Age old question, Rti A7 or A9's...

mu1166

The question that has been asked too many times, but I'd still like a little help. I have read multiple threads on this and I am still unsure. Besides that I don't have anywhere around here to listen to the A9's.

I am looking to update my A3's to either the 7 or 9's. They will be used in a dedicated home theater room (16'x12') that I hope to finish this winter. There will also be some music (15-20%) and gaming played through it. It isn't a huge room, but I would like to go with some floor standing speakers. They will be powered with my Pioneer SC-35 as I don't plan on adding an amp in the near foreseeable future. I know that if I go with the 9's, I will need to add an amp sometime. The rest of the system is in my signature.

Would I benefit from going with the 9's over the 7's? I don't want to get the 7's and then always say, I should have just gone with the top dogs... I don't think I want to go with the A5's as they aren't a huge step up.

Any ideas/opinions would be very helpful.

bklynNupe

9's and don't look back!

jephdood

9's, but get an amp.

tonyb

Given your room size and not willing to get an amp, the 7's should do very well. The 9's might need alittle more real estate to sound their best.

F1nut

Since you are crossing over to the sub @ 80Hz and therefore not using the woofers in either speaker, it won't matter much other than the 9's having a bit more midrange than the 7's.

VR3

Id like to comment the one reason the 9s sound better and "more balanced" than the 7 is it is the only RTia speaker to use a poly capacitor on the tweeter versus a lytic... you could easilly get the 7s and spent 3-4 dollars and get similar balanced sound from the 7s as the tweeters on the 9s just sound smoother out of the box

IMO of course

pressureworld

I own the 9's and I love them. If you have the money don't think twice.

BitenAgain

MU1166,

I had the A7's as my mains and just upgraded to the A9's. I have been meaning to do my side by side comparison, but have not had time. So here are my impressions and recommendations.

1. The A9's are significantly bigger than the A7's. I would say the A7's are about the size of a normal speaker, the A9's are definately a beast that will be recognized. Theya re very good looking in my opinion, but they are big.

2. If you think that you will get the A7's and think what if I got the A9's until you end up buying them. Go a head and get the A9's and save your money. I moved my A7's to my side speakers and the entire system sounds amazing.

3. First off, i really liked the Rtia7's. They are a great speaker and for their size I really liked them. the main difference I noticed in sound between the two is that the rtia9's have a little bit fuller mid range and bass and the speakers blend together a bit better. You will likely be happier with either one. If price and the difference in size does not bother you, I would highly recommend the rtia9's. If you have a sub (which you should probably have with any of them), the A5 might be a doog option as well. They will have a good the full midrange and highs. If not adding an amp, this may be a good option. I will say, I initially just powered my RTiA7's with a receiver (Denon 3311), and an amp really opened them up particularily in the mid range. If you are not planning to get an amp, you may want to consider the RTia5. If you are ok with them perhaps not sounding optimal until you can get an amp, then the choice is yours. Without an amp, the A7's and the A9's sounded a bit on the bright side.

mu1166

Thanks for all of the replies. The cost difference isn't a huge deal (about $300 using Polk Direct). I am just worried about kicking myself down the road for not getting the A9's.

Adding the amp at a later date will most likely happen, but whatever speaker that I buy will be powered by the receiver for a while. Spending the rest of my budget on a projector, screen, construction, etc...

It looks like the general opinion is that the A9's are a great speaker that need power but the 7's are no slouch. I am definently leaning towards the 9's. I don't think they'll over power the room with their size but hopefully the room size doesn't cramp their sound.

It is looking like the A9's are going to be the ones...

BitenAgain

I love mine. I think you will be happy with them. You can always keep an eye out for amp sales on ebay or audiogaun.

PrazVT

It looks like the general opinion is that the A9's are a great speaker that need power but the 7's are no slouch. I am definently leaning towards the 9's. I don't think they'll over power the room with their size but hopefully the room size doesn't cramp their sound.

It is looking like the A9's are going to be the ones...

Neither are slouches. I have the A7s (modded by Trey) and have for the most part, always powered them with high current amps. They kick **** when powered sufficiently.

I'd agree you may as well got for the A9s now. You'll have something to look forward to down the line, when you can give them more power.

Lietuvis91

F1nut wrote: »

Since you are crossing over to the sub @ 80Hz and therefore not using the woofers in either speaker, it won't matter much other than the 9's having a bit more midrange than the 7's.

The internal crossover to the woofers is at 120hz in the a9, so those woofers would still be used quiet a bit

gfong

I liked the 7's over the 9's for 100% home theater use. I had my 7's crossed at 80 and used an SVS sub. The 7's kick butt using my Sony ES reciever and did not reuire an amp. I did add an amp to them and they filled out a little better when playing music but did not notice anythin different for movies.

Now the 9's are a very well rounded speaker for musci and home theater. Hands down they are better for music when comparing them to the 7's. More bass with a much fuller sound.

If I was going with just a hometheater system, I would use the 7's, as I found them to be the more dynamic speaker when movie viewing.
An example would be glass shattering or windows blowing out in movies! The 7's came alive where as the 9's were a little subdued in the higher end.
I think that is why the 9's are preferred over the 7's when playing music as the 7's always seemed a little bright.

Either speaker would do and if money is not a factor I would go with the 9's. You mentioned you would be playing music through them and you would also be wondering if the 9's were better!

You will not have any issues running the 9's with your reciever, you can add an amp later.

