Are Polk Audio Rti A9 good for my Yamaha DSP-Z9

rishiguru

Hello everybody this is rishiguru from India. This is my first post in this forum so kindly bear with me and also my English.

I am a young guy and have fallen in love with multi channel audio. Though I respect the so called "Analog Stereo" purist, I have my own way of enjoying music, I just get amazed by the amount of sonic information & detailing these 5.1 channel DVD discs contain which can never be expressed in a two channel stereo. And yes I am a much more of a music buff than a movie fanatic.

My love for multi channel music had led me to hunting the so called US $ 4,000 plus Uber A/V amplifiers, recently getting hold of a pre owned $4,500 Yamaha DSP-Z9 which used to sell by the name of RX-Z9 is US, the difference being RX has a tuner and comes in black, where as DSP comes in titanium/ gold and lacks tuner. These amp was availble from 2004 to 2008, mine being a bought in 2007.

Yamaha DSP-Z9









Here are the DSP Z-9 specs I was able to gather:

1) Format: 9.2 channel A/V amplifier

2) Manufacturer Rated Power [20 Hz to 20 kHz, 0.015%THD, 8 ohms]: 170 watts X 7 + 50 watts X 2

3) Continuous Power [20 Hz to 20 kHz, 0.015%THD]:

2-channels (Driven simultaneously): 8 ohms = 170 + 170 watts, 6 ohms = 215 + 215 watts, 4 ohms = 290 + 290 watts

5-channels (Driven simultaneously): 8 ohms = 150 Wpc, 6 ohms = 180 Wpc, 4 ohms = 220 Wpc

7-channels (Driven simultaneously): 8 ohms = 130 Wpc, 6 ohms = 153 Wpc, 4 ohms = 190 Wpc

4) Dynamic Power: 2-channels (Driven simultaneously):
8 ohms = 210 + 210 watts, 6 ohms = 260 + 260 watts, 4 ohms = 340 + 340 watts, 2 ohms = 580 + 580 watts

5) THX Certification: Ultra 2 [This receiver passes the 3.2 ohm all channels driven high current torture test mandated for THX Ultra2 Certification.]

6) Power Amplifier Input Fuse Rating: 20A, 250 volts

7) Power Transformer Type: Toroidal

8) Power Transformer Rating: 1500 VA

9) Power Capacitors: Nichicon 28,000uF X 2, 80 volts

10) Power Amplifier Rail Voltage: +- 65volts

11) Pre & Power Amp Section: The DSP-Z-9s pre & power amplifier circuit design architectures & PCB layout are exotic in nature and are found on US $10,000 plus separates. The pre-amplifier section uses a fully balanced wiring for audio signal transmission with high quality gold plated relays to achieve low noise & distortion and feeds the symmetrical driven fully discrete push-full power amplifier circuit configuration with a complementary FET input stage. This ensures fully balanced power output with no signal interference and highest slew rate (rate at which signal changes; affects high frequency response) and balanced clipping. Furthermore, the massive 1,500 watts low impedance toroidal transformer and a pair of high-grade Nichicon 28,000uF/ 80 volts power capacitors ensure a consistently stable power supply. This type of design architectures are extremely rare for A/V amplifiers

12) Capacitors Used: Nichicon Gold Tune [Best caps for audio]

13) Diodes: High quality Schottky Barrier Diode for High Gain S/N ratio

14) DAC: 24 bit, 192 kHz Burr Brown PCM1792DBR with DSD compatibility. Passband Ripple = 0.00001 dB, Stopband Attenuation = -130 dB

15) DAC Configuration: 9.2 channels use six PCM1792DBR DACs. It uses differential DAC configuration for the center channel, while the rest uses standard single-ended DAC configuration.

16) SNR: 129db/ 132db [Single-ended Configuration/ Dual-differential Configuration]

17) Dynamic range: 129db/ 131db [Single-ended Configuration/ Dual-differential Configuration]

18) Pure Direct Mode: Yes.

