The RTi 12's got here

naturallight

WOW...they are big, and heavy. Took me a while to get them out of the box, and set up..not easy to move around..LOL

There is a problem on one speaker , that 2 of the connectors, are funky..you have to move them to make them work. I just connected the good working terminals...speaker works great, but the panel needs to be replaced for any bi amp work. But i will call Polk CS and i'm sure they will send me another.

First impression...just massive speakers..LOL I ran thru some CD's, Zack, Dixie Dreggs, some others. There is no problem with bass. But these speakers do need power. If you don't have that, your not going to get bass.
I put them 1 foot off the back wall...don't see a problem. Except they are really long and stick out in the room. May try moving them closer to the wall...but that may make the bass muddy.

I just got them, so i have not had a lot of time to mess with position. But they seem to sound great. Very accurate, very good sound stage.

I'm very impressed so far...but i have only played a few cd's...and only had a a couple of hours to listen to them. But i can find no fault at this point.

mdaudioguy

Congrats! FYI, the port design does allow for them to be close to a wall, so don't be afraid to experiment. So, what are you powering them with?

polkfarmboy

I think a tube amp really makes the rti series sound magnificent . I have the baby brother rti8 and never really knew how good they could bang until a suck a tube amp their backsides

dekuda

Congrats, I have had them for about 5 years and I love mine. You are right,they need power and they will sing when you feed them. Get a good 2 channel amp if you do not have one already.Preferably something that will tame them down like Parasound or Carver. Match them with a CSi5 and get a good set of cables.You will enjoy them

Dave


Setup:
MARANTZ SR7002 AVR
Parasound HCA1500A Amp
Rotel RCC-1055 Cd Player
Pioneer BD320 Blue Ray
PNF Symphony Speaker Cables
PNF Icon IC/DH Labs IC
Analysis Plus Oval Sub cables
PS Audio xStream Power Cables
Samsung 52 LCD
Mains Polk RTi12s
Center Polk CSi5
Surrounds Definitive Technology BP2X
Subs: Epik Empire,Epik Legend
Dspeaker Anti-Mode 8033C

cnh

Good stuff there! What are you powering the big boys with?

Dekuda's Parasound is a great choice if you need a power amp!

cnh

naturallight

Well believe it or not..I'm running a QSC G5 amp at the moment. Altho not a "supposed" hifi amp. I can find no fault with it. It dose not make the 12's sound bright at all. I have an Onkyo M504....I can hear no difference between the 2 per say. Other people i have talked to say they had a halfler that died, they used this amp.....did not hear alot of difference between the two.

I have not connected the Onkyo up yet, but i did not hear any difference on other speakers. It just has the power the 12's need.

The 12's NEED power. If you don't have it, my guess is your lacking bass.
So far in the few hours i have played them...there lacking nothing.

cnh

An Onkyo M504 is no slouch...should do you fine. I run an Onkyo/Integra P-304 as a pre-amp in a two channel system and it does a nice job. I believe that might be the matching pre for your amp?

Not familiar with your Pro amp but the Onkyo should be somewhat more 'refined'.

Enjoy!

cnh

naturallight

Well the speakers love the Onkyo m-504...even more bass out of them, if thats possiable. I'm not going to call them bright speakers at this point. It's all kind of "stiff" sounding...not real fluid sort of speak.

I should not really be doing any serious listening at this point. the speakers only have 3 hours of play time on them, so gaugeing them against speakers that have been played for years is not fair.

But overall, there pretty great speakers. Anybody who says these don't put out bass, at least for strict 2 channel music ....sorry your just using the wrong equipment. Or you used to over exaggerated bass. These speakers are right on.

Is that the norm with these speakers? They take a while, to lets say "mellow"?

naturallight

WOW is all i can say. I've been playing more stuff. I played the 1812.
The volume was only at about 10 1/2 (oclock) on the Adcom pre. The M-504 was not even breaking a sweat. The bass was massive...forget the cannons..LOL

This was not even pushing the volume ..and you had chest feel punch easy, big time.
Amazing speakers, is all i can say....again Polk has just done things right.

You do hear everything thats wrong with the recording....it kind of sticks out in you face...kind of makes you want to buy better CD's...or better recorded CD's anyway.

dorokusai

They are much bigger in person and from what you expect given the pictures on the internet. I love the outriggers but wish they were made out of steel or aluminum.

Enjoy!!

naturallight

Yeah, the speakers are massive in person..LOL The sound is also massive.

The problem is there very accurate...if there is junk on the CD..you here it. Also if it's EQ's badly...you hear that..in spades. Some Cd's are over EQ'd , compressed, and too much treble. It really shows up on these speakers.

