Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 432

Wow, those must be some pretty impressive speakers to sound good in an area like that.


I've seen this before. The good deals rotate ever so often, sometimes longer than others. Before you know it, the super sales will be on again.

If worst comes to worst, Rob Lee and I will go into "Monitors Exclusive" business together

I also agree on the Ebay store. They even called and emailed me to give me the info on the 2 extra satellite speakers and answer what ever other questions I had. The woman I spoke to at Polk was very pleasant and knowledgeable. I had it in 4 days CA to RI with no shipping charges. It was boxed in the same type packaging as a new one.

I will respectfully disagree. In looking at Denon's website and the specifications for this reciever there are no 4 ohm ratings. They do rate each pair of channels with 6 ohm ratings. However they do not give a 6 ohm all channels driven rating, nor a 4 ohm. It simply states its 4 ohm capable, but to me that means it can power 2 4 ohm speakers, but not more than that. **edit** per the full owners manual its lists dynamic power for 2 4ohm speakers as 220 x 2 @ 4 ohm

Even if it will power them, it wont power then well, especially the 15's which need much more power than the other LSi's since lower frequencies require more power to produce.

Hence my suggestion of the 7's all the way around since they can be wall mounted and while I do agree the 9's have more mid bass they also require more space to breath and some decent stands as well which adds to the cost. They are also harder to drive than the 7's.

I'm simply suggesting that this needs to be researched further by the gentleman who asked the question (which he has done). Real world experience suggests differently. Can you play at concert hall volumes? Probably not, this will always require external amplification. Start with the 4311, if you need more power buy it (the 4311 is a great preamp).

I am purchasing the 4311 specifically because it will support my next set of speakers, 4 ohm at 87.5db sensitivity.

I agree research needs to be done, but I am suggesting it will show its not recommended to drive that many LSi's for HT purposes (which normally are listening at decently moderate to loud volumes).

It may drive 7 LSi's, will it drive them well, doubtful. I say this after a massive amount of research on my own on the LSi line, as well as looking at recievers in the Denon, Onkyo, Integra, etc lines.

The ONLY recievers I would suggest trying LSi's with would be the Pioneer Elite lines since they use ICE amps which I know people running LSi's with, or NAD for the same reason.

Club Polk (Polks forum) is filled with many threads on this subject and just about all of them end with the OP getting a dedicated amp and being happier.

I would suggest getting the lowest model number with pre-outs from whatever company you want (Onkyo, Denon, etc) and then spend the rest on a good used dedicated amp.

My Carver 705x which drives my LSi 15's, LSiC and Infinity Primus 162's cost me 250.

Loooking for a budget powered subwoofer for my Onkyo 809. Any suggestions in the 200-250 range?

I currently using the Polk 50's as surrounds and will get the 70's for front along with cs2 center

I disagree because the better versions of Audyssey make a huge difference. Now that I have XT32 I would never buy a receiver with anything less.

Scratch Pioneer Elite from the list:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post21782568

Consider the Energy S10.3. It's what I have with Monitor 60's and a CS2. I got it for $200 on sale at Newegg.com

Others also like the BIC f12.

Of course if you step your budget up lore you could do better.

Thanks!

Bob

[quote=Geoff4RFC;21781867]Wow, those must be some pretty impressive speakers to sound good in an area like that.

They sound their best between 59-67 absolute volume, Base 0, treble +6, neo 6 and still tweaking. Sure they're not like being in a concert hall, lacking some in the mid range like most satellite speakers. I think the size of the room is a plus. It's a country type living room, hardwood floors lightly furnished. There are so many different Audio out options on the Onkyo TX-NR709 you can do a lot tweaking. Would I have loved larger speakers sure but the wife thought these where big at 2 inches taller than the Jbl's they replaced. LOL
I'm defiantly not the audiophile I was in the 70's and 80's and if the receiver was just dedicated to just music I would have maybe argued for larger speakers. Now it's 70% TV-30% music.
So I'll rephrase it. They're amazing for their size and under $300 price tag shipped for the set. The above average listener will be happy. Under the same circumstances I would buy them again. LOL

What does the shipping run on a pair like the Monitor 60s?

I'm guessing it would be 20-30 each, though I've never actually looked into it. I only have one box for the M60's after my wife decided to clean out the garage. I'd have to ship a second one in a M70 or RTi8 box.

Polk's PSW10 is a GREAT sub for $100 shipped possibly even less if you find a special. Two of them for $200 would be even better. I'm currently running two and a 15" HD Acoustic Audio sub in the rear which would also run in your price... running mine off of an NR709 but basically the same audio processing. Running Monitor 70's in the front, CS10 center, 40's as rears and RM8 Wides as surrounds.

Newegg has them for $89 and free shipping right now

How does this compare to the Polk 505?

Thx

No comparison. Be sure to research the PSW10 thoroughly before purchasing one. Same goes for the F12.
I do not have the 505 but quite a few folks here on this board do and are happy with it.

I have a BIC F-12 and a PSW10. The F-12 is considerably better; at the $200 price point, I believe it's one of the best choices.

I have the 10 for the bedroom 5.1 setup (2 40's, CS2, 2 30's) and it's fine for that use (paid $89). The 505 is in my Family Room 7.1 (2 60's, 4 40's, CS2) and I like it much better (paid $179). I have a homemade Dayton MKIII 12" 250W in my theater room (building a second, 4 60's, CS2, 2 40's).

