Upgrade Dilemma

veerapaneni

Hi, I have RTI A7s as my fronts now and i am thinking of exchaning them with either RTI A9 or LSI 15. Not sure which one is better. I thing RTI7 sounded little harsh to my taste. If i go with LSi15 will they go well with my other speakers or should i just stick with RTi series ?

Front : Polk RTi A7
Center: Polk CSi A6
Surround: Polk FXi A6
Sub: Polk DSW 4000
Receiver: OnkyoTX NR-808 (135W/Channel)
Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5

rswroughneck

man I wish I had the money to be wondering if I should run the LSI or not

mystik610

I upgraded from the RTi8's to the LSi9, and much prefer the LSi series over the larger RTi towers.

You will probably want to get an LSi center channel, but the rears don't necessarily need to timbre match perfectly.

bluecomet

Go with the RTi A9's and enjoy your system. If you go with the Lsi series be prepared to spend alot of coin. You will need the 2 front mains and center. Then you will need an external amp to handle the three front speakers. If you have the extra cash go for it. If not stick with your RTi series speakers.

Ric5811

Maybe a different amp? I have not heard the Emo, but everything I have read was they are bright.

I would not characterize my A7's as bright now. But I have done many tweaks. First difference was doing away with an AVR as a pre, and using a dedicated pre/pro, probably the most fundamental change in my system. You maybe fine with the Emo, maybe change the avr? I think for less money on the used market you could find a pre/pro that would change everything for you.

If you listened to mine 6 mos ago, you would not think they were the same speakers now.

But, I also prefer to hear the crash of a cymbal or the high hats as they sound live. Not sounding like they are muffled in the back of the room a 100 feet away.

But there is difference between harsh and bright. Mine were harsh at first using an avr as a pre. Very smooth now. But still articulate in the high end.

Everyone's ears are different to a point or their preferences. Do you use them for HT or music more? AVR pre amp sections are just no where near dedicated pre/pro's. Very few are, except for the usual suspects, NAD, Rotel, Arcam etc...maybe Marantz.

geebolt

I like an somewhat bright sound which is what I get now with my RTi A7's and Emotiva XPA-5. When I was running with the Onkyo 807's built in amps, I was getting a harsh sound that made it difficult to listen to for extended periods. Since going with the seperate amp, that is no longer a problem.

George

mystik610

I posted my thoughts on the RTi vs LSi series not too long ago here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1384532&postcount=5

At the end of the day, its a pretty subjective decision IMO, and depends on what your uses and preferences are. If you find the A7's to sound harsh, the A9's will sound better, but not substantially so. What you're finding 'harsh' is the tweeter...the RTi A's use a very forward tweeter that accentuate the upper frequencies. The A9's have an extra mid-bass driver, woofer, and a higher-end cross-over which will help tame the brightness of the tweeter a bit, but the characteristic of that you find 'harsh' in you A7's is innate in all of the RTi/RTi-A speakers, as they all share the same tweeter. Upgrading to the A9's will offer a better compromise, but not a replacement, for the tweeters that you seem to find harsh.

The LSi's and the RTi A9's all benefit from additional power. For the LSi's external amplification is a pre-requisite (they will damage lesser amps), for the A9's its recommended, but not absolutely necessary. Your Emotiva should be able to drive any of the speakers in question, however. You could try using a warmer sounding amp with your A7's or A9 (I had great results with my HK amp and RTi8's), but again, that is offering a compromise for the tweeters you find harsh, not a replacement.

Ultimately though, budget will dictate which direction you go. Staying with the A7's and finding warm components to tame the tweeter is the cheapest option. Jumping to the A9's is another option. The A5's also seem to have a stronger mid-bass region from my experience, so you might consider 'downgrading'? The RTi-A7/RTi-10 was always the harshest sounding of the three IMO.

Just my 2 cents.

veerapaneni

Thanks You all for your help. I will go with A9s .

Ric5811

mystik610 wrote: »

I posted my thoughts on the RTi vs LSi series not too long ago here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1384532&postcount=5

At the end of the day, its a pretty subjective decision IMO, and depends on what your uses and preferences are. If you find the A7's to sound harsh, the A9's will sound better, but not substantially so. What you're finding 'harsh' is the tweeter...the RTi A's use a very forward tweeter that accentuate the upper frequencies. The A9's have an extra mid-bass driver, woofer, and a higher-end cross-over which will help tame the brightness of the tweeter a bit, but the characteristic of that you find 'harsh' in you A7's is innate in all of the RTi/RTi-A speakers, as they all share the same tweeter. Upgrading to the A9's will offer a better compromise, but not a replacement, for the tweeters that you seem to find harsh.

The LSi's and the RTi A9's all benefit from additional power. For the LSi's external amplification is a pre-requisite (they will damage lesser amps), for the A9's its recommended, but not absolutely necessary. Your Emotiva should be able to drive any of the speakers in question, however. You could try using a warmer sounding amp with your A7's or A9 (I had great results with my HK amp and RTi8's), but again, that is offering a compromise for the tweeters you find harsh, not a replacement.

Ultimately though, budget will dictate which direction you go. Staying with the A7's and finding warm components to tame the tweeter is the cheapest option. Jumping to the A9's is another option. The A5's also seem to have a stronger mid-bass region from my experience, so you might consider 'downgrading'? The RTi-A7/RTi-10 was always the harshest sounding of the three IMO.

Just my 2 cents.

I have read this before, and just as a point of discussion, why do you think that an extra mid woofer "tames" the tweeter? Tweeter output is the same volume wise, the only thing it would do is drown it out.
I have also read that the tweeter sandwiched between the mid woofers helps tame it also. The only reason the tweeter is located there is to keep it at general ear level position when seated, due to the extra height of the A9's.

And I don't know if they have a "higher end" crossover, unless you have documentation or pics to show that, but it is set lower on the high pass than the A7's.

Basically, the added price in the A9's is because of the added woofers(mid and sub) and better internally designed cabinet. The A9 has a much better designed chambers than the A7's. (I don't even think the A7 has chambers). The better mid bass response is also attributed to a sealed chamber for the mid woofs.
The xo is tweaked a bit lower for the mid high array, it uses the same mid woofer as the A1 and the Csi A4, whereas the A7 uses the same mid woofer as the A3 and Csi A6.

I would suspect that many of the design elements were driven by profit and cost motives than anything else. They made it better than the A7 by a better designed internal cabinet, they used two 5.25 mids for cost while adding a 7" sub for added bass. Had they done it different they probably would have started pricing themselves to close to the Lsi 15's. Which would take market share away.