Stereophile's RTA 11T review

barakus

I currently have a pair of RTA 11Ts as my primary speakers and a pair of Monitor 7Cs in the bedroom. The 11Ts have been upgraded with RDO 194s but are not placed optimally. I've always thought the 7s sound a little sweeter in some indescribable way but appreciate the greater range and volume capability of the 11Ts for movies and whatnot.

I guess the rift between Stereophile and Polk is somewhat legendary and have sought out the 11T review that supposedly caused the bad blood for a long time. Just recently I noticed that Stereophile finally has the review up on their website: Stereophile RTA 11T Review

The two major complaints are with the SL2000 and a boomy/smeary midbass. What do you guys think? The treble peak is solved with the 194s, but I am afraid I have to agree with the midrange stuffiness. I have been chalking it up to my placement (both very close to rear walls and one also very close to a side wall). Can anyone refute these findings or recommend possible solutions?

I should preemptively say I have not done any crossover refreshing and am very unlikely to, at least in the near future, but my Monitor 7s have older capacitors than the RTAs and sound wonderful. My intention is not to pick on the RTAs; they sound fantastic in many ways and are certainly a good value when bought used. They also mesh with modern decor much better than Monitor 7s!

skrol

As far as bass, I found that placement maters with my RTA11TLs. Also, adding some Sonic Barrier to the interior helped clean up the bass too.
Stan

cnh

That's a pretty 'harsh' review there! I must admit, I've never heard the 11s. But the dude also cracks on SDAs? This guy just doesn't like Polks, does he?

So can anyone point to another review of these speakers that gives a different point of view. Or how about some of you owners chiming in.

Did Stereophile ever review Monitor classics like the 7s and 10s? Just curious because if they don't like those, there's 'nothing' Matt Polk conceived that they would!

cnh

BlueFox

That was over 20 years ago. Maybe there was a reason Polk wouldn't provide a review sample, so they had to buy a pair. Anyway, it shows that the myth of only positive reviews are ever published is false. I like how he said you needed to have your head in a clamp in order to appreciate Carver's Sonic Holagraphy.

stone of tone

The riff is one thing. BUT, for the self imposed king brit to: #1, to dig this up and post it on Stereo-pile whatever online?........ #2, then to drag SDA in to it..........you guys know the truth.......... . Long Live Polk.

Stone

F1nut

barakus wrote: »

The two major complaints are with the SL2000 and a boomy/smeary midbass. What do you guys think? The treble peak is solved with the 194s, but I am afraid I have to agree with the midrange stuffiness. I have been chalking it up to my placement (both very close to rear walls and one also very close to a side wall). Can anyone refute these findings or recommend possible solutions?

I should preemptively say I have not done any crossover refreshing and am very unlikely to, at least in the near future, but my Monitor 7s have older capacitors than the RTAs and sound wonderful. My intention is not to pick on the RTAs; they sound fantastic in many ways and are certainly a good value when bought used. They also mesh with modern decor much better than Monitor 7s!

Upgrade the crossovers, add spikes, Dynamat the metal baskets and install Larry's rings. The midrange issues and boomy bass will turn into sonic bliss.

stone of tone

F1nut, if your not in Hawaii........you ARE to tethered to your mobile device at this time of day on the planet........ Just having fun.

F1nut

Don't look now, but I'm right behind you.

SDA1C

Personally I think the guy is a douch bag. Any body that takes three pages to spew crap like that instead of saying
"I don't like 'em" is just running his mouth to hear himself talk.

I love my 11t. They can jam with the best of them. Are they Tannoy? no. But they can rock out with their rock out if you give em a few watts.

1C

dorokusai

That magazine is just awful and it's only good for pictures.

deronb1

Pretentious a-hole! That said, I have heard more than one person say they liked the sound of the RTA8Ts better than the 11Ts. And I am not saying that because I own a pair of 8Ts.:redface:

George Grand

That was the first issue of Stereophile I ever received. It came in the mail maybe two days after I bought my first pair of RTA 11T.
The speakers were nowhere near as bad as they claimed of course. If I remember correctly, the last sentence in the review... "How Matt Polk plans on competing with these at the $1k/pair price point is beyond me."

nclh7

I liked them enough to try to buy a pair at the PX. They were sold out. I wasn't alone in my opinion apparently.