not have an HDTV, and do not foresee getting one in the near future--I'll stay with the ol' 32" CRT TV until it croaks. Neither do I have or need a Blu Ray player at this time. I do have a regular DVD player, of course. The system will be used for music as much or more than it will for TV/movies. That said, I visited a couple of audio shops to see what's out there. The salesman at the first place, considering what I noted above, said that no, I don't need a 5.1 system. He recommended a Paradigm PDR 8 8" subwoofer for $220, or the PDR 10 10" subwoofer for $330, along with a pair of Paradigm Atom bookshelf speakers for $285. I got to listen to the set up with the 10" sub, it sounded very nice; total price is $615. Here they are:

http://www.paradigm.com/products/paradi ... om-monitor

http://www.paradigm.com/products/paradi ... ies/pdr-10

The salesman was very knowledgeable and helpful. He let me listen to a Paradigm 5.1 system, the Cinema 90, which was very nice for both HDTV/Blu Ray, and for music. Price is $750.

At another shop, the salesman seemed a bit diffident, and I never actually got to listen to anything. What do you think of Boston Acoustics? I could get their CSUB 10 for $199, or $169 for one in an open box. Also, the CS 26 bookshelf speakers, 1" tweeter and 6 1/2" "woofer", for $89 each. As an alternative they have the CS226 free standing speakers, which are like the CS 26 but have two of the 6 1/2" woofers in each cabinet, for $279/pair. If I wanted a center channel speaker, there's the CS225C for $99. If I wanted to create a 5.1 system from the above, it would run about $627.

One 5.1 system mentioned before is the Klipsch HD 1000, presently going for $549.77 at Amazon. I read some reviews, mostly glowing, though one said that they distort badly at high volume. One thing that throws me about the Klipsch system is there seems to be no real midrange-tweeters are 1", dual "midrange" are 2 1/2", and the subwoofer is 10":

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-HD-Theate ... 894&sr=8-1

Per Chris's remarks above, I do rather like the idea of a 12" subwoofer. My last set of speakers (Ultralinear or Rectilinear, I forget) were 15" four ways, they had a lot of bottom end.

So! Go ahead with a 5.1 system, or go with L+R and a subwoofer, and wait on the center and rear surrounds? What say you?

[rightisright]

So! Go ahead with a 5.1 system, or go with L+R and a subwoofer, and wait on the center and rear surrounds? What say you?

I'm no audiophile. Surround sound underwhelms me. So much so that I have 2 rear speakers that have been in my basement for a few years. I can't seem to get up the energy to run the wires under the floor and snake them up the rear wall

[Darrell]

Sigh, I knew this would happen. I very much appreciate your advice, Chris. Problem is, I'm seriously debating dropping my cable, much less getting an HDTV or Blu Ray... I've considered getting a DVR, but ran into the whole "to HDTV or not" thing. The TV is usually just on as background, I don't sit down to watch favorite shows or movies much at all anymore. Maybe that would change if I did get an HDTV and Blu Ray, but now I'm looking at doubling the cost of what I'm willing to spend at the moment.

Yes, I saw your earlier recommendation on the Paradigm Cinema 90; that's one reason I mentioned it. You mentioned Polk Audio as worthy of consideration before, looks like I can assemble a decent system with 12" subwoofer using Polk components over at Amazon. What do you think of the Boston Acoustic stuff?

[Darrell]

Okay, here's what I'm looking at by Polk Audio:

Polk Audio PSW505 12-Inch Powered Subwoofer (Single, Black)
$229.99

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-12-Inc ... 67&sr=1-20

Evidently it's a discontinued model. 300W continuous, 460W peak. Alternative is this:

Polk Audio PSW125 12-Inch Powered Subwoofer (Single, Cherry)
$349.00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PI ... d_i=507846

It's their current model 12" subwoofer. 150W continuous, 300W peak. I wonder why the difference?

To go with:

Polk Audio TSi200 Bookshelf Speakers
$299.95 a pair, either black or cherry:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-TSi200 ... rities_t_5

If I wanted to go ahead with a center channel, this:

Polk Audio CS20 Center Channel Speaker
$169.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018Q ... d_i=507846

The same model center speaker is $149.99 for black.

Just for music, I could go with either subwoofer and the pair of bookshelf mains for now. Would the center channel be pointless at this time? Add two more rear speakers now or later and I'd have the whole 5.1 shebang.