Rti 12 VS LSI 15.....

naturallight

OK, i have the 12's..wanted the 15's but could not afford them at the time. Now..the 15's are down in price.

Now the question is, what am i gaining or loseing..between the 2 speakers. The 12's will give you massive bass, which i tend to think the 15's can't do. But the 15's give you better maybe mids and high's then the 12's.

Lets say you play electric ladyland....that plays great on the 12's....the treble...well that can be over the top...not killing you. but not...wonderfull. But the soundstage is great.

I guess the question is ..i can do the modes from VR3.on the x connect...for the 12's ..call it a day....or sell the 12's to get the 15's..but if they lack the bottom end of the 12's....thats not a good upgrade to me.

Any thoughts about this????

Monster Jam

What amplification are you running with your RTi12s? If you aren't running a separate amplifier, I would stick with the RTis personally....and I own the 15s.

naturallight

I have a Jolida, cd, Adcom pre, and an Onkyo M-504 power amp....no problem with power or anything else...it's a strict 2 channel music only system.

hochpt21

Bass is important to me also. I upgraded M70's to LSi15's. I lost bass.

However, the detail on the 15's is insane. They are the first speaker that literally give me cravings to go sit down and listen to music...that good.

At some point I am planning to work a sub back into the equation to get the low end. You can also do a mod on the sub for the 15's that most report tighter and some report more overall bass.

IMO...the 15's are best at acoustic (voice, guitar, piano etc.) music.

I, however, have not heard the Rti 12 so I don't know how much any of this is worth to you.

hochpt21

I also think some have mentioned that the LSi7's or 9's and a good sub were actually preferred over the 15's.

Keep in mind...I love my 15's and listen to them every night.

leroyjr1

Music or HT? You can always add bass to a system so I wouldn't make that the deciding factor.

falconcry72

naturallight wrote: »

...it's a strict 2 channel music only system.

Hands down LSi-15's.

I used to own the RTi-A9's (same as your 12's), and now I own the LSi-15's. They do everything better, including hard rock and movies. They especially excel at the more delicate stuff, but don't let that fool you into thinking they can't do dynamic material too. They are just a more accurate speaker, period.

naturallight

The 12's don't need a sub..at least if you have a good poweramp. But they do tend to be on the briteside(on some sorce stuff)...now if VR3's modes help that..then not a problem. I'm not sure the 15's...can deal or produce the bottom end the 12's can...so this may not be an upgrade to me.

naturallight

Falconcry...keep in mind this is a music only system. You say the 15's WILL produce the bass the 12's will????
Not that i think your wrong, but these speakers are played in 16x30 foot room.....the 12's..pretty much can kick your butt on bass sitting 15 back in the room...NOT so sure the 15's can do that... Just basically ...they don't have the speakers for it..there is 3 VS 1...not a good fight on that.

VTO888

I have the 15s also and love them for HT. But I do think they are lacking in the bass arena. I actually prefer my lsi7s with a sealed sub on my 2ch vs the 15s without a sub.

falconcry72

naturallight wrote: »

Falconcry...keep in mind this is a music only system.

I know, that's why I'd pick the LSi's.

the 12's..pretty much can kick your butt on bass sitting 15 back in the room...NOT so sure the 15's can do that... Just basically ...they don't have the speakers for it..there is 3 VS 1...not a good fight on that.

Both speakers are flat to 30hz. In my opinion, the 12's have a somewhat unnatural bass hump in the 40-70hz range that makes them bassier than they should be. The 15's don't have that hump, so, yes, the 15's will have less bass, but it is more accurate bass.

Try to find a local pair used. Give'em a whirl, and if you don't like them, get rid of them.

Drenis

Also keep in mind you can do the woofer mod to the 15's for better, tighter bass as well as put some dynamat on the port tube and reap the better sound.

I've never heard a pair myself but have always wanted to hear the vifa tweeter. These are speakers made for music first. Your 12's are made for home theater first and music second.

naturallight

Unnatural bass hump??....Not sure i really hear that, but i have nothing to gage it against. The 12's work well in this room..it's an acustical nightmare....the 15's, may not do so well, but who knows. I really don't find alot of fault with the 12's. Except, they can become to much on the treble end of things. But that also has to do with the source material. In fact i can listen to classical stuff for hours....and they work really well. The 15's i'm sure are more detailed in the mid's to high end. So i'm not sure there is a good answer to this, as i'd have to sell the 12's to try out the 15's. There are no hi-fi stores or anyplace i could listen to the 15's, so i'm shotting in the dark here.

I may have to talk to VR3 and see what his modes do. If they tame the high end..and give a little more detail to the mid's that may be all i need.

EndersShadow

So I have a room that is 14x22 and I just installed a M1.0t to my LSi 15's. I can tell you listening in Direct mode (no sub) I am SUPER HAPPY with how much bass I have. You wouldnt know I dont have a sub hooked up right now.

I used to listen in stereo (adds sub) to get more bass since my 5 channel Carver just wasn't driving the LSi 15's good enough, but I feel no need to do that anymore personally. I am listening to Techno, rap and a bunch of other stuff and the LSi 15's are just shining like none other on the low end..

mantis

I think if your room is a nightmare then you should focus on improving the room over buying new speakers.
The room corrections will yield greater overall performance.

DarkHorror

You would be better served with something like a pair of LSi9's or LSi7's, then a subwoofer. Not only will you get better bass but also better mids and highs. Best of both worlds. Plus you can put the sub in a spot for the most accurate bass instead of having them built in.

Have you run room eq wizard to see what bass response you are getting? If not that is the first thing I would do. Then you will know what's going on in your seating position.

naturallight

Yeah, alot of people have said, the 9's with a sub, is just better the the 15's...may be something to think about.
I have no idea what room wizard is....this is just old 2 channel stuff...

