hello all! this noob just purchased 2 rti a9's

slk55amg

The blue lights are cool, My Emo works for me, would I prefer a Krell, sure I would, maybe at some point if I have lots cash sitting around I will get one, till than I am not unhappy with the Emo....................................

cstmar01

John K. wrote: »

John, welcome to Club Polk. The first point is that you appear to have a misunderstanding about how amplification works. You can't "give" a speaker more power just by connecting a more powerful amplifier. The speaker uses only as much power as it needs for the sound level at a particular instant in time. For a comfortably loud average level around 80-85dB at the listening position, speakers of average sensitivity, such as your RTi A9s, use about 1 watt. At that moment it doesn't matter if the amplifier can supply a maximum of 10 watts, 100 watts or 1000 watts, only 1 watt is used. Of course there are brief peaks which require much more power for maybe a fraction of a second, but even this can typically be taken care of by receivers rated anywhere in the 100-150 watt area.

You're possibly referring to the excellent buy on the Onkyo 808 factory refurb from Accessories4less. This is strongly recommended, as it has all the maximum power capacity that you'll need for safe(to your hearing)listening levels. It also has the Audyssey MultEQ automatic calibration and room equalization system, which is a significant advantage over otherwise similar receivers. Factory refurbished units, which I use with great satisfaction, have been individually inspected, and should be at least as reliable as those which are brand new.

really?

I thought you said it would have to have at least 100-150 watts per channel. Have you done a test bench on this model to prove this?

Per its specs it can only do 100W with 2 channels driven...hmm so what if you have 5, pretty sure its not going to be around there.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-NR808&class=Receiver&p=s


The Pio SC series is a good way to go. A9's still will perform well if you add more power later on as it does have pre outs.

jmd1982

oh wow thanks john i love this forum more and more

jmd1982

okay well i decided after reading many reviews to go with the sc-37.. its probably a little more than i wanted to spend but it should be something i have for a long while (hopefully)

so with that being said for now i'll have the sc-37 powering the 2 towers untill i get some more spare money together for the rest of my setup

could you guys recommend a specific cable/banana plug i should purchase to complete this setup for now

jmd1982

okay that seems fair if i go with the signal ultra (http://signalcable.com/ultraspeaker.html)

do i need the single or bi wire for now? and i only need 2 for now correct? (1 for each rti a9)

slk55amg

start out single, you can add if need be...........................................

cstmar01

Single run is more than fine. The jumpers are nice but not needed if you just want to get started at first. Ultra is good stuff and well made.

jmd1982

thanks guys, does frank usually take a while to respond to emails? i sent him an email last night and still haven't heard from him. iam probably being a little impatient with everything but iam excited to get everything going and progress my learning

EDUBAG

erik tracy wrote: »

what you are describing is called 'bi-wiring' (sometimes mistaken for 'bi-amping') which would require 2 sets of speaker cables per speaker from the amp: One set would power the 'bass' drivers of the rtia9s and the 2nd set would power the 'treble' drivers of the rtia9s.

So, the rtia9s would not really be getting a combined 200+200 watts for 400 watts, but rather the bass drivers would get 200 and the treble drivers would get 200.

I have not personally done any tests to see if this makes a difference or not, but here on cp, the consensus seems to be that bi-wiring is not worth it, so buying an xpa-5 would be a waste for a bi-wired set up.

If it were my money, i'd get a good avr first (make sure it has pre-outs for all speaker channels so that you can add an external amp - but if you are considering the pio elite series then these do have pre-outs), then get a good external 2-channel amp - or both at the same time if i had the money for both an avr and a 2-channel amp.

You have to factor in related costs for good quality interconnect cables from the avr to the external amp, and then good speaker cabling as well. So that could chew up some dollars in your budget that folks often overlook.

first,

welcome to the forum.

Secondly i would listen to what erik has to say since he has a lot of experience and a lot of repect from this forum.

I beleive that you (like a lot of new people to the hobby, myself included some time ago) are paying too much attention to the numbers and you will learn here and by experience that numbers give you an idea sometimes but are not the determining factor to good sound.

