Just my first amp and speaker setup

[Brewns]

After my soundbar started to sound muffled and each time the music would overwhelm vocals in movies, I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a receiver. I got my hands on a Denon AVR-720W, and a set of Polk Rti-A9s at a rediculious price that I just had to pick them up.

This is my first post on here, I am a techy when it comes to most stuff but I must admit audio is a new venue for me. I am looking for recommendations on the best configuration options between my speakers and my amp, as well as any additional tips or recommendations that could help me going forward. Should I even be using this amp?

I also ended up snagging some 16 Gauge wiring, and just finished hooking them up yesterday. Is my Denon going to withstand my speaker appetite and as I currently don't have a sub with this setup, should I be getting one? I haven't yet had the chance to test out these babies but I plan on doing so in the next day.

 

[shadyJ]

That AVR and those speakers should do the trick. As long as you have the AVR to recognize the speaker setup as a 2-channel system, you should be in business. Nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy. In the future you might consider a center speaker, especially if a group of people use the setup to watch movies at a time rather than just a single viewer. The A9s do bass pretty well, so you would need a pretty good subwoofer to make a meaningful contribution to that system. If you are watching movies that have powerful deep bass passages like Interstellar and films like that, then consider adding a good sub in the future.

 

[lovinthehd]

16g wire should do well up to distances of 25 feet or so (to each speaker). Hook 'em up!

 

[Brewns]

Much obliged. I'll test these bad boys tomorrow and post my thoughts. I like the Idea of putting a mid as well once I redo my living room setup, I'll just wait for another steal of a deal!

 

[yepimonfire]

Good choice on the a9s! Until you get a sub, they can easily handle the LFE with authority. Gonna have to find a sub that can dip to 20hz or below for it to actually improve the system in the future.


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[lovinthehd]

LFE with authority with a -3dB point of 49hz, -6dB at 40 hz? At what spl? Dunno about that, maybe good enough for most music but I'd still marry these up with a sub down the line....

 

[shadyJ]

LFE with authority with a -3dB point of 49hz, -6dB at 40 hz? At what spl? Dunno about that, maybe good enough for most music but I'd still marry these up with a sub down the line....

The explanation for the measurements says that graph is all drivers close-mic'd. It doesn't say the port was recorded. If that is missing port contribution, then the graph is missing the low-end.

 

[lovinthehd]

The explanation for the measurements says that graph is all drivers close-mic'd. It doesn't say the port was recorded. If that is missing port contribution, then the graph is missing the low-end.

Good point but still have my doubts. You have other measurements?

 

[shadyJ]

Good point but still have my doubts. You have other measurements?

No other measurements, but looking at the driver array and cabinet size and port, it wouldn't be very difficult to get a lower f3 than is seen on that graph.

 

[yepimonfire]

LFE with authority with a -3dB point of 49hz, -6dB at 40 hz? At what spl? Dunno about that, maybe good enough for most music but I'd still marry these up with a sub down the line....

As someone who has had a chance to hear them, I seriously doubt the f3 is 49hz. The speakers I own now have an f3 of 47hz, and those can dig much much deeper. Playing sine tones on them they appeared to extend flat to about 30hz, with useful output that caused stuff to start rattling in the room down to about 25hz. I say with authority because no matter how much I cranked the volume with low frequency tones they never seemed to distort, I’m sure they do have a limit obviously, but that limit was high enough that I would have had to reach uncomfortable volume before I hit it.

Obviously with a better sub extending to 20hz or below you’d get deeper bass, but if i were to chose one speaker to run full range with movies without a sub, it’d be the A9.

I’ve also used the monitor 70s full range in another setup, and while they don’t extend much below 30hz, they too don’t seem to break a sweat with heavy LFE.




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[lovinthehd]

LOL okay okay, shadyj already pointed out the port seems to not have been accounted for in the S&V measurements I linked earlier. I now see on the Polk page they list a -3dB of 30Hz.

 

[yepimonfire]

LOL okay okay, shadyj already pointed out the port seems to not have been accounted for in the S&V measurements I linked earlier. I now see on the Polk page they list a -3dB of 30Hz.

Surprisingly, Polk is actually fairly honest with their ratings IME. Also surprising is nearly all of their speakers, including cheap models, manage a true +-3dB, and have pretty even off axis response,the tiny Polk OWM3 satellite speakers I have included. One reason I’m a fan of them, some of their models are really hard to beat for the price.

I have no idea why their subs suck so badly, they can design speakers with excellent bass that can knock knick knacks off your end table, but fail to build a sub that can even dip below 35hz.


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[William Lemmerhirt]

Good point but still have my doubts. You have other measurements?

Chris, I’m mostly with you on this one. But I have to say room construction and size can’t be overlooked. My mains are rated by jbl at 35hz, and 92db, and pretty capable, but can’t thump my chest on their own. In my huge concrete slab on grade rooms, there’s not a chance on earth those polks would have any authority down low. In fact I have 5, 12” drivers in my system and that concrete just swallows it up. Conversely, I’ve been in suspended rooms where the mains that had two 5” drivers could easily excite everything in the room, and for music don’t need a sub.