RTI A7 Owners ? about music

tommyt21

Love these speakers for home theater they seem to hit and image every detail in movies tracks flawlessly. I love these speakers for my primary use which is HT. After listening to many diffrent source material I find music a lil ruff on these bad boys. The upper mids and top end are very detailed some times it feels to detailed or bright. Is there any way to manipulate the speakers so that I can smooth out the upper end. I got speaker spikes coming in the next few days and i'm running 140w from a pio elite. Do i need more power? What are some tweaks that I can do to help this out?

tonyb

You have plenty of power, maybe look into your cableing. Changes in cables can give some very good results. You can also add a tube buffer to smooth out that top end but that would be a last resort in my book. Also the other problem I see is are you using the BDP to spin cd's ?

tommyt21

tonyb wrote: »

You have plenty of power, maybe look into your cableing. Changes in cables can give some very good results. You can also add a tube buffer to smooth out that top end but that would be a last resort in my book. Also the other problem I see is are you using the BDP to spin cd's ?

Yes I'm using the bluray player is that bad?

jbooker82

My Carver amp sounds nice with my A7's. I went with a Carver because they have a reputation of being warm sounding. I have also had Trey modify the XO's.

chumlie

Play around with the MCACC settings on your sc-35.

tonyb

tommyt21 wrote: »

Yes I'm using the bluray player is that bad?

Not exactly the best for a source. How about cables, what are you using for speaker cables and interconnects ?

tommyt21

tonyb wrote: »

Not exactly the best for a source. How about cables, what are you using for speaker cables and interconnects ?

Mono price 14g cable and 28g HDMI

SRTer

tommyt21 wrote: »

Love these speakers for home theater they seem to hit and image every detail in movies tracks flawlessly. I love these speakers for my primary use which is HT. After listening to many diffrent source material I find music a lil ruff on these bad boys. The upper mids and top end are very detailed some times it feels to detailed or bright. Is there any way to manipulate the speakers so that I can smooth out the upper end. I got speaker spikes coming in the next few days and i'm running 140w from a pio elite. Do i need more power? What are some tweaks that I can do to help this out?

I have the RTi A7's and they are a little on the bright side of things when it come to music. I believe this was designed on purpose to give a vivid presentation for Home Theater and to keep the speaker in a certain price point.

I also have powered the RTi A7?s with a Pioneer Elite SC-35 which I used to help fix the brightness during music playback to my satisfaction.

I find that adjusting the EQ curve in the MCACC and pick a proper playback mode is the best option for this setup if you?re not wanting to add a separate amp with a warm coloration to it?s sound or try various cables.

In my setup, I went into the MCACC in to the ACOUSTIC CAL EQ and made the following adjustments after running a full automatic calibration.

Frequency 4k 8k 16k
+0.5 -0.5 -3.0

Then I run DIRECT mode instead of PURE DIRECT because it will still use the EQ but remove many of the other parameters that could change the character of sound. Again, if you don?t want the EQ or mostly any of the auto cal?s adjustment, use PURE DIRECT. However, I find DIRECT to produce the best sound to me since I can keep my adjusted EQ.

These selections combined together to give me a more smoother response in the treble regions of sound. Also, these adjustment were tested up to ?5 dB on the with all TRIM levels set to 0.0 on the SC-35 volume scale with various music selections over a period of two days.

Lastly, I run the RTi A7?s (LARGE) without any crossover, therefore they are playing the full range of sound. I also adjusted the lower bass frequencies to my desire which are not represented here for you.

Don?t forget that you can run more than one audio preset to figure out what you like and then compare. I run the full auto calibration only for HT purposes and then the change to preset 2 which is manipulated as I have shown you above.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

tommyt21

SRTer wrote: »

I have the RTi A7's and they are a little on the bright side of things when it come to music. I believe this was designed on purpose to give a vivid presentation for Home Theater and to keep the speaker in a certain price point.

I also have powered the RTi A7’s with a Pioneer Elite SC-35 which I used to help fix the brightness during music playback to my satisfaction.

I find that adjusting the EQ curve in the MCACC and pick a proper playback mode is the best option for this setup if you’re not wanting to add a separate amp with a warm coloration to it’s sound or try various cables.

In my setup, I went into the MCACC in to the ACOUSTIC CAL EQ and made the following adjustments after running a full automatic calibration.

Frequency 4k 8k 16k
+0.5 -0.5 -3.0

Then I run DIRECT mode instead of PURE DIRECT because it will still use the EQ but remove many of the other parameters that could change the character of sound. Again, if you don’t want the EQ or mostly any of the auto cal’s adjustment, use PURE DIRECT. However, I find DIRECT to produce the best sound to me since I can keep my adjusted EQ.

These selections combined together to give me a more smoother response in the treble regions of sound. Also, these adjustment were tested up to –5 dB on the with all TRIM levels set to 0.0 on the SC-35 volume scale with various music selections over a period of two days.

Lastly, I run the RTi A7’s (LARGE) without any crossover, therefore they are playing the full range of sound. I also adjusted the lower bass frequencies to my desire which are not represented here for you.

