Denon 1803 and Polk RM7600 (1 Viewer)

[PhilipGee]

Hi

A salesman recently told me that the Polk RM7600 satellites and center speaker wouldn't be a good match for the Denon 1803 a/v receiver. He thought that the Polk satellites were crap and said they'd sound horrible with the type of music I like. I was playing Massive Attack at the time.

Would anyone here agree with that comment? Or are there other suggestions about a more suitable marriage of speakers and receivers?

thanx

phil

 

[TylerZ]

It really doesn't make a damn bit of difference what the salesdude likes. The main question is how did it sound to you? You put 3 people in a room auditioning 2 different makes of speakers and you will get 4 opinions. IMO Denon and Polk are a good match, but so are countless other combinations. Buy what sounds good to YOU, you're the one who will be listening to it at home, not the salesdude.

 

[PhilipGee]

Thanx for your thoughts

I guess because he dissed the Polks I immediately started to think that they might not be the correct choice. Possibly there was something about them that I didn't know. The salesman said that Polk are nowhere near as good as they were 5 years ago.

As now I've been listening to other speaks again in a hope of forming a decision on which way to go. As someone who doesn't know a hell of a lot about HT I just don't want to make a mistake and purchase the incorrect set of speakers.

I'm thinking of going for B&Ws now, but unfortunately can't seem to find a store that stocks both Polk (only one seller in my city) and B&W. Thankfully the two shops are very close to each other, so I guess I'll just have to go between the two.

 

[TylerZ]

Did you have a listen to other offerings from Polk? Try the RTi38's for fronts, RTi28's for rears, a CSi40 center, and a descent sub. Remember, you don't have to stay with the same brand/make for your sub as you do for the rest of the system. I don't know what your budget is but the above system would be about $1060 retail. Add $500 for an HSU sub(available online)and you'd have a damn good sounding system IMHO.

 

[PhilipGee]

Hi Tyler

The main reason that I was thinking of purchasing the Polk satellite speaker system was because of the small size of them. The wife was very insistent on the speakers being small. I'm currently trying to talk her around into buying some British speakers by Bowers and Wilkins. They've recently released the 600 Series 3 and there are some nice bookshelf speakers that I could use in a home theatre set up. My biggest stumbling block will be the wife though!

As for budget, I'm currently living in Australia, so the exchange rate between pounds and dollars is around 0.35

So the set up I'm looking at purchasing is:

B&W DM600 S3 - $699 (Surrounds)
B&W DM601 S3 - $899 (Fronts)
B&W LCR60 S3 - $699 (Centre)
B&W ASW600 - $1299 (Sub)

I'm seriously considering matching these speakers with the Harman Kardon AVR 4500 - this is an international model, which I don't believe is for sale in North America.

So after further consideration I came to the conclusion that since the B&Ws were better speakers than the Polks and then started to think that maybe the Harman Kardon is a better receiver than the Denon. What are your thoughts on this change in direction?

 

[TylerZ]

Yeah, TWF(the wife factor). Don't know about down under, but around here the word 'wife' stands for Will InterFere Everytime. As for the size issue, the 35's, 25's, and center I mentioned are a bit larger than the satellites. The biggest difference is in the depth, which may mean a better sound. B&W's are very respected here in the states. I've heard some of their older models are was very impressed with both their clarity and accuracy. You won't go wrong with them. Personally I have never been a big HK fan. I think Denon offers more for the $.

 

[PhilipGee]

Hello again

Don't know about down under, but around here the word 'wife' stands for Will InterFere Everytime.

Well yes I suppose so, neither of us are Australians tho - I'm from London, she's from Jo'burg - however I can she her point of view. Admittedly our lounge room isn't that big either, so we don't want it dominated by speakers.

I quite like the sound of the HK, but it doesn't support Phono or A and B speakers (as opposed to multizone) which it does support.

Furthermore, some of the reviews that I've read on the web are saying that I need to marry these B&Ws up with a decent quality receiver. That's why I wasn't so sure it the Denon 1803 was good enough, I mean I liked it but haven't heard it with the B&W speakers.

Any further comments or suggestions about different combinations of speakers with receivers would be appreciated

 

[TylerZ]

I think the 1803 with it's 80 watts would fine with the B&W's. Is lack of phono input on the HK important to you? BTW, did you have a chance to check out the LSi line from Polk? The 7's and 9's sound exceptional for bookshelf speakers, but they are larger than the other Polk's you looked at. I know space is an concern. How big are the B&W's you're looking at? One more thought on saving some $ is you do not have to go with a B&W sub just because your other speakers are B&W. People here really have alot of good things to say about the HSU subs. They have a model for $500 that really kicks out the bass. Have you been able to read any reviews about HSU? If not let me know and I'll forward a link to you.

 

[PhilipGee]

let me know and I'll forward a link to you

That'll be great!

