Polk Audio RTi70 Review

VR3

I Felt the other thread was a bad place for the review...so here it is...

Polk Audio RTi70 Review
Three Parts
1) Build Quality/Look
2) Sound
3) Overall

-- System Break Down --

Pre/Receiver: Pioneer Elite VSX-41
Main Amp: Adcom GFA-545
Mains: Polk Audio RTi70
Subwoofer: M&K MX-90
CD Player: Yamaha CDC-585
Wire: 12 AWG Home Depot
Cable Between Amp and Receiver: Radioshack Gold Cable
Cable Between CD Player and Receiver: LAB (Adcom) Cables

Polk is Notorious for their build quality. My Dad and I were in Circuit City and the first thing he said about the Polk over the Infinity was the Cabinetry was of a much finer quality. Build quality, and the veneer is very big on me. I don't want to spend $600.00 on a speaker to receive 1/4 inch thick sides with a vinyl siding. That is not what I want to waste my money on. So let me get this started...

-- Build Quality/Looks --



Wood Finish: The Polk Audio RTi70 has a very nice wood veneer. It covers the entire speaker, from head to toe. However, I am not fond of the entire speaker being wood. I like the plastic curve on the RT35i. The RT35i has a more naturally blended look than the RTi70; as it is more straight forwards with itself and looks a tad bit more serious. The finish overall is smooth, well sanded and stained.

Construction: This speaker is put together very well. I am not sure that I can say that for the Power Port (Bass Plate) on the bottum of this speaker. I won't even use it as a handle to pick the speaker up. I tried to and felt the MDF slightly give in and that ended that. The speaker though overall is well constructed. It keeps cabinet resonaunce to a min. even at higher volumes. It vibrates, but not as much as some speakers in this price range. The speaker looks to be about 3/4 - 1 inch thick. I am not sure how much MDF is on the interrior of that speaker. But there looks to be about 1/2 inch Wood Skin on the exterrior of this speaker. The Front baffle (the piece below the grill that sticks out more than the rest of the speaker) is double layered and gives a more solid feel to this speaker. Excellant job by Polk overall.

Grille: I have a new respect for this grill. After doing a side by side test between the grilles; I noticed that along with that styrofoam look is a very good quality fabric that is light years ahead of the RTxxxi grille. It is much better quality, although it dosn't look near as good to me. The RTixxx grille has a design in it. Looks kinda like a spider web. Very good quality stuff. I love the new Logo. The White/Red on black looks sweet. It makes this speaker look really cool. That is, against the all white on black logo comparison.

Base Plate/Power Port: Polk I am very dissapointed in this. Although I have had no problem with the base plates or anything. I can see from trying to pick it up one time that the thing is cheaply done. Although it is thick, about 1.5 inches thick. This dosnt solve anything in reality. I was putting the carpet spikes, and at any sign of resistance I started over hoping this would get over with. Last thing I wanted to do was crack the base plate. Polk, please re-think this on the next series you release. Please.

VR3

I just took some pictures. About 20 to be exact; I will upload them at my Dad's house this weekend. I also plan to get the sound review done tommorow. If I can't get it done tommorow, I will have to wait until Monday. Monday may be more suitable.

Stay Tuned...

danger boy

hey i thought you were going to wait till the speakers had time to burn in properly? You must be overexcited to post a review.

VR3

Well.......

The build construction and wood finish has to break in?

Im not a big believer in break in honestly....

RuSsMaN

Wow Sid, after all you have owned TONS of new gear. A real variety in your 14-15 yrs?

Pfffft.

Oh, I know you are excited, but please don't upload TWENTY pics of RTi70's. We all know what they look like.

Cheers,
Russ

izafar

Sid,

Please consider replacing that HD wire you are using for RTi70. You will hear a lot of difference if you even move to cheapest moster XP cable. When I moved from HD wire to biwire with XP, I reaaly felt like a blanket has been removed from the speakers. Try this and I am sure you will not regrett this change.

-izafar

VR3

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Wow Sid, after all you have owned TONS of new gear. A real variety in your 14-15 yrs?

Pfffft.

Oh, I know you are excited, but please don't upload TWENTY pics of RTi70's. We all know what they look like.

Cheers,
Russ

You are not one of the brightest of stars in the sky are you??

I took 20 pics. Many messed up with the Auto Zoom. Some, I took different shots of the RTi70 to see which came out good or not, took pics of the things with the grilles on and off. Etc...took pictures of the new room setup, etc.

No I havnt *owned* alot of speakers. Although, I have heard many different kinds - from some of the best, to the very worst.

