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Sonos Vs Polk RTI A1 vs Everything Else. Speaker Ideas For Large Room.

6K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  pulp25 
#1 ·
I'm very new to the speaker scene. I am trying to find the best bang for your buck versatile setup for a 900 square foot room. I am open to absolutely any setup ideas under $2000. We listen to a little of all types of music. What do you guys recommend?

Also, Sonos seems to get good reviews. Sound wise how do they compare to other speakers?

Here is what I've come up with so far...

Option A:

6 sonos play 1 speakers - $1200
1 sonos subwoofer - $700
1 Bridge - $49

Total: $1949

Option B:
6 Polk Audio RTI A1 speakers: $781.41
Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V2UBS8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

1 Yamaha RX-V675 7.2 Channel Network AV Receiver: $399.95
Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F1U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

1 Polk Audio PSW505 12-Inch Powered Subwoofer $254.94
Link:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000092TT0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Total: 1436.40
 
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#3 ·
My choice hands down would be Option B. Between the 2, but why get 6 speakers when surround system only needs 5?

900 sq ft? So assuming that it has 8ft ceilings that is 7200 cu. ft. that space is HUGE.

What are the plans for this room? Just background listening or bringing down the house loud partying?
 
#6 ·
My choice hands down would be Option B. Between the 2, but why get 6 speakers when surround system only needs 5?
Sounds like after everyone's advice option B would be the best. To be honest I know nothing about speaker setups and was just going to put 3 speakers on each side of the room, but it sounds like i need a center. Another dumb question... Do floor standing speakers sound significantly better than bookshelf speakers. I just noticed you can get one like this for $320: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846

900 sq ft? So assuming that it has 8ft ceilings that is 7200 cu. ft. that space is HUGE.

What are the plans for this room? Just background listening or bringing down the house loud partying?
Yeah it will be a big room, our house is about 2,200 square feet and we are deciding to take out a bunch of walls and go with an open floor plan for part of the house.

The room will contain a kitchen, dining room type table, couches and a TV; though we just converted half of our garage into the official theater room so sound quality of the tv is not my primary concern. We will be entertaining guests often where we would just want even back ground music, but I'm sure sometimes we will want to crank it up when the mood strikes us, ha!
 
#4 ·
I believe that the Sonos system only allows one R / L line input (most would use this for wireless surround speakers) - the Sonos doesn't support 5 channel wireless input - kwkshift is right, you would get a bridge and two Play speakers. Sonos doesn't have surround decoding built in so 5 Play speakers are not going to give you surround sound - they will just give you stereo L / R or mono (as selected in the setup).

If you were going to use an AVR, you would use traditional speakers for the front 3 (why would you need wireless for this?) and you would buy an AVR that had surround channel preamp outputs (the Yamaha RX-V675 doesn't have them - most AVRs under $600 don't), connect the bridge to the AVR and configure the Play 5 speakers to L / R stereo operation. Price? At least another $200 for an AVR with preamp outputs, the "Connect" for $350 and two Play:3 speakers at $300 each - $1150 - that is a LOT OF MONEY for some tiny wireless surround speakers!

Just get the Polk system, the RTi series sound great. Get the cheaper AVR and with the money saved get the Polk RTiA3 for the front, RTiA1 for the surround and the best center channel speaker that you can afford - at least the CSiA6 ($400) or even better the LSiM704c ($750). Running those speaker wires to the surrounds may be a pain, but it is going to save you about $800 AND give you better sound in the process.
 
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#5 ·
My next question is: if you are willing to spend $700 on a Sonus sub, why wouldn't you be willing to spend at least $500 on a better sub than the Polk. Polk subs are OK, but a much better sub will really change your home theater experience.

Check out SVS subs - PB-1000, 300 Watt DSP Controlled, 10" Ported Subwoofer - $499 direct
http://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/ported-box/PB-1000
 
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#8 ·
IMO Floorstanders don't sound significantly better. A good set of bookshelves with a proper subwoofer. You are going to need to spend a big part of your budget on a subwoofer.

It sounds like you don't need a serious theater set-up for your TV.

Pair of bookshelfs like the Polk RTi6's for fronts, and a Polk CSi5 center,.

Subwoofer like an SVS PB-2000 or HSU VTF-3 Mk4 or PSA XV15se

One 3.1 speaker option in your budget is the HSU Hybrid 15 3.1.

Add a $400 receiver and you will have an amazing setup. so much so that you might not want to watch things in your theater:D
 
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