DarkHorror

it's free software you can run on a computer to check for freq response and a bunch of other stuff. All you need a spl meter which you can find from radio shack.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

That way you can check the freq response of your speakers and subs in your room. See where the problems are and then you can fix them. I have used it along with audyssey and where I have placed my subs in my room to get in room response of 13.5hz-80hz +/- 2db.

Before I finished building my subs I just had a sub in a spot that was easy to deal with. The freq response was all over the place, had a large null centered around 30hz, and huge peak around 60hz, along with other rather large freq swings, sure it sounded alright just having bass. Now that I have everything setup correctly it's a huge difference.

naturallight

OK..now see you guys are far beyound what i know about..or have the money for. I "assume" you need to plug this into a laptop to make this work...don't have one. I have an old outdated PC..just like me...LOL I can't afford to by the 15's without selling my 12's...which dose not leave me with the warm and fuzzys..If i don't like the 15's.

I do everything by ear..if it sounds good that works for me. I know the 12's are not great on the high end..but on everything else they work real well.

I may be able to swing an set of LSI9's off the ebay site....if my wife dose not kill me...just to see, what they sound like. If i really like them, then sell the 12's to buy a sub.......but i'm not so sure, that combo will fill the room with sound, like the 12's do.....so it's a crap shot for me.

DarkHorror

That isn't a bad idea.

Also what I used to do was just bring my desktop computer and monitor upstairs to my home theater when I wanted to run room eq wizard.

Also if you are on a budget and have time and the tools you could make your own sub and it will cost much less than a subwoofer of equal quality that you would buy prebuilt.

falconcry72

naturallight wrote: »

...but i'm not so sure, that combo will fill the room with sound, like the 12's do.....so it's a crap shot for me.

They will. Period. Not that you're going to listen to any of this advice anyway...:rolleyes:

Like you said, you do things by ear. Get some LSi's, and listen to them. I don't think there's anything that anyone on this forum could tell you that will make you confident enough to sell your 12's. Get some LSi's; listen to them; make up your own mind. Over and out.

teekay0007

naturallight - you have said multiple times how great the 12s sound and how well they fill your room and how terrific the bass they produce is. You have also said that you cannot get the LSis without getting rid of your 12s, unless you get the 9s, which from the sound of it wouldn't have nearly the bass you want and are used to. Then, to get the sub to go with the 9s, you'd have to get rid of your 12s.......

Diagnosis: Upgraditis! VERY contagious around hear! :cheesygrin:

Recommended course of action: Get your mods done on your 12s and see if that takes care of the issue you have with their highs. If it does, fine, you're set! If not, get rid of them without regret and move on to the LSis +/- a sub.

I say this 'cuz I can see how this plays out otherwise - you get rid of your beloved 12s and get the LSis and shortly thereafter, you're whining about how "They just don't sound as good as my old 12s and they just don't fill the room as well as my 12s and Boo-hoo!......Waaaaaaah!" Unacceptable! :loneranger:

naturallight

No i listen to what everybody has to say, Unfortunatly i'm at the point in life..I can no longer afford to just buy a set of speakers...to try out, and gage them against the 12's. Pretty much i'm an audiofile..with no money...LOL

So pretty much i may try and sell a bunch of stuff....then buy the 15's.....and put them up against the 12's.
Not like i would not like to do that...it's just a matter of money at this point. If the 12's fall short..then i can try and sell those.

EndersShadow

Have you thought about SDA's? They are the KING of Polks 2 channel speakers....... just throwing that out there....

cnh

Mods on Rti-12s? Good Luck with that. I don't find much wrong with them that's worth improving. They sound like what they sound like and I doubt modding them will change much there unlike modding the LSI series which we "know" cut some ends for price points!

I agree. With a good amp on the 12s the 15s can't match their bass output. Does the Vifa have a more "refined" high end than the silk dome in the 12s. Yes! Does that mean 12s can't do music well. No!

You really need to listen to both. And if possible give some modded 12s a listen and see how much of a difference you can really hear and where the difference shows up. I really don't think it's worth it--modding 12s! You can "mod" anything, but what does will that get you? As far as the 12s are concerned I'd say its extreme law of diminishing returns!

cnh

EndersShadow

NaturalLight, where are you located? Maybe there is someone local with the LSi 15's you could listen to and bring your speakers over to do a A/B test. If your anywhere near Indianapolis, IN your welcome to stop by my place.....

Geoff4rfc

Try getting with cbow8, this guy went from all LSi to RTiA. So far, he hasn't looked back. To each his own.

falconcry72

EndersShadow wrote: »

NaturalLight, where are you located? Maybe there is someone local with the LSi 15's you could listen to and bring your speakers over to do a A/B test. If your anywhere near Indianapolis, IN your welcome to stop by my place.....

Good idea.

naturallight

No i'm in GA,,west of Atlanta..pretty much a dead zone for music, stereo...anything. I mean the people who come over to the house just look at the 12's an go holy ..you know what. So there are no stores..no nothing down here...LOL

falconcry72

I just wanted to add that I think the RTi-12's (and A9's) are a serious kick-butt speaker. I may have come off as bashing them; that wasn't my intention. They are awesome, for sure, I just prefer LSi's...

For music, I'd even take the 9's with no sub over the RTi's, but that's just me... and I'd really take these LSi-M703's that I'm fortunate enough to be demoing!!!

naturallight

No. you didn't come across as bashing the 12's....lol

But man give me a break.....you get a pair of LSI-M703 to try out....thats at the point i just shot myself in the foot.

I pretty much have no words for this......