Good luck.

VR3

DSkip wrote: »

I'd think it boils down to the MTM array and the smaller midrange drivers as well. IIRC the tweeter also has a different xover point.

Of course, nothing is ever cut and dry - the main issue with using such a poor quality part in the tweeter network is it causes what I refer to as smearing - things just seem distorted on a micro level that overall takes away from your sound....

The A9 uses that slightly nicer component that would lessen this issue...

larry777

The RTiA9's are on sale at Future Shop on line starting tomorrow evening for $799 Pair. Free Shipping.:biggrin:

Drenis

larry777 wrote: »

The RTiA9's are on sale at Future Shop on line starting tomorrow evening for $799 Pair. Free Shipping.:biggrin:

The OP lives in Iowa and there are NO FS stores down there... that deal is for Canadians on Boxing Day... :facepalm:

larry777

Good information. I wasn't aware Iowa had no F/S stores though.

mu1166

There aren't many stores around me period. I am in the boondocks here. Would they ship to the US? That is a great deal on them though.

mufsoman

mu1166 - I had Rti8's initially, but eventually upgraded to Rti12's. The 8's sounded good, but as stated above, the 12's provide a much fuller ranging sound. My SC07 powered the 12's fine. I did get an amp, Rotel RMB-1095, which took the sound to a different level. I think in your size room, an upgrade to an amp for the Rti9's would be lower priority. My equipment is all older versions of what your looking at, but very similar.

B Run

mufsoman wrote: »

mu1166 - I had Rti8's initially, but eventually upgraded to Rti12's. The 8's sounded good, but as stated above, the 12's provide a much fuller ranging sound. My SC07 powered the 12's fine. I did get an amp, Rotel RMB-1095, which took the sound to a different level. I think in your size room, an upgrade to an amp for the Rti9's would be lower priority. My equipment is all older versions of what your looking at, but very similar.

I'm in the same situation as Mufsoman, I went from Rti8's to 12's a few weeks ago and I can say the 12's blew them away from top to bottom. I'm still running them off my SC-35 and think they sound great, but I know that an amp would make them sound better. I'm 100% happy without one, 2 channel music is still crystal clear with chest pounding bass and home theater has never sounded better. I know within the next few months i'll pick up another amp to see what difference it makes. Just saying I don't feel an amp is IMMEDIATELY necessary or should deter you from buying the 9's, but i'm sure down the road it would improve the sound even more.

photocrazy

One thing I found strange is A9 uses a smaller mid than A7. Should it be the other way?

B Run

The A9's have two 5 1/4, the A7's only have one 6 1/2, it's not all about driver size. In theory the A5's would be the best because they have two 6 1/2's, but they're not.

photocrazy

Since the crossover is at 120hz, i thought 6.5" drivers would perform better for midbass than 5.25.

F1nut

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

The internal crossover to the woofers is at 120hz in the a9, so those woofers would still be used quiet a bit

You are correct about the woofers, thanks for pointing that out. I should have said that the woofers will not be producing bass in the lower regions.

jbooker82

mu1166 wrote: »

There aren't many stores around me period. I am in the boondocks here. Would they ship to the US? That is a great deal on them though.

You can get a better deal from New Egg with free shipping. You just have to watch the weekend sales.

mu1166

Newegg has some great prices on the Black A9's at the moment (499 each), while the cherry version $899 each... Almost makes it worth while to get the black ones. I still think that I'll stick with cherry. Maybe they'll be on sale sometime.

mu1166

They are a great deal, but I'm 320 miles 1 way from him... 12 hours round trip is worth some $ to me... If he was a bit closer I'd be all over them.

DSkip wrote: »

Buy the ones in the FM right now. You won't find a better price and it'd be worth a drive, depending on how far he is from you.

62caddy

Last pair Polk Audio had on eBay sold for $1000 in cherry which was a very good price. Early this year I bought my A7s for $650 which I thought was very reasonable and all 32 pairs were gone in a day. I might've gone for the A9s but they were nearly double the price so I felt the A7s were the way to go. I'm very happy with them but seemed to lack (slightly) in the midrange so I supplemented with a pair of Snell J7s and together, the sound is incredible.

SRTer

mu1166 wrote: »

I am looking to update my A3's to either the 7 or 9's. There will also be some music (15-20%) and gaming played through it. They will be powered with my Pioneer SC-35 as I don't plan on adding an amp in the near foreseeable future. I know that if I go with the 9's, I will need to add an amp sometime.

Would I benefit from going with the 9's over the 7's? I don't want to get the 7's and then always say, I should have just gone with the top dogs... I don't think I want to go with the A5's as they aren't a huge step up.

I also have a Pioneer Elite SC-35 withe both RTi A9's and A7's. I would say you should buy the RTi A9's for your front left and right speakers. I enjoyed the RTi A9's with the SC-35. The only one thing you will notice is that the SC-35 auto-calibration will EQ the RTi A9's in a way that the three 7 inch woofers will not produce the amount of bass one would exspect.

After making my own EQ, I was able to truly enjoy the RTi A9's with only the SC-35 powering them. Later, I purchased an amp just to see what the difference would be. 200 watts on these A9's is even better.

You will also find that the RTi A9's is the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity "Best Value Tower Speakers" of 2011.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/best-of-awards/1450-secrets-best-of-2011-awards.html

If I had it to again, I would buy not 2 but 4 of them to replace my RTi A7's in the rear.