LCi-RTS in wall speakers

vodan

Does anyone on here have experience with the LCi-RTS-C or the RTS 105's? I'm building a home theater right now and we've decided to go with all in wall speakers. I'm just trying to decide if the RTS's are worth the added expense. I'm looking at running a 7.1 set up with the RTS-C and RTS 105's up front and then either the 65LS or 265LS for the 4 surround channels. What do you guys think about this? Any advice or changes you would make? I have LSi 15's and an LSi-c in the living room and I would like the home theater to stand up to these.

Thanks

Dan

mantis

Didn't I answer this question already? I think they are fantastic in wall speakers and if you like the Lsi sound , you'll love these. I did some sweet systems with them.

vodan

You did answer it over on the avs forum and I appreciate your help. I'm just trying to get a few more experiences with them before I go ahead and invest in these speakers. It seems hard to find many people who have actually used them. Thanks again for your help.

Beta

Vodan,

For my HT rig, I use Polk Audio LC265i in-wall speakers for my fronts, a Polk Audio LCi-C in-wall speaker for my center and Polk Audio LC80fx in-ceiling speakers for my surrounds. My fronts are powered by a Parasound Halo A 21 amp and my center and surrounds are powered by a pair of Parasound Halo A 23 amps. I use a Denon 4310CI as a pre/pro.

It's been over a year since I installed this system. To this day, every time my wife and I watch a Blu-ray movie, I am blown away at how really, really good these speakers are.

My guess is that you will likely be quite happy with the RTS series. Just make sure you feed them enough power. IMHO, one will likely be disappointed trying to drive these speakers with an AVR.

Also, I would run 10 or 12 gauge CL2 or CL3 rated wire and CAT 5 or 6 cable through your walls to reduce the need to open things up again in the event you decide to make upgrades in the future.

Good luck. Enjoy your speaker selection journey!

reeltrouble1

I did a much nicer install than Mantis could ever hope for, of course I got much better results for my effort.:cheesygrin:

I also found a way to install the CSW subwoofer-in-wall with the Polk SWA-500 amplifer, it makes for a wonderful system which was enjoyed by many of the guys here at Polkfest 07. It's great having a dedicated theater room.

RT1

vodan

Thanks for your feedback guys. I'll be driving the front 3 channels with an Emotiva xpa-3 and using the avr for the surrounds. I can't wait to get it done!

Thanks again


Dan

vodan

Any advice on using 65LS or 265LS for the surrounds and rear surrounds? I'd love to get those LCi-RTS-Fx's but that's just not going to happen with my budget!

Kex

It sounds to me that you might need some more guidance on how to set up your system, and exactly how to best choose between the LCi (including LCi-RTS) and LS speaker series. Maybe customer service will be able to answer this if you send them an e-mail. You might even provide them with a link to this thread in the forum.

http://www.polkaudio.com/contactus/index.php

It is my understanding that the LCi wall mounted and ceiling mounted products match directly with the old LSi series of Polk Audio speakers. The LS line of wall mounted and ceiling mounted match directly with the newly released LSiM series. Both use ring radiator tweeters, so you can probably mix and match as you suggest.

You may have noticed also that the LCi-RTS line have a lower -3dB limit of 80Hz. This is probably for THX Ultra-2 Certification, whereby the crossover with a subwoofer would be set at 80Hz, a THX recommendation or requirement, but possibly not suitable for all systems, depending on the speakers and subwoofer(s) used. The other LCi products (not RTS) have a lower -3dB limit in the mid 40Hz range.

Similarly, some LCi products, and LS products, have a three way design, with separate subwoofer and midrange driver, not a single dual purpose mid/woofer driver. This further extends the range of frequency response. Depending on your priorities, this might be a significant advantage.

So, my question would be: why did you choose the LCi-RTS range to begin with, rather than the other built-in options from the older LCi or newer LS series, and was that the right choice for your priorities?

My second question would be: how the newer LS products improve on the older LCi products, if at all. Are you "missing out" on anything by not selecting the newer products?

Finally, if you stick with your initial choice of LCi-RTS, would you be better to use matching surrounds from the older LC line, instead of the current LS range. In that case, you could choose the LC80fx or LC65fx.

vodan

Let me start by saying, I am absolutely a beginner with all of this. I wouldn't try to pretend to know as much as many of the people on here. But that's why I'm here, to learn and receive guidance from more experienced and knowledgeable people. With that said, the reason I chose the RTS line is that I was hoping to go with the highest quality front 3 channels that I could afford. Then my hope was to match the surrounds as best I could with a somewhat lower budget. Based on what I read, I thought the LS would match pretty well for surrounds but I could certainly be mistaken. Both the RTS and the LS say that they are matched to the LSi's and both have the same tweeter. As far as frequency response goes, I looked at the numbers but I can honestly say I don't understand the implications of the numbers. Perhaps you can try to explain to me the difference between the two and how that would affect the overall sound of the 7.1 set up. Just to clarify what I had in mind, and i'm by no means dead set on this, The RTS105's and RTS-c for the fronts LS's for the surround channels, an HSU-VTF15 sub, Onkyo tx-nr809 avr, and an Emotiva xpa-3 to drive the front channels. This is for a dedicated home theater and will be used probably 80% movies and 20%. Please tell me if you would change any of these choices and for what reason. I'm here to learn:cheesygrin:

vodan

Bump for advice :cheesygrin:

Kex

In this situation, I really think that I would forget the LCi series entirely, and build a new system using only the LS series (which has replaced it) instead. All five, or seven, main speakers of a 5.1 or 7.1 system. That's what I would do. You get the advantage of three way ceiling speakers and the improvements of the LSiM series. The RTS line is likely to be discontinued along with the rest of the old LCi series (if it hasn't been already).

The added bonus is that the money you save on those main RTS speakers you were contemplating, you can spend on building a perfectly balanced system all round. The fact that the LS in ceiling solutions are now three way speakers (with a 9" woofer for the better models), not just two way speakers, would further influence my decision. This was not available as an option in the discontinued LCi series, even the more pricey RTS products.

Oddly, perhaps, the in wall LS options are not three way, but I still wouldn't hesitate to use them.