I have a pair of rti12's and I need a good sub!!

Ron Temple · August 2010

mdaudioguy wrote: »

I believe this thread has spiraled somewhat. The line I quoted above raised a red flag for me. These are 8ohm speakers. I think that running your AVR at 4ohms may be detrimental to performance. Set up properly (with an AVR in Direct mode - full range), the 12s should perform rather nicely, even at the low end. Of course, an amp could improve performance, but I suggest you re-evaluate your setup first.

Hammer, nail, thumb...:p

Engaging the 4 ohm setting on an AVR limits current to protect the unit from excess heat. You're only getting 50-60% of the available output. Also, regarding the sub(s), both of the subs (that sound like they were abused) are more capable of higher output than the 505 or the MP2000. It sounds like you expect car bass type output from home theater equipment. Ain't gonna happen. The ED sub isn't their best, but it was quite capable, a few years ago, of deep extention and high output. If the ports were fluttering or driver bottoming, it was being overdriven (unless you got a lemon).

greyford1979 · August 2010

I was just wondering after reading about the subs that you have used...how were you able to overpower the Dayton Titanic 15

I have a Dayton Ref series 15" and my neighbor across the street can hear it and feel it at moderate levels:D Port noise was probably from too small of a port or not flared?? Just speculating, and also make sure you have whatever sub you end up with placed correctly, even a bad@$$ sub won't perform well if you don't have it placed correctly in your listening area:(

Toolfan66 · August 2010

The 4 ohm setting is one problem, But that AVR will not power the RTi12's to their full potential. as I stated these do not lack Bass and adding a sub is not going to fix the OP's problem just running an AVR.

Your more then welcome to come over to my house anytime your in the area, and I will Lay this to rest.

Toolfan66 · August 2010

You have a nice setup and your speakers should be performing just fine and adding a sub is a plus on your end.. also an AVR/AMP combo for the most part will be different then a PREAMP/AMP combo.. give it a try you will be amazed at what the 12's will do..;) That Parasound I bet sounds nice on the 12's..

dekuda wrote: »

Tonyb, if I had to do it over again knowing what I know now I would surround myself with LSI9's and run a good sub or two and I know I would be happy. But I started by buying my RTI12's at a great price used at $500.00 before I had a sub. Then I purchased subs after. You are right, it is somewhat of a waste but at the time I did not have a sub and these did okay with bass . When I got some subs I realized that these speakers could not produce the bass that a good sub(s) can. There is no way I am under powering these. they just can't produce bass as good as my two Omnis10 subs can.I learn as I go.:rolleyes: I question those who say that these can produce alot of bass. I thought that untill I compared them with a good sub and letting all the low frequency be handled by a sub.

leroyjr1 · August 2010

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

The 4 ohm setting is one problem, But that AVR will not power the RTi12's to their full potential. as I stated these do not lack Bass and adding a sub is not going to fix the OP's problem just running an AVR.

Your more then welcome to come over to my house anytime your in the area, and I will Lay this to rest.

Agreed, with my a9's and receiver I wasn't able to get that deep punchy bass, but when I took the receiver out and used a pre amp and amp they woke up big time. Your receiver is robbing you of good hard hitting bass, It's there.