If you put on something like CSN...somebody that knows how to EQ a song...it's amazing. I''m not saying it's a bright speaker...it depends on what you put on...if it's over EQ'd..you hear it. My component's are not bright either. An Adcom preamp, Oknyo M504 poweramp, and a Jolida cd with EH tubes in it. None of this is bright. But you hear overly done stuff right away.

dekuda

[QUOTE. Anybody who says these don't put out bass, at least for strict 2 channel music ....sorry your just using the wrong equipment. Or you used to over exaggerated bass. These speakers are right on.

Is that the norm with these speakers? They take a while, to lets say "mellow"?[/QUOTE]

Well, I am not in the two channel world. But in my opinion, no tower speakers cannot produce bass like a really good sub (or two can do). Now I have been playing with my setup for the past 4 years with these speakers with differant upgrades and such. Here is the thing. When I purshased these used the owner was running these off of a Rotel amp and preamp and with I believe was Tara Lab speaker cables. I could not believe the sound compared to what the RTI10's I had at the time. Here are the upgrades that I installed overtimeto make thes speakers shine.
Added Parasound 1500A amp: This gave my speakers more depth,higher output and a increase in all frequenzies. Many threads here will confirm what a good amp can do for these.You should be able to hear a differance.
Added a good set of speaker cables(PNFSymphony). I do not want to start a war here but I had my teenage son swap them out randomly without me know what was being used. Three out of three times I could always recognize the improvement in the Symphony cables from good monster cables. ( after the third time my son woud not do it anymore....and said I was crazy)
Now,here is the debated one. I have always had two good subs with my RTi's. Evertime I switched my speakers from large to small and sent a mix bass below to my subs the bass was always better. More output,better mids and lows. I know that these are towers that can produce bass but after switching back and forth between the large setting and small I kept them at small. I now let my two Epik subs produce that bass and I will never go back. espicially now with my anti-mode eq coming the bass will only get better.
I also believe that since lower frequencies need more amp power, freeing my fronts from that low bass has given my fronts more detailed mids and highs from the extra power.
My next upgrade will be to get a dedicated preamp. But not for awhile yet
Try differant things and listen. Let your ears be the judge!

dorokusai

Your findings are in line with what most ppl experience. They can certainly produce a lot of bass but a subwoofer is a specific instrument, the RTi12 has to reproduce many instruments. I believe your setup is exactly how it should be. Enjoy!

dekuda

dorokusai wrote: »

Your findings are in line with what most ppl experience. They can certainly produce a lot of bass but a subwoofer is a specific instrument, the RTi12 has to reproduce many instruments. I believe your setup is exactly how it should be. Enjoy!

Only that I feel I am not getting the full use of my RTi12's by having setting them to small I have to go by what my ears are telling me. And my Epik empire and legend give me much more bass than my RTi's ever could. I just cannot wait for my Dspeaker anti-mode 8303c to arrive

Sherardp

RTi12's are great speakers for 2ch and HT. I did upgrade the spikes and got rid of the plastic. The outriggers are ok, but if you get the itch you can upgrade those as well. I lowered mine in rear with a shorter spike as to point the tweeter a tad bit upward since I have dual rows of seating in my HT.

http://www.oregondv.com/Outriggers.htm

Geoff4rfc

dekuda wrote: »

Now,here is the debated one. I have always had two good subs with my RTi's. Evertime I switched my speakers from large to small and sent a mix bass below to my subs the bass was always better. More output,better mids and lows. I know that these are towers that can produce bass but after switching back and forth between the large setting and small I kept them at small. I now let my two Epik subs produce that bass and I will never go back. espicially now with my anti-mode eq coming the bass will only get better.
I also believe that since lower frequencies need more amp power, freeing my fronts from that low bass has given my fronts more detailed mids and highs from the extra power.

I can totally relate to this strategy. I'm currently saving for a pair of RTi12's and a new 2 ch amp to drive them.

Currently I'm driving a pair of 70's with a 3ch amp. I also have an Empire sub and experimented back and forth with settings of large and small while listening to a song from Chicago's greatest hits. While set on small, I was getting less bass and more detail.

So while I too was afraid I wasn't going to get all the potential from my fronts while set to small, I'm actually getting more that way and letting my sub handle the chest punching bass. I suspect it will be the same when I finally have my 12's.

dekuda

Sherardp wrote: »

RTi12's are great speakers for 2ch and HT. I did upgrade the spikes and got rid of the plastic. The outriggers are ok, but if you get the itch you can upgrade those as well. I lowered mine in rear with a shorter spike as to point the tweeter a tad bit upward since I have dual rows of seating in my HT.

http://www.oregondv.com/Outriggers.htm

Thanks for the outriggers link. Which ones do you use? Because of the cost of the outriggers spikes I just want to get something that will attach to the bottom of the Polk plastic spikes to keep them more stable on a hard wood floor. Trying to find them on differant sites

Sherardp

Spikes are sold there also. These will just screw into the plastic outriggers that came with your 12s. Mine work with no issue.

http://www.oregondv.com/spikes.htm

You'll need the standard 1/4-20

Your probably going to want the floor pads also to go with the spikes.

leroyjr1

dekuda wrote: »

Thanks for the outriggers link. Which ones do you use? Because of the cost of the outriggers spikes I just want to get something that will attach to the bottom of the Polk plastic spikes to keep them more stable on a hard wood floor. Trying to find them on differant sites

A cheaper solution would be call Polk CS and buy the metal RTI a9 spikes.

dekuda

leroyjr1 wrote: »

A cheaper solution would be call Polk CS and buy the metal RTI a9 spikes.

