Upgrading from Monitor 50 to RTI

matchan

Hi Folks,

This is my first post here. I am a huge Polk fan and have a dedicated HT with the following equipment

Polk Monitor 50 fronts
Csi A6 center
Tsi100 surrounds
PS505 sub
Onkyo 606


My room is 22x15x10

The upgrade bug bit me and I'm looking to move up , starting with the floorstanding speakers. I'm considering the getting
the RTI series

Options are

RTI8 (from ebay polk store)
or
RTI A5/7

95% HT, 5% music

Questions:

1.Would the RTI series be a big step up from the Monitor series ?
2.RTI8 seems to be replaced by the A5. Is there a significant difference between these two?
3.I have enough bass from the PSW505. Would I need the extra woofer in the A9 ?
4.Can my receiver (90wpc) handle the RTI8/A5/A7. I know it cant do justice to the A9.

Thanks a lot
Madras

pstrev

I was recently bit by the same bug. From what I have read/learned in doing my research...

1. RTi A7/9 should be powered with an external amp.
2. A5's are very good for HT.
3. Somehow the new wood finish in the RTi A series produces better sounds than the previous models- and looks a TON better.

I am not an expert- but quite the novice. But I'm learning. And what I've learned as fact so far, is that my new RTi A system sounds great for HT and music (looks great too). Good luck.

Pat

cnh

Any A series tower you choose will be a big improvement over your M-50s! But as for me. I'm not a fan of the A7s. I prefer the A9s; go big and do it right the first time.

The A9s will give you the best combo for HT and 'music' in two channel if you want to do double duty!

Though, for HT, the A7s are fine!

cnh

gudnoyez

I agree with pstrev the Rti a5's and Rti A3's do the trick sound great for HT and sound good for music I'am happy with mine if I ever got the upgrade bug I would skip the 7's and get the 9's along with a different AVR. the 9s as fronts and the 5s as rears would be awesome, fortunatley the 5's and 3's keep me happy, and not looking to upgrade anytime soon.

Upstatemax

The A7 is a great speaker...

Yes, the A9 is nice, but it's HUGE and likes lots and lots of power. The A7's are easier to drive and much more space friendly.

It still has a great midrange, very detailed, and nice punchy bass.

matchan

cnh wrote: »

The A9s will give you the best combo for HT and 'music' in two channel if you want to do double duty!
cnh

Can you please help me understand how 1 extra woofer and 1 extra midrange will make 2 ch stereo music sound better ? For bass, I have a powerful sub.

Thanks..

Lietuvis91

You are UPGRADING, because you want QUALITY sound, right?

I don't see how a 606 will do a9s, or a7s for that matter, any justice, especially in a 5.1 setup. IF you are going to replace your receiver, then you can consider those bigger towers, but if you are sticking with the onkyo 606, a5s and a1 or a3 will already drain the living lights out of that receiver. Without a receiver upgrade, dont waste your time with bigger speakers, there's no point, your receiver doesn't have the juice. Besides, you already have a good sub, so no need for all those woofers anyway, you shouldn't run those speakers below 80hz anyway...

Typically, a smaller speaker powered correctly will sound better than an underpowered big speaker.

jbooker82

matchan wrote: »

Can you please help me understand how 1 extra woofer and 1 extra midrange will make 2 ch stereo music sound better ? For bass, I have a powerful sub.

Thanks..

Especially when they have the same tweeter. It will show a different part number because the plastic housing around it has two cut outs to snuggle it inbetween two dirvers. Where the A7 just have one.

I got the RTI A7's because I planed on powering them with a AVR for a while. I didnt want monsterous speakers beside my TV ethire.

The A7s would be a better choice over the 5's but if you can only afford the 5's I would have no problem running them as well. Since the 7's have a woofer, midrange, and a tweeter vs. the 5's just having two midrange drivers and a tweeter.

Yes a good sub will fill in the bottom end of ethire speaker as well.

matchan

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

IF you are going to replace your receiver, then you can consider those bigger towers, but if you are sticking with the onkyo 606, a5s and a1 or a3 will already drain the living lights out of that receiver.

Good point . So if 90wpc is not sufficient to power the A7 to give me quality sound, how much clean wpc do I need ? Will an Onkyo 809 hold up well?

jbooker82

I use a tx-nr808

SRTer

matchan wrote: »

Good point . So if 90wpc is not sufficient to power the A7 to give me quality sound, how much clean wpc do I need ? Will an Onkyo 809 hold up well?

Here is the problem some are voicing here. Assuming you have the Onkyo TX-SR606 A/V Receiver, this AVR makes 81.2 watts in 5-channel mode and less in 7 channel mode per channel.

Home Theater Mag Test of the Onkyo TX-SR606
http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-sr606-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures

Your AVR doesn't seem to have preouts therefore a dedicated amp seems to be out the question.

Your AVR will not be giving speakers like the RTi A9's or A7's as much power as I would think most people want to put to these beautiful speakers.

