Need beginner advice (obviously, lol)

[mryanbrown]

Newegg had the Polk 55T's on sale for $50/ea AR so I picked them up because they can't be beat for the price afaik. But then I seen Fry's/Amazon has the Infinity P363's for $107/ea. I was debating on the Infinity's for $50 more since they have larger woofers and an extra woofer for midrange but I read they are actually 4ohm, the crossover is questionable, the tweeters are harsh and afaik they aren't biamped?

So questions:

1. Are the Infinity worth $50 more than the 55Ts? (Primary usage will be PC/Music, not home theater)
2. I need a receiver
a. Ideally I want 3.1 audio but I think I would also be fine with 2.0, what's a budget friendly receiver with low THD?
b. Does anyone know any 2.0 (pref. 2.1) receivers with optical input?

 

[j_garcia]

ALL stereo receivers should have optical inputs today, as well as a sub preamp output, but they lack bass management so you will be dialing in the sub yourself. They should all have sufficiently low THD that that doesn't really need to be a question either.

As for the Polks, they certainly can be beat for $50/ea. especially since music is the focus. The Infinitys would be an improvement as would the Pioneer FS52s. Biamping wouldn't improve them in the slightest and biamping off a receiver is pointless anyway.

 

[mryanbrown]

None of the following stereo receivers have optical input

Sony STRDH130
Onkyo TX-8020
Yamaha R-S201BL

Only the Yamaha has a sub preamp

What other speakers for ~$50/ea can beat the 55T's?

I'm not willingly to drop more than $250 for a receiver for sub $1,000 speakers.

The Pioneer SP-FS52's seem nice, but are currently $125/ea. $90 on sale. Would they yield double the quality for twice the price? Or would it only be a marginal improvement?

 

[j_garcia]

Double the quality would be the minimum improvement IMO. I've driven them with a 30W shelf system and they still do fine.

I think the new Onkyo might actually have dropped the optical input on the lower model for cost reasons, but the 8050 has it. Forget Sony period. Yamaha appears to have dropped it on the lower models as well, as has Harman Kardon, so I stand corrected. It appears they've all moved toward networking/streaming capability.

There is a balance between amplification and speaker level of course, but saying $250 for sub $1K speakers is sort of a random statement...because it depends on the speakers. Speakers need to be bought based on their sound, not their price. My mains didn't cost $1K and I spent a lot more than $250 on powering them. I probably wouldn't drive them with a sub $250 amp, but buying things at the right price is the key there. Price is not the proper judge of what gear goes together.

Is used or refurb a possibility?

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/onktx8050/onkyo-tx-8050-2-channel-network-stereo-receiver/1.html

 

[mryanbrown]

I'm not opposed to used per se, as long as they look obviously well kept and the price reflects a lack of warranty and use, as new/refurbed includes warranty. I'm not too worried about fully driving the speakers power wise as they will probably never be turned up more than half way being bedroom speakers. So I really don't need speakers that 'truly shine' when fully driven. I think 50-75W RMS is all I'll truly need.

I think my statement regarding receiver price reflects my view. I'm replacing Logitech Z5500s from 7 years ago for some real audio (on as small of a budget as possible) as almost any 'real' speaker/receiver will be a huge improvement (they're TEN PERCENT THD).

The 8050/refurbed looks pretty nice except for the useless composite video inputs/outputs.

 

[mryanbrown]

Just to clarify, I guess my $250 'limit' is in actual price, not MSRP. That's probably closer to $400 MSRP

 

[mryanbrown]

I think I'm going to go with the Denon E300 when it drops to $200 again. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

[j_garcia]

Was going to recommend that one too, but no real world experience with it. Recommended the older DRA397 from AC4L to a friend. She picked it up for under $200 and it is pretty nice, though it lacks optical input. Also picked up a 1912 for $300 for my dad and its pretty impressive actually. Denon tends to be a good bet.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Imo E300 from AC4L is worthy upgrade.
As for Polks - This my view only but maybe helpful to you: I went to polk dealer a while back and listened to all bookshelf speakers they had from cheapest to most expensive.
Truly one only ones which I liked was the most expensive LSi/9 speakers.

Getting good bass is not easy, essentially impossible on $50/speaker. But it's quite easy to get excellent mid to high range reproducing speakers and decent sub for much much less

For music oriented setup - My advice to you is to get surround avr, 2 good bookshelf speakers and 1 good sub

avr: Denon E300
speakers: Ascend HTM-200 SE
Sub: I don't you could find cheaper decent sub than this one - Reaction Audio — BPS 212 Powered Subwoofer

 

[zieglj01]

It is more beneficial to get a surround AVR and run 2.1

Look at Wave Crest Audio Speakers
HVL-1 Two-Way Loudspeaker | Wave Crest Audio

And, the Reaction Audio sub linked above

 

[mryanbrown]

I hooked up the 55T's today (they arrived this afternoon) and did a side by side comparison against a sweet pair of massive 1980's Pioneer floor standers and they sound quite on par. They're half the size of the Pioneers but hold their own well. I was actually quite impressed with the bass of them. It isn't super low, but it definitely packs a punch, I could feel it.