Polk Monitor 40's as Surround Speakers

[gvatty]

Are Polk Monitor 40 speakers overkill for surround speakers? Are Monitor 30's good enough? (it only saves me $50) I have an Onkyo 804 receiver, Polk R-50 mains and a Klipsch Synergy Sub-10 as my other components. I'm replacing Sony cube HTIB speakers as surrounds. I just have an apartment 15' x 18' x 8' space. The system will be used 95% of the time for home theater.

[duckydan]

I'm using Monitor 30s as my rears right now and they sound excellent. Some very crisp sounds and very little to complain about. I'm in a living room about the same size as your apartment so it should be fine.

Edit: Oddly enough after looking at my signature I have almost the same speaker setup as you do so you should be please with those. I'd also look at PolkDirect on ebay as sometimes they have some refurbs or remans of the Monitor 30s on sale... I got 2 of mine for $70 from them and can't tell the difference between those and the new ones I purchased first.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by gvatty

Are Polk Monitor 40 speakers overkill for surround speakers? Are Monitor 30's good enough? (it only saves me $50) I have an Onkyo 804 receiver, Polk R-50 mains and a Klipsch Synergy Sub-10 as my other components. I'm replacing Sony cube HTIB speakers as surrounds. I just have an apartment 15' x 18' x 8' space. The system will be used 95% of the time for home theater.

No & Yes. No, the 40's are not overkill as you can dial them in with an SPL Meter (if you don't have one, get the Digital one - $49.99 at Radio Shack) & control their output that way. And Yes, the 30's Are good enough. I used them as my initial Rear Surrounds up on my Back wall (pics in my June/July 2009 Galleries), until I bought the 40's to go 7.1 - so now the 30's are in the same spot but used as Rear or "back" surrounds, & the 40's are my Main Surround speakers. I too use my HT room for movies +95% of the time for Movies/HDTV viewing & listen to everything thru my Polk Audio speakers (TV volume is Never used). So either one will work for you, it just depends on what you want or think you'll be happy with. Obviously the 40's are Much larger than the 30's so that may be something to consider when thinking about stands or wall-mounting your surrounds. Good luck.

[gvatty]

Thank you for the quick replies. I have a 7.1 receiver too. I'm also looking at Neweggs Monitor 50s and 60's. Wondering if I should use the 50's or 60's as the mains, put the R-50 as the surround speakers and the monitor 30's or 40's as the back surround. Are the M50s and M60s both better than the R50s for mains? I forgot to mention my center channel is a CS2.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by gvatty

Thank you for the quick replies. I have a 7.1 receiver too. I'm also looking at Neweggs Monitor 50s and 60's. Wondering if I should use the 50's or 60's as the mains, put the R-50 as the surround speakers and the monitor 30's or 40's as the back surround. Are the M50s and M60s both better than the R50s for mains? I forgot to mention my center channel is a CS2.

I think you could use the R50's as surrounds. You want the tweeters to be at about ear level with a floor standing speaker used as a surround. In looking at the design, the tweeter is located at the top, and you have the 2 mid-range/woofers just below the tweeter and in the middle of the cabinet. I think only the Monitor 60's are going to be a bit better than the R50's. Although the drivers are larger on the R50's (6.5" vs 5.25) the M60's have 3 drivers while the R50's only have 2. This will provide you with better sound imaging, but you will be giving up a bit of the lower end in getting the Monitor 60's due to their smaller driver size. However, IMO the Monitor 60's do very well with the low frequencies they play, and you really should not be relying on your fronts for bass if you have a sub anyway (unless you listen to a lot of music.)

My suggestion is to to get the M60 if you want to move the R50's to surround duty. However, I think the R50's are probably a bit better than the M50's due to the driver size. This is my 2 cents anyway.....

[CRMA]

the 40s are huge. i use two sets of 30s as my surrounds and sides. I personally thought they were too bulky as surrounds but it depends on your room and if they will look out of place or not. My setup it wouldnt work. I looked at the 40s and got the 30s instead.

[gvatty]

Thanks forsberg21. that makes a lot of sense. Although the more time that I think about it makes me want more like the M70s. I will order the M40s today and pick up in a month or so.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by gvatty

Thanks forsberg21. that makes a lot of sense. Although the more time that I think about it makes me want more like the M70s. I will order the M40s today and pick up in a month or so.

