What's best for...me..Me....ME!!?

B

Buff

Enthusiast
I'll do what the GROUP advises.

I'm new to high end audio.

I bought a MATANTZ 7002MKII at Best Buy open box for $1800 with tax and extended warranty.

I am presently using a CROWN XLS 1502 amp with XLR cables running the power. The CROWN has 300watts/channel.

I have a set of POLK rtia9s. They need MASSIVE power to sound good.

Here's the "PROBLEM"

1. I don't listen to 11 channel music.

2. I don't watch many-if any-blockbuster movies and dont plan on it. I rarely watch TV. But I DO watch an occasional movie and have other HDMI devices hooked up e.g. bluray player, Xbox.

3. I live in a MIDDLE TOWNHOME unit. The walls are very well insulated. But I cant CRANK THE WATTS even if I wanted to.

Soooo...

I feel I "over bought" this preamp and will never use 99% of what it's made for.

I have a set of POLK rtia9s that I like. But if I get more speakers then I may get something better as speakers are the best bang for the buck when it comes to audio output.

I am demoing a CLASSD AUDIO AMP from Tom in Anaheim, CA. It has 300 watts/channel and is $995.

QUESTION is What model of preamp could I get by with AND STILL have great music and watch my movies?. Is an HDMI 2.2 amp, as the 7002MKII overkill for a preamp for me, when I could save $$$ and buy the MARANTZ 7002 (NO HDMI 2.2 and 24/192 audio conversion vs. 32/192 in the 7002MKII I have at present and the HDMI 2.2) or a different preamp and use the saved $$ to buy better speakers and/or ANOTHER sound setup in another room?.

Thanks
Mike
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Rule of thumb - invest 70-80% of budget into speakers. Polk RTi/A9 are decent enough performers (but not great for their price point).
You would do much better to replace your speakers instead of replacing (excellent) amp.
I think that You did overspend on pre-amp. Mid-Tier AVR with pre-outs, such as MaTanz 5010 or higher would do the trick.
Don't worry about additional channels or features you don't use. It's common fallacy to think that removing these would yield better results.
http://hometheaterreview.com/polk-rti-a9-floorstanding-loudspeakers-reviewed/
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/polk-rti-a9-speaker-system-ht-labs-measures#LCezLDXQuqGqdkm7.97
 
Last edited:
D

desertrider

Audioholic Intern
^^^ Agree. I think a mid level receiver and a higher end speaker is the way to go. To keep you in the same ballpark Id look at Ascend speakers.

I personally dont have a boof with Polks. I had a complete 7.1 setup with Polk and enjoyed them. But auditioning others is always good.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
...

I have a set of POLK rtia9s. They need MASSIVE power to sound good.
...

Thanks
Mike
Well, that is not reflected in the specs for the speaker, 90 db spl sensitivity and 8 Ohm nominal impedance. But urban legends are hard to kill. ;)
100 Watts should drive that to about 110 db at 3 ft.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Well, that is not reflected in the specs for the speaker, 90 db spl sensitivity and 8 Ohm nominal impedance. But urban legends are hard to kill. ;)
100 Watts should drive that to about 110 db at 3 ft.
It's not black and white. They have been measured to have 4.5ohm minimum impedance, but with measured sensitivity of 90.5db - they are not that hard to power. Maybe the issue is OP don't like their sound and combined with higher level = perceived better quality - points to impression that they need to be loud to sound good.
 
Gregory Seeton

Gregory Seeton

Audiophyte
I'm running to JBL 590 with the same Crown amp that you got I'm using the crowned the run just the highs on the JBL are 92 DB I'm using the Denon receiver to run to Lowe's and they sounds superb I would put the JBL 590 up against anything at their price range
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top