Setting Up RTi12

TommyT

I just got a pair of RTi12's and a Yamaha Receiver Rx-V573

I understand these speakers should run off an amp but for now they'll be running off this receiver for audio/music.

Any advice on settings or set up with what I have would be appreciated.

I'm also curious if I can advance this receiver to run a small center and rear with an amp to run the RT12's?

I'm in a townhouse with adjoining walled neighbors so Im not looking at a big set up. I wanted a pair of towers for music and nice front channels and got a great deal on these. They are over kill for my place.

Thanks

naturallight

First Welcome to Club Polk.

To say those speakers are overkill is an understatement, and your neighbors are just going to LOVE you...LOL The Yamaha AVR you have, dose not have pre-amp outs on it, that i know of, so you can't run a power amp off it. The AVR you have may put out 100 watts, but the more speakers you plug in the power drops..alot. If you put a center channel and a set of surrounds on there, what you might be left with as far as power maybe 60 watts at most. So you can't turn this up too much.

If you do, you will clip the amp and do damage to the speakers.



Hate to say this...BUT..you may have gotten a good deal on the speakers, but they are also , i believe the biggest "tower" speakers Polk has ever made. They don't play well with ANY type AVR. They need a good "high current" high power amp to make them work right. Which the Yamaha is neither.

TommyT

Thanks for the feedback. My plan is run just the rti12 off the yamaha short term and upgrade the receiver when I expand the system.

Will this be a safe solution for the short term and not damage the speakers?

So I understand this yamaha does not support and upgrade path to add an amp?

Thanks again for the feedback.

Tommy

naturallight

From what i see on "that" Yamaha, no you can't run a separate amp. Most AVR's that have that function, will have a set of RCA plugs that are labeled "pre-out" meaning pre-amp output, which is what you would connect your power amp to. But most are not cheap, and you should maybe look for a used one.



The 12's need again a "high current" high powered amp to make them work the best. 200 watts would be nice...LOL Look used...Adcom 555 is fine..200 watts. That amp will pretty much make the 12's kick butt...LOL



You can run the 12's off the Yamaha..just don't push it too far..thats all. The problem is you bought the biggest speakers with a really low powered amp. They will play, but you will not get the bass out of them and may sound pretty "brite" They will work if you don't put anything else on the AVR right now..how well is another story...



Your other basic problem is..you live in a town house....I would have to say not the best speaker choice for that type of living....LOL I have a set of 12's, but i live in a large house by itself, and with 200 watts, played loud..in a basement.. it will shake the whole upstairs....if you put 200 "good" watts on these speakers and turn them up...you will have the cops at your door within 10 min.

Just saying...LOL

polrbehr

Set those to "large" in your AVRs setup menu too, since you don't mention having a subwoofer.

I have a set of RTi10s, and yes, they do like it when they are properly fed (ie. external amp), and naturallight makes a valid point on pushing them too hard.

Welcome to the funhouse, too!

rpf65

Wople above mean by pushing too hard is that those speakers will use every bit of power that AVR will feed them, and still want more. The problem is an AVR will try to give them more, and it will eventually send out a current spike, and start damaging electronics, or a speaker or 2. Be careful. If you start hearing distortion, you're already in the clipping danger zone, so back off. I would suggest backing down at least 5 db from there, and set the max volumn for that value. It would be safer to go 10 db, but the objective here is protecting your equipment, until it can be properly powered.

Good luck, and welcome to Club Polk

snake1

Like mentioned above, good external amplification for those speakers is almost a necessity if your going to turn up the 'fat knob'! You can find a good Onkyo, Denon, or Yami receiver that has preouts with out too much $$ lost. I'd suggest some of the newer receivers that come with the Audyssey XT32 auto calibration.

Until you get an amp however, you'll be just fine running them! I ran mine on an 80w Yami receiver and sounded good for low to med volumes! That being said, you'll LOVE them even more when you get an amp!