I think if you match your need/expectations with either of these subs, they are fine. The 505 performs better than I had expected and I would buy it again.

Thanks I will wait on the 505

I disagree. The PSW10 is a complete waste of money. In the long run you'll want/need more and are much better off spending more now and less in the long run. If you can get a Polk PSW505 for under $200 or a BIC F12 your much better off in the long run. Even better stepping up to the BIC PL-200 or PA-150 range ($280ish).

I just upgraded from a PSW10 to an Outlaw LFM-1 Plus and skipped up to the mid tier offerings saving time and money by not upgrading 2 or more times before getting to that level anyways. If I need more down the road I can pick up a second one. But I won't be messing around with upgrades for an extended period of time now. I'm really enjoying my Plus and should have it's setup finished tonight once my gramma shows up. Best of luck in your search.

Durzil you might be thinking about the PSW111 which IS a complete waste of money. They GIVE IT AWAY after all...

I've also heard the PSW505 is a nice sub... it runs $250 exactly on amazon so maybe give it a shot but I like my PSW10's. I think for the money they are one of the better subs out there.

$250>$89or even $89x2

While we're talking about Polk subs what is you guys opinion of the Polk PSWI225 wireless sub? I'm considering getting one for my living room upstairs where my wifes setup needs a little bass but I dont have the luxury of being able to run wires without them being exposed.

Don't rule on the Energy S10.3 either. I have never been a big fan of Polk subs and have yet to read anything saying that they are absolutely awesome. The 10.3 is really nice for the money (about the same price as the 505) and digs a little deeper (21Hz vs. The 505's 23Hz).

You might also look here

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1364182

Across the board you're going to get a lot of opinions, just keep in mind we all have one Don't get into analysis paralysis to the point you forget to crack open a beer and sit back to enjoy whatever you get GOOD LUCK!

I second that.....

While on sale for $200 this was the sub i was going to buy in the $200 range. Good value offering when on sale.

Way to kill a lively discussion. Just who and what are you talking about?

I wondered what he was referring to as well. Am I the only one who can't see the attachments?

Anyways to get back on track, did you decide on which sub your ordering?

If anyone is interested - and I'm not necessarily promoting these, but they're what I have. Anyway, I've owned eight subs, and the ones I'm still using are all made by Klipsch. My third sub was a BIC F12 which I had high hopes for, based on the glowing reviews I read online. I struggled with it for four month but never could get it to sound right. Folks here in the BIC thread were no help (long story, ask me if anyone is interested). Then NewEgg had a Klipsch Synergy 12" sub on sale for $260... a bit more than I had paid for the BIC, and so gave it a try... placed it right where I had the F12 and the difference was amazing.

Best thing about the F12 was it was easy to sell. It's very popular among gamers as it really thuds, but if you read up on it you'll find that many owners prefer to turn it off for music. The Klipsch wasn't what I would call a musical sub, but at least it could play the low notes. Our listening area is rather large... 24x24 with a divider between the LR and dining room, and being box shaped has some issues with standing waves. I liked the Klipsch so much that when Amazon put a similar model on sale I bought a second one and placed it on an adjacent wall and that really evened out the boomy peaks.

The Synergy is still available at http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Sub-12...dp/B003VIWK0G/ but be advised that a few ppl have had the amp go out (same thing happened to a few other mfr's... I think ED once had a bad batch, but I'd have to go back and research that to be sure). Anyway I figure I could buy a replacement plate amp if that happens. No biggie. Two years later I still love my twin Sub12's.

So a few months later and NewEgg (again!) has a Klipsch SW350 on sale for $200... http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-SW-350...dp/B002HWRK9I/ ... At the time I was still using an A/R HD510 decorator sub in the family room with some Polk Tsi's for TV and MP3's etc... the A/R was a bit muddy so I sprung for the 350 even though it only has a 8" cone. Wow what a surprise for a small box! Doesn't dive very low but is very musical and is perfect for where we use it. There is also a 10" version available that probably kick's a$$.

Well somewhere along the line I read that Klipsch had been bought by Audiovox (same thing happened to A/R a few years back) and many of their product lines were being discontinued. Again NewEgg offered a batch of Klipsch Reference line speakers on closeout and I picked up a RW-10D 10" sub at $200 for the bedroom, where we have some Polk M40's and 30's. http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-RW-10D...dp/B000VZ50J0/

Again, they also have a 12" version available. Any of these can probably still be found but the supply has probably dried up and the discounts not as deep as they were a year or two ago. So the reason I'm relaying all this is that any of these subs are currently selling for $350, which if you're about to throw away $200 on a bargain sub, you might end up spending a lot more in the long run when you outgrow it. You may not always get what you pay for but you always pay for what you get.

We don't use the bedroom sub much so I tend to just leave it turned off. One last thing I've learned is that probably the most significant factor in selecting any speaker is room size. Something may sound great in one room but be entirely too weak or overpowering in a different room.

Edit: I guess I should add that Klipsch subs are not known to be particularly good subs, even in the Klipsch threads here on AVS. Personally I don't like much of their product line. But like Polk, Klipsch makes some good speakers, though that doesn't mean that everything they make is going to be good. The best I can say for these subs is that they are the first subs I've owned that did not leave me wanting something better. So as others have said, when you embark on the sub journey, be prepared to go through a few misfires before finding something you like.

That really sucks that are Lsi's are inferior to the Rti's for home theater use, I really wanted to try them too.