My first audio system (2.1 for music, $850), what do you think?

[corsara]

Hi All,

This is my first post here, although I've been reading a lot in the last couple of days. Just finished ordering different items for putting together my first audio system, which I will use primarily for listening to music in the basement. Please let me know what you think of my setup:

++ Receiver (~$260 CDN): Pioneer VSX-819H-K (5.1, 550W)

++ Subwoofer (~$160 CDN, open box): Infinity TSS-1200 (12 inch, 250W RMS)

++ Speakers (~$300 CDN): a pair of Polk Audio RTiA3

++ Subwoofer cable (~$25 CDN): Monster THX Certified Sub Woofer THXI100-SW16NF

++ Speaker wire (~$70 CDN for 15m): Phoenix Gold Super Oxygen-Free Copper 12-Gauge Speaker Wire M-1250

Total I paid: about $850 Canadian. What do you think? I plan to listen to music via my iPhone. Don't plan on hooking up the Big screen TV for now, as it is not in the basement. I've got a small CRT TV for the basement, which I'll use mainly for accessing the on-screen programming of the receiver.

Do you think this system will make good sound at listening to music? So far, I've got at home just the sub and the speakers, still waiting on the receiver and cables, which are in the mail. Can't wait.

What do you think of the setup?

 

[WmAx]

I don't see the point in your post. You should have asked this BEFORE you purchased the items.

If you had asked before, I certainly could have recommended items for the same price that have far higher actual performance for sound quality.

But asking AFTER the fact is pointless, no?

-Chris

 

[corsara]

Lol, this is a bit discouraging

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll offer a bit of a different twist - congrats on the new gear! You'll have to let us know what you think of it. I've been happy with my two Pioneer receivers and like the MCACC set-up routine. The subwoofer cable and speaker wire aren't going to do much for you over any other well-built cables, so there's not much to say there. Polk and Infinity make some good stuff, and hopefully you had a chance to listen to them before buying to know if you like them.

 

[corsara]

Well, I did listen to the sub in the store, it sounded great. For the rest of the equipment, I had to rely on lots of online research, we'll see the result....

I'll surely share how the system sounds once I get everything together. One thing that bothers me now is that the receiver offers 110w per channel, and the Polks are rated 125w per speaker... I've read at multiple places that underpowered amp can damage the speakers, but then again, these ratings are not so precise, and the difference is not too big anyway...hmmm...am I right on this, or it's bad?

 

[Adam]

Don't worry one bit about the power rating on the speakers. Most of the time, you'll be sending much less power to those speaker (less than 1 Watt, actually). The nominal impedance of those speaker is 8 Ohms, and that's not a problem for that receiver at all.

If you really like to crank your music, you might find the limit where the audio sounds strained, so just don't play it that loud. The sensitivity of those speakers is 89 dB which isn't really high, but it's not bad, either. You'll be able to play decently loud without any trouble.

 

[shadyJ]

I think your system is fine. As long as you get it setup right and tweaked, it will sound good. If you do a few things to deaden your room acoustically, it can even sound great, better than stereos many times its cost, simply for the fact that many owners of even hi-fi stuff somehow think that spending a lot of money on speakers and amp will overcome the limitations of their listening environment. The best system in the world is helpless against room resonances and reverb.

One other thing is you spend way too much on cables. That subwoofer cable is nothing more than a mono RCA cable, and it shouldn't have cost you more than three or four dollars. Same thing with the speaker cable, something a tenth of the cost of that cable could have done just as good. It's all just copper, and one company can not make copper perform better than another company, it is simply a chemical element.

 

[3db]

Welcome to the forum fellow Canuck If you're happy with it, then thats all that matters and what we think should not degfrade your entertainment value. My only quibble is that you got ripped royaly with the subwoofer cable and speaker wires/interconnects. In the futur, don't fall for that pressure of these sales guys and the myth of audio cables. . There is so much markup on them, its sickening. Other than that enjoy your system.

 

[RPinney]

The only thing I'm disappointed in is that you spent nearly $100 on wires. You could have gone to monoprice and spent MAYBE $20

 

[mudrummer99]

Well, I did listen to the sub in the store, it sounded great. For the rest of the equipment, I had to rely on lots of online research, we'll see the result....

I'll surely share how the system sounds once I get everything together. One thing that bothers me now is that the receiver offers 110w per channel, and the Polks are rated 125w per speaker... I've read at multiple places that underpowered amp can damage the speakers, but then again, these ratings are not so precise, and the difference is not too big anyway...hmmm...am I right on this, or it's bad?

My favorite audio myth. Some peoples' is the myth about "dancing" cables, I like the myth about under powering speakers. The only under powering you can do is if you want the speaker to go louder but your amp isn't capable of it and in turn starts clipping. Speaker companies put a rating on all speakers (the sensitivity rating, stated in dB) that is rated at 1 watt of power. I mean really, where did people come up with the idea that sending less than the "rated" wattage is a bad thing? That rated wattage will give you max power handling (and usually max volume), way more than just about any person would ever use.

Other than that, hope you enjoy the system, looks to be a decent first build.

