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Energy Speakers: Onyko TX-RZ70 Receiver + 2x RC-70 Floors + RC-LCR Center + RC-10 Bookshelf $2099 + Free S/H
$2,099
$5,749
63% off
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This bundle centers on strong RC-70 floor speakers paired with an Onkyo RZ70 that brings Dirac Live and plenty of channel support for a serious home theater. The speakers are described as a clear step up from RC-10s and capable of impressive sound, especially when crossed over to a sub and set to small. The RZ70 is also viewed as the safer receiver choice for demanding setups and higher listening levels. The main caveat is value, since the package looks overpriced if you do not need 11 channels, and the RC-70 upgrade matters less for moderate music or movie listening.
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52 Comments
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Even though tower speakers are physically large and often capable of playing impressive bass, home theater and high-fidelity enthusiasts frequently set them to "small" and apply a high-pass crossover.
The terminology in AV receivers is deeply misleading. "Small" does not mean the speaker lacks physical size; rather, it is a bass management command that tells the receiver to redirect low frequencies away from those speakers.
Several key technical advantages drive this setup choice:
1. Subwoofers Do Deep Bass Better
Even massive floorstanding speakers rarely play flat down to the subterranean depths (20 Hz to 30 Hz) required by modern movie soundtracks or electronic music. Dedicated subwoofers are purpose-built with massive excursion drivers, heavy-duty voice coils, and hundreds or thousands of watts of dedicated internal amplification specifically designed to move large volumes of air at very low frequencies.
2. Amplifier Headroom and Reduced Distortion
Reproducing low frequencies demands an immense amount of power.
- Thermal and Electrical Load: When a tower speaker is set to "large," the receiver's internal amplifier (or external amp) must pump heavy low-frequency current into it.
- Cleaner Midrange: By crossing the towers over at 60 Hz or 80 Hz, you relieve the woofers of extreme physical excursion. This drastically reduces intermodulation distortion (where low-frequency cone movement muddies the midrange), allowing vocals and instruments to sound cleaner, more open, and dynamically effortless.
3. Smoother Room Acoustics and Bass ResponseLow-frequency sound waves interact heavily with room boundaries, creating massive acoustic peaks and nulls (dead spots) depending on where the sound is originating.
- The ideal physical placement for stereo imaging and a wide soundstage (where your tower speakers look best) is almost never the acoustic sweet spot for generating smooth, even bass.
- By routing all low bass to a properly positioned subwoofer (or multiple subwoofers), you can optimize bass smoothness across the room independently of where your main speakers sit.
Should Speakers Be Set to Large or Small on an AV Receiver?This video provides a deep dive into how bass management and high-pass filters interact with your speakers and subwoofers.
Which MLs do you own?
If you have never tried having your speakers properly bass managed before, i.e. crossover over to the sub, ideally at a crossover 10-20Hz higher than the speakers' F3, I strongly recommend at least TRYING It first.
Of course, if the Monolith amp is easily returnable then there's no harm experimenting...probably not more than $50 to ship back in case you aren't wowed.
If you actually needed the power of this, no reason to pay for all 11 channels if not all of them needed that much power.
Just add an external amp for the ones that actually need it & you basically have this ime.
Another benefit, external amps don't become obsolete so you'll never need pay again for better power.
This pointing to this limp mode as the issue is frankly silly.
It's supposed to affect all those PAC units which the 505 is part of.
So the extra 20 watts would be irrelevant if true.
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I had both at one point and well the 590s sounded better than the Infinity reference towers.
What is your budget?
You want your low frequencies handled by the sub (only) not both the speakers and your sub(s)
I run a quad sub setup...however all speakers are set to small so that you get the full home theater experience you want all low end stuff handled by your sub(s)
If I could do it all over I'd get (2) RSL 12s right now.
Do you think you are not getting your money's worth because you have large towers? 🤔
Either way sometimes people need to learn the hard way because they are set in their ways.
I doubt a passive set of towers will complement a powered sub at even 500 watts rms...
Even with amplification most towers are 2.5 to 3 way. I foresee time wasted only to arrive at your conclusion but what do I know? Lol 😆
Way too many options & everyone's preferences,expectations & environment are unique.
Upon saying that, if you mean what's available on here now.
I would suggest looking at the Triangle Esprit(ie Australe,Gaia) deals.
In reality, It depends on many things.
I know several people(including me) that listen in "direct" with two channel music.
Having very capable towers, we don't need a sub.
The music I listen to doesn't go to those very low frequencies and I don't need to listen anywhere near reference levels.
For us(me) loud does not equal better/good.
Another challenge is integration, one reason people always say sealed is better for music, it's easier to integrate them.
That applies to movies also, since the majority of their sound falls under "musicality"!
For multi/surround purposes, yes it's best to put them as small especially when using a sub.
That content does go to the lower frequencies, a sub is designed specifically for that purpose.
As people mentioned asking your towers to do it isn't optimal.
The irony, the opposite isn't either.
Asking your sub to do the higher frequencies isn't optimal either but people recommend that all the time!
The integration/blending of subs with loudspeakers and then into your environment properly/optimally is thee biggest challenge.
It's a lot more than just setting your crossovers.
This is where higher end room correction comes in very handy.
It does 90+ % of the work easier & better.
If you need to dial it in more, you can do it within the program!
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Upon saying that since you're new.
A very safe and budget friendly options.
I would suggest looking into are RSL & Starke, in that order.
Safest bet would probably be RSL's 10s MKii.
Its size makes it more versatile for optimal placement with good performance.
For a large environment, their 12s might be worth the extra $300.
They have good CS & return policy just in case you're not happy(very unlikely).
There are many other overall better options but would be more for people after specific performance, preference & expectations. That does come at a price though.
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