I am replacing the HD wire with IXOS wire and Radioshack Fusion Cables later on....don't worry

VR3

Review Number Two - Sound (Long)

-- Sound --

Treble - The Silk tweeter is much smoother than the Tri Lam. This being said, does not change the fact at higher volumes that the Silk Tweeter is just as harsh as the Tri Lam. I feel the Silk is a tad bit more detailed, but the Tri Lam has a more tangy sound to it. Is a little bit more nerve racking (The Tri Lam) in comparison (of the Silk). The Silk is very close to being as smooth as the Infinity line. The Infinity's hold a much clearer, and smoother top end; I just feel that the Infinity lacks depth and detail. Overall, the new Silk Tweeter is much more crisp and smooth, but about as detailed as the Tri Lam; It all boils down to listening preferences really.

Mids - The RTi70, having two woofers, and not one like the Bookshelfs below it makes everything about the RTi70 more wider, deeper, clearer, detailed than the lower lined bookshelfs (This is my opinion), and the Infinity Towers close to its price range. Where the Infinity had missing bass, and impact; the RTi70 was there to show it up. The vocals, instruments had more punch, vibrancy, and fullness in comparison to the Infinity. I couldn't believe the difference overall in this area. The RTi70 was a brick, and the Infinity was a hollow stump.

Bass - The RTi70 blends very well with my M&K, as the M&K loves to have a speaker paired with it that can play some bass notes. (Mainly because the M&K is very weak, and hollow on anything above 60hz.) Anyway, the RTi70 has major punch for dual 6.5" woofers. They offer major slam on anything over 40hz. On the downside, they are rather weak on everything below that. According to Polk they can hit down to 28hz(?). I can believe this (at probally like 5db...). But the bass on this speaker is very accurate, and not one bit boomy. The drivers don't bottum out easy, and they don't rattle. Overall in this area; the RTi70 is a perfect 2 channel speaker. Especially if you are into Rap or any type of music that is real heavy above 35-40hz. Other than that, they would need a dedicated sub for the bottum end.

-- Drums --

Bass Drum - The RTi70 really passes in my book with drums. Especially with Dream Theater. It does double bass very well. The bass does not carry on when it dosn't need to and remains accurate at all times never lagging. The bass isn't over powering or anything, and the bass drum sounds full and forceful. My friend has drums, as many of my friends do and standing infront of a bass drum while its getting pounded, and then infront of my RTi70 and M&K --- I can't really say there is a big difference. Maybe a little less impact. But the RTi70 does the bass drum very richfully.

Toms - The RTi70 does the toms very well. Kinda hollow sounding in comparison really. But not really noticeable with many rock recordings, but you don't really notice when Dream Theater's Drummer is filling the entire room with a drum solo. It does the Floor Tom very well. Very loud and forceful (nothing over powering). The RTi70 also sounds kinda hollow on the Floor Tom. Kinda like the drum is out of tune, but once again - nothing to noticeable. The drums are not Polk's strong point (RT series anyways, clearly MO)

Cymbals - The Silk tweeter does cymbals very well. At higher volumes, around 101db or so. Which is expected with a 5.5 foot space between each other the Silks get rather harsh. It is overall, tolerable. I don't listen this loud to often, just testing the limits. But the cymbals sound very natural at around 98-99db. They roll off just right, and don't sound overly bright like Klipsch. Infinity's tweeter does Cymbals alot better than the Polk's tweet. This is where Infinity's hollowness and clear/smooth/non-harsh tweeters come into play. The Cymbals roll off smoothly without resistance. Where as the Polk's sound kinda strained. This may be that the Tweeter on the Polk is not all the way broken in yet.

Snare - The snare is rich, in your face, and life like sounding. This is where the RT35i failed considerably. It just couldn't seem to manage this part of the drums. However, the RTi70 takes it with a couple of laughs and then some. But like the toms, the snare sounds a tad fake. But once again, nothing to noticeable.

Overall - The Polk has a slight artificail(sp) sound to them in most regions of the drums. Although in the sense of the price, it is not highly noticeable. They do a way better job than the RT35i at most things (like the Bass Drum, snare, and cymbals.) The cymbals sound a bit sweeter on the Infinity towers but more prescence on the Polks. The toms, although better - sound kinda out of tune, but kinda is like half of a T in tune. Not highly noticeable. Might be the recording. In the price range though, the Polk excells far above its competition.

