Need help on which one to buy Rti-A7 or Rti-A9

SRTer

Just for the record, I've owned RTi8's which are nearly the same a RTi A5's and are still downstairs in the 1st floor living room. I currently own both the RTi A9's and A7's.

I have powered the all these speakers of Pioneer Elite AVR's (VSX-23 and SC-35) with 110 watts A/B to 140 watt D-class. The truth is that the RTi A7's and RTi A9's are much better than the RTi A5's.

Better power (clean and more) from a seperate amp on my RTi A9's have forever put me in the amp purchasing demographic. Secondly, one only need to play all three of the speaker (RTi A5, A7, A9) full range with the PURE DIRECT setting on many of today’s AVR to see the following.

1. The RTi A line up gets better as you more up the chain.
2. Regular power from and AVR with exception to mid-range and higher end AVR’s like Pioneer Elite SC series, Denon AVR-4311CI, and Onkyo TX-NR818 to name a few just will not provide the best for your RTi A9's. There AVR's would just be getting by and they would all cost no less than $1000 normal retail.

I would run RTi A7's off the AVR's above but I’m now in the 200+ watt amp camp after getting an Adcom GFA-555 mkii. Now I'm look for 300 watts.

Also, RTi A5's are fine if you want to a really nice sub because you will have to for HT. However, I have watch movies will my RTi A9's and A7's full range and no sub and still felt the bass from an explosion.

F1nut

ravaneli wrote: »

Let's see, I have powered them with Pioneer 2021, Marantz 5006, B&K EX442, Behringer europower 4000, Behringer A500. I also have DSW 660 Pro, and with the sub turned off movies are bo-ring.

Did you remember to adjust the crossover settings?

And yes, they do sound better with an amp, and as far as home theater is concerned, the behringer EP4000 made them sound the best. Anywho, that's my honest opinion, i am not getting in a fight with little fanboys over this.

You were doing so well until your last comment, but I guess you can't help being a putz.

chiptouz

Update - Rti-a7's are backordered! argh...

So I spent quite a bit of time talking to SRTer and polk tech support yesterday. The person I talked to told me that the emotiva amps work good with these speakers. I will have to look into getting a pair of these to power my fronts.

Thanks for all your help. I will report back when I get them installed.

Chip

F1nut

You don't need an amp and especially not one of those.

roost28

you do not need an amp for the rtia7's! i have been running the rti10's for five years with no amp until recently as i got broken into and the crooks took all my stuff!! and they aways sounded fantastic, i first used a yamaha rx-v1500 they sounded great,then a rx-v1700 and they sounded great and finally a rx-v3900 and they sounded awsome! i ran the rti10's for fronts,csi3 center,rti4 for presence and rti4 for rear surrounds and a psw450 sub and the 3900 had plenty of power, even when i used pure direct they sounded fantastic. would they sound any better with a good seperate amp? yes they would but an amp is not needed. however i would not watse my time on the a9's unless you were getting an amp right away as they are power hungary.

chiptouz

That is great news about not needing an external amp. My plan was always to use them with my Denon 3808ci to see if I even needed an amp. Too bad I am going to have to wait until Best Buy gets them back in stock. Amazing that both newegg and Best Buy do not have them in stock....

ravaneli

You don't 'need' an amp, but then in that sense you don't need A7s either. You could go with a pair of pioneer bookies. What do we really need. They WILL sound better with just about any amp out there, and certainly WILL sound better with Emotiva amp than your receiver by an easily detectable margin. The Emo amp has <0.1 % distortion and in comparison the A7s probably have more than 5% distortion. To blame the sound of the A7s on the emo amp just reveals one's incompetence. You will have more headroom, and a better dynamics with external amp.

chiptouz

ravaneli wrote: »

You don't 'need' an amp, but then in that sense you don't need A7s either. You could go with a pair of pioneer bookies. What do we really need. Careful with listening to this F1nut guy, he has no clue what he is talking about. You should have never bought the A7s, but since you don't think for yourself but go with popular opinions now you are stuck with them, and you might as well use them optimally. They WILL sound better with just about any amp out there, and certainly WILL sound better with Emotiva amp than your receiver by an easily detectable margin. The Emo amp has <0.1 % distortion and in comparison the A7s probably have more than 5% distortion. To blame the sound of the A7s on the emo amp just reveals one's incompetence. You will have more headroom, and a better dynamics with external amp.

Now Ravanelli I have never treated you how others have on this forum and hope that others do not attack you like they do in other forums, so please do not assume that I do not think for myself. I have been looking at the A7's for over two years. I also like the a9's but do not have the room. Plain and simple I bought the A7's b/c I wanted them. I will listen to them and then buy an amp if I am not happy with their performance. I have read everyone's opinion and taken that into consideration. The final decision was mine and mine alone.

cstmar01

ravaneli wrote: »

You don't 'need' an amp, but then in that sense you don't need A7s either. You could go with a pair of pioneer bookies. What do we really need. Careful with listening to this F1nut guy, he has no clue what he is talking about. You should have never bought the A7s, but since you don't think for yourself but go with popular opinions now you are stuck with them, and you might as well use them optimally. They WILL sound better with just about any amp out there, and certainly WILL sound better with Emotiva amp than your receiver by an easily detectable margin. The Emo amp has <0.1 % distortion and in comparison the A7s probably have more than 5% distortion. To blame the sound of the A7s on the emo amp just reveals one's incompetence. You will have more headroom, and a better dynamics with external amp.