Don’t forget that you can run more than one audio preset to figure out what you like and then compare. I run the full auto calibration only for HT purposes and then the change to preset 2 which is manipulated as I have shown you above.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

I am going to try your EQ settings which I frankly have not messed with much because I did not quite understand them. I typically just run the MCACC and then adjust the channel levels and some of the auto functions. I did notice that when I push mutli channel music with thx music or DolbyplzII Music it sounds better, but I dont know if thats because my surround monitors are softening the top part out.

tommyt21

SRTer--PS. I was born in Maryland Heights, MO and I have alot of family in the STL, My MOM went to polk highschool LOL...Maybe thats why i like the speakers

tonyb

Playing with the EQ settings should garner some results to the positive, but in addition I would move up the quality of those cables too. Monoprice is good basic cable, but as you move up the chain in gear, so should the cables. Grab yourself a good used cdp too for better results.

Drenis

tommyt21 wrote: »

I am going to try your EQ settings which I frankly have not messed with much because I did not quite understand them. I typically just run the MCACC and then adjust the channel levels and some of the auto functions. I did notice that when I push mutli channel music with thx music or DolbyplzII Music it sounds better, but I dont know if thats because my surround monitors are softening the top part out.

Humor me and report back with the results.

Listen to something with your normal setup in 2 channel (Stereo or Direct as some have suggested then do this comparisson:

Set sound mode to Stereo (So 2 channel), Go into your Audio properties and turn the EQ off. Standing waves off. turn everything that is on to off and make sure the Tone says Bypass. Now, in that Audio properties is an option called "Sound Retrieval", turn that on. Does the sound change? Does it sound... better??

Your speakers should have identical distances if they are setup and toed properly to the center listening position. I always manually adjust mine to 0.0 db.

tommyt21

I'll give that a try also

nhhiep

For the brightness issue, the issue is your speakers. They're designed for HT first, Music second. I have Rti8s and Rti12s. Both are very bright, just like yours. I fixed that by buying a warmer AMP; HK brand.

Drenis

I have the A9's myself and my setup is 2-channel. I know some subtle changes will come with XO mods and upgraded speakers cables and IC's. I like the A9's presentation. Depends on the recording though whether its too bright.

SRTer

tommyt21 wrote: »

SRTer--PS. I was born in Maryland Heights, MO and I have alot of family in the STL, My MOM went to polk highschool LOL...Maybe thats why i like the speakers

What you know about E. STL, which is we're all my family is came from and most are still there. I'm in the Lou now. 101 year old city historic house.

SRTer

Drenis wrote: »

Humor me and report back with the results.

Listen to something with your normal setup in 2 channel (Stereo or Direct as some have suggested then do this comparisson:

Set sound mode to Stereo (So 2 channel), Go into your Audio properties and turn the EQ off. Standing waves off. turn everything that is on to off and make sure the Tone says Bypass. Now, in that Audio properties is an option called "Sound Retrieval", turn that on. Does the sound change? Does it sound... better??

Your speakers should have identical distances if they are setup and toed properly to the center listening position. I always manually adjust mine to 0.0 db.

Sound Retrieval is for people playing compressed music files? Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought this was to give back what you're missing from the compressed music on MP3's and such. However, no program or EQ like this can replace what was taken out of the music for saving space.

Also, I read a article that says you should not toe the speakers in if it seem to bright. The author said try listening that way to take a bit of the edge of.

Also, I'm sorry my post had so many question marks. Some trick played in me by someone.

Upstatemax

Look at cables if adjusting your settings is not enough. I used Monoprice on my RTi A7's and swapped them out for MIT EXp2 speaker interconnects and it helped a lot with music.

Took a lot of that "edge" off of the top end. The whole speaker just sounded more refined.

tommyt21

SRTer wrote: »

What you know about E. STL, which is we're all my family is came from and most are still there. I'm in the Lou now. 101 year old city historic house.

My dad did his student teaching in E. STL I used to live on the otherside of the river in a place called highland in Madison county. E. Stl is just a dad bit rough from what remember..LOL

Drenis

SRTer wrote: »

Sound Retrieval is for people playing compressed music files? Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought this was to give back what you're missing from the compressed music on MP3's and such. However, no program or EQ like this can replace what was taken out of the music for saving space.

Also, I read a article that says you should not toe the speakers in if it seem to bright. The author said try listening that way to take a bit of the edge of.

Also, I'm sorry my post had so many question marks. Some trick played in me by someone.

I was just throwing out some various suggestions to see if it would alter his experience for the better. If not, I'm sure he'll report back.

I will agree about the toe to a degree. I had mine toed even straight to me and I found the sound was to bloated and the imaging was terrible. Now they have a slight off axis toe that is almost hardly noticeable as I sit maybe 9 ft. away from them and it sounds much much better... hi-hats are on the proper side now...

cnh

Cables may make some difference in your system. But you'd be better off getting a better source for music than a Panny Blu-ray first. Digital sources are notorious for brightness up top, and the Rti-A line is also a bit forward so put them together and it's pretty obvious what's happening.

