How much power for Polk RTI A9's???

Davidjustin1982

I have had my RTI A9's for 6 months now and am finally ready to give these guys the power that they need! I have been bi amping these speakers with my pioneer vsx-1121-k which would supposedly give 220W per channel to the fronts. All I can say that these speakers are having to work hard at all and I really want to push them. How much power from a dedicated power amp
would make these guys shine? I have been leaning towards the emotive XPA-2, just want to make sure that will be the right
way to go..

Hermitism

Davidjustin1982 wrote: »

I have been bi amping these speakers with my pioneer vsx-1121-k which would supposedly give 220W per channel to the fronts.

No. It doesn't work that way. The bi-amping feature on an AVR is just marketing hype. There are tons of threads regarding this here. Don't feel bad, I didn't understand it either when I first joined here. When you "bi-amp" using only an AVR, you are using a shared power supply, so you don't benefit from more power. Current is just as important as watts. I think your AVR is 110 watts/one channel driven. So that number goes down with two channels driven, three, four, and so forth.

chumlie

No pre-outs on that Pioneer so your going to need a new receiver or preamp 1st.

Inspector 24

Your Pioneer can't possibly put out anywhere near 200w even to one channel:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/VSX-1121-K

Best case scenario you're getting 90wpc in two channel only mode, that's being generous.

You need at least 200 REAL wpc from a high current amplifier such as Adcom, B&K, my personal choice Parasound or any other separate amplifier. There are many good new and used options depending on what you want to spend. I've had very good luck buying used Parasound gear on Ebay/audiogon so long as you know what you're getting, get the right info from the seller and ask the right questions.

PolkieMan

Yea it's simple look on the back of your unit let's say it says 3.9 Amps.
Okay 120 volts X 3.9a is 468 watts. So let's say it 80% efficient, which it is not.
374.4 /2 = 187.2 WPC
Remember other items are pulling power.
Can you select a 2 channel only direct mode?
So you are probably getting half that, about 93.
I like new. I like this. https://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpa-2
Some people will disagree, but you buy what you can afford.

Inspector 24

EMOTIVA!?!?! HOW DARE YOU POLLUTE THIS THREAD!!!

Hehe, totally kidding, the price is awesome for new gear, gives the power you need for the big speakers, and would be far better than just the AVR.

Mikey081057

30 watts of tube power will fill your ears with what you have been waiting for.

Inspector 24

He's the one who suggested a $900 amp. :razz: If that's his price range the doors are pretty wide open.

I'll let those who have heard and compared say what they will about Emotiva as I haven't heard anything powered by them, but I can say Parasound power is an absolute revelation for the A9's.

Inspector 24

Aaaaaahhh, didn't see that when I looked at the specs...yeah, that'll double the needed budget...

Inspector 24

I bet! I'd like to hear some A7's with power some time, it would be fun to compare their sound side by side with A9's! Ever had the chance?

PolkieMan

Yea I don't like what they are doing with their Club thing and $50 membership. It's one thing to pay Costco or Sams but how many times a year do you buy audio, once you get what you like? Maybe something once a year.

Inspector 24 wrote: »

EMOTIVA!?!?! HOW DARE YOU POLLUTE THIS THREAD!!!

Hehe, totally kidding, the price is awesome for new gear, gives the power you need for the big speakers, and would be far better than just the AVR.

Thorton

Inspector 24 wrote: »

I bet! I'd like to hear some A7's with power some time, it would be fun to compare their sound side by side with A9's! Ever had the chance?

I purchased the A7's first powered with a Parasound amp. They may have been a little small for my room. To me, the A9's perform better from top to bottom. I found a significant improvement in the midrange and bass when listening to music with the A9's. I was never completely satisfied with the A7's but this probably due to my room size. I'm really enjoying the A9's with proper power and a good preamp.

aicardi

I recently bought 4 RTIA9s and a cs180 center speaker and now i need a receiver but have no idea what to get it will be mainly for movies but also some music i was hoping to spend about 700-800 dollars i was looking at the onkyo TX-NR636 7.2 even though i am only gonna have a 5.1

can anyone offer any suggestions on weather or not this receiver is powerful enough and if not recommend another receiver

thanks:D

Inspector 24

NO receiver is powerful enough to drive a single pair of A9's to their potential, if that's what your goal is, let alone four of them!

I'd recommend a solid 200wpc from a separate amp.

Here's a good one to start with for the front mains:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/165663/fs-parasound-hca-3500-1400/p1

jeremymarcinko

^^ 100% agree.