Just wow. Why are you even here? Seriously if you think it was stupid of him to buy the A7's and then make fun of him for it, it really does say a lot about you as a person.

Also I would like to know where you got the 5% of distortion from for the Polk speakers. Did you read it somewhere again? Seeing you don't really test anything yourself.

pitdogg2

ravaneli wrote: »

You don't 'need' an amp. Careful with listening to this F1nut guy, he has no clue what he is talking about.

WOW that is a BOLD statement right there!!! :eek:
once again you prove that you are full of it!!

roost28

ravaneli wrote: »

A9 is definitely better with external amp. With receiver alone the best option is A5 in my opinion, because they will be better powered. Two years is a long time to drive A9s with a receiver. THe 3 subwoofers of the A9 are just not economical in my opinion.. they suck up a lot of power and external amps are darn expensive. Just think about it, with the money you can save from buying external amp for the A9s you can buy A5s + dual legends.

a9's do not have 3 sub woofers they have 3 woofers:redface:

Joe08867

chiptouz, good luck with the a7's. I am sure you will enjoy them. And down the road if you want to upgrade they leave you plenty of room for growth.

SRTer

There is no need for this type of dialog on this forum. We should look to be helpful and not harmful. Polk Audio forum is dedicated to the pursuit of high quality sound where audiophiles should never venture into pre-pubescent, school yard, ignorant behavior.

We all have points of views which we as adults should be able to express them, show our experience with products, cite or references of information, and produce our credentials that helps show how knowledgeable we are on the subject.

After this is done, we should be able to agree to disagree. We all have biases, but we can still leave the name calling out.

F1Nut is not so bad, just very frank sometimes to a fault. Ravaneli, please keep your punches above the belt. We can all have fun on this forum together.

F1nut

Careful with listening to this F1nut guy, he has no clue what he is talking about.

Says the guy using pro amps and lamp cord......hilarious!

chiptouz

OMG! If the Rti-A7's add as much to my home theater setup as the new VFT3-MK4 sub I just hooked up and watched ghost Protocol with. I think I am gonna cry. First I watched Adele live at the Royal Albert Hall. OMG. The sound quality was amazing. The new sub adds so much more than the PSW-350 ever did. Once I get the A7's I am sure the mids will really shine. I can not wait! I am going to have to watch every blueray in my collection again! That is like 50+ movies + the Band of Brothers series...Darn it so many choices so little time. If work just didn't get in the way! But....I will probably wait until the A7's show up.

ravaneli

@SRTer, my punches are always above the belt. That's what separates me from the people who punch me.

@F1nut, I will bet a lot of money that you can't pick a pro amp + lamp cord from any low distortion amp + any 6 feet wire in a true blind test more than half the time. In your defense, most people can't.

And, chiptouz, with the HSU sub the A5s would have sounded better for sure. I was just trying to help. Also, you shouldn't use OMG that much, if at all. It just removes credibility from a post.

BlueFox

ravaneli wrote: »

@F1nut, I will bet a lot of money that you can't pick a pro amp + lamp cord from any low distortion amp + any 6 feet wire in a true blind test more than half the time. In your defense, most people can't.

That is interesting. I didn't know the research was done, and that is the conclusion. Please provide the data to support that. Thanks.

F1nut

@F1nut, I will bet a lot of money that you can't pick a pro amp + lamp cord from any low distortion amp + any 6 feet wire in a true blind test more than half the time. In your defense, most people can't.

Money doesn't motivate me, but I'll tell you what would. When I nail it 100% of the time, you agree to never post here again.

ravaneli

yes, it is very simple, but that would remove all speculation from this hobby, so the audio basics are vehemently opposed. All amps with small distortion sound the same, given that they have similar input and output impedance as well. Say 0.1 % distortion, real, not manufacturer spec, which is nothing to brag about, some amps have 0.01%, but say 0.1, because most pro amps can hit that, they all distort the underlying sound less than human ear can detect. No exceptions. All this soft and bright and liquid bullsh1t is made up from nuts like finut and H9, and shame on you for buying that crap. If the amp doesn't distort, it sounds the same, by definition. This is what not distorting means, get it?
And wire properties really don't matter as long as you keep the lenght short. If you run 50 feet around the walls, then you can get interested about it, although even then it matters less than you think. But running a 6 feet wire from the amp to your front towers?? The cheapest copper wire has virtually zero distortion of the sound, ZERO. How can a thousand dollar wire beat no distortion of the signal - ask H9, he will mix u up a coctail answer.