Thanks Lee, I am look for spikes with the round disc on the bottom.I have hardwood floorsand and do not like the pointed spikes on a hardfloor.Would these have them? Do you know what metal they are made of?

leroyjr1

dekuda wrote: »

Thanks Lee, I am look for spikes with the round disc on the bottom.I have hardwood floorsand and do not like the pointed spikes on a hardfloor.Would these have them? Do you know what metal they are made of?

No they don't have the round discs for hardwood floors but I'm sure you can find some. I'm not sure what metal they are with them being painted black.

Sherardp

dekuda wrote: »

Thanks Lee, I am look for spikes with the round disc on the bottom.I have hardwood floorsand and do not like the pointed spikes on a hardfloor.Would these have them? Do you know what metal they are made of?

These

http://www.oregondv.com/Brass%20Floor%20Pads.htm

Teseract

I just picked up a pair of RTI12's from Polk's ebay store and now I'm pondering an amp myself. I was thinking an Emotiva XPA-3, but I don't know if I want to fork out the $630-$700. I'd be happy with a 2 channel amp with enough power to handle these beasts. I was thinking in the $300 range but I don't know if that's realistic without hunting ebay or pawn shops.

I have a 7.1 setup with a mishmash of speakers. Current fronts are some ~8 year old Sony towers. I'm planning on moving those to cover the surround speakers. I have some largish (23" tall x 10" wide) Sony bookshelf speakers for the current surrounds I want to move to the rear, and displace some older cheap KLH speakers I'm using for the rears.

My current receiver is an Onkyo TX-NR708. I kinda wish I'd gone for the 808 now as the 708 is only 110w/channel (if it makes even close to that I doubt it) but I have pre-outs at least.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

M.B.

tonyb

Check your local craigslist for a used Adcom,B&K, Carver, Parasound, the list can go on. For 300 bucks, you should have no problem finding a decent 2 channel amp.

Joe08867

Teseract, I would follow what Tonyb said. A nice used Adcom, Parasound or B&K would do you nicely.

Teseract

How many watts would be sufficient? All the stuff I see on my local Craigslist is ~80-100w/channel.

Joe08867 wrote: »

Teseract, I would follow what Tonyb said. A nice used Adcom, Parasound or B&K would do you nicely.

dekuda

Teseract wrote: »

How many watts would be sufficient? All the stuff I see on my local Craigslist is ~80-100w/channel.

Many here claim they will never go under 200w/ch. That being said, they will never really ever need close to that. I own a Parasound HCA1500 that I picked up for a song. I started with Carver amps,tried Adcom and ended up with the Parasound. Good match for the RTi's in my opinion. Class A/AB amp that can deliver alot of current(60 amps/ch) with low distortion. The designer John Curl and his amps have received many good reviews in the years. I see these older Parasounds on Ebay and Agon for decent prices.Almost pulled the trigger on a 2205AT... But people are aware of their quality and it is hard to get a steal on them. But for $300.00 who knows? Just have to have patience and keep searching. I was able to get my HCA1500 on CL for $200.00 because one of the internal fuses for the left channel was blown......easy fix:biggrin:

naturallight

The speakers get better every day. I only have about 30 hours on them, but they just keep getting better.
The Onkyo M504 is rated at 165 watts per channel. This amp was underated, most people seem to think it's closer to 200. But that i can't say. It is a true high current dual mono block amp. The 12's love it. I'm not sure i would go under 100 watts, with the 12's...but depends on the amp, how loud you want them to play. You really dealing with headroom...so it depends on how hard your going to push them.

Joe08867

Teseract wrote: »

How many watts would be sufficient? All the stuff I see on my local Craigslist is ~80-100w/channel.

Anywhere from 150 watts and up. 100 watts will not open up those speakers enough.

Like dekuda said, 200 seems to be the number people around here throw around.

naturallight

Just a note on this. Most CD's played thru the Jolida player, the Adcom pre is about in the 10-11 oclock position. This is VERY loud. Some of the lower recorded cd's will go up to 12 or a tad more.

But this is VERY loud, and i'm sitting 15 feet away. I don't know if the 504 is the direct culprit for this, but it will get brutilly loud. Probably more then most people can take.

pdxfj

Where are you located? My local CL has an Adcom 555 listed for $325