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Anonymous | Hi All, Can anyone provide me any info with this setup. Any problems. Hawk can you also provide some expertise. The room is 19 X 17 with about 17 ft ceiling and is open to the dining area. My interest is 65/35 Music/movies. Thanks |
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Anonymous | Anon, Do you already own the 525 and are trying to get something temporary? If not, don't do this to this quality receiver. Why would you buy a $1K receiver for a $250 speaker set? I would comapare this to buying a Porsche and putting on four spare tires. If your budget is tight and you already own the 525, then start with a pair of good front speakers. If you don't own anything yet, then you might want to step down to the 325 or the 225 and get a good speaker set (athena .5 or if you like polk, the RM6700) Hope this helps |
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Anonymous | Hi Anon, Thanks for the info. My only concern was if the receiver could make the speakers fill the room. Its kind of large and the power on 225 and 325 is low. But you have made a good point for sure. What would you suggest as avr 525 and front speakers only for $300 and i can go for surrounds lator. Regards |
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GT | If your proposed use is 65/35 Music/movies I don't think you'd want little satellite speakers like the 6005. They're just not as musical as bookshelves and you're looking at the lowest end Polk. The Athena point 5 system is problem the smallest I'd want to go. Is there a WAF factor or do you just prefer satellites to bookshelfs? Now if you're partial to Polk check out Circuit City and other B&M stores because the current Polk line is on clearance. You can get the RTi28 and RTi38 speakers for less than $90 each. Start with two speakers and build as you go along if you're on a budget. Another good choice would be the Athena AS-B1 which Best Buy puts on sale often for about $150/pr. The 525 would be overkill for the 6005. Going down to the 225 would be better for those speakers. But I honestly don't think those little Polks would fill up a room very well. The R15 which CC sells for $39ea right now would be better than the 6005. You could get 6 of them for $240. http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&oid=50575&catoid=-8023&department=Home+Audio&category=Home+Speakers With a room 19X17 the 525 is a good choice, just get better speakers. |
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GT | Now if you're looking at two speakers for $300, besides the RTi28 and 38, look online at speakers like the Axiom M3ti for $275 or Ascend Acoustics CBM 170 for $328 pr, or the Athena AS-B2 for $230pr. http://ww1.onecall.com/About_00001000_15_59_37_0_athena_0.htm http://www.axiomaudio.com/m3ti.html http://www.ascendacoustics.com/Main/Products/speakers.asp |
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Anonymous | Hi GT, Great, thanks for the info and your time. Well there is a WAF factor and also that i have prewired connections on the wall for surround sound and i would like to use that. But since this is our family room, wife is never going to allow chunky speakers hanging out there. Hence my quest to find speakers that are small (possibly white) and maybe i can just start with 2 front ones for now and build the rest of the system slowly. Regards |
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Hawk | Anonymous: Wow, you have a big room! I am pretty skeptical that the Polk 6005 system is big enough for the room, to tell you the truth. I really do understand the WAF being a problem, but the laws of physics are not affected by the WAF as I have found out myself. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that a pair of floorstanders are not in your future! If you want to go the direction of the Polks, I would at least get the Polk 6700 system which is only slightly larger, but has more ability to project a good image. Additionally, the previous suggestion that you should get a good set of mains and wait on your surrounds is a very sound idea. If I may, I would suggest you consider a pair of NHT SuperOnes, available from One Call (www.onecall.com) on closeout for $137.50 each. Now these are not very big, but you would get much better sound than the Polks. Later, you could easily fill out your system with other NHT speakers. BTW, you can get the NHTs in white, which will blend in with the walls, so they won't seem as large (they are 11.65" tall). Another idea I have is to look into a pair of Ascend Acoustics CM-170s (www.ascendacoustics.com). These are about the same size as the NHTs, which is to say not very big, but they will also mount to the wall (just like the NHTs) and they go for $328.pair, I believe. They sound great and are an unbelievable bargain. Good luck! |
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GT | The sensitivity on the NHT Super One is only 86db so you'll want to stay with the HK 525 if you get them. Hey Hawk, I just saw a postive review on the NHT SB-1 which is about $25 more per pair than the Super One. What's the difference between the two. What would you recommend? Anyway, here are some reviews of some of the suggested bookshelves. Axiom M3Ti http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0402/axiommillennia.htm Athena AS-B1 http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/athena_asb1.htm Ascend CBM-70 http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/ascendacoustics_cbm170.htm NHT SB1 http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/nht_sb1.htm The Axioms come in a variety of colors which includes maple, which looks white. The NHT comes in white like Hawk said while the Athena is silver and Ascend is only in black. |
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Hawk | GT: I think both are fine speakers for the money, but are aimed at different markets. The SB-1 is superb, but it is really meant as a replacement for the old SuperZeros. The SB-1s have a 5.25" mid/woofer. The SuperOnes have a 6.5" mid/woofer and have been replaced by the SB-2s (so I understand). I thought about recommending the SB-1s to our Anonymous poster, but I really wanted to get some bigger sound for that really big room of his, so I recommended the two speakers with the 6.5" mid/woofer. But your suggested speakers are also very good and I would recommend them as well. Either the SB-1s or the Axioms are a good choice. Primarily, I just don't think that the little Polks will leave him satisfied and there is little point in getting a system if you aren't satisfied. |