bigreddog · August 2010

Ok Dukuda, I think you and I are in agreement. To others, what is bass exactly? Yes the Polk rti12's currently have bass but keep in mind I had a HUGE powered sub with a 15" down firing vented enclosure. The Polks have "some" bass but not even to vibrate stuff of the wall. To answer the question of WHY i bought a full range speaker set instead is because i got a BRAND NEW PAIR in box with warranty for $300 a pair, not each!! My brother used to work at Polk until he hurt his back there. For $300 a PAIR I couldn't even touch an average pair of small monitor speakers. Also forgot to say, I got the matching CSi5 center channel thrown in the deal. They offered employees a special just on this series because of surplus and getting ready to change the models. Now to the 4 ohm 8 ohm issue. Look at a good external amp and they will be 4 ohm or 2 ohm stable but there isn't a "switch" to make it 4 ohms so most people are driving these speakers with 4 ohms and if driven really you might be down to 2 ohms. Every receiver on the back will have the ohm load painted on it. MOST receivers are 8-16ohms, meaning they aren't 4 ohm stable. I've always been a Yamaha fan because they were the only brand that had a 4 ohm switch therefore making the receiver stable to 4 ohms. I used to have a pair of BG Radia 520 speakers which were $5000 6 foot tall ribbon speakers. They required more power than a receiver which is why I own my PARASOUND HCA-1500 external amp. Now Onkyo Receivers- and ONLY higher end models, are 4ohm-16ohm stable. Even the high end Denon's are NOT 4 ohm stable. Onkyo used to not support 4ohms either. Actually the only company to make a 4ohm receiver was Yamaha so I was forced into that company years ago. I've used 3 Yamaha's over the last 15 years all without a glitch. Then I find that SOME of the Onkyo receivers are now 4 ohm stable. Now the specs from Onkyo states my receiver is 4 ohm stable with 280 watts per channel RMS. Drop it to 6 ohms then it's 230WPC and 8 ohms is 135WPC. Now next, the Polk rti12's ARE INDEED 4 ohm stable and many are running them that way using an external amp and they don't even realize it. My issue is my external amp is two channel with 2 sets of speaker plugs so I can't bi-amp. The Onkyo will allow me to bi-amp and give the subs their own 280wpc @4 ohms and also the high section has its own 280WPC to its own as well. Now my Parasound external amp has 315wattsX2 at 4 ohms. But if I used my amp i couldn't bi-wire. My question is....... could I have my Onkyo run just my Highs and then have the Parasound Amp run just the lows? How would the sound be balanced as far as output? I can put my Parasound Amp back on the rack if it's worth it..............

leroyjr1 · August 2010

bigreddog wrote: »

Ok Dukuda, I think you and I are in agreement. To others, what is bass exactly? Yes the Polk rti12's currently have bass but keep in mind I had a HUGE powered sub with a 15" down firing vented enclosure. The Polks have "some" bass but not even to vibrate stuff of the wall. To answer the question of WHY i bought a full range speaker set instead is because i got a BRAND NEW PAIR in box with warranty for $300 a pair, not each!! My brother used to work at Polk until he hurt his back there. For $300 a PAIR I couldn't even touch an average pair of small monitor speakers. Also forgot to say, I got the matching CSi5 center channel thrown in the deal. They offered employees a special just on this series because of surplus and getting ready to change the models. Now to the 4 ohm 8 ohm issue. Look at a good external amp and they will be 4 ohm or 2 ohm stable but there isn't a "switch" to make it 4 ohms so most people are driving these speakers with 4 ohms and if driven really you might be down to 2 ohms. Every receiver on the back will have the ohm load painted on it. MOST receivers are 8-16ohms, meaning they aren't 4 ohm stable. I've always been a Yamaha fan because they were the only brand that had a 4 ohm switch therefore making the receiver stable to 4 ohms. I used to have a pair of BG Radia 520 speakers which were $5000 6 foot tall ribbon speakers. They required more power than a receiver which is why I own my PARASOUND HCA-1500 external amp. Now Onkyo Receivers- and ONLY higher end models, are 4ohm-16ohm stable. Even the high end Denon's are NOT 4 ohm stable. Onkyo used to not support 4ohms either. Actually the only company to make a 4ohm receiver was Yamaha so I was forced into that company years ago. I've used 3 Yamaha's over the last 15 years all without a glitch. Then I find that SOME of the Onkyo receivers are now 4 ohm stable. Now the specs from Onkyo states my receiver is 4 ohm stable with 280 watts per channel RMS. Drop it to 6 ohms then it's 230WPC and 8 ohms is 135WPC. Now next, the Polk rti12's ARE INDEED 4 ohm stable and many are running them that way using an external amp and they don't even realize it. My issue is my external amp is two channel with 2 sets of speaker plugs so I can't bi-amp. The Onkyo will allow me to bi-amp and give the subs their own 280wpc @4 ohms and also the high section has its own 280WPC to its own as well. Now my Parasound external amp has 315wattsX2 at 4 ohms. But if I used my amp i couldn't bi-wire. My question is....... could I have my Onkyo run just my Highs and then have the Parasound Amp run just the lows? How would the sound be balanced as far as output? I can put my Parasound Amp back on the rack if it's worth it..............

