marksht

Beginnings. Ever since I went crazy with home theater, my friend and college roommate, Mark, became very interested. For one, he bought a PlayStation2, which has full Dolby Digital and DTS capabilities. Then after experiencing my Wega, he had to have one for himself. In July 2001, he picked up the all new KV-32FS17 and a TV stand/table. The last step is surround sound, and it's starting to come together....

9.17.01. We made the decision to go with Polk speakers based on a popular consensus reached at hometheaterforum.com and price cuts across the board. The current plan: RT55i front, RT25i rear, CS245i center, and JBL PB-10.

9.18.01. I received an e-mail from a fellow HTF member who has his RT25i's and 35i's up for sale.

9.19.01. Mark made a deal for the RT35i's. Via PayPal, the transaction was made, and the speakers should ship soon. We also decided that the CS400i center channel was the way to go. Now the question becomes, "Which receiver??".

9.20.01. We've been doing some research, and we've narrowed the receiver choices down to the H/K AVR-210, Marantz SR-5200, Denon AVR-1802, and Onkyo TX-DS595. I sent over twenty e-mail to ar.com Polk owners asking about their receiver choices, and we hope to get some good answers.

9.28.01. The Polk RT35i's arrived. Mark and I ran some A/B comparisons between them and my Mission 701 speakers. The results can best be summed up in this article. In a word: awesome!

10.1.01. Mark ordered the RT55i's in Cherry from Crutchfield today for $200 a piece! What a great deal! They are being shipped to his house.

10.2.01. Guess who has the bug (but won't admit to it)? Mark! He finalized the Polk System by ordering the fabulous CS400i center speaker from Crazy Eddie's. It is to be shipped here at the dorm. Meanwhile, the Marantz SR-5200 looks enticing, and the H/K has dropped to the bottom of the list.

10.9.01. The JBL PB12 arrived, and after some tweaks, we shook some light fixtures loose! Meanwhile, the Denon AVR-2802 and Marantz SR-6200 are now leading the audtion list.

10.11.01. Upon reading about the bad rap Marantz SR-7200, the receiver choice looks to be the Denon AVR-2802 right now.

10.14.01. Mark cancelled the CS400i order at Crazy Eddies. They promissed it would ship on Friday, but they lied; they're totally out of stock! They had the nerve to charge my Mark's credit card too!

11.8.01. Well after getting jerked around by a couple online stores, the CS400i center speaker arrived. We plan on testing it later this evening.

12.21.01. Finally, Finally, Finally...or is it? We came home for winter break, the Denon AVR-2802 just arrived, and Mark put his HT together. I brought over some spare speaker cables. First, we tested The Matrix and we were smiling ear to ear. We hooked up a rear center (Polk CS245i, for another HT) and played Gladiator, CH8 40:36-40:40....It felt like Maximus was actually in the basement, throwing that axe from the back of the room! The JBL PB12 is obnoxiously bassy, which is a good thing... well good for our enjoyment, not so good for the breakeable items on the basement shelves. The final step is moving all this gear into Mark's new home this March. Also, Mark will most likely add a rear center and get a nice DVD player