My suggestion would be the RTi8's or RTi A5's (which are basically the same speaker) would be a perfect match for your AVR power. With an 80Hz crossover and your sub, you can set it and forget it.

I personally owned four RTi8's with a CSi A6 center and loved it. I stepped up the RTi A line because of upgrade-i-tis and not because anything was really missing.

Secondly, if you are not really looking for the more tight and punchy bass the extra woofers in the RTi A7's/9's create since you have a sub you like, then there no need to waste the money.

I own RTi A9's and A7's which I run off of an AVR. Many say you should use a separate amp for these speakers but I find the Pioneer Elite SC-35/37 models to give great sound and sufficient power (somewhere around 135 watts) to these towers in 5 channel mode and 2 channels stereo (150 watts stereo).

Without a doubt, the RTi A line is a step up from the Monitor line. You will love the RTi8's for a great price or the RTi A5's which look soooo good for a little more.

tonyb

Plus avr's with the ice amps in them like the pioneer, don't drop off a cliff power wise when in 5 or 7 channel surround.

When the upgrade bug hits, and those big floorstanders are calling your name in your sleep, think about the electronics that may also have to be upgraded too.

matchan

yes i certainly plan to upgrade the amp - after thanksgiving.. Either Onkyo 809 + Emotiva Xpc-3 or Onkyo 3008.

I want to invest in set of speakers that will keep me from upgrading for another 5 - 8 years atleast!

pstrev

Got my A5's for $260 each, including shipping from an authorized dealer three week ago...:biggrin:

Pat

B Run

I'm really confused by the link SRTer posted... It claims the Onkyo 606 puts out 81.2 watts with 5 channels driven. After clicking around I saw the same test on the Onkyo 5008 and it claims to put out 79.1 watts. Are the seriously trying to say that the 606 is more powerful than the 5008?!?!?

EndersShadow

B Run wrote: »

I'm really confused by the link SRTer posted... It claims the Onkyo 606 puts out 81.2 watts with 5 channels driven. After clicking around I saw the same test on the Onkyo 5008 and it claims to put out 79.1 watts. Are the seriously trying to say that the 606 is more powerful than the 5008?!?!?

read more and realized my original post was incorrect...ignore me...

cnh

matchan wrote: »

Can you please help me understand how 1 extra woofer and 1 extra midrange will make 2 ch stereo music sound better ? For bass, I have a powerful sub.

Thanks..

It's not that simple! The Rti-9s have 'different' crossovers and the mid-high configuration is a D'appolito array (Mid-Tweeter-Mid) with 'smaller' drivers which makes for better imaging and pinpoint source. That D'appolito array is also 'sealed' as opposed to the two way ported configuration on the A7s--this provides a tighter mid/high performance. In my experience the crossovers on the A9s with that array enhance and isolate the mid/high frequency range better than the A7s and also add more low end.

The mid crossover for the A9s is 1.8Khz, the A7s is 2.7khz. Generally speaking the lower the crossover point there the better the vocal clarity and detail--though there are exceptions to that since crossovers are complex systems that can be configured in many ways.

Also, with enough power, you can dispense with your 'sub' for music and engage the pure audio, or direct audio option on your AVR and enjoy a less complicated, simpler 2.0 two channel experience. It's harder to integrate a sub for 2 channel listening than it is to engage it for HT.

But in the end, 'hearing' is believing. The A9s just sound better in 2.0 with enough power behind them IMHO.

cnh

SRTer

tonyb wrote: »

Plus avr's with the ice amps in them like the pioneer, don't drop off a cliff power wise when in 5 or 7 channel surround.

When the upgrade bug hits, and those big floorstanders are calling your name in your sleep, think about the electronics that may also have to be upgraded too.

Man, that's fun! They did called me right up out the bed down to the ATM, to the store, back dock of the store, and then back home. Sleep walking the whole way!:biggrin:

Also, you statement about the Pioneer Elite SC models are correct.

SRTer

cnh wrote: »

Also, with enough power, you can dispense with your 'sub' for music and engage the pure audio, or direct audio option on your AVR and enjoy a less complicated, simpler 2.0 two channel experience. It's harder to integrate a sub for 2 channel listening than it is to engage it for HT.

But in the end, 'hearing' is believing. The A9s just sound better in 2.0 with enough power behind them IMHO.

cnh

I second this.

I listen to Apple Lossless tracks on my iPhone4 in the DIRECT MODE stereo. I don't use the PURE DIRECT mode often because I still like to have my custom EQ that I built with much labor and pain.

It's true, I often leave my sub off weeks at a time inless a really nice movie is coming on or I'm entertaining friends or family and I'm trying to make them jump off the couch.(which they do)

This last weekend, I ran the towers fullrange with sub on while playing BluRay Battle: Los Angeles, 5.1 DTS Master Audio (lossless), bitstream to AVR, on -9dB. Shaking the house during a huge storm outside, so the neighbors wouldn't notice. I noticed the rear surround RTi A7's woofers really moving visually! (center at 80Hz)

I love it man.