Tonyb's suggestion of a better used CDP is a good idea. Some models to think about there would be a Sony ES series, or a Pioneer Elite, Denon 3910, and so on (depends on how much coin you have to spend--these players would be in the less than 500 range). It is also possible to go the DAC route, spend 500 plus dollars on a decent DAC unit. There are a number of threads on the DAC option you could search for on this site. It's been a hot topic of late!

When you've done all that, "then" you can experiment with different quality cables. Because without a quality source even great cables are not going to give you what you want IMO!

cnh

Upstatemax

I agree that source is important, I play most music through my A7's from my Marantz 7600 and it's very nice. But I found my MIT's to even help with playback from my PS3. Before I found my PS3 to be very bright and harsh. Still not my choice for music playback, but they smoothed it out.

Norm Apter

I don't have a Pioneer so I don't know anything about those EQ settings, but I will agree with others who have mentioned cabling and source.

For several months, I was playing music on my HT system (RtiA5s, Csi6, RtiA1s) and a Sony BDP-S380 SACD/Blu-ray player connected to a Denon 2808ci A/V receiver by an HDMI cable. In retrospect, given the combo it just screams digititus. Some SACDs like the new WYWH 5.1 mix sounded fantastic in their presentation -- very realistic and fantastic sound stage -- but many redbook CDs sounded way to sharp for my taste.

A few weeks ago I upgraded my 2 Channel rig's CD player to Sony 5400ES, but it was only two days ago that it occurred to me to move my Bada CDP from the bedroom rack to the HT. I also replaced the HDMI cable with a pair of MIT S.3 Shotguns. The warm signature sound of the Bada, and its added depth and musicality, along with the analog cables have really made music listening of redbook CDs much more enjoyable (not nearly as harsh). The only time I use the Sony BDP is for playing Blu-ray audio discs (i.e. quad mix of Dark Side of the Moon) or when I want to listen to SACD.

Good luck!

jbooker82

How long have you had the RTI A7's? Mine have also melowed out. They sound better with age. Break them babies in by playing them full range at a moderate listening level. Got to move the woofers in order to loosen em up.

tommyt21

jbooker82 wrote: »

How long have you had the RTI A7's? Mine have also melowed out. They sound better with age. Break them babies in by playing them full range at a moderate listening level. Got to move the woofers in order to loosen em up.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, I am now thinking of trying out a better source player. I have even been thinking about possible going vinyl. I may be able to use one of my dads CDP units i'll have to check what kind it is first.

tommyt21

SRTer wrote: »

I have the RTi A7's and they are a little on the bright side of things when it come to music. I believe this was designed on purpose to give a vivid presentation for Home Theater and to keep the speaker in a certain price point.

I also have powered the RTi A7?s with a Pioneer Elite SC-35 which I used to help fix the brightness during music playback to my satisfaction.

I find that adjusting the EQ curve in the MCACC and pick a proper playback mode is the best option for this setup if you?re not wanting to add a separate amp with a warm coloration to it?s sound or try various cables.

In my setup, I went into the MCACC in to the ACOUSTIC CAL EQ and made the following adjustments after running a full automatic calibration.

Frequency 4k 8k 16k
+0.5 -0.5 -3.0

Then I run DIRECT mode instead of PURE DIRECT because it will still use the EQ but remove many of the other parameters that could change the character of sound. Again, if you don?t want the EQ or mostly any of the auto cal?s adjustment, use PURE DIRECT. However, I find DIRECT to produce the best sound to me since I can keep my adjusted EQ.

These selections combined together to give me a more smoother response in the treble regions of sound. Also, these adjustment were tested up to ?5 dB on the with all TRIM levels set to 0.0 on the SC-35 volume scale with various music selections over a period of two days.

Lastly, I run the RTi A7?s (LARGE) without any crossover, therefore they are playing the full range of sound. I also adjusted the lower bass frequencies to my desire which are not represented here for you.

Don?t forget that you can run more than one audio preset to figure out what you like and then compare. I run the full auto calibration only for HT purposes and then the change to preset 2 which is manipulated as I have shown you above.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

I tried these settings and they helped with the brightness ALOT.. I think also that i need to get a better player maybe just a straight cd or sacd player.

Thanks again for the help!!

SRTer

tommyt21 wrote: »

I tried these settings and they helped with the brightness ALOT.. I think also that i need to get a better player maybe just a straight cd or sacd player.

Thanks again for the help!!

What all did you change?

The treble?
Did you change your audio mode to DIRECT?

Also, did you change your EQ in the bass regions? If so, what did you pick? If not, I can share my settings for that with you to.

tommyt21

SRTer wrote: »

What all did you change?

The treble?
Did you change your audio mode to DIRECT?

Also, did you change your EQ in the bass regions? If so, what did you pick? If not, I can share my settings for that with you to.

I changed th the treble settings you had and put it in direct mode. It tamed it quite a bit I also added the HSU VTF-2 MK4 as my sub and recalibrated the whole system. If you have any other settings I'd be more than happy to give them a try.

Thanks