Toolfan66 · August 2010

Your not getting it..the receiver set at 4 ohm's IMO is wrong.. What I don't get is you have so much to say to sound like you know what your doing yet you ask if you could bi/amp with the AVR and Amp. I guess you could try it I myself would not do it...

If your happy with your setup then enjoy it. Why not ask your brother since he worked at Polk. I know for a fact I can have your RTi12's pounding bass that will shake the walls. It's your gig do what you want..Get your sub and be happy cause in the end that's what it's about..

Peace,

Larry.

Toolfan66 · August 2010

Here is one thing I have learned being here is:

Those who know know, those who don't know don't know they don't know.

And I still have some don't knows.. LOL

dekuda · August 2010

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

You have a nice setup and your speakers should be performing just fine and adding a sub is a plus on your end.. also an AVR/AMP combo for the most part will be different then a PREAMP/AMP combo.. give it a try you will be amazed at what the 12's will do..;) That Parasound I bet sounds nice on the 12's..

TOOLFORLIFEFAN, Now you got me thinking about wanting a preamp

A pre/amp setup would definately be better than my avr/amp setup. I know one thing. These RTI12's can sing with good equipment. I thought I was set after upgrading my ic's,speaker cables,power cords and adding a external amp. Now thinking how the avr is holding back my bass? Does this hobby never end torturing me from being content? Buy,sell,trade,upgrade,buy,sell,trade,upgrade......who am I kidding, I love it:D

Setup:

MARANTZ SR7002 AVR
Parasound HCA1500A Amp
Rotel RCC-1055 Cd Player
Pioneer BD320 Blue Ray
PNF Symphony Speaker Cables
PNF Icon IC
D H Labs IC
PS Audio xStream Power Cables
Samsung 52” LCD
Mains Polk RTi12’s
Center Polk CSi5
Surrounds Definitive Technology BP2X
Subs Mirage Omni S 10’s (2)

Don’t sweat the petty things!
Don’t pet the sweaty things!

Ron Temple · August 2010

The 4 ohm setting on the onk doesn't open the pipe wider for higher current flow. It shuts it down to reduce heat so there aren't warranty issues when driving 4 ohm speakers. If the 807 bench tested at 280w at 4 ohms, that's a peak at 1% distortion in the > 6ohm setting, probably with a 1khz sine wave. As I said before, the 4 ohm setting on AVRs is a limiter which reduces the current flow in most AVRs as much as 50%. The TOTL Yammie Z11 is one of the few,maybe only AVR that can actually output the same current at both 4 and > 6ohm. The TOTL Onk 5007 loses about 60%. Here's a link...

http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/impedance-selector-switch-1

Your subjective impression about what is good bass, is your own...and that's fine, but your output setup with your 807 is wrong.

PrazVT · August 2010

@dekuda - you're not the only one. I remember coming on here to find out where I could find a pair of RTi A7s (were hard to find for a bit) ... now I'm looking at power amps (and replacing amps / avrs etc.).

@TOOLFORLIFEFAN

I know for a fact I can have your RTi12's pounding bass that will shake the walls.

So would it take something like an Adcom 5800 or Parasound 2250?

leroyjr1 · August 2010

PrazVT wrote: »

So would it take something like an Adcom 5800 or Parasound 2250?

doesn't take a ton a power just eliminate the receiver for a pre amp. A 100 watt external amp will sound much much better than that onkyo receiver.

mdaudioguy · August 2010

Forget bi-wiring and use the amp you have. It will blow your AVR away, but I think you already know that. Enjoy.

quadzilla · August 2010

leroyjr1 wrote: »

try them at 18 hz and let me know what you hear.

