Upgrade Question - RTi A9 or A7 and subwoofer and center speaker

philliesphan101

I am new here and would appreciate any advice.

Here is my current system:
Onkyo TXSR605
Polk RT1000i Towers, Polk CS400i Center, Polk PSW350 sub, Polk RT25i surrounds, and Polk Monitor 30 rears

I am looking to upgrade the towers since the powered subs no longer work and also the sub which is not working.

My first choice was RTi A9 and a DSWPRO 440 sub. Please bear with me, as I am no expert. First on the towers, I have been reading that my current receiver will not properly power the speakers without an amp. The A9's are a decent upgrade from what I have since I now have one tweeter and one mid and no sub, where this gives me one tweeter, 2 mid and 3 subs. The A7's look like what I basically have now (except with working subs).

The DSWPRO 440 is an 8" sub vs. the PSW350 that is a 10" sub, but based on my room size 15x20, the guys at Polk told me that this one would be fine.

I am planning to keep my CS400i center. I was looking at the CSiA6 but it does not look like it is much difference from what I have now and not worth spending the money on. My primary use is for movies & tv, probably 95%.

So I would appreciate any advice on the towers and if I need an amp a recommendation for that. Also any thoughts on the sub and keeping my current center speaker. Thank you very much for your help.

John

bartz

Disclaimer, this is a non hands-on opinion since I do not own a lot of what you are considering. It's only based upon my research for my own system purchase.

Your room should be able to handle the A9s, but the consensus seems to be that A7 > A9 without an amp, and your receiver does not have pre-outs, so A9 should be ruled out given that a new receiver, an amp, and a pair of A9s will be at least $2000. Given that you already have a pair of RT1000i, I'm not sure the upgrade to A7 will be that useful for the cost. Get a 12" sub. An 8" will not add much over the 7" woofers in the A7 or the A9 (if you get them) besides an independently amped power source. I'm cheap and I went with the $200 PSW505. If I wanted to spend more, I would upgrade to a non-Polk sub in the $400-500 range. Finally, I think you are right that CS400i is in the same class as the A6, and it's probably okay to leave the center alone.

adb3da

Do you have a firm budget? If not I'd go with the a9's and look for a nice used amp. Maybe a Parasound Hca 1000a or 1500. I'd look at subs I'd a different brand, maybe an HSU or something similar. And if you really want to open the wallet get the matching A6. I really like the look if the matching RTiA line across the front.

tonyb

The A7's are head and shoulders better than the older 1000's. Don't equate number of drivers to sound quality, big mistake. If your going to stay with that receiver, A7's and a sub, anything more will require a newer receiver with preouts and an amp. Keep the center for now, but upgrade in the future to the A6. Sooner or later that receiver will have to go to be able to power everything as you move up the chain so keep that in mind.

snake1

I would also recommend the A9s and saving for a new AVR or an amp. I'd keep going but I'd just be saying what Tony already has.

philliesphan101

Thank you very much for all the great advice. I am not in any immediate hurry, so please indulge me once more. If I buy the A7's and the new sub it sounds like I should notice a pretty decent upgrade over what I have now. I do think that I need a sub that is bigger than an 8" and would likely go for the 12 inch sub.

If I were to decide to wait and go with a new receiver to power the A9's what do you recommend? Is there such a thing as an "all in one" or do I still need a receiver and an amp. In your opinions would that make a bigger difference than doing the A7's with the sub and my current receiver? I am looking to have as good of a system as I can. It looks like best price on the A9's and a DSW PRO 660 (if I go with that 12 inch sub), is around $1800-1900. If I want to spend another $1500-2000 on a receiver and or AMP. (I have always used Onkyo and never had a problem with the two that I have had over the last 12 or so years), am I in the ballpark to do do this right?

If I need to wait and save a little more to get a really great system I would rather do that. I wish there was a store that I could go to and actually hear these. I live in Northeast PA and all we have is Best Buy and HH Greg and a could of really high end shops that tell me that I need to spend $10,000+. Thank you again for all your help and advice, it is greatly appreciated.

John

adb3da

If you are not in a big hurry maybe you can find a place with a reasonable drive to do an audition. Make a day of it.

ravaneli

if you get A7s or A9s, the dialogues will sound better with the center turned off.

gce

ravaneli wrote: »

if you get A7s or A9s, the dialogues will sound better with the center turned off.

...good one.

snake1

philliesphan101 wrote: »

Thank you very much for all the great advice. I am not in any immediate hurry, so please indulge me once more. If I buy the A7's and the new sub it sounds like I should notice a pretty decent upgrade over what I have now. I do think that I need a sub that is bigger than an 8" and would likely go for the 12 inch sub.

