More Monitors... or new RTi A's?

piker

Hello to all of you! This will be my first post as a Polk member. Before I begin, here is my current setup.

Polk Monitor 60 FL & FR
Polk CS1 Center
Polk Monitor 50 RS L & RS R
Polk PSW505 Sub
Onkyo TX-NR808 AVR

I am currently stuck deciding on whether or not I want to make the jump to a couple RTi A7's and CSi A6 that I have had my eye on for a while now. I've read great things about those speakers, but have no idea how much of an improvement in sound quality I would get. I don't want to drop the big money on the RTi A series if it won't be a big improvement. I don't have a way to audition these anywhere near where I live.

Do you think I would be better off upgrading to Monitor 70's and a CS2 for the front sound stage and moving the 60's to the surround position? I know it's a lot cheaper... but I'm very picky about audio quality and I'm willing to spend more if I will actually hear a difference.

The reason I'm so on the fence about it is because I know if I buy the 70's now, I'll likely feel the urge to upgrade everything in a couple years. If I buy RTi A7's, then I would probably be keeping those as my anchor to my HT for years and years to come.

Would using Monitor 60's as surrounds with a RTi A7 front stage sound funny?

Any thoughts and comments are definitely welcome!

IRLRaceFan

I sort of went through the same thing a few months ago - I have a set of M70's, but wanted "more"...
I REALLY like the RTi A9's, on paper, but ended up going with an LSi set up for music.

Most people here will tell you that the RTi A line is best for Home Theater and LSi for music. I still have yet to listen to a set of RTi A's, but everyone who advised me that the LSi line is a huge jump up from the Monitor line, said the RTi A's were also a jump up and they were NOT wrong about the LSi's!!!!

You probably can't go wrong with either, but I sure am glad with the choice I made!

One other thought... Try buying an external amp before new speakers. In most cases, an amp will be a very nice improvement and as you move up the speaker "food chain", you will REALLY benefit from having one (will be a MUST in some cases).

Hope this somewhat helps you and good luck finding the sound that is right for YOU.

Shaun

intangible

Incremental upgrades are boring. Jumping up a series or two gives a wow factor that moving within a series generally won't provide. I'd go for the RTis or something better.

Welcome to Club Polk.

Lietuvis91

IRLRaceFan wrote: »

One other thought... Try buying an external amp before new speakers. In most cases, an amp will be a very nice improvement and as you move up the speaker "food chain".

Shaun

This is what i would do in your case. Since you have an avr with preouts, you can get a quality amp to run your setup, which WILL make a difference. And later if u upgrade the speakers, you will already have the power to feed them.

piker

Thank you guys for the suggestions. I actually just scored a deal just a half hour ago locally on some used M70's. I got the pair of them for $250, and they are in like-new condition. I'm cashing in on Newegg's sale for the CS2 center ($109) right now to complete the slight upgrade.

I'll get an amp first and see how I like it with the current setup. It might be enough for me.

I do about a 60/30/10 split between gaming, home theater, and music listening. Not sure a mix of RTI A7's and Monitor surrounds would sound right while gaming.