Sound. I hear sound. Well, feel, really, since 3 7s on each side move about as much air as a pair of 12s. I mean, seriously, a -3db limit doesn't mean the speaker instantly stops producing output below that point. Polk say lower limit is 18 Hz. Are you calling them liars?

villock · August 2010

bigreddog wrote: »

Ok Dukuda, I think you and I are in agreement. To others, what is bass exactly? Yes the Polk rti12's currently have bass but keep in mind I had a HUGE powered sub with a 15" down firing vented enclosure. The Polks have "some" bass but not even to vibrate stuff of the wall. To answer the question of WHY i bought a full range speaker set instead is because i got a BRAND NEW PAIR in box with warranty for $300 a pair, not each!! My brother used to work at Polk until he hurt his back there. For $300 a PAIR I couldn't even touch an average pair of small monitor speakers. Also forgot to say, I got the matching CSi5 center channel thrown in the deal. They offered employees a special just on this series because of surplus and getting ready to change the models. Now to the 4 ohm 8 ohm issue. Look at a good external amp and they will be 4 ohm or 2 ohm stable but there isn't a "switch" to make it 4 ohms so most people are driving these speakers with 4 ohms and if driven really you might be down to 2 ohms. Every receiver on the back will have the ohm load painted on it. MOST receivers are 8-16ohms, meaning they aren't 4 ohm stable. I've always been a Yamaha fan because they were the only brand that had a 4 ohm switch therefore making the receiver stable to 4 ohms. I used to have a pair of BG Radia 520 speakers which were $5000 6 foot tall ribbon speakers. They required more power than a receiver which is why I own my PARASOUND HCA-1500 external amp. Now Onkyo Receivers- and ONLY higher end models, are 4ohm-16ohm stable. Even the high end Denon's are NOT 4 ohm stable. Onkyo used to not support 4ohms either. Actually the only company to make a 4ohm receiver was Yamaha so I was forced into that company years ago. I've used 3 Yamaha's over the last 15 years all without a glitch. Then I find that SOME of the Onkyo receivers are now 4 ohm stable. Now the specs from Onkyo states my receiver is 4 ohm stable with 280 watts per channel RMS. Drop it to 6 ohms then it's 230WPC and 8 ohms is 135WPC. Now next, the Polk rti12's ARE INDEED 4 ohm stable and many are running them that way using an external amp and they don't even realize it. My issue is my external amp is two channel with 2 sets of speaker plugs so I can't bi-amp. The Onkyo will allow me to bi-amp and give the subs their own 280wpc @4 ohms and also the high section has its own 280WPC to its own as well. Now my Parasound external amp has 315wattsX2 at 4 ohms. But if I used my amp i couldn't bi-wire. My question is....... could I have my Onkyo run just my Highs and then have the Parasound Amp run just the lows? How would the sound be balanced as far as output? I can put my Parasound Amp back on the rack if it's worth it..............

That's a mouthful. I think you are way over thinking this. I would forget biamping, change the setting in the Onkyo to 8ohms-these are 8ohms speakers after all, put the Parasound amp back in the rack, play your music on direct mode and report back. That amp will pump out 205 watts at 8 ohms. If it doesn't sound 10 times better than it does now, something is wrong somewhere. Also don't forget to put the jumpers back on. I am listening to Let it Be at my desk from 15 feet away with my sub off and I can feel the bass.

Toolfan66 · August 2010

You guys with a HT setup and want to get better sound with music get a pre/amp with HT bypass. With your external amp it will change the way you listen to music and your main speakers will be in for a treat as well as your ears.. If you have the funds and space build yourself a 2 channel rig for music and you will see what me and Leroy are talking about.