Mike

PS. My above statements are assuming that the receiver and speakers are compatible in the Ohms arena, that's a whole other ball of wax

 

[corsara]

GOOD NEWS FOR ME! I just canceled the two cables since they hadn't shipped yet! Lol.. So, I guess that leads me to the next question:

What cables should I buy, what would you recommend, or it doesn't really matter. I don't need long speaker wire, maybe less than 15 ft, so what gauge should I get without compromising the sound quality? How about the subwoofer cable? Any recommendations for less than the $100 price I was initially going to pay?

 

[shadyJ]

A lot of hardware and home improvement stores have cable for reasonable prices. Radio Shack can have mono RCA cables for a OK Price. Monoprice.comhas very reasonable prices for this stuff, one of the best places you can go. Here is the cable you want for the subwoofer connection. Blue jeans cable is also another place to buy online, but they are a bit more expensive. I would also get banana connectors from these places. I went to buy some banana connections from Radio shack and it was terribly over-priced, even there! $17 for 4 connectors! As a rule, you shouldn't buy cables from electronics stores, at least if you want a fair price.

Oh yeah, and I would go with 14 AWG cables. It doesn't hurt to go with 12, but at that length you won't gain anything, and those fat ends can be a pain to thread through connectors.

 

[3db]

GOOD NEWS FOR ME! I just canceled the two cables since they hadn't shipped yet! Lol.. So, I guess that leads me to the next question:

What cables should I buy, what would you recommend, or it doesn't really matter. I don't need long speaker wire, maybe less than 15 ft, so what gauge should I get without compromising the sound quality? How about the subwoofer cable? Any recommendations for less than the $100 price I was initially going to pay?

Go to Walmart and buy some 14 to 16 gauge wire fro your speakers. For teh subwoofer, you may need to go to "The Source" becuase I don't think Walmart carries anything long enough.

 

[anamorphic96]

Not to put damper on things but your receiver only puts out 80 watts per channel at full bandwidth. The 110 watts is only tested at 1khz. They do this to make people think the receiver is more powerful than it really is. But it should do fine with the Polks which are pretty efficient.

 

[ju10503]

I'd regrettably comment that even a humdrum CD player will sound better than the compressed files and sonic output of an ipod.

 

[ju10503]

Go to Walmart and buy some 14 to 16 gauge wire fro your speakers. For teh subwoofer, you may need to go to "The Source" becuase I don't think Walmart carries anything long enough.

I'd say 12 gauge and don't buy anything from evil Walmart. I say 12 gauge because a friend who designs whole house systems and measures room acoustics says so, and he should know. Of course, if it is a short run of cable, doesn't matter.

 

[ju10503]

Hi All,

This is my first post here, although I've been reading a lot in the last couple of days. Just finished ordering different items for putting together my first audio system, which I will use primarily for listening to music in the basement. Please let me know what you think of my setup:

++ Receiver (~$260 CDN): Pioneer VSX-819H-K (5.1, 550W)
...

If you can get out of the receiver purchase a find a similar deal in Canuckdia then this could make you happier:
http://www.saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/NAD T744 Special.htm

 

[cvcgolf]

You're off to a great start. You seem to have bought good brand name gear so you''ll be fine. Your system will sound fantastic because it's your first and that's really all that matters. Congrats on not buying some hometheater in a box crap! Eventually after time you will upgrade everything anyway. You will always want better sound once you begin.

My biggest advice to you is to now listen to all kinds of music. You'll be surprised at how good jazz, swing and classical sounds on decent equipment. Music always sounds better in the dark as well.

 

[3db]

I'd say 12 gauge and don't buy anything from evil Walmart. I say 12 gauge because a friend who designs whole house systems and measures room acoustics says so, and he should know. Of course, if it is a short run of cable, doesn't matter.

I use 14 gauge for all my speaker runs but none are longer than 25'
I suggest reading this below:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-gauge

 

[lsiberian]

Hi All,

This is my first post here, although I've been reading a lot in the last couple of days. Just finished ordering different items for putting together my first audio system, which I will use primarily for listening to music in the basement. Please let me know what you think of my setup:

++ Receiver (~$260 CDN): Pioneer VSX-819H-K (5.1, 550W)

++ Subwoofer (~$160 CDN, open box): Infinity TSS-1200 (12 inch, 250W RMS)

++ Speakers (~$300 CDN): a pair of Polk Audio RTiA3

++ Subwoofer cable (~$25 CDN): Monster THX Certified Sub Woofer THXI100-SW16NF

++ Speaker wire (~$70 CDN for 15m): Phoenix Gold Super Oxygen-Free Copper 12-Gauge Speaker Wire M-1250

Total I paid: about $850 Canadian. What do you think? I plan to listen to music via my iPhone. Don't plan on hooking up the Big screen TV for now, as it is not in the basement. I've got a small CRT TV for the basement, which I'll use mainly for accessing the on-screen programming of the receiver.

Do you think this system will make good sound at listening to music? So far, I've got at home just the sub and the speakers, still waiting on the receiver and cables, which are in the mail. Can't wait.

What do you think of the setup?

Infinity makes pretty decent subs and better speakers than Polk IMO.

At the very least a pair of Primus bookshelves would be a nice upgrade.