RTi10 opinions

Audioquest
Audioquest Posts: 104
edited January 2011 in Speakers
These are currently on a Boxing Week sale for $500/pair. Just wondering how these rate as I haven't heard them.

Thanks
HT: Polk SDA SRS 2.3 main fronts, Klipsch RC-25 center channel, Polk RTi-150 rears, M&K V1B sub, Denon AVR-5800, Samsung 52" LCD, Sony BDP-S550

2 Channel: Carver ALS Platinum, Audio Research LS-2B preamp, Counterpoint SA-100 amplifier, Integra CD player, Denon SL7D tt, TC750 phono pre, Nikko tuner
Post edited by Audioquest on
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  • Buggy166
    Buggy166 Posts: 17
    edited December 2010
    i dont know personally but google around and you'll see older postings im sure; until someone answers you on here.
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited December 2010
    RTi10s are excellent HT speakers. Gadabout has a pair matched with a B&K amp I think and they sound excellent for music. Most people will tell you the RTi series are too bright for music and I used to agree but Gadabouts setup changed my mind on that.

    Synergy is the key.
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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  • Gulfstrings
    Gulfstrings Posts: 313
    edited December 2010
    Great speakers! Owned a pair for a few years before gifting them to my daughter. Replaced them with ... the RTiA7s. No surprise there!
    Marantz AV7005
    Marantz MM7055
    Onkyo DX-755 CdP
    Oppo BDP-93
    Technics SL-1301/Shure M97xE
    Polk RTi A7s
    Polk CSi A6
    Polk FXi A6s
    Velodyne VDR10-BV
    Panamax M5100-PM
    Antec VERIS A/V Cooler x 2
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited December 2010
    thsmith wrote: »
    RTi10s are excellent HT speakers. Gadabout has a pair matched with a B&K amp I think and they sound excellent for music. Most people will tell you the RTi series are too bright for music and I used to agree but Gadabouts setup changed my mind on that.

    Synergy is the key.

    Agreed! I tried several combos of receivers/amps until settling with what I have now - all in the name of improving musicality. HT sounded great with all combos. They sound far better for music than I ever thought they would. :smile:
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  • MADGSF
    MADGSF Posts: 603
    edited December 2010
    I own a pair and drive them with a B&K amp. To me they are 9+ for HT and 7 for music. They can be bright with the right music and are very unforgiving of poorly recorded music, more so with the wrong source. I find keeping the volume down helps tame the brightness. I also agree that you need to power them properly to get the most out of them. With the amp in my signature they have much better bass and control. Looking at your signature I am guessing these would be used for HT most of the time. At that they excel and if they are new that is a good price.
    AVR: Elite VSX-21TXH
    Amplifier: B&K 7250 Series ii
    Misc: Velodyne SMS-1
    Mains: RTi-10
    Center: CSi-5
    Rear: Boston DSi460
    Sub: SVS PC-Ultra
    TV: Panasonic TC-P58V10
    DVD: Panasonic DMP-BD60K
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,019
    edited December 2010
    I'll second that thought. Polk and B&K amps go well together.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited December 2010
    For me, the key was moving from Yamaha to H/K - tamed the brightness nicely. Music only sounds good to me when in "Direct" mode, though. This results in stronger mid-range (sounds wimpy when not in Direct mode) and tighter, fuller bottom end.
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  • photocrazy
    photocrazy Posts: 89
    edited December 2010
    MADGSF wrote: »
    I own a pair and drive them with a B&K amp. To me they are 9+ for HT and 7 for music. They can be bright with the right music and are very unforgiving of poorly recorded music, more so with the wrong source. I find keeping the volume down helps tame the brightness. I also agree that you need to power them properly to get the most out of them. With the amp in my signature they have much better bass and control. Looking at your signature I am guessing these would be used for HT most of the time. At that they excel and if they are new that is a good price.

    Hi, I bought a pair of RTi10s yesterday and I find the bass to be weak. do I need external amps with these speakers ?
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  • polrbehr
    polrbehr Posts: 2,834
    edited December 2010
    photocrazy wrote: »
    Hi, I bought a pair of RTi10s yesterday and I find the bass to be weak. do I need external amps with these speakers ?

    First, what are you driving them with?

    My RTi10s got a nice wake-up call with tha addition of a GFA-555 amp (ran from the preouts on a Denon 2106AVR) as well as using Signal Cable Ultra bi-wire speaker cables. Added a lot of bottom end as well as taming some of the brightness (which I honestly did not find too bad before at moderate volume levels anyway).

    Also, make sure you have both sets of binding posts wired up, and/or the factory jumper in place... that could account for a lack of bass, and yes, it's happened before!
    So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?


    http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited December 2010
    photocrazy wrote: »
    Hi, I bought a pair of RTi10s yesterday and I find the bass to be weak. do I need external amps with these speakers ?

    What are they hooked up to?

    You probably have already done this - but check to see if your RTi10s are wired correctly and in-phase. Out of phase wiring would result in weak bass.

    Placement might be another thing to check.

    You could get more bass reinforcement by placing the speakers closer to the wall or corners (but this could result in 'tubbiness' and loss of bass accuracy - depending on your room acoustics).

