LOW budget system... (1 Viewer)

[John Garcia]

Honestly, I would skip all the Polk speakers (I have not heard the new models yet) The previous generation is not worth the money. I listened to them and was not impressed at all, even for the price.

From Paradigm, one can get a pair of Titans as mains for around $200 and they are far superior to the RT35i, which has roughly the same driver specs (obviously above the R10, RT15 and RT25).

I would agree with the Onkyo 8511 as being a good choice also.

I would STRONGLY suggest looking around for used gear, as one can get excellent deals. My setup in my bedroom is - a very decent 5.1 receiver, a Marantz SR4000, with a brand new pair of shielded Titans, and only cost me $350.

I also managed to pick up a third DVD player, a Sony NS300 for $97, as an open box unit at a local store (couldn't pass that up). Full Sony warranty and it works great.

Throw in the RV32, and you could still hit the $500 mark and have a good sounding system.

 

[Ted Lee]

Honestly, I would skip all the Polk speakers...I listened to them and was not impressed at all, even for the price.

usually, i think john is right on the dime, but here, i'll respectfully disagree!
i have polk speakers and love them. so there!
seriously though...speakers are so subjective you'll really have to listen to them (or any brand) and decide for yourself.
okay, i'll get off my soapbox now...

 

[John Garcia]

I'm not picking on Polk or Polk owners, I was just not that impressed with them . To be completely honest, I was surprised, because I expected to really like the 35s. I was helping a friend look for some inexpensive speakers, and the local Goodguys is only a block away. I listened to the RT15 because they were on extreme clearance. I was very unimpressed with bass response, though the tweeters are fairly smooth. So I went over to CC to give some others a listen, decided to give the RT35 a shot (in a listening room this time), and was again unimpressed. This was with an Onkyo 595, stereo, no sub. Head to head with the IL10, which is also a 1" tweeter/ 6-1/2" mid, at the same price, and the was quite impressed. My girlfriend was with me, and she felt the same.
Granted, this was Goodguys and Circuit City, but the comparison was fair because I listened to other speakers side by side with the same gear. I am not trying to say Polk speakers are crap either, just that I PERSONALLY, prefer the sound of similar priced Paradigms and Infinity speakers. If I put them in my system at home, and listened to them with my setup, I might get different results and have a different opinion.
As Ted said, and I completely agree, it is just an opinion. Buy what YOUR ears like.

 

[Saurav]

I've owned an Onkyo TX-8211. It's pretty good, but the NAD C-340 I replaced it with pretty much slays it in every category. If all you want is stereo, I would recommend buying a used integrated amp and stand-alone tuner. You can get 70s Japanese tuners for $25 - $50 on eBay, and these would sound much better than any tuner bundled into a modern budget stereo receiver. I just bought one myself ($25), and for the first time I heard soundstage and imaging on FM radio. Likewise, an integrated amp from the likes of NAD or Rotel would sound much better than a budget stereo receiver. The only advantage to a receiver is one less box, but sonically, IMO there's no comparision.
Other general advice, which may be irrelevant at this point: I would recommend buying used. And maybe re-thinking your budget allocation - for a $600 total budget, I would put more than $100 on speakers. www.goodsound.com used to have some articles on putting together budget systems with some excellent suggestions, but I just checked their website and can't seem to find them in their new format.