Monitor 5 series II vs RTi 10

Kurtis13

I have a set of Monitor 5 series II that I bought when they first came out, I think in '89. They are still in great shape and sound as good as when I bought them. They are part of a 5.0 setup. I like them very much for music, but have been less impressed when using them for movies. I have a polk CS250-s center and the surrounds are M5 wedges (I think) however I have some FXi4's that are arriving tomorrow, hopefully. I know for home theater a sub would help but I live in an apartment and don't want to bother the neighbors anymore than I already do. I came across the opportunity to buy a pair of RTi10's for $450 that are supposedly new in box, and I know Polk ebay outlet has a couple pairs too. It has been a while since I've auditioned speakers, and my room is much smaller than typical listening rooms. I'm wondering if I would gain much by moving up to the towers or if the good, old Monitor 5's would still be a better option. It seems that the trend now is to always use a sub, and limit the frequency response of mains whether they are towers, bookshelf or satellites, whereas when the Monitor 5's were bought most manufacturers still aimed for full-range. My AVR is a Denon 3802. I've searched through the forum quite a bit but have not really found much on the Monitor 5's. If anyone has any experience with them and has any recommendations, let me know. Also, I will probably be moving within 2 years back into a house, so if I do upgrade it will probably be a temporary one.

rpf65

What don't you like, as far as HT goes?

If it's just a matter of low freq effects, the sub is your answer. A decent dedicated sub isn't just for more boom. There is other information assaigned to that channel that you may be missing. Besides, subs can be turned down, for the neighbor issue.

If it is something else, than let us know. It could be a set-up issue, or maybe your particular Monitors will never satify you for HT. I would personally advise against putting large towers in a small room. I mean if your talking about a 12x14 room, those towers would be too big.

HTguru1982

I've had both the Monitor 5 and RTi10. While the Mon 5 is a great little speaker, I would go with the RTi10, especially for movies. I used to run them large in a small room and I never felt like I needed a sub.

Kurtis13

rpf65 wrote: »

What don't you like, as far as HT goes?

If it's just a matter of low freq effects, the sub is your answer. A decent dedicated sub isn't just for more boom. There is other information assaigned to that channel that you may be missing. Besides, subs can be turned down, for the neighbor issue.

-- Sure, and someday I will get a sub. Every so often I get an urge to order some parts and build one myself. I did that for my cr-v with a sealed 10 inch JL audio sub, and agree that it isn't only for 80 to 125 hz thump. I sealed it and built the box to be as accurate as possible. It works well. Another option I've considered is a Hsu or SVS, both of which I've heard good things about, but have not had the opportunity to audition in person. I did hear the $6k JL audio sub the other day and it is impressive, but a bit out of my price range, at least for now. In about 15 months I'll be moving back nearer to my parents and will likely put my dad's woodshop to good use.

QUOTE: "If it is something else, than let us know. It could be a set-up issue, or maybe your particular Monitors will never satify you for HT. I would personally advise against putting large towers in a small room. I mean if your talking about a 12x14 room, those towers would be too big.

-- I think I might have lucked out. My room is 13x15 so just big enough for towers. I actually am auditioning some B&W 684. The Polk RTi10's that I found on ebay were being sold in Canada about 90 minutes from me. They were a great price, especially with the exchange rate now getting slightly better, but the seller responded that they were only for sale in Canada. I'm not sure why he said that, as I was going to check with customs about bringing them back across the border, but in the end it wound up being more trouble than I felt it was worth with cost of gas, US customs, etc. I went to a couple local stores to audition some other speakers in addition to the current Polk RTi A7's, but the store that had them really didn't have them set up where I could audition them the way I wanted to. Had to listen to the salesman's iphone through airplay, no cd player. They might have been very good, but the audition was less than ideal. The other store I went to was great, but no Polk. They did have a floor model of the B&W's for 20% off, and I liked them quite a bit. I think in comparison to my Monitor 5's they are a bit brighter and the bass is more pronounced and punchy, yet still sound quite musical on everything I've listened to so far. I think that over the years my hearing has diminished just enough that having a bit brighter treble than the old Monitors had is to my liking. I did order the LXi-4 surrounds from Polk outlet on ebay which sound very nice. So far I really like them a lot and to my surprise they match fairly well with my B$Ws, as does my existing CS-250 center, at least for the time being. To be honest I think the CS-250 matches closer to the B&W's than they did the Monitor 5's. I really liked the Polk RTi-A7s finish. They really look beautiful and I may reconsider them in the future. Still nothing compars to the SDA's as I remember them from college. Thanks for your reply.

Kurtis13

HTguru1982 wrote: »

I've had both the Monitor 5 and RTi10. While the Mon 5 is a great little speaker, I would go with the RTi10, especially for movies. I used to run them large in a small room and I never felt like I needed a sub.

Thanks for your input. The RTi-10s are really nice looking speakers. I left a rather long reply to rpf65 above so won't repeat here, but agree that towers are not overkill in my 13x15 room.