New RTi A9 Speakers Take Over

munk

I've only owned 3 pairs of speakers in my adult life. That's pathetic. First pair was a bookshelf sized Polk Monitors. 2nd pair were Polk LS50's.
Now there's two RTiA9's in the living room, and they are better than I expected, much better.

So much detail. Strong bass without being overpowering. Breaking these in will be a lot of fun. Even my wife thought they sounded good...and the teenager loves them. I wish I'd not waited so long.

Once they were turned on there was a sound stage present wherever you were in the room. The kid sits in the gliding chair centered between them, about 15 feet back and closes his eyes.

The biggest surprise was how good they sound at low and moderate volumes. The music is full at volumes I'd not have expected this from. I knew from reading here that these were power hungry, if that's true then even on a diet these sound great.


They take over in every way, sheer size and musical authority. It's the best spent money of mine in years.



munk

danz1906

Congrats!!!!!!!!

LeftCoast

Congrats!

And if you haven't used them for HT yet, you're in for a treat. Those were the speakers I was going to get before I happened on to some nice vintage Polks.

leroyjr1

Congrats !!!

SolidSqual

I loved my old Rtia9s. They were excellent speakers.

devani

congrats....they look beautiful too...

leroyjr1

Got any pics?

Toolfan66

I was shocked when I pulled my RTiA9,s out of my HT rig and put them in my 2 channel rig... They sounded fantastic.. of course I have a better amp in my 2 channel, and with a tube pre pure magic. Not SDA but not lacking either..

Congrats!!!!

mole'

my RTi10s are really nice, i know not RTiA series but still very nice speakers.

Lietuvis91

what is the complete setup driving these speakers, if you don't mind me asking?
What recevier/amp combo are you using?

munk

Sunfire reference preamp, Carver 1.5 amp, (it's been serviced) an NAD C 545BEE cd player
the RTi A9's are black. I'd have preferred cherry but the Polk refurbished had the deal on black, so black it is. What Do I think of Black now? They remind me of the monoliths appearing on 2001. They RISE out of my living room floor.....
They are wonderful looking in their own right.
10 year old Trav helped me set them up. He ran his fingers over the top.. "These are soooo smooth," He said.

I haven't heard the Linn Axis turntable through them yet.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My next goal is surround sound. That will be a while yet. Does anyone think a 100 wpc into 8ohm amp would be enough to drive the RTi A9? Or should I start looking for a used Sunfire 200wpc X 5 on Ebay?
The surround preamp is a little more difficult to turn up. There's money in those too...

kevhed72

munk wrote: »

My next goal is surround sound. That will be a while yet. Does anyone think a 100 wpc into 8ohm amp would be enough to drive the RTi A9? Or should I start looking for a used Sunfire 200wpc X 5 on Ebay?
The surround preamp is a little more difficult to turn up. There's money in those too...

Curious if this is this going to be a double-duty system?

sm88

Congrats! I like Cherry but I think Black is more appropriate for a home theater setup.

dorokusai

I've owned most of the large RTi floorstanders since they started being called "improved" and the RTiA9 is probably my favorite of the Reference Theater series. They're far more refined sonically then the "xxxxp" series, etc and the cabinet quality is the most advanced cabinet Polk has probably made up until the new stuff coming out....ala TL and LSiM.

Enjoy!!

munk

dorokausai;
I'm glad you like these speakers. Out of curiousity, is there any reward for being a moderator? (except general irritation, naturally) Are there any discounts for Polk merchandise? That would almost, almost make it worth while?

kevhed 72, I'll soon own five 8 ohm speakers. I don't think I'd run my stereo through my surround amp, I like my sunfire pre and carver amp just fine for that. But I might lend the surround sound a left and right channel with these two RTi A9.

I want a seperate surround amp and preamp for home entertainment. I've heard that SACD is dying on the vine. Maybe Blue Ray could become the new music format, they say it has the memory.
A place like the Polk forum, where people care about the quality of music, and many prefer to keep their stereo seperate from their surround. That makes sense to me.

This subject is definately over my head. We have only two ears. Seems like we're wired more for stereo than for five channels, or no matter how many channels, we still hear in stereo. Will music released in the future be intended to be heard on multiple channels?

I've been reading to figure it out.

dorokusai

munk wrote: »

dorokausai;
I'm glad you like these speakers. Out of curiousity, is there any reward for being a moderator? (except general irritation, naturally) Are there any discounts for Polk merchandise? That would almost, almost make it worth while?

Yes and No. It's an ok task.