Polk Monitor 60 & CS1 question

[Nicky-D]

I just purchased the Monitor 60's floorstanding and CS1 center. I have the Onkyo 705 receiver and my question is this:
What should I set the hz to for these speakers? And also what impedance should the they be set at, 4 or 6 ohms?

If it's any help I have Onkyo HT540 speakers for surrounds (7.1) and sub (they were a HTIB deal).

Thanks so much!

EDIT: I've also noticed I seem to be getting very little from my sub now.. I know it's not that great but before I hooked up the new Polks it kicked pretty good, I can barely hear it now. Any ideas on that?

[Hammie]

Start at 80Hz and 8 ohms.

[Nicky-D]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

Start at 80Hz and 8 ohms.

8 ohms isn't available, only 4 and 6.

[Rob J in WNY]

Nicky-D,

Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you'll love the speakers.

I have Polk Audio T90e speakers for fronts. They are exactly the same as the Monitor 60 in every way, except that they are all-black. Basically, they are the "Euro" version of the Monitor 60. A few of us on the forums here have them.

According to Polk, you can actually run the Monitor 60 as "large" speakers - bypassing the crossover completely. I would suggest still running them as "small" and giving them a crossover setting of 80Hz, which is fairly standard. This will free up the burden of low-frequency reproduction from your receiver's amplifier. Set your CS1's crossover to 80Hz as well.

Those are pretty run-of-the-mill crossover suggestions, but they will work nicely for you. Of course, you can always run your Onkyo 705's Audyssey room correction setup and let it choose the crossover points for your new speakers as well.

The Polk Audio Monitor 60 and CS1 are both 8-ohm speakers. Although there are some notable exceptions, most in-home speaker systems will be rated at 8-ohms impedance. This rating is inherent to the speaker itself, and not the receiver. However, some receivers allow the user to set impedance ratings so that the receiver will operate nominally for different speaker impedances. Simply match the speaker impedance.

In your case, with a maximum of 6-ohms setting, I would say just choose the 6-ohm option, as this is the closest. That said, running speakers of higher impedance than an amplifer nominally operates is safer than the opposite - running speakers of lower impedance than an amplifer is rated for.

If you are mixing 4- and 8-ohm speakers (many HTIB speakers are 4-ohm) in a multichannel setup, know right off the bat that this is not recommended. If you must, then I would suggest setting your receiver to the 4-ohm option. This way, you are doing the best to safeguard your receiver. Without getting into the electrical theory of it all, just keep in mind that lower speakers' ohm rating is, the closer they are to a "dead short," electrically speaking. Speakers with 4-ohm ratings make it difficult for amplifiers not rated to handle such low impedances to remain stable during loudly played program material. This can cause amplifier overheating and damage.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Nicky-D

8 ohms isn't available, only 4 and 6.

I bel,ieve that 8 ohms is the default, and you can select 4 or 6 ohms if you need to opperate your receiver that way in case you have 6 or 4 ohm speakers.

Is your old subwoofer a passive sub? Does it plug into the wall and have its own subwoofer cable, or did the speaker run through the sub previously?

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by callas01

I bel,ieve that 8 ohms is the default, and you can select 4 or 6 ohms if you need to opperate your receiver that way in case you have 6 or 4 ohm speakers.

Nicky-D,

This is "sound" advice. 8-ohms is likely a "default" setting for your Onkyo 705. Perhaps another 705 owner can come in here and verify. Aerodude, where are ya?

But just make sure that you consider whatever ohms rating your HTIB speakers are as well.

[Nicky-D]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Nicky-D,

Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you'll love the speakers.

I have Polk Audio T90e speakers for fronts. They are exactly the same as the Monitor 60 in every way, except that they are all-black. Basically, they are the "Euro" version of the Monitor 60. A few of us on the forums here have them.

According to Polk, you can actually run the Monitor 60 as "large" speakers - bypassing the crossover completely. I would suggest still running them as "small" and giving them a crossover setting of 80Hz, which is fairly standard. This will free up the burden of low-frequency reproduction from your receiver's amplifier. Set your CS1's crossover to 80Hz as well.

Those are pretty run-of-the-mill crossover suggestions, but they will work nicely for you. Of course, you can always run your Onkyo 705's Audyssey room correction setup and let it choose the crossover points for your new speakers as well.

