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Home theater amp for sub

K

KingofBladez

Senior member
I dont know much of anything about audio stuff so please bear with me.
I received an Onkyo TX-NR509 receiver for Christmas to replace my old Panasonic HTIB and I guess I need an amplifier or two to get my old speakers working with the new system.
The Panasonic subwoofer(SC-PT650) isnt powered so I need an amp of some sort but I dont understand all the watts and ohms.
I also need an amp for the rear speakers which are pretty small.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
You should be able to drive the rear speakers straight from the receiver itself since it a 5.1 channel receiver so you won't need an amp for those. Insofar as the subwoofer is concerned I wouldn't bother getting an amplifier for it. You'd be better off buying an amplified subwoofer and replace your existing subwoofer. We're going to need a budget though to give suggestions.
 
KingofBladez said:
I dont know much of anything about audio stuff so please bear with me.
I received an Onkyo TX-NR509 receiver for Christmas to replace my old Panasonic HTIB and I guess I need an amplifier or two to get my old speakers working with the new system.
The Panasonic subwoofer(SC-PT650) isnt powered so I need an amp of some sort but I dont understand all the watts and ohms.
I also need an amp for the rear speakers which are pretty small.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...

get new speakers and a new sub. give us a budget to work with
 
Why dont the rear speakers work with the onkyo 509?

As for powering the sub...i found its a 250W 6ohm. Nothing fancy and you could get a dayton plate amp (240W) for ~120 bucks. But at 120 if you add another 100 you could get a bic f12 and get a better subwoofer with the amp built in.
 
If youre planning on keeping that sub, youre going to need a seperate dedicated amp for it. velillen's suggestion is good.
 
velillen said:
Why dont the rear speakers work with the onkyo 509?

As for powering the sub...i found its a 250W 6ohm. Nothing fancy and you could get a dayton plate amp (240W) for ~120 bucks. But at 120 if you add another 100 you could get a bic f12 and get a better subwoofer with the amp built in.
Click to expand...

You're right, the rear speakers should work. I was looking at a diagram that came with he onkyo that has "surround back" under the pre out connection area and got confused.

At that price point for an amp I think I will just get that bic f12.

Lets say I wanted to replace the 5 speakers also, what would $200-$300(excluding cost of sub) get me?
 
KingofBladez said:
You're right, the rear speakers should work. I was looking at a diagram that came with he onkyo that has "surround back" under the pre out connection area and got confused.

At that price point for an amp I think I will just get that bic f12.

Lets say I wanted to replace the 5 speakers also, what would $200-$300(excluding cost of sub) get me?
Click to expand...
A decent pair of front speakers, not including center channel.
 
my experience with HTIB speakers is they are crap and often 3ohm. your receiver probably doesnt recommend using 3ohm speakers with it anyway.

my recommendation on your price range is this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer+...99165100050018

these pioneer speakers are great, especially for the price. the combo package basically gets you the rears for free versus buying all the components separately. i have the towers and center and love them. there is a huge thread praising them at avsforum too. mine are paired with an onkyo 609.
 
Like Howard says, if you want to do a speaker upgrade for $200-$300, you are looking at upgrading the front two to an OK pair of bookshelf speakers. A good center channel is nice though. MIght even be better off getting that upgrade since alot of hte voices come through it.

If getting hte better sub amp, how about an upgrade plan to a better sub one day? If you had to get the sub of your dreams, how big would it be?
 
KingofBladez said:
You're right, the rear speakers should work. I was looking at a diagram that came with he onkyo that has "surround back" under the pre out connection area and got confused.

At that price point for an amp I think I will just get that bic f12.

Lets say I wanted to replace the 5 speakers also, what would $200-$300(excluding cost of sub) get me?
Click to expand...

If you get a sub I would get 3 HTD middies @ $90/each and forget the rears till you have more money (running a 3.1 system)... or just get two middies, run a 2.1 setup, save up for better fronts, buy better fronts when the money is there and move the middies to the rear for a 5.1 setup.
 
Homer Simpson said:
my experience with HTIB speakers is they are crap and often 3ohm. your receiver probably doesnt recommend using 3ohm speakers with it anyway.

my recommendation on your price range is this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer+...99165100050018

these pioneer speakers are great, especially for the price. the combo package basically gets you the rears for free versus buying all the components separately. i have the towers and center and love them. there is a huge thread praising them at avsforum too. mine are paired with an onkyo 609.
Click to expand...

I have heard they are good
 
Homer Simpson said:
my experience with HTIB speakers is they are crap and often 3ohm. your receiver probably doesnt recommend using 3ohm speakers with it anyway.

my recommendation on your price range is this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer+...99165100050018

these pioneer speakers are great, especially for the price. the combo package basically gets you the rears for free versus buying all the components separately. i have the towers and center and love them. there is a huge thread praising them at avsforum too. mine are paired with an onkyo 609.
Click to expand...
That looks really interesting, just sucks it's from Best Buy. Maybe I could get over my loathing of them to get a good deal.
Yeah my current speakers are all 3ohm and the center is 6ohm. Is that super bad, couldnt damage the receiver right?

IHateMyJob2004 said:
Like Howard says, if you want to do a speaker upgrade for $200-$300, you are looking at upgrading the front two to an OK pair of bookshelf speakers. A good center channel is nice though. MIght even be better off getting that upgrade since alot of hte voices come through it.

If getting hte better sub amp, how about an upgrade plan to a better sub one day? If you had to get the sub of your dreams, how big would it be?
Click to expand...
I had no idea how much this stuff costs. Dont know if I'd like going from 5.1 down to 2.1, but I suppose the difference in quality makes up for it.
I dont know enough to have a sub of my dreams so...a really big one? 🙂

Zivic said:
If you get a sub I would get 3 HTD middies @ $90/each and forget the rears till you have more money (running a 3.1 system)... or just get two middies, run a 2.1 setup, save up for better fronts, buy better fronts when the money is there and move the middies to the rear for a 5.1 setup.
Click to expand...
What are HTD middies? I looked around on amazon and couldnt find anything.


So how much would 5 decent speakers cost vs 5 good speakers?
I might have some more money coming in soon.
Thanks for all the help so far, this reminds me of when I got my first PC.

edit: also do I need to buy a subwoofer cable like this: http://www.amazon.com/Mediabridge-Ultra-Shielded-Subwoofer-Connectors/dp/B003FW0WIK/ or do they usually come with a cable?
 
Last edited:
Go used!
I bought a pair of Klipsch Rf-35s, an RC-35 center and an RW-10 10" sub for $250 off Craigslist this past week.
I've purchased tons of stuff off of CL that saved me alot from buying new...
 
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