Hi guys,

I'm building my first HT system!

It's my first post on the forums, so let me introduce myself.

I'm a mechanical engineer and weekend musician. My dad introduced me to hi-fi in 1995 at age 14. I told my dad I needed help to buy one of those cheap all-in-one stereo chains. He said no. Then lended me a Kenwood receiver he had laying around, and his Rogers LS3/5A bookshelves that he bought in England back in the 70s and that were not seeing much usage in the living room since he was mainly using his other pair of Rogers (bigger ones). I bought a Nad 3 disc carousel CD player to complete the system.

In 2007 the Kenwood was starting to show its age so I bought a Nad C320BEE amp. Just after that my dad requested to have his Rogers back. I was on a budget. It was boxing day, enter Polk Audio: I bought a pair of RTi4.

Now I'm moving to a HT system. Considering:
1. I've listened to the Rogers for so many years, I just love the british sound.
2. I just don't have enough money for a complete 5.1 B&W system.
3. I have a pair of RTi4s already, which sound good to my ear even though it's a different sound.
4. The RTi6 and PSW505 12" sub are on boxing day sale at very attractive prices.

So I went ahead and ordered a pair of RTi6 and the PWS505.

My plan was then to buy an affordable AVR. But after listening to a couple of them, something annoys me with the typical sound of most japanese AVRs. I think I could live with it for movies, but not for listening to music. I'll think I'll try to find an AVR with pre-outs to drive the RTi6's in the front through the Nad C320BEE.

And, eventually (maybe next year), buy a pair of B&W fronts to use with the C320 as a music only setup.

Now I'm fairly new to HT so I have a few concerns:

1- The CSiA4 is on sale right now around here, I guess it would be a good match to the RTi6's?

2- I need a center channel speaker... or do I? I've heard something about phantom centers where the center channel is split on both front channels. Does that give good results?

3- About the PSW505 sub, after ordering it I read comments about Polk subs beeing not very good. Is it in general or model-specific?

4- I'm having after thoughts. I am crazy to plan for two sets of fronts, one for music and the other for HT? Since I like the british sound should I invest in B&W fronts instead of buying the RTi6's? Then how would the Polk RTi4 rears, CSiA4 center and PSW505 sub match with B&W fronts :confused:

If you like the British sound, then why not just go for the British sound? Sales are great, but if what you truly want isn't on sale, how good of a value is that? If your utimate goal is to end up with British speakers, why waste your time and money on something else? Here's what I recommend:

Consider buying a pair of B&W's for your L/R mains but, purchase the pair you would eventually like to have for surrounds. Then, when funds permit, purchase the pair you prefer for mains and move the 1st pair to surround duty. In the meantime, run a phantom center and use your existing Polk's for surround duty.

As for a sub, Polk makes good speakers, but their subs are not the best (it's not model specific). Look at Hsu, SVS, eD, to name a few. You will get more for your money. Even when you have your complete B&W system, I would encourage you to seriously consider other subs. B&W make great speakers (and pretty good subs) but for the money you can find better subs. I have B&W 602 S2 mains, LCR60, and 600 S3's paired with a Hsu VTF2 Mk2 sub and it's awesome!

My advise, start slowly and build what you truly want. You will save money in the long run. I started with a Kenwood HTIB, gave that to my twin sister. Bought a set of Fluance and eventually sold that for about half of what I paid for it. Before I finally started piecing together my B&W system. If I had followed my this advise I would have saved time and money!

Good luck!

My advise, start slowly and build what you truly want. You will save money in the long run.

If I had followed my this advise I would have saved time and money!

Good luck!

Ditto!

The only thing I can speak to are the Polks. I have always used their speakers, from my whole house 12 zone to my HT's. Soundbar upstairs, wife loves it, nice and clean and actually sounds pretty good. Then we have the old trusty RT2000i's with that old beast of a center channel CS1000p with the matching f/x500i surrounds. And yes, I know that there are better speakers out there, but my ears like em.

Now the Polk subs, and I never liked them. I have owned a few over the years, and I finally gave up on them. I have an old 12" 350w Velodyne upstairs that rocks the house. And an SVS PC13 Ultra cylinder sub in the basement that rocks the NEIGHBORHOOD!

The SVS subs are hard to beat from my own experience and from the reviews I have read. In fact, I am seriously thinking of buying a set of their MTS-01 speakers to replace the old Polks in the basement.

Look for something other than a Polk sub, even a Boston Acoustics sub would be several steps up in my opinion. But that is just me, a consumer audiophile. And I say audiophile with much self sarcasm. It's the budget.

Mike