19) Speaker Relays: Gold plated relays

20) Volume Control: Highly accurate adjustment in variable steps of 0.5 db

21) Graphic Equalizer: Individual 9 band graphic equalizer for each of the nine channels

22) Tone Control: Digital tone control for front & center channels

23) Digital Link: iLink

24) Speaker Terminals: 24 Carat Hard Gold Plated

25) Video: Video switching between composite/ S-Video & component video with up-conversion upto 720p/ 1080i. Down-conversion facility is also available.

26) Multi Zone Support: Yes

27) Front Panel: 100mm thick extruded aluminum front panel

28) Weight: 66 lbs

29) Awards: In 2004 won the most respected and coveted EISA award --> Best Home Theater High-End Component. Link : EISA Awards

30) Links: Yamaha.com, AV-Land

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Right now I want to own a good pair of towers for my DSP-Z9s front channels. I am a self proclaimed bass fanatic and really like the Polk Audio Rti A9 with its triple 7 inch bass drivers. But I am music lover too, so I do not want the mids & highs to get drowned in bass.

Suggestions regarding choosing floorstanders having potent bass output capability and not mid bass will be of great help. My budget is $1000 max. I have heard that the PSB Image T6 is really good VFM but am not sure that they are able to compete to A9 in bass department.

After going through many forums I have seen many says Rti's are very good for home theater speakers but not for music since they lack mids. Also the thing that worries me the most Rti's tweeters are quite finicky and keep on blowing quite a lot.

Please do keep in mind I live in India, so my choices are very limited due to unavailability. Speakers from the list below are quite easily available though:

1) Polk Audio
2) KEF
3) Monitor Audio
4) Morudant Short
5) Focal
6) Dali
7) PSB
8) Quad
9) Klipsch
10) Wharfedale
11) Epos
12) Jamo

Thanks in advance!!!

rishiguru

Please guys help me.

mantis

I think the RTia9's are a fine speaker and you have plenty of power to drive them. I for one have Installed the very combo and I'll tell you first hand , it's an amazing combo. I believe you'll be happy for years to come.

On a side note , the Z looks dead sexy in titanium. I'd like to have one myself. I have always loved Yamaha sound especially with polk speakers. They go together quite well.

rishiguru

mantis wrote: »

I think the RTia9's are a fine speaker and you have plenty of power to drive them. I for one have Installed the very combo and I'll tell you first hand , it's an amazing combo. I believe you'll be happy for years to come.

Thanks a lot mantis, for your helpful suggestion. Since you own A9 powered by RX-Z9 can you kindly enlighten me a little regarding A9s:

1) Musical capabilities (I am least interested in movies)
2) Bass output
3) Mids (Since A7 is said to be quite weak on mids)
4) Did you have any problem with blown tweeter when listening at high volumes?

Depending on your suggestion I will gun for A9s since I cannot find another tower within $1000 to challenge RTi A9s might.

Or is there any? If so please do tell.

I am going to listen a lot 2 channel stereo + 5.1 multi channel audio on these floorstanders, so I require full range towers, which can travel atleast 30Hz ~ 20 kHz.

mantis wrote: »

On a side note , the Z looks dead sexy in titanium.

I have seen both, in terms of looks DSP-Z9 titanium version(Mine) will kill your RX-Z9 black box. The casework on the DSP-Z9 is gorgeous, comparing with the best in the business. The faceplate is formed from a 10 mm thick piece of beautifully machined extruded aluminum, finished in a striking brushed titanium treatment reminiscent of Krell amps. The faceplate & side panel quality are above reproach and beyond anything I have seen on an A/V amplifier. In fact, it felt much more like a handcrafted high-end component than a mass-produced one.

But you have the added benefit of an inbuilt tuner, which DSP series lacks.

naturallight

Now i have the RTi 12's ( which is pretty much the 9"s without the wood sides) I use them in a 2 channel music only system. To me, for a tower type speaker, you just can't find one with the bass the 9's will put out. There is nothing wrong with the mid's at all, not sure were you heard that, or problems with blowing the tweeter.

I play this system loud....no problems with anything your talking about. In fact it's a very musical speaker.

Now with that said, i run seperate, power amp, pre, and a tube type cd player. I know nothing about your Yamaha amp. But if Mantis, says you have the power..then i would have to agree with him.

roost28

you will be verry happy with the dsp-z9 and the rti a9 combo.

rishiguru

naturallight wrote: »

To me, for a tower type speaker, you just can't find one with the bass the 9's will put out.

