Home Theatre Receiver Thread

[kamascottra]

i bought this for 347 taxes in
havent set up yet but i think it will be good
any comments?
also in the future can i replace the speakers or stuck with these?

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...254ec02d31en02

as long as the speakers plug into the back of the receiver with normal connections you can hook up whatever you like to it. the link has no information whatsoever, and you have the product in front of you, so, i'm not going to search around to find out what you can see. i'm guessing you'd be able to. spring clips or binding posts and you're set

[jjege]

as long as the speakers plug into the back of the receiver with normal connections you can hook up whatever you like to it. the link has no information whatsoever, and you have the product in front of you, so, i'm not going to search around to find out what you can see. i'm guessing you'd be able to. spring clips or binding posts and you're set

i didn't open the box yet, just in case someone here says return it back , its not worth it, or get this instead , etc...

how do you think about this set?
any comments about the receiver?

[SurplusPlus]

Got two Polk RTI10 today, they are huge as my room is just 450 squre feet.
Does Poineer 1022 work with these two speakers? or I have to go with Poineer 1122?
igor0190, as I know you have the Poineer 1022 and RTI10, do they work together?
My friend told me the two speakers need 120+ wpc receiver which will cost $1000+, he said my room is small and I should return the two speakers, is that true?

Those are some big speakers for an average sized room. Like your friend, I would ask you to reconsider as speakers a quarter of the size could fill the room. But if you're keeping them, most receivers would still power them. I'd try that first before going to a pre-amp with second amplifier.

You'll also want to clarify what you mean by bi-amping.

[ViperZ]

it's nice to buy things that are future-friendly, but it's smart to not buy more than you need.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I personally had the full RT series Polk setup and can tell you that the difference of having a dedicated 2-channel amp for main speakers is huge for those speakers, as they are not very sensitive to begin with. Of course, if it's all about the budget, then I'd just buy a receiver I can afford rather than stretching my budget to get one with pre-outs for the future. My personal opinion in audio has always been that you can get much more buying a used receiver/amp/speakers/etc. than buying a brand spanking new one, but with way less features for the same $.

[kamascottra]

i didn't open the box yet, just in case someone here says return it back , its not worth it, or get this instead , etc...

how do you think about this set?
any comments about the receiver?

honestly, there's nothing in the description that i could base a decision off of. did you listen to it at the store? just open the box carefully and keep all the contents(little baggies and foam etc), set it up and listen to it. if you like it keep it and stop listening to what others say about it. if you don't like it, return it.

[kamascottra]

Unfortunately or fortunately, I personally had the full RT series Polk setup and can tell you that the difference of having a dedicated 2-channel amp for main speakers is huge for those speakers, as they are not very sensitive to begin with. Of course, if it's all about the budget, then I'd just buy a receiver I can afford rather than stretching my budget to get one with pre-outs for the future. My personal opinion in audio has always been that you can get much more buying a used receiver/amp/speakers/etc. than buying a brand spanking new one, but with way less features for the same $.

ah, my oversight. but yeah, buying efficient speakers to go with a budget receiver is pretty crucial to getting good performance and value. Used is also a great option, as long as it's from a reliable place. i wouldn't go to kijiji or ebay personally, an audio forum would be a much better place.

[ViperZ]

ah, my oversight. but yeah, buying efficient speakers to go with a budget receiver is pretty crucial to getting good performance and value. Used is also a great option, as long as it's from a reliable place. i wouldn't go to kijiji or ebay personally, an audio forum would be a much better place.

Yeah, kijiji is full of scammers nowadays I bought several gems on craigslist previously, but now 90% of vintage gear is from re-sellers who sell 'mint' and 'professionally refurbished', but in real life that stuff is mostly junk. On the other hand, I have had great success buying and selling stereo and home theater gear on canuckaudiomart forums. I think that's the only local audio forum, where you can get good stuff and people are able to leave feedback to sellers and buyers.

[mayuechao]

Thanks guys, I decided to buy the HK3490 which is a stereo receiver with 120wpc and pre-outs. I will use HK3490 and RTI10 to listen music and watch movies by connecting them to TV and computer.
The music and movie will either from online or from harddrive via computer.

[SurplusPlus]

Unfortunately or fortunately, I personally had the full RT series Polk setup and can tell you that the difference of having a dedicated 2-channel amp for main speakers is huge for those speakers, as they are not very sensitive to begin with. Of course, if it's all about the budget, then I'd just buy a receiver I can afford rather than stretching my budget to get one with pre-outs for the future. My personal opinion in audio has always been that you can get much more buying a used receiver/amp/speakers/etc. than buying a brand spanking new one, but with way less features for the same $.