 

[TylerZ]

I'm obviously reluctant to purchase them without at least hearing them first

Don't blame you a bit.
Here's the link to HSU:
www.hsuresearch.com
The VTF-2($500 US)has a wide following here in the states. They have recently come out with the VTF-3($850US).
Have you ever visited this site?
www.audioreview.com
Once your on the home page you can go to reviews and check out what people that actually own or at least listened to a particular product have to say about it. Check it out and enjoy!

 

[PhilipGee]

Hello again

Here's the link to HSU:

Thanx for that, I'll be interested to see if there are any distributors for this product line here in Perth.

As for Audio Review, I've been to their website before, it's quite informative.

Still looking at receivers and speakers though - it's all very confusing!

 

[TylerZ]

Yeah, it can be confusing. But it can also be a lot of fun. Just trust your ears and take your time. After all, you will be enjoying the system you finally choose for years to come. Best advice I can give ya is to narrow your selection down to two or three brands/models within your budget and go from there. What other speakers are you considering? Not to make it any more confusing, just out of curiosity, do they sell Paradigm, Definitive Technology, Canton, Wharfdale, or Klipsch speakers in Australia? Are any Polk's still in the running? If TWF is still an issue, consider taking her along on one of your auditions. It may make her realize that a speaker 'just a little bit bigger' might sound a little bit better. Keep me posted.

 

[PhilipGee]

Hi Tyler

Keep me posted

Will do, but you might find the on going saga of me struggling with my wife over the size of speakers a little tiresome after a while...

 

[TylerZ]

...a good set of speakers will still be usable in ten years...

I had a pair of Infinity 2000II that I enjoyed for almost 18 years. The foam ring around the woofers finally gave out after all the loud rock music I listened to. They were pretty inefficient compared to the newer speakers available. I sold them 4 years ago to a guy who recones older speakers and put the money into a pair of Polk RT7's. I built our HT system around those RT7's and think they sound great for HT and music.

 

[TimTurtino]

I believe you can buy the 7600s w/o the subs-- it's actually the dealer's option how they sell it. If your dealer won't split them, check w/ HK.

I'm probably going to end up with them and a sub from Infinity, Velodyne, or SVS. (If anybody has any comments on that, please check my thread, imaginatively entitled
Velodyne, Polk and Infinity Subs.)

 

[PhilipGee]

Nope, I'm here for ya Philip. Feel free to vent if you have to.

Thanx for that Tyler, however I will try and not be too self-indulgent.

 

[TimTurtino]

According to www.xe.com AUD$2500 is around US$1466. However, those speakers, sans sub, should be around US$1200-1300, and that's at Polk's inflated MSRPs-- they often sell for around US$100-$200 less. I would suggest that, if possible, you find another dealer (feeling like someone has been rude to you is the main reason I say that), or if that's impossible, try and talk them down in price-- international shipping isn't _that_ expensive...

FWIW, while there are certainly much better speakers out there, I have yet to find speakers that are that good with that much WAF. I'm actually going to be pretty happy with mine, and down the road, upgrading will be fairly easy-- a pair of bookshelves up front, maybe a better center channel, eventually an SVS 20-39PCi, as my fiance grows more and more used to excellent sound.

Me

 

[PhilipGee]

there are certainly much better speakers out there

Well I'm certainly interested in exploring any other recommendations that are made to me regarding speakers. Essentially I'm chasing a set of four satellite speaks that can be wall mounted. Therefore they obviously would have to have the vent at the front (if they are vented at all). I need a centre front and a sub woofer too. Also the wife would be happy if the aforementioned satellite speakers had a relatively small footprint. The Polk RM7600 only has a depth of five and a half inches.

So any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm sort of stuck with the Polks at the moment, not that they are bad speakers - just I'd like to explore all the possibilities before I settle on a purchase.

 

[Jeramy_K]

PhilipGee,

I have the RM7200 system setup in our spare room. Uses satellites/center similar to the RM7600 but has the PSW-550 sub. My wife and I were looking for a small speaker package and had been set on the Bose AM15 sub/sat package. Then we heard the RM7200 on display at Circuit City. We were really impressed. After some auditioning we both agreed the Polk's sounded better (especially the bass). Circuit City carries the RM7200 priced at $1299 for the package. I ended up picking them up brand new on Ebay for $875 + shipping.

We've had them a month now and my wife has taken a strong liking to them. My only complaint is that the center channel doesn't produce a very spacious sound. But in a small room it's not as noticable.

I would definately recommend these to anyone looking for a great sounding sub/sat system that doesn't take up alot of space.

-Jeramy

 

[PhilipGee]

Jeramy

Thank you for your input.

How big is the room that you've put this RM7200 set up into? My lounge room is only 16.5ft long by 12ft wide by 10ft high, so given that this room isn't terribly big, I'm wondering if I'll be able to notice any problems associated with the centre speaker as you've outlined above?