You sold me out. :razz:

naturallight wrote: »

I play this system loud....no problems with anything your talking about. In fact it's a very musical speaker.

This was the most important factor, I wanted a musical floorstander, not something that produces gobs of bass & treble with no finesse.

I think A9s it is.

rishiguru

roost28 wrote: »

you will be verry happy with the dsp-z9 and the rti a9 combo.

Thanks a lot roost28 with our valuable suggestion. It seems 9(DSP-Z + Rti-A) are made for each other.

rishiguru

Sad news guys, I am now read to go for RTi-A9's, then I found this thread which says Rti-A12 uses very very cheap components and should be avoided at any cost. And A12 = A9.

Link : Redflagdeals.com --> polk-audio-rti12-speakers-350-pair-fs

Now I am puzzled. What to do?

In India audiophile grade loudspeakers are very costly. These A9's will cost me US $1,450. Spending this amount of money on a tower that comes with a tweeter that not even cost $10. :sad:

I am heartbroken.

naturallight

Hold on...I don't know were your getting any of this info....but it's bull. There is no RTi a12 that i know of.
My speakers are RTi 12's...period...maybe in India there are people trying to pass off this stuff as Polk products.
There is nothing cheap about them. What i said is right on, as to how the speakers work...what your getting in the place you live..I don't know, what website your getting your info from...don't know..but it's pretty much full of crap.

IF you can get real Polk speakers.....9's..they will kick your ****.....nothing more needs to be said.

naturallight

This clown is an idoit....and if you don't have the right power, for these speakers...there NOT going to sound good. Period.

This guy is..not all with it....NO you can't buy the tweeters for 20 bucks....the guy is a jerk.....This is the internet.....pretty much any jackass can say what ever he wants...don't let that tell you what you want to buy.....

roost28

rishiguru wrote: »

Sad news guys, I am now read to go for RTi-A9's, then I found this thread which says Rti-A12 uses very very cheap components and should be avoided at any cost. And A12 = A9.

Link : Redflagdeals.com --> polk-audio-rti12-speakers-350-pair-fs

Now I am puzzled. What to do?

In India audiophile grade loudspeakers are very costly. These A9's will cost me US $1,450. Spending this amount of money on a tower that comes with a tweeter that not even cost $10. :sad:

I am heartbroken.

don't listen to everything you read on the internet, polks rti line is worth every penny. i had the rti10's for 5 years and they never had any problems and sounded great with my yamaha rx-v1500,1700 and my 3900.
i had a full 7.1 set up all with polk speakers and i was verry happy with them. just go read all the customer reviews.

roost28

naturallight wrote: »

This clown is an idoit....and if you don't have the right power, for these speakers...there NOT going to sound good. Period.

This guy is..not all with it....NO you can't buy the tweeters for 20 bucks....the guy is a jerk.....This is the internet.....pretty much any jackass can say what ever he wants...don't let that tell you what you want to buy.....

+1 this guy is a moron

rishiguru

It seems that a lot of dumb information is floating around in the net. I am very grateful to you guys for helping me out :biggrin:

By the way I also have the choice to have a KEF Q900 floorstander paying $200 more than Rti-A9. I must admit that Q900 are gorgeous piece of art & quality, but A9 will definetly be there with them.

I find A9 have much higher power rating that KEFs, and while Q900 have three 8 inch bass drivers only one is active the rest two being passive. I comparison A9s three 7 inchers are all active.

Lastly Q900 have one driver that takes care on mids & highs but it is might one patented by KEF. A9s are no sloch either with two mids & one tweeter.

In India, PorFx is the only authorised dealer of Polk Audio & KEF. Below are the links to their website:

LINK: ProFx India: Polk Audio Rti Series

LINK: ProFx India: KEQ Q Series

I will leave the ultimate decision to you guys as of which will be best for my Z9.

Mantis please help. Others too.

nhhiep

wow. that is a massage AVR. it reminds me of my HK AVR 7200.
Z9's gut is bigger than many amps. With the power rating and low THD. I bet that it can handle the whole Rti set just fine.

