Powering RTI A9

Dmega

I've read lots on how the A9 needs to be powered above 200w to get them to shine. Right now I drive them with 140w with anthem mrx1120 and they sound good. However I have not experienced hearing deep base with authority yet but specs indicate they are capable. What exactly would adding a seperate amp do for bass in this regard?

gp4jesus

WITH a sub, a stout 120/200 WPC 8/4 ohms (e.g. P'sound 1000*, Rotel 98X* series) should git 'er done depending upon space to fill, programming, & preferred SPL

Full range, 250/400 WPC 8/4 ohms (one each* per channel?**) depending upon... etc.

** I'll get some heat for this LOL. Check my sig for a different approach.

YMMV, Tony

K_M

Room layout more than anything will determine deep bass output.
Going from 140 Watts to even 200 or 250, is going to give you a tiny increase in output level, all else being equal, but we are talking a couple decibels.

Gonna guess you are not even beginning to use most of your 140 watts as is.

Dmega

Thats the thing I don't know if this is all the bass I'm gonna get or not. What is the real world expectations for the rtia9 when it comes to bass?

txcoastal1

How large is your room

Like mentioned before the lower Hz very due to room size and compression

Dmega

Total volume with closed doors around 2500 cube feet.

F1nut

An AVR cannot drive those speakers properly. The Anthem 1120 weighs 32 lbs. while their A2 two channel amplifier weighs 34 lbs. Why does the 2 channel amp weigh more you ask? It's got a big beefy power supply resulting in a respectable peak to peak amperes rating, which is far more important than watts per channel and something no AVR can provide.

Dmega

F1nut wrote: »

An AVR cannot drive those speakers properly.

Please explain what proper means please?

txcoastal1

Dmega wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

An AVR cannot drive those speakers properly.

Please explain what proper means please?

To give you the full range before the amp runs out of gas...basically bottoms out

F1nut

Dmega wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

An AVR cannot drive those speakers properly.

Please explain what proper means please?

A fuller, richer more detailed sound with the bass you are missing now.

Dmega

To know what bass I'm missing can someone please explain what is the expectation for bass. With details such as what hz it can reach and at what volume level. With that information I can make measurements for my self .
Thanks

F1nut

This is the bottom line. If you want bass from those speakers you need a separate power amp. No AVR can properly drive those speakers. The forum is full of posts from A9 users with the same question as yours and the same answer as mine.

tonyb

Dmega wrote: »

To know what bass I'm missing can someone please explain what is the expectation for bass. With details such as what hz it can reach and at what volume level. With that information I can make measurements for my self .
Thanks

F1NUT is correct, and your room will also play a part in SPL's, bass performance. That's why we can't tell you what HZ it should reach and at what volume level. Specs on speakers are done in special rooms made for testing speakers, your home isn't one of those rooms and the specs will change.

On your AVR, turning up the volume to -10 should give you some ear bleeding volume, I wouldn't go much past that level unless you like ordering parts from customer service. If your feeling a need to go louder, your under powering those speakers and your receiver is running out of gas. Pushing it will only result in damage.

Also, the cabling your using plays a part in how well the speakers produce lower bass too. Lots of variables, but the main thing is power, the A9's come alive with more power and no receiver will have the power a separate amp will.

Sure, you can hook them up to your receiver, they'll play, but not at their optimal performance levels. Just my opinion, but if your not going to power a speaker to perform it's best, why have it then. No offense meant, we just get this question a million times a year around here about A9's.

txcoastal1

We have no idea what you're trying to listen too
We don't know the design of your room
We don't know how loud you play

Here is some feed back
http://forum.polkaudio.com/search?Search=rtia9+amp

Here is their capability
Lower and Upper -3dB Limits30 Hz → 26 kHz...also pending on room

Here are the recommendations for power handling....which currently you are not providing to get max potential
Recommended Amplifier Power Per Channel 50 watts → 500 watts
https://www.polkaudio.com/products/rtia9

You can also take the system to a smaller room to experiment with the info we have provided

Dmega

F1nut wrote: »

The forum is full of posts from A9 users with the same question as yours and the same answer as mine.

Yes I've read the same answers and why I'm asking for details. What is considered to be full bass...more details etc... ? how am I to know if I'm missing something or not just because people say it's so?

I wish I could borrow an amp and test it out but I don't think it's in my cards. I was hoping for better details from experienced crowd so I can evaluated my own situation.

Dmega

tonyb wrote: »

Dmega wrote: »

To know what bass I'm missing can someone please explain what is the expectation for bass. With details such as what hz it can reach and at what volume level. With that information I can make measurements for my self .
Thanks

F1NUT is correct, and your room will also play a part in SPL's, bass performance. That's why we can't tell you what HZ it should reach and at what volume level. Specs on speakers are done in special rooms made for testing speakers, your home isn't one of those rooms and the specs will change.

On your AVR, turning up the volume to -10 should give you some ear bleeding volume, I wouldn't go much past that level unless you like ordering parts from customer service. If your feeling a need to go louder, your under powering those speakers and your receiver is running out of gas. Pushing it will only result in damage.

Also, the cabling your using plays a part in how well the speakers produce lower bass too. Lots of variables, but the main thing is power, the A9's come alive with more power and no receiver will have the power a separate amp will.

Sure, you can hook them up to your receiver, they'll play, but not at their optimal performance levels. Just my opinion, but if your not going to power a speaker to perform it's best, why have it then. No offense meant, we just get this question a million times a year around here about A9's.

