Apartment Speaker/Reciever setup suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[ks12]

I was looking at newegg.com and I saw these speakers on sale:
Polk Audio Monitor60 Series II Floorstanding Loudspeaker
and this for a center:
Polk Audio CS2 Series II Center Channel Speaker
My questions are:
1) Are these speakers good for the money or should I be looking to spend a little more and get something else?
2) What receiver do you guys recommend? I have a Samsung 46" LED tv and I would also like to be able to wirelessly play the music on my desktop computer through the receiver and the speakers, is that possible?
3) Is there a setup for just two floor standing speakers and a center? This will all be in my apartment living room about around 15-20x15-20. Thanks for your help in advance!
4) The Polk Monitor60 Floor Standing Speakers have 4 connections at the back two red and two black, do you connect all 4 or just two of these to the receiver and where on the receiver if you connect all 4?

 

[gene c]

The Polk Monitor 60's are good for the money. I also like the Infinity Primus 363's from Frys for $109 each.
You can set the Surround and Surround Back speakers to None in the receivers setup menu and just use the Fronts and Center.
The two sets of binding poats on the back of some speakers allow you to connect two seperate amplifiers or two seperate speaker wires to a single speaker, one set for the woofers and another set for the tweeters/mid-range, which is called "bi-amping and bi-wiring. . You would need to remove the metal strap first or you would damage the amps and/or receiver. You can also assign the Back Surround channels of most receivers to bi-amp your speakers but we don't recommend doing this because it really doesn't accomplish anything. You really need two seperate amps to do it right. And at that point, the money would be better spent on better speakers than two more amplifiers. IMO, speakers under $1000/pr shouldn't even have two sets of binding posts.
Bottom line? Connect one set of speaker wires to either the upper or lower set of binding posts and leave the metal strap in place.
I don't know much about internet streaming but most any new receiver around $400 (retail) or more should allow you to stream music. Many receivers come equiped with Pandora, Rhapsody, etc. Look for a "Networking" receiver like these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117410
Or the much better 1122 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117411
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXNR515/Onkyo-TX-NR515-7.2-Channel-Network-A/V-Receiver/1.html
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR1912/DENON-AVR-1912-7.1ch-Network-A/V-Home-Theater-Receiver-w/Airplay/1.html

 

[schan1269]

In your case(of running 3.1...or just 3.0)
Bi-amping can make sense...if you buy an AVR capable of it.
What ends up happening is...
Yes, you "double the power" to the front speakers. Great if you are listening to stereo. If you are listening in 3.0 mode, then the benefit of all that "extra power" goes to waste because the AVR will re-set all gains to offset the center having half the power.
Unless your main speakers are less efficient than your center...there is zero point in bi-amping with an AVR. If you move to separates(that would be pre-pro/amp combination)...then bi-amping becomes a more realistic goal.
And like mentioned prior, almost everybody has networking built into AVR now. Most still need a wifi dongle, or a direct ethernet. And no, an AVR at $300 with networking doesn't always have the same features built in as a $1000 AVR. So when shopping, don't assume the $400 Pioneer has the same networking features as the $1600 Pioneer Elite.

 

[ks12]

Wow thanks a lot guys I really appreciate the information. I"m going to take a quick trip to Fry's to check out the Infinity 363's, I looked online and they weren't pulling up on Fry's online site. I also noticed in the Fry's ad that they have a pair of JBL ES80 6" Floorstanding Speaker for $288, is that something I should look at as well?
EDIT: I called around and none of the Fry's in the Phoenix area have the Infinity 363's

 

[gene c]

Bummer on the 363's.
I'd give those JBL's a listen but I bet they will be on the bright side with their dual Titanium tweeters. If Fry's has some Polk Monitors or even TSi's you can compare them at the store...as best as you can anyway. Not the best place to audition speakers. Receiver settings are usually all screwed up, poor speaker placement, lots of background noise, etc. But it's still better than nothing.