If you got the $$$$ for the M70's....I would get those instead of the M60's too!

[gvatty]

At Newegg the 70s are almost twice as much as the 60s. Since this is discretionary spending I would save up the $$ and it would take a little longer to get the 70s. I have to decide is it worth the wait. I bought my Synergy Sub10 at a Best Buy on a Saturday because I didn't want to wait a week or so to get a mail order sub. lol

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by gvatty

At Newegg the 70s are almost twice as much as the 60s. Since this is discretionary spending I would save up the $$ and it would take a little longer to get the 70s. I have to decide is it worth the wait. I bought my Synergy Sub10 at a Best Buy on a Saturday because I didn't want to wait a week or so to get a mail order sub. lol

Upgraditis....she is a fickle beast!

[gvatty]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Upgraditis....she is a fickle beast!

Just doing my part to help the economy.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by gvatty

Just doing my part to help the economy.

Based on this website, you would think the consumer confidence score would be through the roof!

[brokenthumb]

Originally Posted by gvatty

Are Polk Monitor 40 speakers overkill for surround speakers? Are Monitor 30's good enough? (it only saves me $50) I have an Onkyo 804 receiver, Polk R-50 mains and a Klipsch Synergy Sub-10 as my other components. I'm replacing Sony cube HTIB speakers as surrounds. I just have an apartment 15' x 18' x 8' space. The system will be used 95% of the time for home theater.

Either one would be fine for surrounds. I would say the biggest difference is the size! Much easier to wall mount the 30's. I ended up having to put my 40's on stands b/c they were just to dang heavy.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by gvatty

At Newegg the 70s are almost twice as much as the 60s. Since this is discretionary spending I would save up the $$ and it would take a little longer to get the 70s. I have to decide is it worth the wait. I bought my Synergy Sub10 at a Best Buy on a Saturday because I didn't want to wait a week or so to get a mail order sub. lol

Just get the 60's. Your crossover probably isn't going to be much different between the two, and the greater output isn't worth the price difference in my opinion. There were said to be som uncomfirmed issues with the 70's blowing, but I have never seen that. I used to own te 60's and they'll definitely make you happy. Put the extra coin into something else in your system. Alternatively step up to the RTiA line if you want a bigger jump in quality.

As for the 40's, after having had them... yeah, they're too big as surrounds for most setups. I don't think people truly know how big they are. Aero's got them and has made them work for his setup, but I'm not sure that everyone can do that. I think the 30's are a better choice as surrounds.

That said, if you have the room, the nice thing about the 40's is that they can push an 80hz crossover without breaking a sweat. Not sure about if the 30's can or not.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Just get the 60's. Your crossover probably isn't going to be much different between the two, and the greater output isn't worth the price difference in my opinion. There were said to be som uncomfirmed issues with the 70's blowing, but I have never seen that. I used to own te 60's and they'll definitely make you happy. Put the extra coin into something else in your system. Alternatively step up to the RTiA line if you want a bigger jump in quality.

As for the 40's, after having had them... yeah, they're too big as surrounds for most setups. I don't think people truly know how big they are. Aero's got them and has made them work for his setup, but I'm not sure that everyone can do that. I think the 30's are a better choice as surrounds.

That said, if you have the room, the nice thing about the 40's is that they can push an 80hz crossover without breaking a sweat. Not sure about if the 30's can or not.

Yes I do & yes They do! - the 30's Do work Fine, no issues when I had them as my surrounds. I guess I just wanted More, & originally I had wanted the 40's anyway, & 7.1 Blus' will be the norm' I believe for Most high-level Action or Sci-fi type movies moving forward.

(Off Topic: I need to watch one of my newer non-viewed BR's today, but i'm about 52 mins. into the TOP GUN bluray, & the Dolby TRUE-HD Audio track on that sounds Kick Ass thru my POLKS, so I'll prob. finish up that one & figure out which one to watch after that ends).

[SoulBrother]

I've got 60's up front with a CS2. I'm debating what to get for surround speakers. It sounds like either 30's or 40's would work, is that right? I keep reading that the 40's are huge for "bookshelf" speakers and I'm thinking I'd need to buy stands so maybe 50's are the way to go if they are in fact 40's built in to a bigger cabinet. Ideas? Suggestions?

Or would RTi A1 work with that setup?