RT 55 THX or Not

rz22g

A while back I acquired a pair of RT 55 and RT 25 speakers and they have been doing great. I recently moved and was running the speaker setup on my Yamaha and it gives the option of setting your speakers as THX prior to running the setup. Im not sure if I should choose that or not. My guess is that THX certified is probably not in the specs but these speakers are quite old and Im not sure when they started using THX certification.

To keep from starting another thread I have another question...
I was in a another forum and there was a sticky where someone said always set your crossover to 200hz and let your Sub do the job. Isn't that somewhat high range for the sub ? I tried it and it just seems like some of that range should be cut short.

Dennis Gardner

THX is an 80 hz crossover setting and the 55s will shine on that setting.

Kex

Just to add to what Dennis said, yes, the RT55 will have no issues with your THX setting. However, when I ran a full RT55 (front and rear speakers) and CS400 center speaker system, I much preferred the crossover set at 60Hz or even 40Hz for the RT55, not 80Hz or THX. Bass was much more music friendly, and much tighter (but this might depend on the power being fed also). In fact, harman/kardon EzSet/EQ detected the RT55 and CS400 as "large", not "small" (so full range). But THX also means calibrating for reference levels, and at this, the RT55 will indeed, as Dennis said "shine". I listened to mine at reference level most of the time and they were just phenomenal for the price I paid.

The lower -3dB limit for that speaker is 47Hz, so, in theory at least, the crossover should not be set lower than that. I still liked it on 40Hz, but I hate sloppy or "thumpy" bass, so maybe that's just a quirk of mine. I would suggest you try all settings available to you from 40Hz to 80Hz and make your own mind up based on YOUR listening preferences, not mine or anyone else's. Some receivers will have 20Hz increments, whereas others will have 10Hz increments.

Just in case you don't have the manual, here is a link to the archived product page for the RT55i. All of the specifications are identical, down to the last decimal point (I do have the manual). The only difference is that the newer "i" (improved) version has blue colored drivers, and real wood veneer instead of vinyl wood imitation veneer. The RT55, in either version, are a truly great speaker, IMO, and far more classy in appearance than the equivalent RT800(i) (also JMO).

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/rt55i/

rz22g

Thanks for the fast response ! I will be running setup again with THX setting.

My AMP is Pioneer VSX-1120, which I think is 100watts x7. I was thinking of my drum kit prior to posting so thats why I said Yamaha :rolleyes:

I see the 55 supports bi-amping and since I do have the open channel on my AMP would it be beneficial to bi-amp my fronts ?

Kex

Personally, I wouldn't bother with bi-amping. It's a waste of time and effort for no tangible results. I think that's also the CW, but others may suggest otherwise.

P.S. the RT55(i) are not hard to drive (very efficient, and 8 ohm load).