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Anonymous | Hawk and GT, Thanks a lot for your positive inputs for noobs like me. |
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Hawk | No "noobs" here--just friends and those who will become our friends . . . |
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Anonymous | Anon, I made the above remark about the Porsche. I just wanted to add to Hawk and GT recommendation on the NHT. Now we are talking, you can't go wrong here. I own the 525 with NHT SB2 (front & rear) and the SC1 center. I love the sound that comes out of this set-up. My room is 18'x14'x9'. Also, I'm using the 2nd zone with a pair of Mirage FRx-7, not a lot of base, but sweat sound for background music. Note: Give the 525 room to breathe and you will be a happy camper, as I'm. Enjoy! |
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Anonymous | Hi Anon, Hawk and GT Looked at the various sites that you people had sent. I looked at most of the speakers and they still seem large to me. Also the other issue is that all my front and suround connections on the wall are 8ft high. I am sure wifey will put me there rather than a bigger speaker :-) Still i am going to take the advise and listen to the combo (525 + various speakers) at Circuit city. I am amazed at how much information you people have gathered. Great!!!! |
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GT | You've got a dilemma. Do you want a system that sounds good or looks good? If you have to get a sub/sat system, ignore the Polk 6005 and go with the 6700 as a minimum. The Athena Point 5 system is relatively small also, only 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 6 1/4. The 6700 satellite is 6-1/2" H x 4" W x 5" D so it is smaller. The 6005 is even smaller but doesn't sound good and won't fill up that room. The Athena comes with built in wall mounts on each satellite allowing you to aim the speaker at the listening area. The only problem I could see with this model is that it comes in gloss black, not white. Another option might be the highly rated Energy Take 5.2. Energy is a sister company of Athena and the Take 5.2 comes in white if you so desire. http://www.energy-speakers.com/take5-2/take5-2_speakers_system.html |
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Hawk | Anon: I fully agree with GT here. I will add a couple of other options: 1. The OneCall Package NHT SuperZeros and a Power 8: This is the NHT SuperZeros (5 of them), each no more than 9" tall and in a beautiful black piano gloss finish, combined with a Phase Tech Power 8 sub, which is also very small, available for $590. Super deal and much better sounding, IMO, than the Polks. 2. JMlabs Sib/Cub: More money ($1195 at Audio Advisors), but a superb speaker that is something like only 9" tall, yet still has a 5" mid/woofer that is really good for your size room. Comes with mounting brackets built onto the speaker that fully articulate. 8" sub probably has the smallest footprint available in a sub but for the Sunfire Super Junior ($999 by itself). Check it out at audioadvisor.com. 3. Assumong you have white walls like most people, I still recommend the NHT SB-1s which you can get in all white, which will blend in with the walls. Given the fact that your speaker terminals are 8' high, they simply won't be that noticeable. 4. Finally--have you considered in-wall speakers? Now those are not noticeable as they are the wall. Ask your wife what she thinks of that idea. Maybe get a brochure showing what the speakers look like in the wall. I would normally not suggest this, but the fact is you will never get good sound in a room that big with little mini speakers. Almost every top manufacturer of speakers makes in-walls now including KEF, B+W, PSB, etc., so you can get very good quality. Also, there are some great speakers coming from companies that only do in-wall speakers, like Speakercraft and Elan. Check your yellow pages and call around for installed in-wall speakers. After all, your wiring is already done, so it would be pretty easy to finish it this way and I cannot believe it wouldn't please your wife. |
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GT | I almost suggested in walls but didn't think they would sound as good and can be expensive for what you get. NHT does make some in walls. Talk to the wife Anon, there's got to be some compromise. I would think if she's willing to get a surround sound system she'd like it to sound good. |
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Hawk | GT: I think our friend Anon is between a rock and a hard place here. I wholly agree that in-walls generally don't sound as good as quality free-standing speakers, but I do think that a quality in-wall is going to sound a whole lot better that the little mini-speakers his wife is insisting upon. Frankly, I am tapped out on good ideas here. As I have observed before, you can't change the laws of physics and with a big room, those little Polks are going to get lost, sonically speaking. It is almost, why bother? In-walls at least give the sound a chance to be heard in a large room. If it is done right, and I have heard a few installations that were, it can sound very good. |
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geekboy | I just dumped a Sony STDE995B/S -- piece of junk -- today and am going to pick up the HK AVR525 tomorrow. My speakers are Paradigm Eclipse/BP Reference with the Paradigm CC-450 Center. My rears are Mirage 390is... base Velodyne CT-80 powered sub. I'll know tomorrow for sure, but, do you think the HK AVR525 will handle this system well? Also, do you have any opinion of my choice in speakers? thanks |
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Johnb | Hi Hawk. How are you doing? I haven't been on for awhile and just thought I'd look in to see what's happening. I just picked up a pair of Vienna Acoustics (Mozart's) Very sweet. My first really high quality speakers. I still like my Wharfies but when I did an in house comparison with some classical music and female voice I had to make the plunge. How is the world of NAD? Well I am out of here. I hope you are well and that all continues to be right in your world. |