# Recommendations?



## johns1848 (Jun 26, 2013)

Pulling together my HT set up. Here's what I have so far:

TV: Samsung 65" LED 8000 series
Receiver: Marantz SR7005 7.1
Front Speakers: Polk LSiM705s
Subwoofer: HSU VTF-2 MK4

Looking for recommendations for surround speakers (in wall) and center channel (in wall). 

Anything else I may be missing?

Thanks in advance!


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

I suggest you stick with something from Polk. Speaker companies work to voice their speakers with a similar timbre. I think more Polks will blend the best.

I also think in wall speakers are a comprimise and should be used only if absolutely necessary.


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## TheLaw612 (Jan 17, 2012)

If you're set on in-walls for the surrounds then take a look at what Home Theater Direct (HTD) has to offer. My buddy uses their multi-purpose 5.25" in-walls for his surrounds with his Polk setup and they sound great. For home theater I would probably go for their high definition in-walls.

As for the center channel - you should probably go with the same line of speaker as your front L/R so they are timbre matched.


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## johns1848 (Jun 26, 2013)

Thanks for recommendations. I hadn't thought about the timbre issue. 

I have ordered the Polk 706c center channel and think I will go with (eventually) the LSiM702 F/X Surround Speakers for the rear. As far as the additional 2 speaker (to make it 7.1) those go overhead, correct?

If so, I think I could get away with those Home Theater Direct in ceiling speakers, correct? Looking at the HD-W65s. Again, thoughts?

What about a preamp to drive the speakers more? Suggestions for a good preamp?

Thanks again for all your feedback!


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

I have Polk in walls that sound good with my Polk R400 mains. I think they are rc65i. I would recommend them. I have two sets for my 7.1 setup.


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## TheLaw612 (Jan 17, 2012)

johns1848 said:


> Thanks for recommendations. I hadn't thought about the timbre issue.
> 
> I have ordered the Polk 706c center channel and think I will go with (eventually) the LSiM702 F/X Surround Speakers for the rear. As far as the additional 2 speaker (to make it 7.1) those go overhead, correct?
> 
> ...


If the HTD in-ceiling speakers are anything like their in-walls then I'm sure they're great. However, the rear surrounds don't have to be overhead. Many people use bookshelf speakers for all 7 channels. If size/space is an issue then using in-ceiling speakers is fine.

I'll leave the suggestions for preamps to those who are more knowledgeable than I am.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

johns1848 said:


> What about a preamp to drive the speakers more? Suggestions for a good preamp?
> 
> Thanks again for all your feedback!


The Marantz SR7005 will do a really good job on it's own. If you want even more power, you could use the Marantz as a pre amp and add an outboard amp from a company like Emotiva.


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## DeltaDube (Jul 10, 2013)

johns1848 said:


> Thanks for recommendations. I hadn't thought about the timbre issue.
> 
> I have ordered the Polk 706c center channel and think I will go with (eventually) the LSiM702 F/X Surround Speakers for the rear. As far as the additional 2 speaker (to make it 7.1) those go overhead, correct?
> 
> ...



your 7005 is a type of pre amp (avr)... if you want more power you need to add an external amp..

how much do you want to spend.. do you listen to music alot or just for movies.. do you like to crank up 
the volume sometimes .. how big is your room... accoustical treatments???? 

big power amps does not mean loud.. its one of the tickets to great sound quality and dynamics...
to more power the better...

i like the xpr 1 mono blocks for the mains and the xpr 5 for the rest... 

cheers


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

If your considering a seperate amp, don't overlook Outlaw. Their prices are certainly competitive and the quality is excellent. I've been running an Outlaw 770 in my 7.1 setup for about 8 years now with no problems and fine sound.


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## JerryLove (Dec 5, 2009)

First try phantoming the center to see if you like it.

If not: you are going to want to match your current L/R speakers for the center. A third of what you already have would be perfect; but if that cannot be done for some reason: Polk should have a recommended center.

For surrounds: don't worry about matching timbre. There's rarely the kind of blend front-to-back that there is across the forward soundstage. Indeed: unless you are doing multi-channel music: the front is doing all of the heavy lifting and the rears can be all but dismissed (my current surrounds cost about 1/10th what my my fronts did; and it's not because I have not tried better surrounds... which is not to say that you can get junk for surrounds; but a pair of Infinity Primus 363 surrounds will do all that can be done at the kind of sound levels your Polks can create)


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## fmw (Aug 11, 2013)

I agree with Jerry. I view surrounds as a sort of afterthought. It doesn't take much to reproduce a car door slamming or a dog barking. My own surrounds are inexpensive recording monitors. They handle things very well. 

Personally, I don't like listening to music in a surround mode. It is unsettling for me. I want to locate the sounds where they belong. If you do, then it might make sense to get surrounds design to fit your main speakers sonically. 

I can only remember two times that a movie really worked my surrounds hard. One had a helicopter flying overhead that moved from the surrounds to the mains. The other had thunder all around coming from every speaker. I got all the surround effect I needed from those little monitors.


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## chaluga (Mar 5, 2013)

I agree that you don't need to spend much money on surrounds . I hear surround action on most movies with their ambient effects and flyovers . Just watched new star trek and surrounds effective in almost every chapter . Tonnes of pans from front left to back right or front right to back left.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Sorry but I didn't read anything about what you're looking at for a budget?
Like others have mentioned it's not the best idea to mix and match your LCR setup. So would even argue to keep the surrounds the same too. I'm not to fussy about timber match the fronts with the surrounds.


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