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited December 2010
    photocrazy wrote: »
    Hi, I bought a pair of RTi10s yesterday and I find the bass to be weak. do I need external amps with these speakers ?
    Sounds like it. A lot of factors can affect bass - room size, placement, and inadequate amplification, to name a few. As I mentioned above, if you're using an AVR, "direct" mode will make a difference, too. You need to tell us more about your setup - 2-channel? 5.1/7.1 HT? Sub? Crossover?, etc...
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  • photocrazy
    photocrazy Posts: 89
    edited December 2010
    mdaudioguy wrote: »
    Sounds like it. A lot of factors can affect bass - room size, placement, and inadequate amplification, to name a few. As I mentioned above, if you're using an AVR, "direct" mode will make a difference, too. You need to tell us more about your setup - 2-channel? 5.1/7.1 HT? Sub? Crossover?, etc...

    My receiver is pio vsx-1325 (vsx-33 clone). I have set it up for 2 channel. the speakers are set as "large" in Pio setup and have selected "no" for surrounds and sub. And I dont have any sub.
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  • math wizard
    math wizard Posts: 106
    edited December 2010
    photocrazy wrote: »
    Hi, I bought a pair of RTi10s yesterday and I find the bass to be weak. do I need external amps with these speakers ?


    I have a pair of these, and the bass is anything but weak. Sometimes I run them without my sub, aand the bass is clean and tight. I'm running mine with a separate amp. You should try that to see if there is a difference.
    Processor - Emotiva UMC-200
    Pre-Amp (2 Ch) - Emotiva USP-1
    DSP Minidsp nanoAVR DL
    DAC (2 Ch) - Emotiva XDA-2
    Amp (Fronts) - Emotiva XPA-2
    Amp (Center/Surrounds) - Emotiva XPA-3
    CD - Emotiva ERC-1
    Fronts - Polk Audio RTi 12
    Center - Polk Audio CSi5
    Rears - Polk Audio RTiA1
    Sub - Epik Knight
    Sub EQ - Velodyne SMS-1
    Monitor - Sony XBR65X850C
    Blu-Ray - OPPO BDP-203
    Network Media Player - Chromecast Ultra
    Power Conditioner - APC H15
    Power Conditioner - Emotiva CMX-2
    PVR - DirecTV C61k
    Remote - Harmony Touch w/Hub
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  • photocrazy
    photocrazy Posts: 89
    edited January 2011
    math wizard wrote: »
    I have a pair of these, and the bass is anything but weak. Sometimes I run them without my sub, aand the bass is clean and tight. I'm running mine with a separate amp. You should try that to see if there is a difference.

    Lol..living in an appartment, i need to watch my sound levels. so, I am not sure I would need an external amp
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  • thesurfer
    thesurfer Posts: 574
    edited January 2011
    Asking someone else what a speaker sounds like, is like asking if coke is better than pepsi,, You need to listen to them your self, and base your purchase on what you like,,, Not what others think, Some people like white cadilacs,,some like black,,
    Not an Audiophile, just a dude who loves music, and decent gear to hear it with.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,019
    edited January 2011
    photocrazy wrote: »
    Lol..living in an appartment, i need to watch my sound levels. so, I am not sure I would need an external amp

    An amp doesn't necessarily make the speakers louder, just more dynamic,even at lower volumes,by feeding them what they need.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • Cmiller
    Cmiller Posts: 108
    edited January 2011
    I had to join,just for this topic..I have a pair of Rti10 along with a Onkyo 608,and ive been trying to figure out also how to get more bass out of them,i was even going to buy a new receiver to add a amp.But..i tried 1 more thing for the Rti10 and it worked.I Bi Amped them and used tone control to upped the bass and now they sound great! ..So im guessing the added seperate power to the Rti10 was needed..
    Samsung PN50B550 Plasma
    Pioneer Elite SC-25
    Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD
    Adcom 7500 Amp-Panamax 4300 Conditioner
    Polk RTi10's Fronts
    Polk Csi A6 Center-Polk M60s rear Surrounds
    Klipsch Synergy Sub-10 X2
    Klipsch Synergy S-10 Premium back surround
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited January 2011
    thesurfer wrote: »
    Asking someone else what a speaker sounds like, is like asking if coke is better than pepsi,, You need to listen to them your self, and base your purchase on what you like,,, Not what others think, Some people like white cadilacs,,some like black,,

    An early nominee for New Member of the Year! Great post, although I don't think this should preclude people from asking, or others from attempting to answer, but rather it's something that people need to keep in mind when they do ask.
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  • photocrazy
    photocrazy Posts: 89
    edited January 2011
    Cmiller wrote: »
    I had to join,just for this topic..I have a pair of Rti10 along with a Onkyo 608,and ive been trying to figure out also how to get more bass out of them,i was even going to buy a new receiver to add a amp.But..i tried 1 more thing for the Rti10 and it worked.I Bi Amped them and used tone control to upped the bass and now they sound great! ..So im guessing the added seperate power to the Rti10 was needed..

    does bi-amping makes a difference ?
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  • Gadabout
    Gadabout Posts: 1,072
    edited January 2011
    photocrazy wrote: »
    does bi-amping makes a difference ?

    You probably won't hear much of a difference biamping from just your AVR.

    See if you can find an older B & K amp. You should be able to get one for $200 - $300. (Maybe less on Ebay) That's assuming your AVR has preouts.

    You won't regret adding an amplifier to the RT110's

    Scott
    Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ..... Frank Zappa
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