-- Guitar --

Acoustic - Here we are! Polk's strongest point. The RTi70 just does the acoustic guitar so well. There is a track on Dream Theater's Awake where this speaker REALLY shines. The acoustic guitar just soars across the front soundstage with a very true to life sound. You can hear each individual string being strummed, no strings being left behind. It covers it all, and does it with impact. Those of you that have played an acoustic guitar, you know the strings kinda have a back lash and you can kinda feel the frequencies going through the room. Well the RTi70 does an awesome job of recreating that. You can hear the pick ocassionally, but so far as I can see this is just a mear dream for the Polk.

Electric - This speaker also does this very well. Dream Theater's guitar solos are mainly done with Electric, and has different sound fields playing with it. The RTi70 can easily do everyone of the sound fields Dream Theater throws out and wants more. With each string going out into the air, you just kinda sit back and relax and listen. It kinda traps the guitarist infront of you and leaves his position unknown yet you know where the dude is at all times. This is where Infinity really fails. This is where it's hollowness kicks it straight in the balls and gets to hear the Polk laugh out loud at it. The Polk just really re-creates the guitar very well. Probally one of Polk's strongest strong points in their speakers. (IMO).

Overall - Polks really excells in the guitar. It seems to be able to capture every string, note, solo, rift, tone, soundfield that can be thrown at it with the guitar. Be it acoustic or electric. The Polk just really flys through it and laughs. Where it has problems re-creating the drums, the guitar is just there for it. It has the string impact of the acoustic, and the smoothness of the electric all in a box. Guitar is just one thing to listen to on with the Polk.

Bass Guitar - This mainly M&K duty. But for what it does, the RTi70 does alot better than the RT35i. That is a major duh, but what else can I say. It does it fluently. Nothing really all that mouth dropping.

Vocals - The RTi70 does vocals very well. The RT35i sounded kinda trapped within the box when doing male, or female vocals. The RT35i did male vocals kinda like listening to a singer with major alergies. Male vocals are also where the Infinity fails. Anyway, back to the Polk. The Rti70 does the vocals with a high sense of force. IE: In your face and all over the place. At times, I was tempted to pull out a measuring tape and measure the vocal height and then go to the bands website and see if the height was right. Because that is just how pin point accurate the RTi70 is in the sweet spot. The RTi70 just really lays it down infront of you and lets your ears mingle with it.

Female vocals, I havn't spent alot of time listening to female vocals on this speaker yet. However - from my experience listening to them. The RTi70 does them much better than the RT35i. The Infinity does Female vocals very well however, mainly because the mids on the Infinity are cleaner, and clearer and dosn't need alot of bass to play the female voice. But with the Infinity tweet/woof combo the vocals remain clean, and sweet. The RTi70 does the same practically, but can get kinda harsh on the top end of things at higher volumes and peaks. The mids though, are much more vibrant and lively than the RT35i.

VR3

No one have enough energy to read that? lol

I have a summarized section under each section for you lazy folk...

dorokusai

Great review Trey, you have finally reached the pinnacle of decent worthwhile reading....for at least 3 minutes

VR3

:cool: Thank ya....lol....thats funny :cool:

VR3

Soundstage - This is where the Polk RTi70 really starts to wipe the floor against the RT35i. The RT35i alone could never satisfy me as a stereo pair. It was just to enclosed, and center focused for me to really enjoy it. The RTi70 is a more wide spread speaker, as it can easily fill my entire room with sound. (Which, for a speaker its size is a no brainer.) That not being what I am talking about, as the RT35i is more than capable as a speaker to fill my room with sound; it just dosn't accomplish this. The RTi70 takes authority in the center, and on the outside. Occasionally in the back when called on. It has perfect height perception, the vocals are about where the mouth of the singer would be. It is kinda tempting to pull out a tape measure and measure it and compare heights. It's very pinpoint with the vocals. The drums are alot more wide spread than the RT35i could manage. The guitars are alot more to the side and laid out for your brain to mingle with and run with the sound its sending your ears. This was something the 35i dreamed of, and thats all it did; dream.

Overall - I am very satisfied with the RTi70. It fills the taste of sound I like. It has a more open midrange than any other speaker in it's price range that I have heard. Although it is not the clearest, it is the more open (widespread) sounding midrange I have heard. It holds a certain depth, and holds alot more impact and volume with it than my bookshelf counterparts could manage and would literally say forget you and run away. Where the 35i would need to be pushed to rediculous levels to gain the mass of volume I was hunting; the RTi70 sorda coast.

I have become to like the new grill style vs. the old one. It has a more refined look to it. It looks much more expensive than most grills that you would get in this price range. It also dosn't attract alot of dust or anything so that is really cool. I have noticed it dosn't get dirty as bad as the old grills did.