If I were to decide to wait and go with a new receiver to power the A9's what do you recommend? Is there such a thing as an "all in one" or do I still need a receiver and an amp. In your opinions would that make a bigger difference than doing the A7's with the sub and my current receiver? I am looking to have as good of a system as I can. It looks like best price on the A9's and a DSW PRO 660 (if I go with that 12 inch sub), is around $1800-1900. If I want to spend another $1500-2000 on a receiver and or AMP. (I have always used Onkyo and never had a problem with the two that I have had over the last 12 or so years), am I in the ballpark to do do this right?

If I need to wait and save a little more to get a really great system I would rather do that. I wish there was a store that I could go to and actually hear these. I live in Northeast PA and all we have is Best Buy and HH Greg and a could of really high end shops that tell me that I need to spend $10,000+. Thank you again for all your help and advice, it is greatly appreciated.

John

Actually you sound like you have a good idea for your setup and a really nice budget (IMO). I like what my Onk does with the 12s just as it is. If you don't mind buying used, there are some really good deals to be had on some good Onks. Just make sure to get one with preouts so you can add an amp to the A9s. You could even consider a 3ch amp and leave surround duty to your AVR. Seems like it'd be good balance. If you have the ability to save and do even more, then of course thats probably a better alternative. I'm sure more experienced guys will chime in as well. Good luck man! Be sure to post pics!

4xoddic

You've gotten some good advice. I'll share my experience with RTia9s:

In the fall of 2009, I went from a ~ 1998 Yamaha rec. X 5 Polk RT7 bookshelf on stands, to a Polk RTia9 X 4, CSi5, FXi6 X 2 powered by a Pioneer SC-07 (140 W x 7). I also have a Velodyne FSR-15 sub. The room is 12' X 19', with the couch 14' from a Pioneer 60" plasma. Blu-Ray movies were phenomenal. I don't buy movies, but I did score Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's blu-ray. WOW.

On the other hand, listening to CDs was not in the same ballpark. It improved after trimming > 14 kHz by 0.5 dB (?).

I read many of the posts on this forum re: RTia9s. The Vr3 Xovers read tempting. Also the many posts re:external amp bringing the a9s alive. I read too much & convinced myself to go that route. Last week I installed a QSC GX7 pro amp, with 740 Watts RMS @ 8 Ohms. WOW. phenomenal.

I have yet to watch a blu-ray. I have placed the Velodyne behind the couch, pointed down the hallway. Those a9s' woofers are pressurizing the room in 2 channel.

I think you might find your current Onkyo is enough to power the RTi-a9s for movies. In the future, I would suggest an entry level receiver w/preamp outputs + external amp.

bartz

4xoddic wrote: »

In the future, I would suggest an entry level receiver w/preamp outputs + external amp.

Any specific recommendations? I'm curious.

Thorton

snake1 wrote: »

I would also recommend the A9s and saving for a new AVR or an amp. I'd keep going but I'd just be saying what Tony already has.

Agree with snake and tony.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
AVR: Denon AVR-3805, AMP: Parasound Model 2250, Front: Polk RTIA7, Center: Polk CSIA6, Surrounds: Polk FXIA6, Sub: Polk DSW PRO660WI

philliesphan101

Thanks for all the advice. I think that I am going to go with the A9's. I am going to go to the Onkyo TX-NR818. I looked at the Dennon 3313 and the Yamaha RX-A1020, but I have had two other Onkyo's with good luck. I am also going to adda Niles SI-2125 amp with a PSW125 sub. If anyone has any thoughts on the receiver, I would appreciate it. Thank you,

tonyb

You can do better than the Niles and that sub. The sub isn't any better than what the 9's can produce on their own. Look for a used HSU or SVS, even a Polk DSW or micro pro line sub is leaps and bounds better than the psw 125. Niles amps are really distribution amps for whole house systems. Look at B&k, Parasound, Adcom, on the used market to get a taste of what real amps can do. Receivers....my choice out of the ones mentioned would be the yamaha, though the Onkyo is good too.

vadang

I had RTi10s and went to the RTi12s (similar to A7 and A9 respectively). I personally would go with the A9s and never look back. You can always get an amp later and build up your system. I think most people (as can be seen with the suggestions so far) would say go big!

Geoff4rfc

Congrats on your choice for the 9's and Onk. Get a good amp to power them.

nashvillekat195

There is a lot of discussion here about using a pre-amp and power amp. In doing this do you come out of the pre out on the receiver and go into the left and right sides of the power amp. From the L and R out on the power amp does it go L and R front speakers? In the case of an HT system would you run the fronts off the power amp and the center and surrounds off the receiver?

ravaneli

yes on all counts sir.

F1nut

My primary use is for movies & tv, probably 95%.

Get the A7's and the DSW660wi, you don't need the A9's in a room that size. A Pioneer SC-xx would be a good choice/upgrade over what you have now and you won't need an external amp.

if you get A7s or A9s, the dialogues will sound better with the center turned off.

What a crock.

jaf09

i got the a9s and elite sc35 and yes it is good enough to put smile on your face ,however now i got external amp and that is better no doubt, by the way i live in jersey if you like to come by and hear them.