Need advice regarding H&K receiver and polk speakers

[dron_jones]

Well i guess i should start off letting everyone know that i am very new to the world of HT and audio equipment in general. Basically i am a music lover who is looking to invest in a nice receiver and some nice floorstands to start off with. Presently i don't have the space to devote to a HT setup but the receiver and the floorstands will move into this role once space will allow. Since money seems to always be the limiting factor i have decided to spend the majority of it on my receiver and the floorstands. As time passes i will add the centre channel, the rears, and the sub to complete the set. I have already chosen the receiver and ordered it (HK AVR435) and i am in the process of choosing my floor stands.

Currently i am choosing from floorstands available from polk audio (the reason being is that i can get them for about half of MSRP). I was planning on ordering the RTi12's. I would complete the set with the CSi5, and the FXi5's and a velodyne 12" sub.

I know HT and equipment comes down to alot of personal preference. I guess i just want to know if i am making any fundamental errors with compatibility, or if im leaving something out, or just making any kind of mistake in general, before i send off my money to polk.

Any help you could provide will be great.

 

[Takeereasy]

Sounds like you've got a fantastic system in the works. One thing to note is how power hungry those polk rti12's are. The 435 is a pretty beefy receiver and I don't think you'll have too many problems but later down the road you may want to go with a seperate amp for the front two speakers. The 435 will allow this and it's a pretty upgradeable system.

Is the Velodyne at half cost as well? Do you know the model number? Velodyne makes some fantastic subs and some not so fantastic subs. They are usually a pretty good bang for the buck but like everyone else on this site I'd suggest you look into HSU, SVS, etc.. beforeyou go 100% with the Velodyne. Of course if this is a higher end Velodyne and you are getting it half off then there is no sense in complaining.

I really think you'll be happy with your choices. You will have some great sounding 2 channel audio and some fantastic HT sound. Good luck with it all, I think you'll even wind up impressing yourself with your coices.

 

[dron_jones]

Sounds like you've got a fantastic system in the works. One thing to note is how power hungry those polk rti12's are. The 435 is a pretty beefy receiver and I don't think you'll have too many problems but later down the road you may want to go with a seperate amp for the front two speakers. The 435 will allow this and it's a pretty upgradeable system.

Is the Velodyne at half cost as well? Do you know the model number? Velodyne makes some fantastic subs and some not so fantastic subs. They are usually a pretty good bang for the buck but like everyone else on this site I'd suggest you look into HSU, SVS, etc.. beforeyou go 100% with the Velodyne. Of course if this is a higher end Velodyne and you are getting it half off then there is no sense in complaining.

I really think you'll be happy with your choices. You will have some great sounding 2 channel audio and some fantastic HT sound. Good luck with it all, I think you'll even wind up impressing yourself with your coices.

Hey Easy,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have found these forums to be a wealth of knowledge and the people to be quite encouraging in their responses.

To answer your question about the Sub, i would be getting half price on the sub as well but i don't have free range to choose whichever one i want. I work at bestbuy so basically i can get any sub they carry at half price (or i can get half price on any polk sub, although i have heard they aren't **** hot). As far as subs go the ones i was looking at were:

Velodyne DSP-12b
JBL E250P
Infinity PS-12

I found that the Infinity sub sounded better then the JBL and i haven't had a chance to listen to the velodyne yet. Although i do realize that any of these subs aren't very high end, this is all i can really afford to spend right now. Especially with the price being half off.

What im not sure about is whether i should just leave out the sub for now since the RTi12's have 3x7" woofers each. Then when i can afford a nicer sub, make the purchase.

 

[nm2285]

I would recommend waiting on the sub. That velodyne is probably the best of that bunch (maybe the inifinity has a shot at it, but i doubt it). However, if you can wait till you can afford a $350-500 sub, you can check out rocket, SVS, and HSU. Each of these I believe would be significantly better than the velodyne, at least in music performance. Those rti12's produce plenty of bass on their own so you certainly wont be bass deficient while you wait!

 

[dron_jones]

I have read alot on here about the RTi12's and everywhere i read that they are thirsty for power..... i am starting to get concerned. Will my HK avr435 be enough to power these monsters? I know my receiver is rated at 65wpc which isn't alot but i also read that HK rates their equipment with all channels operating at the same time rather then one channel at a time.

Any opinions? Another amp to power these speakers won't be in the budget any time soon so this isn't an option for me.

 

[Takeereasy]

That 435 will do a fair job in my opinion, but you won't be getting all that your speakers are capable of. That doesn't mean they won't sound great, just that they could sound better. The best guy on this site to answer this question is Buckeye as he has a similar setup. You should PM him and ask him directly, he won't mislead you. I think what he'll tell you is to jump all over the speakers and receiver. You can always save for an amp at a later date. Essentially you'll be getting a system that sounds great now, and that you can make sound even better later with a simple addition later down the road. What is the price on that Velodyne sub from work? If it's under $250 I'd consider it a top contender unless you are willing to save for a brand your store doesn't carry. That Velodyne looks to hit 25hz with some authority, but for $429 plus shipping you can get a SVS PB-10 that can hit 20hz. You really don't want to skimp on a sub. I did originally, and now I'm saving to get something half decent.


Finally my suggestion is this. Take the Harman and hook it up to those speakers while you're at work and see how it sounds. I bet pretty good. Also remember that even though those Polks are power hungry if you are using a powered sub then you can set a higher crossover on your receiver. That means that the speakers won't be producing bass as deep as they can and that means they won't be drawing as much power from your receiver which means you'll need slightly less power. Like I said PM Buckeye, but I really think you're on the right trail.