TSi400 or RTi8

blazinwade

Hello all. I'm a bit new to the Home Theater world and am looking for suggestions on speakers. I have been reviewing many different speakers and I think I have narrowed it down to the Tsi400s or the RTi8s. I can get refurbished Tsi400s for the same price as new RTi8s, so price isn't an issue between the two. I had a chance to listen to the TSi400s in a local Best Buy, and really liked them. I had them paired in the store to the same receiver I have, which is a Yamaha rx-v671. I would use the speakers for about 50% HT and 50% music. From what I've been reading I would say the RTi8s would be the much better speaker. I'm a little concerned though that my 90W per channel may not be enough to drive them to where they sound nice, especially since I don't usually crank the volume up for music or movies in the first place. The other concern I have is I've read that the RTi8s are a fairly "bright" speaker, and the Yamaha is apparently also bright, so I'm wondering if the combination will be overly harsh in the high range. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

nhhiep

I've gone through many polk speakers and currently using some of them. it depends on your HT/Music ratio. Given your options, If more HT, get RTi. If more music, get Tsi.

chumlie

I have the TSi400's with a Yamaha RX-V2400 with no complaints with music or HT.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

The Rti-8s are the better speaker but I am not sure about how they will sound on that Yamaha. Can you get some listening time with the 8s before you decide? The TSIs sound less bright on Yamahas because the tweeter is not as "resolving" as the Rti series which handles more detail up top.

Nothing wrong with the 400s but the Rtis are just a notch up. Would probably sound fine on something like a Marantz, Harman Kardon or Denon AVR?

Good luck! And enjoy the "journey"!

cnh

B Run

I had Monitor 60's which are pretty much the same as the Tsi400's, and sold them to get Rti8's. I consider the Rti8's an all around better speaker, even for music. It has better parts, crossover, cabinet, etc. It has a very clear midrange and a much more detailed tweeter, even though it can be bright at times. It definitely responds better to more power but I think you'll be fine with your Yamaha, and in the long run you'll be glad you went with the Rti. I loved the 60's at the time but after selling them to a friend and hearing them again after the Rti's, I know I definitely made the right choice.

blazinwade

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, and thanks for the welcome. I wish I was able to get some listening time in on the 8s before I decided. I didn't actually get to listen to a variety of music or any movies at all on the 400s at Best Buy either. According to the salesperson there: "our movie thingy is broken" he told me. So all I got to listen to was some John Mayer live music. Not exactly what I normally listen to, but I suppose good for evaluating the mids and highs.

Unfortunately the RTi8's in cherry finish I was looking at on Polk's ebay site are gone now... probably shouldn't have spent so much time debating. So now I guess I ether wait and see if they get more, settle for the black or go for the 400's... or since the Monitor60s are pretty much the same thing, go for those since they are $120 less. Ahhh choices... I guess I just want to do it right the first time and not get the urge to upgrade in a year.