I am lucky enough to have both, and I do not want a sub in my 2 channel rig and I will never have one. Now in my HT rig I have 2 subs great for movies.

quadzilla · August 2010

mdaudioguy wrote: »

I believe this thread has spiraled somewhat. The line I quoted above raised a red flag for me. These are 8ohm speakers. I think that running your AVR at 4ohms may be detrimental to performance. Set up properly (with an AVR in Direct mode - full range), the 12s should perform rather nicely, even at the low end. Of course, an amp could improve performance, but I suggest you re-evaluate your setup first.

This. The 4 Ohm setting just puts a resistor in-line with the speaker outs to "fool" the AVR's amp section into seeing an 8 ohm load. No amp capable of driving 4 Ohm loads will need a switch. They just do it.

However, if you do decide to go with an amp, for the 12s, mine didn't really start to sing until I got them up to 300 wpc. Now bi-amped @850 wpc, they really belt it out. The consensus on these speakers seems to be 200, but my experience differed.

bigreddog · August 2010

ok, to clear up any confusion. I started by telling everyone that I JUST BOUGHT an Onkyo TX-NR807. Then TOOLFORLIFEFAN tells me that I need to get a good receiver with a set of preouts! HELLO! It DOES have pre-outs! And regarding my brother that did work at Polk; he only working in a factory for inventory control and I doubt he could even hook up a pair of speakers. To LEROYJR1......You said to eliminate my Onkyo as a preamp and get a 100 watt amp. I thought we were all talking about the fact that I need MORE power, not less. Now, like I said before, I used to use a Yamaha and I DID have these plugged into my Parasound HCA-1500 High Current THX amp. Now correct, there was no ohm switch on the back of it and its 8 ohms by default. My friend's dad came over with a measuring gadget and with my speakers playing it was pulling 8 ohms but then out came Metallica and his gauge was reading 2.3ohms! So yes these speakers are power demanding and as it demands it from everyone's external amp, it's dipping well below 8 ohms thats for sure. BUT now I did what everyone told me to do and went to the on-screen menu and was going to change the ohms. PROBLEM!! With it bi-amped, Onkyo will only allow you to pick 4ohms or 6ohms, not 8! So what should I pick? The only reason I even tried to bi-amp and use the receiver's amps was just to see how much worse it would be than the Parasound. WRONG. By bi-amping I was essentially using two amps instead of one right? Sure the best thing to do would be to have TWO Parasound Amps but I don't. So when we switched from the parasound am to bi-amping with the onkyo, it was clearer and louder. I understand that a preamp/amp setup is better for music and yes I listen to music more than movies. I used to have a CARY AUDIO tube amp and a LINN preamp and yes it sounded good, but every time I wanted to change the volume or source I'd have to get up and go over to the stereo while my phone is ringing. No sub output. No HDMI outputs. No movie formats such as Dolby or THX. Basically it reminded me of an antique that I paid WAY to much for, just to get rid of all the new features. I want HDMI inputs and optical inputs and I want to be able to use a subwoofer. I also want to command everything from my chair including networking wireless streaming. As I said in the past, my last receiver was a Yamaha RX-V2700, the FIRST networking receiver for their line. You my also notice that I bought an Onkyo NR (networking receiver)807. Sorry but I like listening to radio stations all around the world and I love streaming MP3s and so on. And it has pre outs so why would this make a bad pre-amp? To Ron Temple: I tried to set it to 8 ohms and it won't because it's bi-amped. I understand the current probably not being near as good as my external amp but the manual brags about it's HCPS High Current Power Supply Massive High Power Transformer. So I thought I'd give it a chance. I think my problem lies more in the wonderful Audessey setup! This is why I removed my Yamaha because I didn't like their proprietary MIC calibration but now that I've switched I think that Audessey is even worse! It setup my big sub to a -15 and then it set my rti12 speakers as small with the crossover cutting off at 80 (THX STANDARD) Then it set my subwoofer crossover to something wrong to I can't remember exactly right now. I personally feel these mic calibration systems are ruining receivers now. What ever happened to the good ole bass and treble knobs? And FINALLY......I found an online ad on Craigslist today just 5 minutes from my house. I look at that section on a daily basis. Well I found a brand new sealed in box Polk PSW505 for $150. Well I showed up and asked if we could open it and it definitely looked like it had never been open. I hooked it up to his system. You could tell he didn't know what it even was. He said all his speakers were built in the wall except for the sub, by the builder and now the builder is coming back to put on in the wall since his wife refused to have a box on the floor. I tried it out and thought it sounded great. I offered him $100 and he sold it to me with the box, manual, and receipt which has all his in-wall stuff as well. So now I can hookup this sub and im sure I'll be happier but if everyone thinks I should undo the bi-amp and just go with the Parasound amp, I'll try that as well. I'd just like to know HOW to even set it to 8 ohms since it's bi-amped which you can't so no I didn't set it up wrong. But I'm really interested to hear what everyone says that I should set the rti12's crossover cutoff to? Set at Full Range or 30 or 40? What about the sub? What should I set that crossover to? I think default is 80 on this receiver. Sorry for making it long but just felt everyone needed to know the whole story and I had to address everyone's comments.

