Home Theater Setup - Need Good Subwoofer Recommendations?

I posted this @ AVSForums, they haven't answered in three days :s. Maybe wrong thread?


What will it be used for?
I plan on using this for watching movies and listening to music. I may play games on it from my comp, but unlikely.


Room DImension - I still have to measure my room and make a image of it for you guys. But if needed here's the description. So I have my tv and speakers currently setup on one side of the room, the room spans from a living room, to the kitchen, then to the kitchen. No walls or doors in between the living room and kitchen except this half wall thing.

What I have

Harmon Kardon Avr 635 (75 watt x7)
Polk Audio rti12 ($325) x2 (Note, I still can return these for full price until November 28)
220 Gallon Fishtank - This thing... Literally three feet away from the speakers right now...
150 feet of RCA 16 Guage Speaker Wire [amazon.com]
Belkin PureAV Filter Home Theater Power Console [amazon.com]

What I have Purchased so far.

BIC F12 ($200.19 - amazon) - Planning on Returning for New Sub
Onkyo NR818 - ($650 - amazon)
Sewell Deadbolt Banana Plugs with Fast-Lock Technology, 12 Pair [amazon.com] ($27.95)
15 Feet Mediabridge Subwoofer Cable [amazon.com] ($9.99)
Rti4 Pair - 120
Csi5 Center - 202

What I still need
Amp?
Different Subwoofer?

Thanks in advance!

You got some great speakers. This is just my 2cents. You'll definitely will need an amp , at least 200watts. Emotiva has some affordable decent amps xpa-3, with a marantz pre-amp would be perfect. I would invest in some better speaker cables like MIT or audioquest ( I had those rca cables in the beginning and I did hear some difference in quality cables). Hope this helps.

Quote from MetalGOnlinePro : You got some great speakers. This is just my 2cents. You'll definitely will need an amp , at least 200watts. Emotiva has some affordable decent amps xpa-3, with a marantz pre-amp would be perfect. I would invest in some better speaker cables like MIT or audioquest ( I had those rca cables in the beginning and I did hear some difference in quality cables). Hope this helps.

I was planning to get emotiva's. But I couldn't justify the cost of getting a 700 dollar emotiva amp, vs a new bi wire-able receiver @ around 150 watt per channel.

Your CENTER speaker should/must MATCH in make and model to your other FRONT LEFT and RIGHT Speakers. Buy the matching center speaker design to go with your Polk RTi12. You can round out the rest of your speakers with bookshelf speakers. I prefer matching speaker brands and models all around when listening to music and movies.

The Bic and Polk subwoofer are entry level subs. You get what you pay for. If you want some serious subwoofer, you are going to have to increase your budget a little more and go with something from Hsu or Svs.

You can also go the DIY/Kit subwoofer route as well. Where I live, there are a few people who build subwoofer boxes for a living on craigslist. There are plenty of DIY subwoofer plans all over many home theater forums. You can buy the parts and pay someone to finish the box for you or you can build it yourself as well if you have the skills to. DIY subwoofers aren't as pretty but are definately a bang for the buck.

For me, I would buy an awesome subwoofer before I would by an awesome amp. Don't get me wrong...as I own a Emotiva XPA 5. Awesome subwoofer over Awesome amp 24/7...any day of the week. Hands down. Not even a debate. Not even close.

I don't know about others but I have to say that despite Onkyo being a great bang for the buck receiver. Their receivers offers quite a lot for the money one pays but I don't have much luck with Onkyo. I own two Onkyo receivers in the past and both broke down after 1.5 years. And that was with limited use.

Quote from calnbs : Your CENTER speaker should/must MATCH in make and model to your other FRONT LEFT and RIGHT Speakers. Buy the matching center speaker design to go with your Polk RTi12. You can round out the rest of your speakers with bookshelf speakers. I prefer matching speaker brands and models all around when listening to music and movies. The Bic and Polk subwoofer are entry level subs. You get what you pay for. If you want some serious subwoofer, you are going to have to increase your budget a little more and go with something from Hsu or Svs. You can also go the DIY/Kit subwoofer route as well. Where I live, there are a few people who build subwoofer boxes for a living on craigslist. There are plenty of DIY subwoofer plans all over many home theater forums. You can buy the parts and pay someone to finish the box for you or you can build it yourself as well if you have the skills to. DIY subwoofers aren't as pretty but are definately a bang for the buck. For me, I would buy an awesome subwoofer before I would by an awesome amp. Don't get me wrong...as I own a Emotiva XPA 5. Awesome subwoofer over Awesome amp 24/7...any day of the week. Hands down. Not even a debate. Not even close. I don't know about others but I have to say that despite Onkyo being a great bang for the buck receiver. Their receivers offers quite a lot for the money one pays but I don't have much luck with Onkyo. I own two Onkyo receivers in the past and both broke down after 1.5 years. And that was with limited use.

I believe the onkyo would be enough as the one I'm getting is biwireable. Thus being able to power the lows on my rti12. Subwoofer is there for extra kick. Also, now that you mention it, instead of the klipsch, I might just get the csi 6.. But that might be a little pricey.. So I might get the csi 4... hmm.

Quote from APhamX : I believe the onkyo would be enough as the one I'm getting is biwireable. Thus being able to power the lows on my rti12. Subwoofer is there for extra kick. Also, now that you mention it, instead of the klipsch, I might just get the csi 6.. But that might be a little pricey.. So I might get the csi 4... hmm.

Go with the best center and not settle due to pricing. I remember reading a lot of people at avsforum in the Polk and Infinity owner's thread who settled for the lower priced center speaker end up regretting and eventually end up....upgrading it. I also remember that all those who eventually upgraded have no regrets upgrading except that they should of just bought the better center speaker in the first place.

The Rti4's are on sale for 120 @ frys. Not sure if I should wait for the Rti6's to go on sale and pick those up. The Csi5 is 200 from polk audio on ebay as well and I'll just get that.

You said you can return the Polks. Do so and get Klipsch. Get a Marantz receiver. Go with the best.

Quote from dealgate : You said you can return the Polks. Do so and get Klipsch. Get a Marantz receiver. Go with the best.

But.. I can't really justify the cost.. 300 per rti vs 500 for the rf82. And the Marantz receiver is over 1k over my budget !

Quote from APhamX : But.. I can't really justify the cost.. 300 per rti vs 500 for the rf82. And the Marantz receiver is over 1k over my budget !

A few hundred extra now for a lifetime of better enjoyment. Plus when people come over you won't have those cookie cutter Polks sitting there to embarrass you (I can say that, I have some too). Klipsch horn loaded tweeters will bring tears to your eyes. You could also look at harman kardon receivers I just got the 3600 series. It sounds fantastic but has some issues with the HDMI so I'll fall short of recommending it.

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-SR5...ntz+SR5006