F1nut

He can't buy that amp because he doesn't have 100 posts yet.

Ok, just to confirm what has already been said, there isn't an AVR made that will come close to properly driving 2 of those speakers never mind 4. You will need an AVR that has a full set of pre outs and a 5 channel power amp. You bought the wrong center, should have purchased the CSi A6.

aicardi

wow this got real fast i already spent 2300$ on the 4 a9s 300 on my 15inch 250wat Percision acoustics sub and now i need a 1400 amp an avr that uses an amp and a new 500$ cener speaker!!!!???:s

what happend if i use a crappy avr that i have to get the 4 a9 and new center i intend to buy working for now or can i damage my speakers?

sorry for all the questions im new to the world of sound systems as im sure u all have notices lol

jeremymarcinko

The thing is the a9's need a lot of power as they are a large and demanding speaker. Using your current avr will not deliver the power the a9's will demand and could very easily damage your speakers when the amp begins to clip. The xpa-2 may or may not work well for you. I have no experience with it, but the general consensus here is that amp is not a good match with the a9's and may sound overly bright, but ymmv. You will need an AVR with pre-amp outputs to feed an external amplifier. If you have a specific budget to work with that would help with suggestions, otherwise Accessories4less.com is a great place to start. There products are refurbished but are available with a generous warranty and are priced significantly less than new. Many of us have had great success with their products, including myself. The products look brand new as well.
Here is a couple of suggestions to get you started:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marsr7007/marantz-sr7007-7.2-125wpc-4k-airplay-a/v-receiver-w/3-yr-warranty/1.html

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxa1020bl/yamaha-rx-a1020-7.2-network-aventage-av-receiver-airplay/1.html

If you do plan to add a 5 channel ext. amp this would be a good choice.
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marav7005/marantz-av7005-networking-av-preamp/processor/1.html

Power amps can be purchased relatively cheap as well if you do not mind buying used. Amps are generally a safe bet used as they seem to last a very long time.

aicardi

thanks this was helpful I will definitely buy refurbished however im in canada so i need to b careful with taxs and dutys thats if they even ship to canada but at least i no refurbished also means reasonably priced

aicardi

longueuil quebec what about u?

Inspector 24

Thing about receivers is, A5's will sound far better than A9's.

When I first got my a9's and ran them off my 140wpc Yamaha, I thought they were terrible, my old RT800i's sounded far better, so I unhooked them until I got proper power.

aicardi

i just spoke to a local audio store and they recomended

yamaha rx-a1040
yamaha rx-a2040
danon evrx4100

but i dont think these use an amp and there not 500 watts

im lost lol how do i no if i can attach an amp ?

and i might have an old stereo system that might have an amp that i can take weather or not thats useful i have no idea ill try to get the model and post it here to no if its useful or not

HELLPPPP!!!!!

jeremymarcinko

It will have something that looks like this. Preouts are usually found on avr's around $1000msrp and higher and all preamp/processors of course. This is the connection you will need to connect an ext. amp.

aicardi

so then the rxa1040 is good? its suports an ext amp i think....

jeremymarcinko

Yes, I personally use the older rxa1010 as the front end feeding Emotiva xpa-1's and Rti12's (basically the same as a9) and I am very happy with the result.

Ron Temple

The A9 is a nice speaker and it's newish...but, there are much better bang for the buck Polks that can be found used...I'd suggest anyone looking at purchasing speakers go and ask in the Vintage section, just what folks might recommend. I think you'll find alternatives that will blow you away at a fraction of the cost. However, the front end requirements will probably be the same.

aicardi

emotiva is an amp brand im assuming?

afterburnt

aicardi wrote: »

so then the rxa1040 is good? its suports an ext amp i think....

Yes it does

aicardi

ok so if i get the yamaha RX-A1040
rated at 110wpc how manny watts do i need my amp to be ?

(powering 4 a9s ans a center)
do i have to connect the center to the amp as well?

tonyb

When you add an amp, the amp built into the receiver becomes obsolete, isn't used. Unless you just want to use a 2 channel amp and let the receiver carry the rest of the speakers but with 4 A9's, not a viable option.

In your case, a 5 channel amp to cover the 4 A9's and then use the extra channel for the center. Something in the area of 200 watts per channel should suffice.

nguyendot

If you never want to worry again, get a 5 x 400 watt amplifier.
Like a Sunfire Cinema Grand 400x5.