Time to start researching the beginning of my future HT, starting with a 2ch setup

[jlee]

I fully intend on getting a subwoofer eventually, but I'm not entirely sure it's needed just yet (as long as full range speakers are decent enough for music). Also, I could look into the adapter for my 560 subwoofer.

That seems to be a really good deal on the CS2 center...do prices drop down like that often?

 

[sdifox]

I fully intend on getting a subwoofer eventually, but I'm not entirely sure it's needed just yet (as long as full range speakers are decent enough for music). Also, I could look into the adapter for my 560 subwoofer.

That seems to be a really good deal on the CS2 center...do prices drop down like that often?

I don't think you are going to have a bass problem (for music) with four 6.5" on the Monitor 70.

Unless you intend to play organ music.

 

[jlee]

$100 for 50's, $150 for 60's, $230 for 70's. Are the 70's substantially better than the others, or do they just fill the low range more (ie a missing subwoofer would not be as painful)?

 

[sdifox]

$100 for 50's, $150 for 60's, $230 for 70's. Are the 70's substantially better than the others, or do they just fill the low range more (ie a missing subwoofer would not be as painful)?

It is mostly a low end extension issue. I would go with the 50s since you plan to move them to surround duty later right?

 

[kalrith]

It is mostly a low end extension issue. I would go with the 50s since you plan to move them to surround duty later right?

I think that's the main question. If you want to use them as your mains forever, then the monitor 70s would be worth it (4 6.5" woofers compared to 2 5.25" woofers), but the Monitor 50s would be the best choice if these will do surround duty later on. Also, the CS2 has the same speakers as the Monitor 70, and the CS1 has the same speakers as the Monitor 50/60. I'm not sure the CS2 would timbre match the Monitor 50/60.

BTW, the CS2 has been $110 in the past, so that's not the greatest price on it. Do a title search for "polk" on http://slickdeals.net/forums/ to see what prices have been recently. If you can wait for a deal, you might be better off (although $100 for the Monitor 50 is definitely a good deal).

Again, about all I know is Polk, so it would behoove you to do some more research, auditioning, etc. before jumping on something just because it's a good deal. I did that, but my budget was also much, much lower than yours.

 

[mshan]

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1269857230&/HSU-HB-1-MK2-Horn-Bookshelf-Sp (don't know seller, just saw listing)

If you don't like them, just resell them, hopefully at a modest loss at most. And will you get $300 of enjoyment out of them or other quality but moderately priced speakers over the next 3 years?

If you like Hsu house sound and move into larger space, really what that translates into is getting a bigger Hsu sub (or adding a second one): http://hsuresearch.com/faq.html#1

I would just start with left and right bookshelves and see if you like sound. If you feel there isn't enough bass, a VTF-1 would probably work well in your smaller space where lots of transmitted vibrations will upset roommates.

If you buy a quality product, it should still have good resale value (50%+) 3 years down the road if you take care of it and save all original packaging and boxes for safe shipping. Speaker technology doesn't change as fast as digital signal processing in avrs, so should stand test of time better if product is desireable.




edit: looks like Hsu has some B-stock at about same delivered price: http://hsuresearch.com/products/clearance.html

 

[jlee]

I have Polk Audio components in my car and I love them. I could go with two Studio 50's now and see how they work, possibly add a subwoofer, then later go with a center and 70's for mains and I'd have everything all matched up, right?

HSU B-stock is just cosmetic issues, I take it?

 

[mshan]

Call Hsu; you will probably end up talking directly with designer Pete Hsu.

The B-stock has a no return policy; don't know about restocking fee for A-stock (you would obviously be responsible for round trip shipping costs). edit: see below 30 day guarantee I copied and pasted from Hsu website.

Hsu stuff is good quality gear, as long as you don't need wall shaking, gut-pounding bass and impact. Those HB-1 mk. 2 are easy to drive (high sensitivity and benign impedance curve), so you don't need a beast of an amp to drive them, but they will play loudly if you feed them lots of power. If you look at their speaker packages for larger rooms, it is just that they package a larger sub, or more than 1 sub, to pressurize the larger spaces.