TommyT

Thank you all for the feedback.
I just came from the Magnolia Store at my local best buy to see my options and the salesman recommended a Pioneer Elite SC63 or 65 to run the RTi12's.
He said these receivers would run my 12's via a bi-amp option and still have power for more speakers with no amp needed.
Any feedback to the accuracy of his statement and these Pioneer elite receivers SC63 or 65 would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Tommy

polrbehr

TommyT wrote: »

Thank you all for the feedback.
I just came from the Magnolia Store at my local best buy to see my options and the salesman recommended a Pioneer Elite SC63 or 65 to run the RTi12's.
He said these receivers would run my 12's via a bi-amp option and still have power for more speakers with no amp needed.
Any feedback to the accuracy of his statement and these Pioneer elite receivers SC63 or 65 would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Tommy

Well, yes and no to the salesman's advice; either model should be plenty robust enough to drive your current speakers (and more),
and both offer pre-outs if you decide to add external amplification down the road. However, I would take the bi-amp option with a grain of salt, I don't believe you will gain anything by doing so, something to do with using the same internal power supply, etc.?

What it comes down to between those two models is how many channels do you want/need to drive? 7 or 9. Personally I would go with the SC63, save a little coin. And I seem to remember someone saying that BestBuy will price match from Amazon, so you should be able to get a better price from them if you go that way; hopefully someone who has done that will chime in. It seems like you are on the right path with this, too. Pioneer makes an excellent
product.

TommyT

After a little research I ended up with a Pioneer SC-1522, which has the same specs as the Elite SC 65 with out the Elite badge and extra warranty.

This unit retails for $1600, street price is $1200 and costco has it for $599!

It should get me up and running for now. Thanks for feedback.

ken brydson

TommyT wrote: »

After a little research I ended up with a Pioneer SC-1522, which has the same specs as the Elite SC 65 with out the Elite badge and extra warranty.

This unit retails for $1600, street price is $1200 and costco has it for $599!

It should get me up and running for now. Thanks for feedback.

Got a link? Just checked online and don't see it, or is in instore only?

TommyT

In Store only. I live in Southern Cal. My local store was sold out but two Costco's in Laguna had stock and a one store north of LA. Your local store can pull physical inventory of all stores nearby. It's a great deal. Same exact unit and specs as the Elite SC65 minus the elite badge.

ken brydson

I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks!

snake1

polrbehr wrote: »

Well, yes and no to the salesman's advice; either model should be plenty robust enough to drive your current speakers (and more),
and both offer pre-outs if you decide to add external amplification down the road. However, I would take the bi-amp option with a grain of salt, I don't believe you will gain anything by doing so, something to do with using the same internal power supply, etc.?

What it comes down to between those two models is how many channels do you want/need to drive? 7 or 9. Personally I would go with the SC63, save a little coin. And I seem to remember someone saying that BestBuy will price match from Amazon, so you should be able to get a better price from them if you go that way; hopefully someone who has done that will chime in. It seems like you are on the right path with this, too. Pioneer makes an excellent
product.

Bi-amping will get you no where. I've tried it and had no difference in sound. Your not doing yourself any favors by doing this. Your choice of AVR is very good, however it still will not drive your towers to what they can really accomplish. Typically, with an AVR, the more speakers you attach to it, the less power each channel will get. Usually, the just advertise wattage with just 2 channels driven. For ex. my Onky does a good 135w but with only 2 channels going. Naturally with an AVR your going to connect more speakers and as you do, your wattage to each speaker will go down. To help remedy this, external amplification helps to run your 12s while your AVR can more easily handle center and surround speaker duties. A subwoofer will also help in this area as it will take the lowest freqs off the channels your using and send them to the sub. Just some food for thought.

TommyT

Any suggestions on adding speakers to my rti12's and or an amp?

snake1

I would stay with the rti or rtia line for timbre matching. For amps adcoms come fairly well liked and also parasounds which I can speak for. The 2250 has been amazing for my 12s so far!

TommyT

What if my space requires small satellites? Any thoughts on something small to fill out the room/sound?

Is my Pioneer receiver sufficient power for the 12's?

Any setting reccomendations on the receiver for optimal sound. I'm just using it for music and they seem to be lacking highs and a crisp sound?

I appreciate your feedback.

Geoff4rfc

Hey TommyT, welcome aboard!

You can set the speakers to large or full band as suggested before. The sound is pretty much what you're going to get for 2ch. With these speakers, the sound will change by adding power.

I'm one of a good handful of members that are running these big speakers on Emotiva equipment. There are lots of choices for amps, I chose the Emo for it's affordability and it turns out that it works great in my system.

As far as satellites, have you considered the RTiA1? Would those be too big of a speaker?