good buy on cherry rti8s?

lriker

Got a line on a pair of cherry rti8s from someone local to me. Will get more pics but from description from person they are in excellent condition. Bought a few years ago from Tweeter for 750 a pair. Selling pair for 275. Sound reasonable, again taking persons word for it. Will be viewing them tomorrow. Also on these speakers, do those awful looking feet come off. Seems like a speaker sitting on four points like that would be unstable. I was waiting for the rtia5s to go on sale at newegg but these came along, not sure if I should just get the a5s. Have a pioneer vsx 1018 as my receiver. No surround speakers yet. Any thoughts. Thanks.

leroyjr1

Yes, that's a great deal and having the four spikes on the speakers make them more stable.

comfortablycurt

275 is a fair price. Not killer, but fair. I sold a pair of RTi8's a while back for $200 IIRC.

Regarding the cones, they make the speakers much MORE stable, contrary to what you're thinking. Think of them as "outriggers". They also improve the sound, by coupling the cabinets to the floor more efficiently. This improves bass response quite a bit.

You definitely don't want to remove them. I don't believe they're really "meant" to come off anyway.


There won't be much of a difference between the RTi8's and the A5's as far as sound goes. The A5's are perhaps a touch warmer...but not much. FWIW, I think the RTiA's look MUCH better than the earlier RTi's though. Those curved cabinets are dead sexy, and the wood grain baffles look much better than the silver baffles of the RTi's IMO.

m1aman

That is much better than a fair price.

JimAckley

Only 275 for RTi8's sounds like a solid deal imo. I was shopping for new speakers til this week, and I saw some new RTi6's on for around 300ish, but they were brand new unlike the 8's you're looking at. I bought the RTi A3 and they are pretty insane for a "bookshelf" speaker (i have no idea how you'd fit them on a bookshelf since the cabinet is so deep). I can only fathom what the A5s or 8's would sound like. I'd see if maybe they'd go for 250. Good luck!

edit:

You definitely want the feet on the speaker. My LSi25's would've never lasted if I didn't have the spikes in them to go through the carpet and into the wood below for the added stability. While the feet on the RTi8's are slightly different, it is beneficial to have them. The way they sit out wider than the body of the speaker is going to keep the speaker much more stable.

mystik610

Sounds like a deal to me.

FYI the RTi8's won't sit properly without the feet. The plastic molding below the grill sits lower than the base of the speaker...the speaker won't sit level without the feet.

lriker

My fronts are going to be placed on a tiled platform that my tv stand stis on. I know this is probably a great deal, one that doesnt come around that often but ever time I take a look at the rtia 5s - they just look much better to me than the rti8s. I like to base as well. Knowing me, I would shell out the 275 for the rti8s and sit looking at them wishing I would have gotten the rita5s. Newegg has a 150 promo card when you get an a5. Still the price of 450 per speaker is a little high so I might just go ahead and get a pair of bookshelves first. Any major difference between the a1s and the a3s? They will be hung on the wall. Looking for rti6s in cherry - thing the boxed look might look better than the teardrop shape when on a wall, but cant located one. Anyway that is where I am at.

sandworms

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/1771878146.html
another deal for ya

mystik610

lriker wrote: »

My fronts are going to be placed on a tiled platform that my tv stand stis on. I know this is probably a great deal, one that doesnt come around that often but ever time I take a look at the rtia 5s - they just look much better to me than the rti8s. I like to base as well. Knowing me, I would shell out the 275 for the rti8s and sit looking at them wishing I would have gotten the rita5s. Newegg has a 150 promo card when you get an a5. Still the price of 450 per speaker is a little high so I might just go ahead and get a pair of bookshelves first. Any major difference between the a1s and the a3s? They will be hung on the wall. Looking for rti6s in cherry - thing the boxed look might look better than the teardrop shape when on a wall, but cant located one. Anyway that is where I am at.

I'm not gonna lie...I much prefer the look of the RTi A5 to my RTi8's. I like the styling of the curved cabinets, and dislike the silver accents of my RTi8's....which very obviously reflect the styling of the early 00's.

But if you're open minded to used gear, 450 a speaker for the RTi A5's is pretty high IMO. I'd much rather snag a refurbished pair of LSi9's from Polk Audio direct for $650. 900 bucks avails you to some pretty awesome speakers in the used market. The LSi15's can be had in the used market for about that price...along with the Paradigm studio 40's or 60s....dynaudio audience 52's, and a whole lot of others if you're willing to hunt around and research.

I got my RTi8's + my old CSi3 for 300 bucks. I love em, but don't think I would have paid much more.

lriker

the persone sent me a few pictures and they look great. He had the spiked feet off a few as well. As for some refurbs, Lsi9 in cherry from polk direct is 649 pair. My theater room is in the basement and approx 10x13. How would the lsi9s compare to either the rtia5s or the rti8s? Which setup best, minus amp and subwoofer, would be best in this room. Two rtia1s on the rear wall as my rears, and two rtia5s or rti8s as the fronts or lsi 9s or 7s as fronts and rtia1s as rears? receiver is pioneer 1018

lriker

I know you said you have a set of the rti8s. Just a question regarding the spiked feet. Do cones unscrew from the, what look like duck feet? Thanks.

mystik610

lriker wrote: »

the persone sent me a few pictures and they look great. He had the spiked feet off a few as well. As for some refurbs, Lsi9 in cherry from polk direct is 649 pair. My theater room is in the basement and approx 10x13. How would the lsi9s compare to either the rtia5s or the rti8s? Which setup best, minus amp and subwoofer, would be best in this room. Two rtia1s on the rear wall as my rears, and two rtia5s or rti8s as the fronts or lsi 9s or 7s as fronts and rtia1s as rears? receiver is pioneer 1018

Owning an RTi based system myself, I'd rather have the LSi's. I originally went for the RTi's because I liked the extremely detailed nature of the tweeters....but even with a really warm amp like the H/K I'm using, they can be a little bright at times...especially with music. You definitely get a little listening fatigue after a long session at high volumes.

The LSi's sound colorless and accurate to me. Some may find them dry, but I think they sound 'proper'. The RTi's can be so detailed in the tweeters at times that they sound a little artificial at times.

So yeah I'd definitely get the LSi9's over the RTiA5's if you're budgeting 450 a speaker. If you're wondering if the A5's will offer better sound quality because they're towers, they won't. The mid-range drivers and tweeters don't need really need all the cabinet space in the A5's tower, and you have more flexibility with placement with bookshelf speakers.

Like xcapri mentioned, however, the LSi9's will require external amplification which will drive your budget higher. The timbre matched center and surrounds will also quite a bit more, so that's something else to consider. But you don't have to take the plunge on the whole system at once....half the fun is scouring the net for deals and building your system piece by piece.

mystik610

lriker wrote: »

I know you said you have a set of the rti8s. Just a question regarding the spiked feet. Do cones unscrew from the, what look like duck feet? Thanks.

The cones are attached to the 'duck feet'. There are two 'duck feet' per speaker, and two cones per 'duck foot'. The duck feet screw onto the bottom of the speaker.

....if any of that makes sense.

lriker

perfect sense. Thank you.

lriker

I was able to pick up a pair of rtia1s from vanns.com today from their clearance center, open box with no damage for 272 shipped. Got it started. Leaning towards wating to pick up a pair of the a5s from newegg on sale or maybe polk if they have some refurbs. Still 275 for the rti8s is templing. Maybe their worth an hour drive to test them out.