hi kids! New theatre/old speaker q's....

[imaginarius]

Hey folks, this is my first post, so here goes
I just bought that ol' RCA RT2870, and I do realize at 50, the speakers are pretty lazy. So a buddy of mine traded my old dinky Sony 50w bookshelvers for these old Sears(,Roebuck & Company) LXi Series floor speakers. They are 12's, and while the box seems primitive, the speakers themselves are in great shape. It says 100 watts on the rear tag.

So I hooked up the big boys, and......they almost sound the same. I think outputs are 120 watts, I can't remember, but they seem severely underpowered.

I was thinking about amps, or an equalizer....thoughts? Comments? Death threats?

EDIT......Correction. The outputs are 167 a-piece.

 

[m_vanmeter]

the RCA is a very low end system with grossly overstated power ratings. The little speakers that came with the unit were probably 3 or 4 ohm units and adding the other speakers, probably 8 ohm units, cut the preceived power (loudness) even more. It is rarely much of an improvement to change speakers on a bargain basement HTiB.

The speakers, with the exception of a powered subwoofer, are passive. The "watts" rating on the speaker is what the manufacturer considers the maximum amount of input power (from the receiver or amplifier) the speaker can handle.

My sincere advice....give the RCA to a deserving college kid who need something for the dorm room and start a budget for a decent entry level HT audio system.

If that is the way you decide to go, let us know your budget, room size, speaker size limitation, listening requirements ... movies vs. music and any other considerations you would like to take into account with a recommended system.

 

[imaginarius]

budget, room size, speaker size limitation, listening requirements ... movies vs. music

Ok, budget? Well the system was only 149, and given my choices it was either that or a 250w RCA DVD Surround whatever(99), or a 100w same thing(69). Not sure if I said it before, but it does sound pretty good for my ears, however, I was really expecting a little more oomph.

Room size? Decent. I called my wife and she said she would get the measurements in a bit(wait for edit). But, the system is within a fairly large rectangular area, with it placed in the direct center of the long side(since we have our sofas on the opposite wall and front door wall) with the surround nicely placed at 4ft up, 4inches out from each corner wall, and finally the sub underneath the corner coffee table inside the square made from the sofas. I would say it's roughly(+- a foot or so) 13ft. by 18, maybe 19ft.

Listening? I like metal, she like country. I'll let you figure that one out. As far as movies go, we are big Tarantino fans, and our 2 year old is hooked on Cars; we have noticed that when we switch it to regular surround, everything gets considerably quieter, and most of the front audio seems to come mostly out of the center channel.

Plus even after I hooked up the 100w floors, there was almost no difference other then it did not sound like it was coming out of a tin can....but thank you guys for your help, it has been since around 2000 that I have been into stereos, I have forgotten a lot haha

 

[lsiberian]

budget, room size, speaker size limitation, listening requirements ... movies vs. music

Ok, budget? Well the system was only 149, and given my choices it was either that or a 250w RCA DVD Surround whatever(99), or a 100w same thing(69). Not sure if I said it before, but it does sound pretty good for my ears, however, I was really expecting a little more oomph.

Room size? Decent. I called my wife and she said she would get the measurements in a bit(wait for edit). But, the system is within a fairly large rectangular area, with it placed in the direct center of the long side(since we have our sofas on the opposite wall and front door wall) with the surround nicely placed at 4ft up, 4inches out from each corner wall, and finally the sub underneath the corner coffee table inside the square made from the sofas. I would say it's roughly(+- a foot or so) 13ft. by 18, maybe 19ft.

Listening? I like metal, she like country. I'll let you figure that one out. As far as movies go, we are big Tarantino fans, and our 2 year old is hooked on Cars; we have noticed that when we switch it to regular surround, everything gets considerably quieter, and most of the front audio seems to come mostly out of the center channel.

Plus even after I hooked up the 100w floors, there was almost no difference other then it did not sound like it was coming out of a tin can....but thank you guys for your help, it has been since around 2000 that I have been into stereos, I have forgotten a lot haha

Your budget is below the price of my budget recommendations. I can't go lower than that since I have no experience to go on.

I will tell you a pair of Behringer 2031p speakers would be a huge step up from the RCAs. You can get them shipped for 150. Below that The Speaker Company has the cheapest reasonably decent speaker around.

 

[imaginarius]

"The little speakers that came with the unit were probably 3 or 4 ohm units and adding the other speakers, probably 8 ohm units, cut the preceived power (loudness) even more. It is rarely much of an improvement to change speakers on a bargain basement HTiB."

"I will tell you a pair of Behringer 2031p speakers would be a huge step up from the RCAs. You can get them shipped for 150. Below that The Speaker Company has the cheapest reasonably decent speaker around."

Now why would I do that?

So you are saying that an amp OR an EQ just will not do?

 

[mtrycrafts]

So you are saying that an amp OR an EQ just will not do?

They contribute a very small quantity to sound. Speakers and room acoustics on the other hand does in a much, much larger way.

 

[imaginarius]

Can I get a second or third opinion here?

 

[Vintage_Hi-Fi]

Can I get a second or third opinion here?

Yeah I'd ditch those RCA's and find some better speakers, as has been said before and EQ will only do so much. For example you can put a V-12 in a F-150 but if your still using the F-150's trans your defeating the point of having a high powered engine. If you don't have the budget to get barnd new speakers you can find some nice vintage Hi-Fi speakers on Craigslist or at your local thrift shop.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Can I get a second or third opinion here?

Your only other alternative is to buy what you want and see how well it helped. You are certainly welcome to get more inputs after that experience

 

[AVRat]

Well for one, there is no way to connect an amp or Eq to that receiver. Secondly, the rating on the receiver is 167W @ 10% distortion. So really it should probably rated at about 40W or less @ 8 ohms with 1% distortion. If you want more oomph, you'll need to look for a new receiver.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well for one, there is no way to connect an amp or Eq to that receiver. Secondly, the rating on the receiver is 167W @ 10% distortion. So really it should probably rated at about 40W or less @ 8 ohms with 1% distortion. If you want more oomph, you'll need to look for a new receiver.

Hey, that must be a sub amp then Subs are specked up to 10% distortion as it is not audible