I like the new tweeter alot more than the Tri-Lam. Although, I had to turn the receiver treble tone down to -4 to get it to my taste. Right now though it is at the level I want it to be, and is very pleasing to the ears.The bass is something I have been thirsting for for quite a while. It makes the M&K sounds worlds better. I was playing a familiar bass track (Evanescence - Bring me to life). Where the M&K would normally bottum out, it played very clean (as it is crossed at 65hz and runs alot cleaner than 120hz - Yes, once I turned the RTi70 to Large on my receiver, the internal crossover shut off; thank god!)

The RTi70 is one of Polk's best RT line speaker that I have heard. This is clearly my opinion, but I have heard all of the RTixxx line and this is by far my favorite of the group. If anyone can find these speakers at a good price or at a retail store (for those who want the warranty like I did), I say go for it!

VR3

Here is my front soundstage...kinda....I took the 2 pics at different angles....arnt I the smart one??

VR3

hmm.... Here is the left and right main....

VR3

hmmm.....New Sub placement....

VR3

Amps....DVD...VCR

VR3

Heres my good ol DESK! weeeee....

faster100

next on the upgrade path, Digital camera..

VR3

Nah, its my Dad. They would be alot better...but...my room is VERY dark. So...I had to doctor them so u could actually see the dang pics...thats why they look so bad. Not really the camera...

faster100

wanna sell that optimus prime?? LOL is that an original?

VR3

1982. Bought it at a Convention a couple years back. I have about 30 Originals.

Transformers are the bomb. I have about every Optimus Prime variation, from the 1982 Original (none after that) -- then when Beast Wars started I bought alot of them...

Then the Japan series that came over here, I bought the Fire Truck variation of him. I always looked for a Megatron but never could find one reasonably priced. I found a Galvatron with a missing gun piece (the detachable end).

Later on I tried to collect the Dino-Bots. I found Grimlock and the Triceratops, I done forgot his name. The other 2 or 3 were real expensive. To expensive for me. The Terradactal(sp) was over 140 dollars (out of box).

VR3

Only 1 guy with enough energy to read...*sigh* sad world it is...

Demiurge

Let me say this:


This was a good review Trey. I think you actually have a talent for this sort of thing, and it's a career path I think you may want to follow if you're so inclined. Be it HT Journalism, Working in a HT environment, or running your own HT business. For being 14, and posessing this kind of knowledge of Home Theatre you're well on your way.

Keep sticking with it, and never stop learning about this subject matter. Trust me....there is nothing more valueable than doing a job thats more of a hobby.

Of course this is the only faction of your life that I know anything about. You may be a talented baskeball player, or what have you. I'm solely basing this opinion on what I know about you thus far. Of course you have a lot to learn, but don't let it stop you.

On another note....I think the reason you're not getting the response you were looking for is because these are speakers that have been reviewed thousands of times before. Don't let it discourage you though. I think putting a thread like this together and practicing writing out reviews is a good thing. You won't regret it in the future.

Dave

VR3

Thank ya for the kind words Dave.

We all learn alot, one day at a time

If it werent for these guys (id be alot richer) but would still have a JVC shelf system

rskarvan

Trey... you are only 14... WOW ! ! !
I have the RT800i's and I agree with your review 110%.
Wish I had the silk tweeter... but, the in-your-face tri-lam has a certain appeal also.

EXCELLENT REVIEW ! ! !
Much more accurate than a half of Stereophiles, etc.

GOOD WORK ! ! !

Loud & Clear

Trey or Sid? Either way I enjoyed your reviews.

It could be that the power outages have taken people away from the board, and as a result have limited the responses you've received.

VR3

Yeah im 14. Nickname on here is Sid thanks to Troy. He said I look like Sid from Toy Story...lol but my name is Trey.

Thanks for the comments. I think people on stereophile get paid to review junk because their all the same recomending the product...they even say Bose is good for the price. You know at that point their FOS...

pjdami

Mx,

Very nice writeup there young man. You do have an uncanny talent to write down things that you hear that I and many others have trouble putting down into words. I mean I know when something sounds obviously better, but to put it down into the kind of words that you do is just good talent. Like I have said before your English teachers will like you a lot with your writing talents. Now if you could just get them to accept audio reviews instead of poetry reviews you're well onto getting an "A".

By the way, I think you hit it right on the head with your comparison between the RT35i and RTi70 as I am very familiar with both. I prefer the new silk dome tweeter as well.

Glad to see you enjoying your new speakers dude. For the money you spent those are the best speakers out there for you. Nice choice and Rock on!!

PJ

VR3

I can do Poetry too...

I just prefer to write it than review it

pjdami

Party on dude. Is this what you are trying to recreate in your bedroom?

VR3

Heck yes!