Inspector 24

Have you considered separates? At that price point you could put together a great pre-amp/processor and separate amp(s) that would give you more wattage and current per channel than the AVR can deliver, which based on many recommendations and my experience is what the A9's need with all those drivers.

Started with Yamaha AVR 140wpc, then Parasound HCA-1206 135wpc was a BIG improvement. Gave the speakers bass, and now with a Parasound HCA-2003 220wpc they finally sound as big as they look. Plus it's got a 1.2kva transformer for just three channels, you're asking a 1.5kva transformer to supply up to 7...there's only so much power to be distributed.

Would it sound bad? Not likely. But based on others advice and my own experiences you'll be missing out on what the a9's can deliver until you feed them more power.

Check out Parasound, B&K, Rotel, Adcom, and a few others.

ravaneli

i would go KEF, given that you are interested in music mainly. It has a flatter frequency response. RTIs have exagerated highs. Gives u extra excitement in movies but in music can be unpleasant. Of course you AVR can compensate for that with equalization but it's not that easy.
A9 looks better though, KEF is too fricking rectanglish and simple. To say its art is a rather lose use of superlatives.

rishiguru

ravaneli wrote: »

i would go KEF, given that you are interested in music mainly. It has a flatter frequency response. RTIs have exagerated highs. Gives u extra excitement in movies but in music can be unpleasant. Of course you AVR can compensate for that with equalization but it's not that easy.
A9 looks better though, KEF is too fricking rectanglish and simple. To say its art is a rather lose use of superlatives.

I am a lil bit confused as of now, I find the KEF900 are as good as A9s in terms of music, maybe even a little bit better.

In terms of power handling capacity A9s have the upper hand, and is much better for future upgrade.

ravaneli i am a complete noob when it comes to loudspeakers and this is my first hi end system, my Z9 can pump 170 wpc @ 8 ohms in stereo. The Q900 are stated at 200 watts @ 8 ohms. Is it 200 watts per tower or 200 watts for a pair? A little more help in this part will be of great help.

Thanks in advance!!!

rishiguru

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Have you considered separates? At that price point you could put together a great pre-amp/processor and separate amp(s) that would give you more wattage and current per channel than the AVR can deliver, which based on many recommendations and my experience is what the A9's need with all those drivers.

Started with Yamaha AVR 140wpc, then Parasound HCA-1206 135wpc was a BIG improvement. Gave the speakers bass, and now with a Parasound HCA-2003 220wpc they finally sound as big as they look. Plus it's got a 1.2kva transformer for just three channels, you're asking a 1.5kva transformer to supply up to 7...there's only so much power to be distributed.

Would it sound bad? Not likely. But based on others advice and my own experiences you'll be missing out on what the a9's can deliver until you feed them more power.

Check out Parasound, B&K, Rotel, Adcom, and a few others.

There are no limits in attending audio nirvana. Or is there? I think not. A few weeks before I was very happy with a pre owned 19 year old Yamaha DSP-A2070 which use to retail at $2000 back in 1993. This A/V amp is a beast but uses technology which can be best described as "stone age". Still the analog stereo sound is so good it killed many a good stereo amps.

But then upgradeitis hit me again. For those like me that have fallen in love with surround sound, the search begins for components that create a sense of immersion within a musical presentation. Then I got a pre owned DSP-Z9.

As of now I do not have the funds to buy a separate. In India we have to pay 2x times the price you pay of any audiophile equipment in US. International freight charge + heavy import duty + dealers profit all add up. Just look at the price I have to pay for a pair of A9s frekin 1,450 dollars. In Amazon US it costs $750. Just half.

As of now I want a reasonable setup which can provide me a good sound quality. In stereo mode I want a pair of towers which will be very musical with chest thumping bass. With DSP-Z9 I have a very good multi channel amp, may be not in the league of separates but still as mantis pointed out have enough in it to drive the A9s to satisfactory levels.