mdaudioguy · August 2010

You are already 10 steps ahead of us, so why even bother. Have you read half of what's been posted? You've got too many other issues to resolve before trying to integrate a sub. You were bi-amping? With a single AVR? Forget about it. Go back to square one.

mdaudioguy · August 2010

If you stop and listen, and take what's been said seriously, you will get better results.
1. Set the AVR back to 8 ohms.
2. Undo the bi-wire/bi-amp mess.
3. Connect to the AVR and run full-range, direct mode.
4. Listen.
5. Try adding the sub in a 2.1 config. Repeat step 4.
6. Go with the way that sounds best.
7. Not happy with either? Add an amp in the chain (using the Onk as a pre) and repeat 1-6.

tonyb · August 2010

Many have had bad results using automated calibrations in receivers.Do it manually sitting in your listening position. I think the jist here is, undo the bi-amp,place jumpers back on speakers, hook up the amp to the receiver and recalibrate by hand.

Don't fall into the trap of believing everything you read from manufacturers. Watts and current are two different animals. Real world experience goes along way and we have tons around here. Sometimes you also have to experiment alittle with settings, crossover points,etc, to get where you want to be.

cnoat · August 2010

Bigreddog,
I just offered you a pre amp because you said your really into 2 channel,Got no reply.
I have ventured into every possible way to get the bass I was looking for.The pre amp made me drop my jaw with the difference.Your 1500 will make those 12's sing.Hit back if you want to give it a try.You will not be disappointed.

cstmar01 · August 2010

mdaudioguy wrote: »

If you stop and listen, and take what's been said seriously, you will get better results.
1. Set the AVR back to 8 ohms.
2. Undo the bi-wire/bi-amp mess.
3. Connect to the AVR and run full-range, direct mode.
4. Listen.
5. Try adding the sub in a 2.1 config. Repeat step 4.
6. Go with the way that sounds best.
7. Not happy with either? Add an amp in the chain (using the Onk as a pre) and repeat 1-6.

correct.

Also please try an pre amp with HT bypass. If you really really want. A great one, that also has sub control for a 2.1 system. Parasound 2100. used goes for 400 bucks new is 650.00.

You are trying to do sooo many different things you need to start off in one place and go from there.

Also using the return button is helpful otherwise a solid block of text on a forum is very hard to read and follow.

oh and BTW the AVR will not, I repeat will not output like you think it will. You are using 1 power supply in the type of bi amping you are talking about not 2. Its all shared so its not the same as using two different amps with 2 different power supplies. Most AVR's are not going to handle 4 ohm. Sorry even if there is a switch, its really going to be tough for any AVR to handle the load well.

