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It all started when I got a nice Samsung 40" LCD TV for a good price at a charity auction. Much better answer for our small family room than the 32" Samsung it replaced, but the sound is hideous. Given the scarcity of inputs on the new Sammy, getting decent sound meant a home theater receiver. I recently picked up a Yamaha RX-V671 for under $400 delivered - before gift card. I basically went with the Yamaha because of a great value point and I felt it would be a better choice for music
That leaves me with two Polk RM7400t speakers I picked up at a going out of business sale a few years back. (Notice a trend here?) For a long time, we've put great sound below other things and I've listened through compromises. I'd like to be able to change that.
Our family room is about 12' x 14' with large openings to the kitchen and hallway. The Polks sit in two corners on the solid 12' wall. There's a fireplace between them, which puts the TV in one corner practically in front of one of the Polks. Rear channel speakers can connect via banana plugs into wall outlets I ran when I redid the room three years ago.
We listen to a lot of different kinds of music - classic rock, small group and big band jazz, classical, Christmas, Broadway. I'm not a high budget guy. Never will be. I don't mind buying last year's technology at a discount. Here are our priorities:
1) Accurate sound reproduction. Especially with a subwoofer, I want to hear accurate lows, not feel them like when some kid drives by in a $300 car with a $7,000 sound system. We really don't have to feel the explosions in movies if it means it feels like the bass player is walking through a minefield. I characterize the RM7400ts as sounding pretty good but certainly lacking a serious low end. Not the best speakers I've owned or heard but not the worst, either.
2) Compact size. Space is at a premium in the room, and my wife would prefer to hear and not see the speakers. Given space constraints, I'd like the smallest sub I realistically can get away with. It will probably end up in the corner space behind the TV.
3) Budget of around $500. I can live with a higher price tag if someone can convince me it's worth it, but I think I can get what I want for that. Given the room and how we'll use the system, I think that's a reasonable bang for the buck budget.
Things that look interesting are the ENERGY Take Classic or RC Micro, or the Polk TL250 and PSW111 (both Polk refurbished for $500). Note the small sizes. Are there other options to consider, including keeping the RM7400t in service? Do I even need a 5.1 setup? If I replace the Polks, I can always connect them to my ancient JVC RX-V715 receiver. It's connected to my PC, where I'm digitizing my audio and video libraries. I edit with headphones, but those towers would sound much better than the cheesy PC speakers I have now. The old, smaller TV will probably end up in that room as well.
I'm not wedded to Polks, either. The speaker industry is close to perfectly competitive, in my view, which means some of the best values to be had could be in some lesser-known brands.
Thanks in advance for the advice!
That leaves me with two Polk RM7400t speakers I picked up at a going out of business sale a few years back. (Notice a trend here?) For a long time, we've put great sound below other things and I've listened through compromises. I'd like to be able to change that.
Our family room is about 12' x 14' with large openings to the kitchen and hallway. The Polks sit in two corners on the solid 12' wall. There's a fireplace between them, which puts the TV in one corner practically in front of one of the Polks. Rear channel speakers can connect via banana plugs into wall outlets I ran when I redid the room three years ago.
We listen to a lot of different kinds of music - classic rock, small group and big band jazz, classical, Christmas, Broadway. I'm not a high budget guy. Never will be. I don't mind buying last year's technology at a discount. Here are our priorities:
1) Accurate sound reproduction. Especially with a subwoofer, I want to hear accurate lows, not feel them like when some kid drives by in a $300 car with a $7,000 sound system. We really don't have to feel the explosions in movies if it means it feels like the bass player is walking through a minefield. I characterize the RM7400ts as sounding pretty good but certainly lacking a serious low end. Not the best speakers I've owned or heard but not the worst, either.
2) Compact size. Space is at a premium in the room, and my wife would prefer to hear and not see the speakers. Given space constraints, I'd like the smallest sub I realistically can get away with. It will probably end up in the corner space behind the TV.
3) Budget of around $500. I can live with a higher price tag if someone can convince me it's worth it, but I think I can get what I want for that. Given the room and how we'll use the system, I think that's a reasonable bang for the buck budget.
Things that look interesting are the ENERGY Take Classic or RC Micro, or the Polk TL250 and PSW111 (both Polk refurbished for $500). Note the small sizes. Are there other options to consider, including keeping the RM7400t in service? Do I even need a 5.1 setup? If I replace the Polks, I can always connect them to my ancient JVC RX-V715 receiver. It's connected to my PC, where I'm digitizing my audio and video libraries. I edit with headphones, but those towers would sound much better than the cheesy PC speakers I have now. The old, smaller TV will probably end up in that room as well.
I'm not wedded to Polks, either. The speaker industry is close to perfectly competitive, in my view, which means some of the best values to be had could be in some lesser-known brands.
Thanks in advance for the advice!