Inspector24, my question to you is which will be better for my Z9, KEF Q900 or Polk A9. I just want a pair of towers which are musical and have amazing bass output capabilities and not mid bass.

naturallight

The rateing is 200watts PER speaker, not the pair. You really have to make the choice on which speaker you want. If you are close to one of the showrooms, i would bring your Z-9 with you and hook it up to both speakers and see which one you like best. That's really the only way to tell.

ravaneli

like you said, this is power HANDLING. The output will be determined form your AVR, which is probably 150. You can have 1000W speaker but if your AVR is 150W it is not gona go any louder. Not that loudness is determined by power alone..

The KEF has a flatter frequency response. This means it has a truer reproduction of the signal your are playing. This is preferable for music. Not sure if the difference is price is worth the difference in quality. It is very subjective. I would go KEF for music and A9 for HT.

You should have never bought that AVR, no matter how pretty : ). I agree you could have gotten super nice separates for that price. At least here..

roost28

me personally i wouldnt even consider the kefs, i love my polks, i had the full rti set but my fronts were the rti 10s and my system served double duty, movies and music.they were being powered with a yamaha rx-v3900 and for both movies and music they sounded fantastic i did not find them to sound too "bright" either. i played them loud and never blew any tweeters or anything they just always performed. my house was recently broken into and all my gear was stolen and when i replaced my speakers i just whent straight to the rtia7's aswell as the rest of the matching speakers because i loved them so much. a friend of mine has the rti12s powered by a rx-z7 and they sound fantastic! i have not heard the q900s so i cannot compare but i have heard other kefs but never really liked them, but everyone has different tastes. like naturalight said you need to go and listen to them for yourself and see which ones "you" like because you are the one who is going to be listening to them.

mdaudioguy

ravaneli wrote: »

You should have never bought that AVR, no matter how pretty : ). I agree you could have gotten super nice separates for that price. At least here..

Wow, what an ignorant comment. Obviously, he likes this unit, and it's probably superb for his stated purposes.

roost28

ravaneli wrote: »

You should have never bought that AVR, no matter how pretty : ). I agree you could have gotten super nice separates for that price. At least here..

wow! what a bunch of bs, just totally ignore this statement, you have a very nice avr which will work just fine and give you many years of enjoyment:cheesygrin:

rishiguru

Thanks to all you guys for the constant guidance.

Surfing the web I came up with this towers Dali Concept 10. These towers look monsters with two 10 inch bass drivers.

Dali Concept 10

Link: DALI: USA

Link: Dali Concept 10 Review

Are these Dali's good? Anybody here heard this? And also their pricing?

roost28

never heard of them, but they do look pretty!

naturallight

Well again....you need to go listen to these. If you have no stores close by, and your trying to make a selection with out hearing any of these speakers, then i feel for you..not easy to do. I don't know anything about the Dali speakers. Never heard one.
But i will tell you that reviewers don't get paid to trash speakers. You have to learn to read between the lines.
Altho Dali dose make every high end speakers, and they proudly say they are hand built in Denmark.....this line is NOT.
This is there buget speaker. Nothing at all is made in Denmark. The whole speaker is made in China, and from the review..the guy is really saying they are made cheaply. They produce bass, which may be what your looking for. But not much else.
It depends on what your looking for, but from that guys reveiw, heck, i'd buy a set of Cerwin Vega's that will probably sound better, and you can get all the bass your body can take from them...LOL

I really don't understand what your trying to do here. Are you running more then just 2 speakers, or just trying to get a "surround" sound from the Yamaha, just playing "stereo" music???

deronb1

naturallight wrote: »

Well again....you need to go listen to these. If you have no stores close by, and your trying to make a selection with out hearing any of these speakers, then i feel for you..not easy to do. I don't know anything about the Dali speakers. Never heard one.
But i will tell you that reviewers don't get paid to trash speakers. You have to learn to read between the lines.
Altho Dali dose make every high end speakers, and they proudly say they are hand built in Denmark.....this line is NOT.
This is there buget speaker. Nothing at all is made in Denmark. The whole speaker is made in China, and from the review..the guy is really saying they are made cheaply. They produce bass, which may be what your looking for. But not much else.
It depends on what your looking for, but from that guys reveiw, heck, i'd buy a set of Cerwin Vega's that will probably sound better, and you can get all the bass your body can take from them...LOL

I really don't understand what your trying to do here. Are you running more then just 2 speakers, or just trying to get a "surround" sound from the Yamaha, just playing "stereo" music???

