Rti A3 vs TSI 300 for A7 surrounds -- same price -- which do I get?

ravaneli

Little A3 bookshelves just have no deals anywhere. They cost actually more than a pair of nice TSi 300 towers. I don't know which to get.

A3 will be the perfect sound match.

TSi300 is a whole tower with two woofers. I like the look of towers and I have the space. But will the sound blend with the A7s? Also, is the cherry finish the same? Matching the finish is very important for me. I match everything at my place and I am so particular about it that I will get and poor sound pretty speaker rather than a great sounding ugly one. I am happy with the A7s but dont know how the TSi300 will match.

Oh, I have A6 center arriving tomorrow. Will be driven off Pio 521 for a while, but don't take that into consideration because eventually I will amp them.

Any thoughts appreciated.

chumlie

Get the a3. Matches the a7 in looks and sound.

rebuy

TSI are vinyl while the RTI are wood veneer. Don't know if they will match. If they are not going to be close to each other you might get away with the finish. If using the TSI for surrounds only, you can use them instead of RTI's. If planning on using them across the front, use speakers from the same series.

ravaneli

Yes, I just want to get two towers for surrounds. They will not be close to the fronts.

Yes, A3 matches every way, but it just seems that TSi offers antire tower for that price. No need to worry about mounting and all. Two mid drivers. Almost the same lower range..

Does anyone have them both? Would love to get some first hand info on sound and finish match between these two series. Any polk reps reading here?

pyrocyborg

Well... Towers in rear position aren't used the same way there are in the front. First of all, a lot of the track isn't even going to the sides/rear, and most of the time, they don't even get very low frequencies sounds as much as the front(not because they can't do it... but because there is rarely very deep sounds coming from the rear).

A bookshelf like the RTi is more precise than the TSi Towers, meaning they may be preferable in rear duties than bigger towers. However, I wouldn't mount a pair of RTiA3 on a wall... too beefy IMO and you would need to buy a pair of stands for them, so in every case, it would cost you more than a pair of TSi towers.

Please remember, however, than a tower isn't always better than a bookshelf speaker. For example, for a certain price, you could get a pair of TSI 500... or a pair of Polk Lsi7, which are better in every way except for deep bass. A good 2 ways design is simpler and better than most 3 ways.

Anyways, ss for the sound difference between RTi and TSi lines, it isn't night and day. Sure RTi sounds better for HT, but TSi is smoother for music. Relegated to rear duties, it's even not as important as if they were front... so go with your budget.

As for the finish itself, TSi looks cheaper as it's vinyl, but if I recall correctly, they are the same color so it wouldn't look bad... but as there were no cherry color in any shop in Canada, I can't compare this one.

over50

I bought the A3 to replace M70II as surrounds. Never regreted getting the A3, as others have stated they match the RT series. Either way i'm sure both will sound Good.

ravaneli

Is the entire Monitor series vinyl too? Me no likey vinyl at all..

pyrocyborg

Yeah, the monitor series is vinyl. The only series with wood veneer are RTiA (RTI or older RT I guess) and LSi.

Lietuvis91

Get whatever makes sense to you as long as it's rtia series. There are plenty of options and you really don't need big speakers in the back. You will benefit more from matching speakers, than you will from bigger speakers.

gudnoyez

I would get the A1s if cost is an issue, if not the A3s you would be wishing you did later on. I think the A3s would be the best.

cnh

ravaneli wrote: »

Is the entire Monitor series vinyl too? Me no likey vinyl at all..

Yes, it's a cost saving device. The rule of thumb is that you only have to match the sound of your front three speakers. And you've done that already. So you could do towers in the back if you want and won't notice a huge difference. There is not much info carried by them in any case.

If it's a question of trying to save money by not investing in speaker stands for Rti bookies. I can understand that. I have my surrounds sitting on bookshelves on either side of my couch. Didn't want to mess with stands for them and did not want to wall mount.

cnh

DaveHCYJ

To beat it to death even more in this thread -- go A3 all the way. There is no comparison between the vinyl and real wood. Plus the shape of the speakers and the grill etc etc will match better.

ravaneli

damn.. A3 seems to be the clear winner. There's no deal on them anywhere : (. Oh well..

vadang

If you need black speakers Polk's ebay store has the RTi4s on sale for $149.99. They are new in box not refurbished like a lot of their older lines are when they sell them on ebay. I think they will closer match your RTiAs. I just bought a set so they have 3 left.

pyrocyborg

ravaneli wrote: »

damn.. A3 seems to be the clear winner. There's no deal on them anywhere : (. Oh well..

Yeah, it's kinda aberrant that a pair of RTiA3 cost less in Canada than in most US shops/online shops... You can get a pair on acoustic sound design for 361$ including shipping, but I do not know where to find it except at polk direct.

As for the RTi4, I had it as my front speakers for 2 years. Great little speakers for HT duties, but not as sleek looking when compared to the RTiA line.

ravaneli

no, i don't want black. By the way, is the black line made of wood as well? Who wants black wood? Why are the black always cheaper?

jbooker82

Yep the black is real wood as well. The black isnt cheaper it is just on sale for more of a discount. Both have the same MSRP.

