Looking for constructive feedback on a proposed house setup.

[steamboatgeoff]

Hi Audioholics!

I am getting ready to equip a new home and am looking for some constructive feedback on the setup I am planning. I am looking to get music throughout the house first and then concentrate on my home theater in about 6-8 months. Here is my proposed setup.

7 Rooms: Master BR, Guest BR, Office, Dining, Kitchen, Master Bath, Patio. All have been pre-wired with Cat-5 and a pair of speaker wire.

Current AVR: Denon AVR-A100

Zone controllers: Currently have 2 Sonos Connects and love them. Easy for the wife and kids to use. Plan to add one Connect for each room.

Speakers: Polk RC80i One pair in each room and two pair in the kitchen

Power: 14 Outlaw M200 monoblocks (one for each speaker); Monster Pro 900 Rack Mountable Power center (likely 3)

Rack: Mid Atlantic AXS-32U

This is my first attempt at this so please....go gently with your suggestions. I am sure I am missing something major!

Fire away!

SG

 

[crossedover]

What feed back are you looking for? How's it sound for you?

 

[steamboatgeoff]

I have installed this set up yet.....It is a planned setup. Looking for input from those with more experience. Does this sound like a reasonable setup? I have 2 pair or the RC60s in my current house and really like the sound of the Polks. Am I going overboard with monoblocks for EACH speaker? WOuld I be better off looking for 2-channel amps to run the setup? Am I missing anything in the overall setup?

Thanks crossedover for responding!

 

[zieglj01]

I have 2 pair or the RC60s in my current house and really like the sound of the Polks. Am I going overboard with monoblocks for EACH speaker? WOuld I be better off looking for 2-channel amps to run the setup? Am I missing anything in the overall setup?

Nothing wrong if you do like the Polks - nothing wrong if you have the monoblocks from the past.
However, I would not buy the monoblocks as a fresh start, for the Polks - they do not require that
much power.

A mulit-channel distribution amp can drive them speakers.

 

[crossedover]

For background music, even at loud levels the polks will be fine. Fairly easy to drive and tweeter positioning is able.

 

[steamboatgeoff]

Nothing wrong if you do like the Polks - nothing wrong if you have the monoblocks from the past.
However, I would not buy the monoblocks as a fresh start, for the Polks - they do not require that
much power.

A mulit-channel distribution amp can drive them speakers.

Zieglj01,

Could you expand a bit on why you would not buy the monoblocks? I have read good reviews on the Outlaws and they seem very reasonable for the price point ($270/mono). For my budget, I thought it might be wise to spend on the amplification and then gradually improve the speakers.

I am not married to the Outlaw setup in any way. This will be my first venture into this scale of product and the number of solid products is mind-numbing. I live in a small town in Oregon with essentially NO local support for home audio. I am hoping that maybe somebody can chime in with a: "Hey, have you looked into Brand X? It may fit exactly what you are looking for."

Thanks for taking it easy on me...thus far!

SG

 

[herbu]

I am looking to get music throughout the house first and then concentrate on my home theater in about 6-8 months.

1) Will your HT be in one of the aformentioned 7 rooms? Thought about running wires for it?
2) You know you'll be limited to the number of sources you can use at the same time in those 7 rooms, right? For the same $ as 2 monoblocks for each room, you could get a pretty nice AVR for each room. Then every room would have max flexibility in audio choices, plus the capability of TV enhancement in each room.

 

[markw]

Those monoblocks are extreme overkill for those speakers. 30 - 40 watts for each should more than bring out the best any ceiling speaker can offer.

Assuming you've got the individual room volume controls (in-wall?) worked out, this is pretty much the standard for these jobs.

But, a rack full of those monoblocks will sure look impressive.

 

[its phillip]

I agree that the amps are severe overkill for the speakers...but yes, they'd look awesome in a rack

 

[zieglj01]

Zieglj01,

Could you expand a bit on why you would not buy the monoblocks? I have read good reviews on the Outlaws and they seem very reasonable for the price point ($270/mono). For my budget, I thought it might be wise to spend on the amplification and then gradually improve the speakers.

I am not married to the Outlaw setup in any way. This will be my first venture into this scale of product and the number of solid products is mind-numbing. I live in a small town in Oregon with essentially NO local support for home audio. I am hoping that maybe somebody can chime in with a: "Hey, have you looked into Brand X? It may fit exactly what you are looking for."

Thanks for taking it easy on me...thus far!

I will take it easy on you. However, what you are trying to do, is pour a gallon of water in a 24 oz glass.

You are being too generous to the Polk speakers - which will burp if you feed them a lot of power. You are
mainly talking about background sound, regardless of the intended volume level.

Now getting dedicated monblocks for a serious dedicated audio set-up is a different story - so put the funds
towards that - and then you can throw a big audiophile smile.

This is another option - the Dayton 12 channel amp - and you can feed the 6 zones different inputs - then
get a smaller type amp or receiver to feed your bathroom speakers. It is 60 watts per channel.
Dayton Audio MA1260 Multi-Zone 12 Channel Amplifier 60WPC

Also for your bathroom speakers - get ones that can handle that environment - there are ceiling speakers
for the bathroom (I think the Polk RC80i is stated to be moisture resistant).