THe only time when u can hear audible differences are when the equipment distorts significantly. All speakers, even the monitors, have significant distortion, and thats why they sound different. Some of the most expensive wires have huge distortion too, a roll off on the high end, sometimes 3 to 5 db, is considered the purest of sound! Same situation with tube amps.

This is the truth, and if it ruins you magic little world of liquid sounds - tough.

Joe08867

So you admit that distortion at .1 percent is imperceptible but you still argue that Tube amps add distortion to the sound. You really have zero idea what you are talking about.

I believe in using good wire myself, I can hear subtle differences between wires even at the 6' length. I also can hear the difference between pro vs audiophile amp. But if you are happy have fun. But please stop trying to get everyone to join your uneducated cult. Those that know and have done the real homework are laughing at you. And I don't mean just hear at Polk Forum but truly educated individuals that have done real research here. Get your learn on. And if you have read these studies could you point me toward them so I can see what your talking about. Or are you just making it up as you go?

cstmar01

ravaneli wrote: »

@SRTer, my punches are always above the belt. That's what separates me from the people who punch me.

@F1nut, I will bet a lot of money that you can't pick a pro amp + lamp cord from any low distortion amp + any 6 feet wire in a true blind test more than half the time. In your defense, most people can't.

And, chiptouz, with the HSU sub the A5s would have sounded better for sure. I was just trying to help. Also, you shouldn't use OMG that much, if at all. It just removes credibility from a post.

just why you said you would hit a forum member in the nose right?

I'm still waiting to know where you got 5% or more distortion for the polk speakers and if you also measured it yourself.

Also please tell me what referance gear you have as you stated that Mac, Krell, etc all was high quality due to specs. I still am assuming you have listed to them all and done a comparison side by side in your own system. Please share your own review and experience with the amp and associated gear.

cstmar01

ravaneli wrote: »

yes, it is very simple, but that would remove all speculation from this hobby, so the audio basics are vehemently opposed. All amps with small distortion sound the same, given that they have similar input and output impedance as well. Say 0.1 % distortion, real, not manufacturer spec, which is nothing to brag about, some amps have 0.01%, but say 0.1, because most pro amps can hit that, they all distort the underlying sound less than human ear can detect. No exceptions. All this soft and bright and liquid bullsh1t is made up from nuts like finut and H9, and shame on you for buying that crap. If the amp doesn't distort, it sounds the same, by definition. This is what not distorting means, get it?
And wire properties really don't matter as long as you keep the lenght short. If you run 50 feet around the walls, then you can get interested about it, although even then it matters less than you think. But running a 6 feet wire from the amp to your front towers?? The cheapest copper wire has virtually zero distortion of the sound, ZERO. How can a thousand dollar wire beat no distortion of the signal - ask H9, he will mix u up a coctail answer.

THe only time when u can hear audible differences are when the equipment distorts significantly. All speakers, even the monitors, have significant distortion, and thats why they sound different. Some of the most expensive wires have huge distortion too, a roll off on the high end, sometimes 3 to 5 db, is considered the purest of sound! Same situation with tube amps.

This is the truth, and if it ruins you magic little world of liquid sounds - tough.

So once again, because we listen and like the sound of one over the other, we are wrong because we spent OUR money to buy something WE like.

tonyb

Maybe we should change Rav's name to The Thread crapper. Seems like lately he just shows up to crap on someone's thread, call 5,000 active members useless, and spew out his own version of what he thinks is knowlege. In the corporate world, those dudes are usually dropped off at the mailroom and told to do their best.

Really Rav, give it a rest already.

jbooker82

ravaneli wrote: »

And wire properties really don't matter as long as you keep the lenght short. If you run 50 feet around the walls, then you can get interested about it, although even then it matters less than you think. But running a 6 feet wire from the amp to your front towers?? The cheapest copper wire has virtually zero distortion of the sound, ZERO. How can a thousand dollar wire beat no distortion of the signal - ask H9, he will mix u up a coctail answer.

ravaneli wrote: »

Some of the most expensive wires have huge distortion too

HAHAHAHA, this is great. You just openly and clearly contridicted your self in your own post. This sounds like a coctail answer to me.

mdaudioguy

Wow! I think somebody needs their diaper changed!

Geoff4rfc

I smell another thread closing, and the foul odor of stale rotting ravioli

ravaneli

Hmm.. i've made my mind to come to a meeting where I can meet some of you. I am wondering if you will be so creative with the insults ftf.

B Run

Seriously, how has Ravaneli not been banned yet? You give people terrible **** backward uninformed advice, then are condescending and rude to people who don't listen and start crap with the people giving good advice and actually try to help? Buy some Bose to go with your pro amps and go "help" people on their forum :rolleyes:

Geoff4rfc

I was thinking with his violent tendencies and harbored hostility, and his willingness to want to fight with the unknown, I mean really dude, "how about meeting me face to face?", the guy has absolutely no clue what he's doing! I suggest he go and join the Marine Corp and put that willingness to good use.