30-day Satisfaction Guarantee.
If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, you have 30 days to begin the return process. We will refund the complete purchase price, minus any shipping charges, after our technicians review the return. The refund happens under four conditions: (1) all items must be in "like new" condition, (2) there must not be any missing items, (3) the product needs to be in transit back to Hsu Research within 30 of delivery (4) you must call us to receive an RMA number. Failure to comply with all of these conditions may result in either the item being refused or you may be charged a 15% restocking fee. Note that, in the event that an item is damaged during shipping and returned for refund without replacement, then the same terms as stated above will apply, and we will not refund any shipping charges.

 

[jlee]

If I go the Polk route, I think I will get two M70's and a CS20 when they go on a great sale. M50's are $90 after coupon at Newegg, which is awfully tempting...some people on Slickdeals said they were not happy with them as mains, though, so I'm thinking maybe I should hold off for a deal on the 70's. Then again, the 50's would probably show my Z560's up pretty well already.

I'll have to look into HSU - thanks

 

[sdifox]

If I go the Polk route, I think I will get two M70's and a CS20 when they go on a great sale. M50's are $90 after coupon at Newegg, which is awfully tempting...some people on Slickdeals said they were not happy with them as mains, though, so I'm thinking maybe I should hold off for a deal on the 70's. Then again, the 50's would probably show my Z560's up pretty well already.

I'll have to look into HSU - thanks

I wouldn't use your z560 as speaker "legs" even if you paid me

 

[jlee]

I wouldn't use your z560 as speaker "legs" even if you paid me

Sooo in other words, even a pair of Monitor 50's without any sub/center support would be preferable?

 

[sdifox]

Sooo in other words, even a pair of Monitor 50's without any sub/center support would be preferable?

To be fair to the Logitech, my mains do weight about 130lb each
The magnet on the tweeter of the M50 is probably bigger than the magnet on one of your Z560 speakers. Like I said, centre is only critical when you have a lot of off-axis listeners.

 

[jlee]

To be fair to the Logitech, my mains do weight about 130lb each
The magnet on the tweeter of the M50 is probably bigger than the magnet on one of your Z560 speakers. Like I said, centre is only critical when you have a lot of off-axis listeners.

Yeah, I don't typically have people off-axis (not much, anyway).

 

[vshah]

personally i would go with M60s + sub, instead of M70s if you're going to be doing much movie watching at all


edit: do you want to keep your z560s as computer speakers? or would you use the sub in your HT? what would you do for computer speakers then?

 

[sdifox]

personally i would go with M60s + sub, instead of M70s if you're going to be doing much movie watching at all


edit: do you want to keep your z560s as computer speakers? or would you use the sub in your HT? what would you do for computer speakers then?

digital out from computer to sound system :biggrin:

That is what I do.

 

[jlee]

Well, any potential immediate plans are now on hold for a bit - my motherboard took a dump today so I'm going to end up dropping 400 bucks for new stuff.

That said, will I get good sound via optical or coaxial out on a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, or should I keep a dedicated sound card?

 

[sdifox]

Well, any potential immediate plans are now on hold for a bit - my motherboard took a dump today so I'm going to end up dropping 400 bucks for new stuff.

That said, will I get good sound via optical or coaxial out on a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, or should I keep a dedicated sound card?

go with onboard. You only need a dedicated if you want game sounds to output digitally to your receiver in 5.1 so the card has to encode the sound into dd or dts.

 

[jlee]

Onboard it is, then. I was able to get out of this for a bit less than expected ($355 for motherboard/CPU/RAM), so it won't be long before I am hunting for speakers again.

 

[sdifox]

Onboard it is, then. I was able to get out of this for a bit less than expected ($355 for motherboard/CPU/RAM), so it won't be long before I am hunting for speakers again.

Are you anywhere near where Sallinger lived? Cornish, NH.

