Pulled the trigger

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

I was thinking that my RT800i's front lack something. When I added the sub to the mix things sounded better more bass.

So with the crutchfield deal on RTi150's pulled trigger, more bass.

So I will put the RT800i to the back, replace fronts with RTi150's
Add FXi30's to side surrounds 7.1.

So future will be this.

Front RTi150

Center CS400i

Side FXi30

Rear RT800i

Sub Paradigm Servo-15

For the money I don't think it can be a bad move. For the record the sales man said yes he did think the size of room was my problem like 20x20 with 10ft ceilings. Open floor plan has kitchen and breakfast nock also in this room.

Tour2ma · February 2004

dj7,
Yeah... 4000 cu ft plus open adjacent rooms is a big vloume to fill with sound.

Good luck with the 150's. You've been around long enough to have read what a challenge they can present to an AVR.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Thanks Tour,

I know 150's can be a challenge with any AVR. But I could a return them if nothing else, or use the preamp out using an amp.

I'm a little more concerned with voice matching.........

But I just couldnt pass on the opportunity

amulford · February 2004

Good move. You will find that using the 800's for surround duty will pay off. For some reason, I can't explain why;) , you get a much better sound out of a floor stander. If the 150's need something more, add an external amp, like you said.

You might not notice the mismatch. Give it good listen and let us know...

hejiraent · February 2004

Dj7 (or anyone who knows),

Did you learn anything about the effect of a high ceiling(if any) on the efficacy of a HT system? I will have vaulted ceilings in my home and never gave it a thought until I read your post.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Thanks amulford,

Look forward too hearing these baby's, should be here Wednesday or Thursday. I keep everyone updated.

>You might not notice the mismatch. Give it good listen and let us know...<

BTW would love to own the SDA's but I just can't due to the room I would need and or Wife NO WAY......... These maybe the best compromise I could come up with

jdhdiggs · February 2004

For your HT to get loud, especially on the low end, it must pressurize the room. If you have a large room, it takes much more power to recieve the same volume as a smaller room.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

I'm new to this house and my ceilings where vaulted before, and I loved my setup. My overall room is much bigger in my new house. So I would think not but it's the overall size you're dealing with.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Pressurize the Room. LOL

I love my music loud enough to move my pant legs:p

And yes never what too grow up.

Originally posted by jdhdiggs
For your HT to get loud, especially on the low end, it must pressurize the room. If you have a large room, it takes much more power to recieve the same volume as a smaller room.

Tour2ma · February 2004

Originally posted by hejiraent
Dj7 (or anyone who knows),

Did you learn anything about the effect of a high ceiling(if any) on the efficacy of a HT system? I will have vaulted ceilings in my home and never gave it a thought until I read your post.

The volume of the listening area significantly impacts the delivery of sound to the listener. The volume of open adjacent rooms is nearly as big of a factor.

One thing your vaulted ceiling do add of benefit is their non-parallel surfaces.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Tour,

Can you explain this, sorry newbie here. Maybe something I hear different also.

>One thing your vaulted ceiling do add of benefit is their non-parallel surfaces.<

Tour2ma · February 2004

Parallel surfaces are more likely to reflect sound waves that set up points of reinforcement (hot spots) and cancellation (nulls). This is most pronounced in lower frequencies and is in part why bass management rates its own topic section here.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Well that could explain my 3 moves for a 90lb sub thing too me very well:eek:

Thanks Tour.

amulford · February 2004

Originally posted by disneyjoe7

BTW would love to own the SDA's but I just can't due to the room I would need and or Wife NO WAY......... These maybe the best compromise I could come up with

You could always go with the smaller ones, like the 2b's or CRS's. They are not as imposing, and they do sound REALLY good. I have a pair of 2b's in the living room, driven by a little 200wpc cube amp. They do a great job.

I have hinted to the wife about getting something more, like some 1.2's, she has not seen the light yet. You have to ease them into it;)

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Ok let's heat this up some....

Something that I was wondering about.

Old Polks to new Polks:D

A small SDA will sound better then "any" new Polk?

Ok lets stop all manufacturing and go back to old Polks, Fire all R/D people save some $$.

Not that I don't think your setup sound SWEET, I'm sure it does. Even love too hear it.

Tour2ma · February 2004

Originally posted by disneyjoe7
A small SDA will sound better then "any" new Polk?

Wouldn't go that far, but the CRS is a surprisingly "full" sounding speaker for its size...

jdhdiggs · February 2004

The SDA's are great speakers, but look at the general size (for the ones that dig deep) and cost (new) and they are not mass market speakers. Polk can make a lot more money selling RTi series speakers than an SDA style speaker and that's the route they chose.

Also, some feel that the whole idea of SDA is cheating and modifying the original intent of the sound engineer-similar to a matrix mode. Those people would probably prefer the LSi series to the SDA.

Also, power requirements. It seems that the SDA's need a lot of power to handle quick volume changes (impacts) that the newer models don't. (In my very limited exposure and experience)

If your joe consumer, what would you buy first? a 6' tall, 2' wide speaker requiring $3K of amplification electronics to make it sound decent or a slim speaker that would sound great on a $300 reciever....

That said, I'd love to hear an SDA speaker using LSi parts!

Tour2ma · February 2004

Let me take friendly issue with one of the above statements...

I think any modern Polk with an array of drivers numbering what some of the SDA's pack are going to need as much or more power. Never have read here of an RTi150 owner getting his jollies with them mated to a $300 receiver. Additionally none of the modern Polks dig as deep as the bigger SDA's do.

Big SDA's don't need $3k worth of amp to drive them, it's just that the more the put into them, the more they return to your ears...

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Well I'm sure thats true with 150's also, would take anything you could send them.

Also SDA wouldn't sound good on a $300 AVR;)

jdhdiggs · February 2004

Possibly the new drivers would require more power, I don't know that much. You know that the seller would have a much easier time convincing someone that they absolutely have to have seperates and a huge amp for huge speakers than you would for the new line.

As for the $300 reciever, you and I know it won't push it to the speakers limits, but would provide good sound.

As for going deep, RTi150 -3dB 26Hz, 1.2TL -3dB 27Hz, According to Polks own specs, the RTi150 digs deeper than the mighty 1.2TL

I'm not trying to say that the old series is inferior to the new, just that the new lines are much more marketable to the mainstream consumer and non-super rich audiophiles.

In fact, I like the SDA's enough that I will hopefully be an owner of a pair in a few weeks.

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

In fact, I like the SDA's enough that I will hopefully be an owner of a pair in a few weeks.

I'm happy for you, will they be the 1.2 or something smaller?

jdhdiggs · February 2004

Don't want to jinx anything, but they would be 1B's so much smaller than the 1.2

disneyjoe7 · February 2004

Sweet.

Ok MMMM's the word.

disneyjoe7 · March 2004

You are RIGHT the RT800i in the back for surround sounds are GREAT, love it. Large front, Large Center, Large Back, Large Sub. Love it:)

I can hear the difference from RTxxxi to RTixxx and the CS400i, but I hear this when I do sound around test on disk. I don't hear this difference when watching a movie or TV yet, it not a large difference so it will be really hard to hear this normal listening.

Originally posted by amulford
Good move. You will find that using the 800's for surround duty will pay off. For some reason, I can't explain why;) , you get a much better sound out of a floor stander. If the 150's need something more, add an external amp, like you said.

You might not notice the mismatch. Give it good listen and let us know...

Pulled the trigger

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