You do not need to fill the 500 watts capacty from the 9's, i doubt your ears can handle the volume that you would get from 500 watts anyways (it would be very loud and bad sound). So buy a higher quality avr, like pio elites sc series, or go with a rotel pre/pro combo or alike. I push my rtia7 with a rotel rb990 bx, but i am sure you can get the 9's to sing with the rb1080 (i beleive) or the rb1090 which are great amps and ore modern than mine.

So i recommend: A two channel amp capable of pushing your towers speakers and let the avr handle the rest of speakers. Maybe get a three channel amp (emo xp3), but i dont think it wouldb be necessary.

Sorry for the long post but if i had somebody to give me advice (or i sought it) before buying my speakers my system would have 9 instead of 7 and i would have saved a lot of steps and money getting where i am right now (which is not even close to where i want to be)

good luck

eduardo.

jmd1982

for the price do you guys feel the signal silver resolution are worth the extra $ comared to the ultra?

i think iam reading that copper is better for music with lots of bass such has hip hop or club type genres.. is this true?

btw thank you edubag

jmd1982

should i go with a bi-wire silver for highs copper for bass or am i getting wayy too technical with all this

Erik Tracy

:biggrin:

jmd1982 wrote: »

should i go with a bi-wire silver for highs copper for bass or am i getting wayy too technical with all this

Too technical...padawan....this is a path which you will always be on...there is no destination....:biggrin:

jmd1982

thanks erik

one last question before i order. iam sorry for so many questions but all this reading on debates for bi wiring is driving me insane.

iam going to go with the ultras for now (copper)
should i go with singles with jumpers
or biwires

the price of both quoted from frank isnt that big of a difference so iam not worried about that, just want to make the best connection possible.

also should i go with these ics? or dont bother

http://signalcable.com/analogtwo.html

Erik Tracy

jmd1982 wrote: »

thanks erik

one last question before i order. iam sorry for so many questions but all this reading on debates for bi wiring is driving me insane.

iam going to go with the ultras for now (copper)
should i go with singles with jumpers
or biwires

the price of both quoted from frank isnt that big of a difference so iam not worried about that, just want to make the best connection possible.

also should i go with these ics? or dont bother

http://signalcable.com/analogtwo.html

I have no direct experience with the Signal Audio products...you probably should wait for others to chime in.

As for biwire vs singles....start singles....you will probably change components and cables over time...remember this is your start!

Enjoy the sonic goodness and then get some time logged with your system first before you decide the next step!

jmd1982

okay my speakers and receiver are high quality (i believe)

polk rti a9's
pioneer elite sc-37
(rest of 5.1/7.1 speakers later to come)
(amps soon to come)

so i just want to make sure wiring isnt holding me back

single with stock jumpers?

Erik Tracy

jmd1982 wrote: »

okay my speakers and receiver are high quality (i believe)

polk rti a9's
pioneer elite sc-37
(rest of 5.1/7.1 speakers later to come)
(amps soon to come)

so i just want to make sure wiring isnt holding me back

single with stock jumpers?

You should post a pic of the grin you're gonna have when you get this all set up and you start enjoying the music!

You are off to a vg start.

Outfitter03

So what are you going to use as a source? Have to have something to feed music to these bad boys!

jmd1982

Hey outfitter,

I have a 24" touch screen hanging on a wall which is linked to a dedicated computer running jukebox software. Most of the files are high quality mp3s known as flacs. So hopefully it sounds okay . Also I will have them hooked to a 63 inch plasma for movies

mdaudioguy

jmd1982 wrote: »

Hey outfitter,

I have a 24" touch screen hanging on a wall which is linked to a dedicated computer running jukebox software. Most of the files are high quality mp3s known as flacs. So hopefully it sounds okay . Also I will have them hooked to a 63 inch plasma for movies

MP3s are lossy, while FLAC is a lossless format. Lossless is good. Enjoy!

jmd1982

yes that is correct

i diddnt know if saying just "flac" here would of raised alot of heads

SRTer

jmd1982 wrote: »

okay my speakers and receiver are high quality (i believe)

polk rti a9's
pioneer elite sc-37
(rest of 5.1/7.1 speakers later to come)
(amps soon to come)

so i just want to make sure wiring isnt holding me back

single with stock jumpers?

Hey, did you pick up your new reciever yet?

If not, I just want to let you know that you will get the same performance if you buy the SC-35 or SC-37. They have the same power sections.