 

[Exterous]

Depending on how much you want to spend you might want to see if there are any PSB resellers in your zipcode. About a year ago I spent a significant amount of time at AVS and Audioholics trying to figure out what I wanted. I drove around and listened to various sound systems. I took a bit of a gamble (or so I thought) on the T55s from http://saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/image_specials_07-29-2009.htm#T55.

I have never looked back - I absolutely love them. The sound reproduction they are capable is fantastic. They are also stronger on the bass than most of the other speakers I listened to without being boomy. Compared to the VR3s and M50s I had they don't lose their definition/clarity at higher volumes either. The PSB speakers are very easy to drive (6ohm vs 8ohm). Looking at the Monitor 70s the PSBs have a much wider frequency range and sensitivity - but they are more expensive as well

I bought the Monitor 50s (It may have been their R50s I cant remember for sure) but ended up liking the Boston Acoustic VR3s better so I sold them. They lacked too much power especially in the bass for me. The VR3s are still in our family room but the projector in the basement was just begging for more - which was why I got the T55s

That said pretty much anything will be better than the Logitec's (Nothing against Logitec - I still fondly remember my 5.1 computer system)

Maybe you will join those of us on that slippery audioholic slope that leads to ever increasing monetary expenditures

 

[jlee]

Depending on how much you want to spend you might want to see if there are any PSB resellers in your zipcode. About a year ago I spent a significant amount of time at AVS and Audioholics trying to figure out what I wanted. I drove around and listened to various sound systems. I took a bit of a gamble (or so I thought) on the T55s from http://saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/image_specials_07-29-2009.htm#T55.

I have never looked back - I absolutely love them. The sound reproduction they are capable is fantastic. They are also stronger on the bass than most of the other speakers I listened to without being boomy. Compared to the VR3s and M50s I had they don't lose their definition/clarity at higher volumes either. The PSB speakers are very easy to drive (6ohm vs 8ohm). Looking at the Monitor 70s the PSBs have a much wider frequency range and sensitivity - but they are more expensive as well

I bought the Monitor 50s (It may have been their R50s I cant remember for sure) but ended up liking the Boston Acoustic VR3s better so I sold them. They lacked too much power especially in the bass for me. The VR3s are still in our family room but the projector in the basement was just begging for more - which was why I got the T55s

That said pretty much anything will be better than the Logitec's (Nothing against Logitec - I still fondly remember my 5.1 computer system)

I doubt there's much in NH, but I'm only a couple hours from Boston so I may have a shot. My dad also lives near Chicago, so if I ever go up there I could check them out.

Maybe you will join those of us on that slippery audioholic slope that leads to ever increasing monetary expenditures

Heh that's usually how these things go.

Are you anywhere near where Sallinger lived? Cornish, NH.

PM'd.

 

[Exterous]

Well, any potential immediate plans are now on hold for a bit - my motherboard took a dump today so I'm going to end up dropping 400 bucks for new stuff.

That said, will I get good sound via optical or coaxial out on a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, or should I keep a dedicated sound card?

Will you ever plan on using your computer as a blu-ray player? If so in the future you may want to consider on of the ATI 5000 series GPUs. Those now have the ability to bitstream audio to a receiver via HDMI

If not then don't worry about it ^_^

 

[vshah]

digital out from computer to sound system :biggrin:

That is what I do.

same here, as long as jlee doesn't mind the sound being off center. seems fine for music, but wouldn't really work for games...

 

[jlee]

Heh yeah, sound is way off now - if I'm not using headphones (which I usually don't because I'm lazy ), the left rear surround speaker is almost right next to me. Doesn't help for finding who's shooting me...heh.

I found a great deal on a 3br house that I'm probably going to go look at with a buddy (who's also looking to move), so I may have a specific room layout for a semi-long-term setup.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Heh yeah, sound is way off now - if I'm not using headphones (which I usually don't because I'm lazy ), the left rear surround speaker is almost right next to me. Doesn't help for finding who's shooting me...heh.

I found a great deal on a 3br house that I'm probably going to go look at with a buddy (who's also looking to move), so I may have a specific room layout for a semi-long-term setup.

BTW, if you get a house with your buddy, be sure to get a joint bank account!