I have black because I like the the look.

pyrocyborg

Well, black do look good if you have black/dark brown furniture, or if cherry would look weird with the rest of your furniture/color scheme. Personnally, I prefer a dark brown/ebony compared to black, but not a lot of speakers manufacturer offers this color.

It's only my opinion, but I think that the cherry Monitor or RTi line doesn't look that good, expecially because of the silver front piece. However, cherry LSi, RTiA or TSi lines do look great.

Anyways, I prefer dark furniture, so cherry isn't an option unless I would want my speakers to be the center of attraction.

And yeah, I second that the veneer on the black RTis is real wood, black ash wood in fact. The RTiA veneer is better looking/feeling than the RTi one, too.

ravaneli

CSi A6 arrived and installed!

Maan, for first time even I hear sound better than what I have in my car! Ssso clean and... engaging. I'll be damn if the actual songs sound that good in real. I think my HT Omega Claro is finally paying off the investment. Just listening to Pandora, which I doubt has high quality, is unreal experience. I find myself listening to songs that I dislike only because I enjoy how nice some of the instruments sound!

THe BIG THREE is set to full range and I have two small RM7 satelites and the music is excellent. Pretty good beat on the hip hop music too! Man I wish that pioneer had just a little more juice. I can feel its running out of breath when I turn them up, like the tweeters go up in volume but the woofers cant keep up and the depth kinda disapears.

No more SW though, it destroys everything with all that vibration and boominess. Detail is so much better without sub, especially at normal listening levels where the pioneer runs the lower woofers fine..

I just don't know what to do with my RM7s now. I find them excellent in the 150 and up range, but it becomes hard to blend with something else for the lower range. Perhaps a smaller sub will play cleaner.

Geoff4rfc

Rti A3 vs TSI 300 for A7 surrounds -- same price -- which do I get?

I was using Monitor70SII for my mains, upgraded to RTiA9's and moved my 70's to surround. LOVE the effect!!! I've got another amp on the way to feed 'em. Both are cherry, the A9's are very beautiful and the 70's are vinyl and don't match closely at all but the sound is awesome. Plus, it's my home theater, I do movies mostly in the dark, sure it's nice to see matching stuff in the light but with me, it's always been function over form. Here's a little shot of the mains and surround in the same picture;



And mixing cherry with black, why not?????

mdaudioguy

Why plan to mismatch, when you can do it right and match?

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtia/systems.php

RTiA is a better speaker, period. Disregard the size difference.

Also, surrounds are usually recommended to be placed slightly above the listening position, for optimal effect. Some do use towers, though, and are pleased. Ymmv.

jbooker82

mdaudioguy wrote: »

Why plan to mismatch, when you can do it right and match?

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtia/systems.php

RTiA is a better speaker, period. Disregard the size difference.

Also, surrounds are usually recommended to be placed slightly above the listening position, for optimal effect. Some do use towers, though, and are pleased. Ymmv.

x2.

No need to cheap out now. I would still go with FXI A4's or A6's for surrounds over the regular RTi A3's.

ravaneli

can I get your opinion on these? Right by my house. Are they worth the $100?

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/ele/2844140673.html

tonyb

Yes, they are worth it, with the stands, go grab 'em.

pyrocyborg

Geoff, unrelated to topic, but I really like your rear and side walls with bricks. IMO, it might add to that visual cohesion between dark/cherry and pale.

ravaneli

tonyb wrote: »

Yes, they are worth it, with the stands, go grab 'em.

How can I test them if we meet outside? Can I hook them to the speaker amp in my car?

tonyb

ravaneli wrote: »

How can I test them if we meet outside? Can I hook them to the speaker amp in my car?

Why meet outside ? No, don't hook up to the amp in the car. Tell him you'd like to hear them before buying, if he says he can't, then pass.

ravaneli

The thing is i had 10 craigslist tabs open and confused the listings. This one is 60 miles from me. I wasn't driving that far, and its snowing in Chicago now. He said he would meet me half way, and that's kinda fine, as its expressway only.

But I will not know if they are good until i get home : (

I have two amps in my car, a Polk 4 channel amp for my speakers, 4x100 watts. Do the car speakers and HT speakers run off the same voltage? I mean at least i want to know they play ..

My polk amp in the car is rated at 4 ohm though, and these are 8 ohm. Can I still test them?

Geoff4rfc

pyrocyborg wrote: »

Geoff, unrelated to topic, but I really like your rear and side walls with bricks. IMO, it might add to that visual cohesion between dark/cherry and pale.

Thanks, the brick wall is actually a gas fireplace down in my basement. The basement heats up really quick and easy with my central heating so I don't use the fireplace downstairs.

BtrSound

get the RTiA1's. I have the A3's and they are huge. They do sound great, but are much bigger than A1's. The A1's are a more manageable size and still sound great. If size is any consideration, go with the A1's. That is my opinion.

ravaneli

guy, i need help on picking these f/xi 500s. I have to act quickly. Can I test them with the amp in my car?

If both speakers are 8 ohm and i tie them simultaneously (in paralel) to the amp, that would be a 4ohm current to each speaker. Is that good enough for test? I don't wana blow the channel of my amp either, paid good $$ for that..

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/ele/2844140673.html