The challenge though with recommending to go used, is finding a suggestion that is reproducible. One day there might be an affordable Parasound amp from an estate sale, the next day there's somebody fishing to see if he can get triple the normal price for it. Or there might be one available for local pickup in Ottawa but it doesn't help the buyer in Vancouver. And for some reason all the used stuff I look for seems to have bidding wars. Other times you don't know what the faults or issues are until you've bought the item. There are some used bargains, but you have be patient, and really know the fair market value, and be willing to take a risk.

[ViperZ]

Thanks guys, I decided to buy the HK3490 which is a stereo receiver with 120wpc and pre-outs. I will use HK3490 and RTI10 to listen music and watch movies by connecting them to TV and computer.
The music and movie will either from online or from harddrive via computer.

You have made a great choice for music listening! Not to mention that HK3490 is a very good stereo receiver, but also H/K receivers match very well with RTi series speakers. H/K receivers are soft-sounding, and RTi speakers are on the harsh side, so the match is very good. Also, H/K receiver is high-current receiver, so it should have enough juice to show you how RTi can sound.
Regarding listening from hard drive, it will make a very big difference if you will be listening to uncompressed FLAC files rather than very compressed MP3 files. For the future, you can get a good sound card with a good DAC chip on it, or maybe eventually a stand-alone DAC.
Congratulations on a great pick!

[kaps76]

i bought this for 347 taxes in
havent set up yet but i think it will be good
any comments?
also in the future can i replace the speakers or stuck with these?

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...254ec02d31en02

Was looking at getting the same system. Let us know how you like it. At the same time I am also aiming for the Pioneer VSX-822 at FS/BB for 279.99$. Requested price match from Memory Express. If pass, will take it, othck otherwise, will fall back for the HTP-071 (review seems to be good).

[mayuechao]

You have made a great choice for music listening! Not to mention that HK3490 is a very good stereo receiver, but also H/K receivers match very well with RTi series speakers. H/K receivers are soft-sounding, and RTi speakers are on the harsh side, so the match is very good. Also, H/K receiver is high-current receiver, so it should have enough juice to show you how RTi can sound.
Regarding listening from hard drive, it will make a very big difference if you will be listening to uncompressed FLAC files rather than very compressed MP3 files. For the future, you can get a good sound card with a good DAC chip on it, or maybe eventually a stand-alone DAC.
Congratulations on a great pick!

Thanks ViperZ again. My computer is Mac mini, not sure the sound card can play FLAC well or not. what cable is best to connect MAC mini to the HK3490/Polk/HDTV?
when I receives the HK3490 from FS, I will test and check if the 2-channel amp is required. I do not think I need the 2-channel amp, as I don't want it so loud, but I want the sub and bass work.

[kamascottra]

will the mac pass audio through the hdmi connection? not sure if you're already using that for a monitor though, but that's what i'm using for my pc.

i could be wrong, but i think if you can output a digital signal you don't have to worry about the computer's dac as the conversion is done in your receiver

[ViperZ]

kamascottra, unfortunately, HK3490 is a receiver, which is more oriented towards stereo music than home theater, so it does not have HDMI inputs. It has digital coaxial and optical inputs, as well as analog RCA connectors in the back.

My limited understanding of Mac mini connections is that it has a mini toslink digital sound output (which is a combo part with headphone output)
So I think this cable will work with what mayuechao is doing:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=4 EARN CASH BACK

It's a mini toslink to 5mm toslink cable, so you can hook it up between your mac mini and HK receiver.

You will have to use something different than iTunes to play your FLAC files, here is a good thread to read:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mp...audio&m=109149
Pure Music software has been highly recommended before.

You can obviously still use iTunes to play DRM (Apple lossless) format files.

What you will have to do is run that optical cable from mac mini to your receiver and HDMI cable from mac mini to your TV. Here is a good thread to read if you want more information:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

And obviously just use speaker cables to hook up your receiver to your RTi speakers. Any speaker wire, including 14 AWG or 12 AWG from Monoprice will do. If you want a good quality finished product (although obviously more expensive), check out bluejeanscable.com or signalcable.com - these two manufacturers offer really good pricing on good quality finished cables (not just speaker cables).

[ViperZ]

Regarding using external amp and loudness... Contrary to a popular belief, external amp is there not to drive speakers loud, but actually to provide more detailed sound, especially at low volumes. Usually what I find with receivers, you need to drive some speakers at a fairly high volume to get them to sing. With big external amps, I find that even at a low to moderate volume speakers already open up and give you full detail, so you don't have to run them as loud as with receiver to get that level of detail.