I have the SC-35 with Polk RTi A9's and it's nice.
SC models sound great after mic auto cal but there are still a few adjustments I would recommend to the EQ.

If you have any questions about the setup or anything, let me know. I will try to help you.

Enjoy the sound of fullness from you RTi A9's

My setup thread
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117648

jmd1982

hey ster yes i purchased it already, the thing that made me go with the 37 over the 35 was the wireless play feature

SRTer

jmd1982 wrote: »

hey ster yes i purchased it already, the thing that made me go with the 37 over the 35 was the wireless play feature

Well, enjoy. Have you hooked up your system to see what it sound like?

Are you going to do a Stereo, or HT (5.1 or 7.1) later?

If so, what are you going to do for the center, rears, and sub?

jmd1982

well your gonna laugh but i havnt received any of my items yet... (lol)

the speakers should be here monday and the receiver should be here tuesday (i believe)

and iam waiting on franks reply for the wiring, so its going to be another week or so before i can hear anything. untill then i'll be doing alot of reading. by the way i checked out your setup, that is pretty sweeet

jmd1982

how do you guys feel about this cable
http://www.audio-direct.com/p-47733-type-4-star-quad-geometry-speaker-cables-8-ft-pair.aspx

vs the signal brand?

Erik Tracy

jmd1982 wrote: »

how do you guys feel about this cable
http://www.audio-direct.com/p-47733-type-4-star-quad-geometry-speaker-cables-8-ft-pair.aspx

vs the signal brand?

AQ Type-4s are definitely a step up over lamp cord.

As long as you get a good deal - they are vg performer.

Have you tried to find used deals on speaker cables at audiogon.com?

I've picked up veritable 'steals' there...

gfong

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As above states, go used if looking for speaker cables. I picked up a pristine set of Audioquest Type 4's off a member on here and also picked up another set off of Audiogon.
Picked up my sub cable for half price as well.

Type 4
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablspkr&1305572356&/Audioquest-Type-4-10Ft

Erik Tracy

You could also try these at a heck of a deal (thanks Keiko):
http://www.mitcablesexpress.com/exp-b-stock-sale.html

gp4jesus

EDUBAG wrote: »

first,

welcome to the forum.

Secondly i would listen to what erik has to say since he has a lot of experience and a lot of repect from this forum.

I beleive that you (like a lot of new people to the hobby, myself included some time ago) are paying too much attention to the numbers and you will learn here and by experience that numbers give you an idea sometimes but are not the determining factor to good sound.

You do not need to fill the 500 watts capacty from the 9's, i doubt your ears can handle the volume that you would get from 500 watts anyways (it would be very loud and bad sound). So buy a higher quality avr, like pio elites sc series, or go with a rotel pre/pro combo or alike. I push my rtia7 with a rotel rb990 bx, but i am sure you can get the 9's to sing with the rb1080 (i beleive) or the rb1090 which are great amps and [m]ore modern than mine.

So i recommend: A two channel amp capable of pushing your towers speakers and let the avr handle the rest of speakers. Maybe get a three channel amp (emo xp3), but i dont think it wouldb be necessary.

Sorry for the long post but if i had somebody to give me advice (or i sought it) before buying my speakers my system would have 9 instead of 7 and i would have saved a lot of steps and money getting where i am right now (which is not even close to where i want to be)

good luck

eduardo.

Ditto. Ditto to EDUBAG, Erik, et al on the connection details etc. Remember your speakers will sound only as good as the amps driving them. And subject to opinion, IMHO that goes double for your amplification. So choose your processor/AVR carefully.

BTW As Eric alluded to, and I agree, consider used Rotel amps. Might be hard to find but RB-991*/3* - 2/3 channel amps. 1080* or 1090*, great choices, too.
* I'm headed that way

At the risk of a flame-out from someone, every Rotel review I've read says Rotel amps will net you near Krell/Levinson sound quality & performance at lower $. You should find used at about what you're lookin' to spend on some of the above mentioned amps new.

Cheers tony

jmd1982

is the 1090 the best choice out of the 3 listed?

if iam reading this correctly the 1090 is a 2 channel amp
wouldnt i need a 3 channel for my front 2 speakers and center channel?