The Polk Audio Monitor 60 and CS1 are both 8-ohm speakers. Although there are some notable exceptions, most in-home speaker systems will be rated at 8-ohms impedance. This rating is inherent to the speaker itself, and not the receiver. However, some receivers allow the user to set impedance ratings so that the receiver will operate nominally for different speaker impedances. Simply match the speaker impedance.

In your case, with a maximum of 6-ohms setting, I would say just choose the 6-ohm option, as this is the closest. That said, running speakers of higher impedance than an amplifer nominally operates is safer than the opposite - running speakers of lower impedance than an amplifer is rated for.

If you are mixing 4- and 8-ohm speakers (many HTIB speakers are 4-ohm) in a multichannel setup, know right off the bat that this is not recommended. If you must, then I would suggest setting your receiver to the 4-ohm option. This way, you are doing the best to safeguard your receiver. Without getting into the electrical theory of it all, just keep in mind that lower speakers' ohm rating is, the closer they are to a "dead short," electrically speaking. Speakers with 4-ohm ratings make it difficult for amplifiers not rated to handle such low impedances to remain stable during loudly played program material. This can cause amplifier overheating and damage.

Hey, thanks for all the help! I'm ok cuz my Onkyo's are rated at 8 ohms. I also figured out that my receiver is set at 8 ohms. I should be set, now just to figure out my sub.. it might just be with having louder mains I really can tell/hear how much my sub sucks now! lol

[Nicky-D]

Originally Posted by callas01

I bel,ieve that 8 ohms is the default, and you can select 4 or 6 ohms if you need to opperate your receiver that way in case you have 6 or 4 ohm speakers.

Is your old subwoofer a passive sub? Does it plug into the wall and have its own subwoofer cable, or did the speaker run through the sub previously?

Yea it plugs into the wall and has a cable.

[tbizzle]

Set the center and fronts to 80Hz, and if you'd like your 60's to help a little more with the bass, then you can take them down to 70 or even 60.

Have you run Oddyssey yet? Don't know what to tell ya about the sub, maybe BD will chime in here. And maybe this is an opportunity to compliment your new speakers with a shiny new sub

[Nicky-D]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

Set the center and fronts to 80Hz, and if you'd like your 60's to help a little more with the bass, then you can take them down to 70 or even 60.

Have you run Oddyssey yet? Don't know what to tell ya about the sub, maybe BD will chime in here. And maybe this is an opportunity to compliment your new speakers with a shiny new sub

Ya I'm really thinking that my sub sucks way more than I thought now. Having these loud mains just drowns out the sub. Time to upgrade!

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Nicky-D

Ya I'm really thinking that my sub sucks way more than I thought now. Having these loud mains just drowns out the sub. Time to upgrade!

That's the spirit!

What's your budget like?

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by ICBCINTERGER2

thanks for sharing.

stop spamming

[canative454]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

stop spamming

Am I missing something here???? I didn't see any spam.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by canative454

Am I missing something here???? I didn't see any spam.

He posted in 5 different threads within about a minute and a half, all were like 5 word answers, some of which didn't even make sense in the thread. And there's a hidden url in his posts, might be a hitlink or something, I'm not too tech savvy

[canative454]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

He posted in 5 different threads within about a minute and a half, all were like 5 word answers, some of which didn't even make sense in the thread. And there's a hidden url in his posts, might be a hitlink or something, I'm not too tech savvy

Thanks for the explanation.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by canative454

Thanks for the explanation.

No prob. All this spam lately is annoying

[quest88]

Originally Posted by Nicky-D

Ya I'm really thinking that my sub sucks way more than I thought now. Having these loud mains just drowns out the sub. Time to upgrade!

Same thing happened to me when I upgraded the fronts of my Sp 908 system. Have fun buying a new sub.

[Nicky-D]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

That's the spirit!

What's your budget like?

Probably in the $350-400 range. I wouldn't mind a really good deal also. Hopefully I'll be able to find something with the holiday season coming up.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Nicky-D

Probably in the $350-400 range. I wouldn't mind a really good deal also. Hopefully I'll be able to find something with the holiday season coming up.

Then I would definitely get an Elemental Designs A2-300 for $350 shipped. This sub has made many a blu-ray.com member, including myself, very happy!

You're gonna need to re-watch all of your movies, as none of them will be the same It's the "best bang for your buck" sub out there right, as nothing really comes close to it's performance for under $350. Let us know what you decide!