Agreed. YOU have to LISTEN to VARIOUS speakers and determine what sounds best to YOU. Anyone here can tell you about their experiences with certain products, but your tastes could be totally different. I personally went round and round buying speakers without hearing them and was getting frustrated looking for that "right" sound. Then, I went into a local high end dealer, spent about 90 minutes listening to various speakers and determined that the Def Tech sound pleased MY ears the best. After that, you can spend time looking for deals online, new, used, whatever.

naturallight

OK..to go any farther on this, i think everybody here needs some info. Is this an HT system, or are you useing it for stereo? How many speakers are you putting on this system? If so what are they? How are you feeding this ..meaning a CD player, records or what?
You say you want bass, and you want to play this loud..well how loud is loud...like Disco loud...to beat your body, with bass or what? Plus what kind of music are you playing?

How big is the room, your putting this in? Pretty much without this info..no real "usefull" responces can be made at this point.

rishiguru

naturallight wrote: »

OK..to go any farther on this, i think everybody here needs some info. Is this an HT system, or are you useing it for stereo?

Well the DSP-Z9 is a multi-channel A/V amp which with me is never going to do a HT work. I needed a good stereo amp as well as a very musical multi-channel amp to play 5.1 DVD-A discs.

Anybody who owns a Z9(like mantis) knows what it can deliver in both stereo/ multi-channel. Z9 is a very musical amp to say in short.

So, it will be used as a 2.0 (Stereo), 5.1 (DVD-A) and upmixed to 7.1 and then to 9.2.

naturallight wrote: »

How many speakers are you putting on this system?

Right now my z9 is sitting idle. I do not want to buy a set of crappy 7.1 setup. I want to go step by step, first buy a excellent pair of full range towers for fronts. I know it may take me nearly a year to end up with a 9.2 setup, i am not in a hurry, what ever speakers i buy I want quality. Also I do not have the moolah to strut out $5000 and get a good 7.1 system.

So, my first priorty is to get an astounding pair of front towers which travel through almost the entire audible frequency range and be great for a 2.0 listening.

After few months I will gun for the surrounds. Lastly the subwoofers.

naturallight wrote: »

How are you feeding this ..meaning a CD player, records or what?

I have CD player, DVD player & a HTPC.

naturallight wrote: »

You say you want bass, and you want to play this loud..well how loud is loud...like Disco loud...to beat your body, with bass or what? Plus what kind of music are you playing?

Sure I want bass, but not to that level that it will start eating the mids & highs. I want towers that are very musical having excellent coverage on bass, mids & highs with a lil more emphasis on bass without smacking the mid & highs.

naturallight wrote: »

How big is the room, your putting this in?

My room is 11 feet X 23 feet. Hope this helps.

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naturallight i feel the Dalis are cheap, actually day by day I am leaning more towards those A9s. Also mantis have the same setup of Z9 + A9. And he says I am going to enjoy these for years to come.

I want to thank all of you out there for the constant support. Further enlighten on my setup will be of great help.

naturallight

OK, with that info....I would stay away from the Dali..at least that model. The problem with them, is if you go for the stuff that is really made in Denmark..the price jumps up like 3 times..so probably not worth the money.

The Kef speakers you mentioned, I have never heard. There a new model. If there is anyway you can go listen to them i would. The older Kef stuff, to me, was to layed back for my taste..but again thats just me. You may love them.

In your room i "assume" you would put the speakers on the 11ft wall and fire them into the 23ft space.
I have my 12's in a 17x30 foot room. They will get VERY loud, and i sit 15 ft back.

In your room, with just the 9's...if you sit lets say 12 feet back, you will probably get blown out of your chair...LOL
Since this is going to be a surround system, and your going to add more speakers plus a sub...this is going to get real loud, real fast.

I would tend to go with the 9's for basic price VS performance..for what you want to do. You may have to throw money at some room treatments, as with a bunch of speakers in that size room, you may have all kinds of problems with sound reflection.