Sherardp · August 2010

This thread is haywire trying to follow, but some good info being passed. Wondering if I should try changing my x-over settings in my SC-07 for better results. As said OP amp makes a huge difference with these speakers.

bigreddog · August 2010

cnoat: what was your offer? I never got it.

bigreddog · August 2010

Ok ok I understand that even though my Onkyo advertises a "High Current" massive torodial power supply, the book must be telling lies. I just looked at a nice 7 channel amp last night for over $3000 and it only has ONE power supply so again I don't understand. If my book says I have (7) 135W 8 ohm amps inside, doesn't it? And everyone says NOT to bi-wire except Onkyo. They even went through the trouble of adding a "bi-amp" active light on the display! But I did what I was told and I swapped it for the Parasound amp and it WAS NOT as good as BI-AMPING my speakers with the Onkyo. But, I don't think it was really any worse either. It was about the same but again, definitely disappointing bass. As far as my Onkyo having an impedance switch, I never said that. I said that was my YAMAHA receiver through the last 15 years which now they do it on screen like Onkyo. But when Bi-Amped as recommended by Onkyo, it will NOT go into 8 ohms. Onkyo's rep asked how many rear speakers I have and I said just two since I'm not into the theater stuff as much, he said I need to utilize the amp made for the "side surround" speakers. I honestly think these speakers need MORE than even my 205w RMS Parasound amp can give them. Which makes me scratch my head on why the requirements start at 50 watts? What's 50 watts going to do to those 3 7" bass drivers? I really don't think these speakers were marketed to people who planned to then spend thousands of dollars to run the highs and lows with a receiver. Heck, even CIRCUIT CITY carried this model and they didn't even sell preamps or external amps!! They ONLY sold receivers and most of them $800 and below. So those Polks had no business being in there. So again I ask some of you....what are your settings as far as crossover points. Do you have these monsters set at full range or to cut off at 30 or 40 or 80? What crossover point do you have your sub set on? I think the problem may be this. I'm just afraid to set them to full range, crank them up, and then blow them. Whatever happened to the good speakers. Before all this home theater stuff came out, they were making speakers that were big. Buying a speaker with a 10" woofer was an insult because most had 12" woofers (or two). Now they are all worried about floor space so much that they don't sound like they used to. I may not be up on the understandings of currents, etc..... but I do know what a good "full range" speaker sounds like. Just for kicks and giggles I brought my OLD Cerwin Vega dual 12" speakers in from the garage and didn't adjust even one setting and they about nailed me to my chair with this receiver, so why are these Polk's so inefficient?

Toolfan66 · August 2010

Your post's hurt my eyes!!! Good luck in your journey is all I have to say..

reeltrouble1 · August 2010

holy cow. well like so many you bought the speaks and then found the site?? So now you have some nice speakers and a nice sub, a nice amp and a decent AVR.

Your Onk does not operate at 135 per channel all channels driven and it really does not need to. Your Onk is considered a high current receiver. I woud set the crossover at 80db, I would use the Parasound to drive the front left and right, I would use the Onk to drive the rest of the speakers and of course the sub has its own power. I would get a sound meter and set the speaker levels. Then I would listen and when I was as familiar with the sound of these things as you are with your older audio gear I would decide what I like and what I did not like. You are correct that the speakers like alot of power, I would research clipping of an audio wave. You do not need to begin with a 3000 dollar amplifier. Do not consider what I have as a normal HT gear setup, I did it over years and years with the help of the polkies here.

However I am I and you are you.

Ok I am going to say it.........200 watts a channel for the fronts may be your ticket.

RT1

cstmar01 · August 2010

dude....one thing please don't ever just "crank it" your probably going to end up clipping the AVR and then wonder why it shut off or you blew a tweeter....

and best of luck. there is a lot of great advice here, if you decide to take it, thats cool if not, best of luck. Spec are just specs and are not always true, trust your ears and if you like it thats what counts.

I have a pair of rti12's and I need a good sub!!

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