If someone owns the rtia9 perhaps they can reply with the bass performance and thier size room.

I have no problem with volume...in fact-15 is uncomfortable to listen to and I know the receiver is not near its limits.

I'm using the appropriate cable length and gauge for the purpose.

I understand people ask these questions all the time and every answer helps.
Thank you all.

txcoastal1

We gave you the information from experience, get an amp so you can get the potential out of your speakers...that AVR is not giving you that

Dmega

txcoastal1 wrote: »

We have no idea what you're trying to listen too
We don't know the design of your room
We don't know how loud you play

Here is some feed back
http://forum.polkaudio.com/search?Search=rtia9+amp

Here is their capability
Lower and Upper -3dB Limits30 Hz → 26 kHz...also pending on room

Here are the recommendations for power handling....which currently you are not providing to get max potential
Recommended Amplifier Power Per Channel 50 watts → 500 watts
https://www.polkaudio.com/products/rtia9

You can also take the system to a smaller room to experiment with the info we have provided

I've stated the size of the room and how loud I listen to it (music).

I asked somewhere what real people in the real world are getting in terms of bass. If they can say this plus the size of the room then I will have a better idea of what I'm comparing to.

Dmega

nbrowser wrote: »

Specs mean diddly on paper for speaker numbers, my advice would be to get a nice Parasound or B&K amp with a minimum of 250 watts a channel and 50 amps peak to peak current MINIMUM. That'll wake the RTiA9 up quite nicely. Once that's going play with positioning of the speakers to obtain the best sound in your room.

The thing is I don't think parasound sells in canada anymore. I could be wrong. I was hoping to make comparisons first befor i run out and buy a seoerate amp.
The speaker positions are already fine tuned.

Dmega

txcoastal1 wrote: »

We gave you the information from experience, get an amp so you can get the potential out of your speakers...that AVR is not giving you that

I appreciate your experience...perhaps you know how low it goes and at what volume in what size room? Perhaps you have taken measurements?

F1nut

Dmega wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

The forum is full of posts from A9 users with the same question as yours and the same answer as mine.

Yes I've read the same answers and why I'm asking for details. What is considered to be full bass...more details etc... ? how am I to know if I'm missing something or not just because people say it's so?

I wish I could borrow an amp and test it out but I don't think it's in my cards. I was hoping for better details from experienced crowd so I can evaluated my own situation.

Ummm.......you said you are, "not experienced hearing deep base with authority yet", so you know you are missing something.

Having heard the A9's on a dedicated 2 channel amp I can tell you they are quite capable of chest pounding bass.

You need an amp, period....end of discussion.

Dmega

F1nut wrote: »

Dmega wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

The forum is full of posts from A9 users with the same question as yours and the same answer as mine.

Yes I've read the same answers and why I'm asking for details. What is considered to be full bass...more details etc... ? how am I to know if I'm missing something or not just because people say it's so?

I wish I could borrow an amp and test it out but I don't think it's in my cards. I was hoping for better details from experienced crowd so I can evaluated my own situation.

You need an amp, period....end of discussion.

Okay...thanks for your input.

Dmega

I'm in mississauga.

gp4jesus

FWIW for my 'A7s I have on tap a combined STOUT 500+WPC, over 100 amps.

Further I wouldn't say no to up grades that included upping the juice several more notches.

My $0.03. Tony

Dmega

I'm curious what specific differences you noted before and after upping the amps. Did you measure anything? Was bass better at lower volumes?

gp4jesus wrote: »

FWIW for my 'A7s I have on tap a combined STOUT 500+WPC, over 100 amps.

Further I wouldn't say no to up grades that included upping the juice several more notches.

My $0.03. Tony

txcoastal1

Dmega wrote: »

I'm curious what specific differences you noted before and after upping the amps. Did you measure anything? Was bass better at lower volumes?

gp4jesus wrote: »

FWIW for my 'A7s I have on tap a combined STOUT 500+WPC, over 100 amps.

Further I wouldn't say no to up grades that included upping the juice several more notches.

My $0.03. Tony

Bingo you answered your own question

Providing higher current that a good amplifier provides will extend the bass at lower volumes

Dmega

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Dmega wrote: »

I'm curious what specific differences you noted before and after upping the amps. Did you measure anything? Was bass better at lower volumes?

gp4jesus wrote: »

FWIW for my 'A7s I have on tap a combined STOUT 500+WPC, over 100 amps.

Further I wouldn't say no to up grades that included upping the juice several more notches.

My $0.03. Tony

Bingo you answered your own question

Providing higher current that a good amplifier provides will extend the bass at lower volumes

Well you can't answer the question with the question...I wanted to know ultimately the extent of the improvement to base line my setup.

txcoastal1

Pending on the amp lets say a 30-50% improvement
To many variables

jeremymarcinko

I use a RTI setup in my ht with the rti12's as the mains, an A9 for intents and purposes. It's a very large room over 20'x20' the Rti12s need power to push those three 7in subwoofers. There is a reason they are rated to 500wpc.

Dmega

For the people who have the a9's how low have you measured them? What amps were used? The polk website state they are 19 hz capable which seems a little bit optimistic. I think I read on some review it only reached around 35 to 40 hz which I believe i get now with the mrx1120...I have to go back and look at my data.

txcoastal1

I posted this earlier
Here is their capability
Lower and Upper -3dB Limits30 Hz → 26 kHz...also pending on room