RTiA7. Will they do what I want them to?
In the past the home I lived in had a large room that was used for the theater. The room was 18' wide, 22' deep, and 14' high, carpeted, with two big picture windows (6'X8') with heavy curtains. I have a pair of Altec Lansing 508 towers driven by a B&K ST 140, complemented by a Velodyne sub with F/XiA4s bringing up the rear. The 508's filled the room nicely and the experience was enjoyable.
Recently I moved into a smaller place and the room dimensions changed, now being 15' wide, 17' deep, and 10' high, hardwoods, and no curtains. I found that the 508s just did not like the change and to keep the sound at an enjoyable level they could not be driven nearly as hard. When the time comes to push them, the 508s still come to life and rock just as hard as they ever did, but at lower levels just sound muddy.
As a stop gap I bought a pair of TSi200s and propped them up on some stands. They perform well at a lower levels and give me much more clarity when listening to music or watching movies but when it comes time to put the power to them they lack. I miss the range of the 508's although the Tsi200s image better they just do not have the punch.
I love the sound of the TSi200s and recently have been shopping for something with more ... well, more. I think that I will stick with Polk and will match a new center to whatever I purchase, but I am unsure of the A7s. They are certainly impressive in stature and will look great in the placement as I love the look of a tower and the TSi200s just look small next to the console and the 60". I have listened to the A7s in a showroom but of coarse the room is larger then mine and has acoustical treatment and no hardwoods, in this situation the A7s sounds great and just desire to be in my room ... they call to me.
My concern is getting what I already have, a set of towers that simply will not perform unless I put the juice to them. I already know they are going to be a better set than the old Altecs just because they are not 20 years old and tech has changed ... blah blah, I do not need to hear, as the sales driven teenager kept repeating, that my Altecs are junk. Whatever ... the Altecs will shake the pictures off the walls, peel the paint from the ceiling, and kill small animals in the nearby vicinity. My concern is will I get the same kind of tone I am getting from the TSi200s at lower to moderate levels or are they going to be muddy?
Towers are a must, they just have to be, but they also have to be functional. The Altecs have moved to the bar/game room where they have found a new purpose and they serve it well and no one notices that they are muddy (except me) until they try to kill you. When sitting in the family room and listening to music on the TSi200s I find myself moving towards the game room and listening to the 508s. The sub makes up for the lack of low end but there is a gap, and a tower is going to be what it takes to fill it.
The A7s are beautiful and I am ready to pull the trigger. Will they make me happy?!?!
Recently I moved into a smaller place and the room dimensions changed, now being 15' wide, 17' deep, and 10' high, hardwoods, and no curtains. I found that the 508s just did not like the change and to keep the sound at an enjoyable level they could not be driven nearly as hard. When the time comes to push them, the 508s still come to life and rock just as hard as they ever did, but at lower levels just sound muddy.
As a stop gap I bought a pair of TSi200s and propped them up on some stands. They perform well at a lower levels and give me much more clarity when listening to music or watching movies but when it comes time to put the power to them they lack. I miss the range of the 508's although the Tsi200s image better they just do not have the punch.
I love the sound of the TSi200s and recently have been shopping for something with more ... well, more. I think that I will stick with Polk and will match a new center to whatever I purchase, but I am unsure of the A7s. They are certainly impressive in stature and will look great in the placement as I love the look of a tower and the TSi200s just look small next to the console and the 60". I have listened to the A7s in a showroom but of coarse the room is larger then mine and has acoustical treatment and no hardwoods, in this situation the A7s sounds great and just desire to be in my room ... they call to me.
My concern is getting what I already have, a set of towers that simply will not perform unless I put the juice to them. I already know they are going to be a better set than the old Altecs just because they are not 20 years old and tech has changed ... blah blah, I do not need to hear, as the sales driven teenager kept repeating, that my Altecs are junk. Whatever ... the Altecs will shake the pictures off the walls, peel the paint from the ceiling, and kill small animals in the nearby vicinity. My concern is will I get the same kind of tone I am getting from the TSi200s at lower to moderate levels or are they going to be muddy?
Towers are a must, they just have to be, but they also have to be functional. The Altecs have moved to the bar/game room where they have found a new purpose and they serve it well and no one notices that they are muddy (except me) until they try to kill you. When sitting in the family room and listening to music on the TSi200s I find myself moving towards the game room and listening to the 508s. The sub makes up for the lack of low end but there is a gap, and a tower is going to be what it takes to fill it.
The A7s are beautiful and I am ready to pull the trigger. Will they make me happy?!?!
Comments
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If your planning on peeling the paint, you will want an amp with more power.
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Hard to say. The room has a profound effect on speaker performance.
In our last house, when we pulled out the wall-to-wall carpeting and refinished the oak floors in the living room, I checked to see how the room sounded w/ bare floors & no drapes. It was awful! Replacing the drapes & adding a large oriental carpet made it all good again.
I think the only way to know how the RTiA7 will work is to try them out, knowing that you may have to add room treatments, _or_ that those speakers may never be your cup of tea in your space.
Cheers, Jim
A day without music is like a day without food. -
Recently I moved into a smaller place and the room dimensions changed, now being 15' wide, 17' deep, and 10' high, hardwoods, and no curtains.
Nothing is going to sound good in that room without room treatments starting with carpet.I found that the 508s just did not like the change and to keep the sound at an enjoyable level they could not be driven nearly as hard. When the time comes to push them, the 508s still come to life and rock just as hard as they ever did, but at lower levels just sound muddy.
Your comments are contradictory.I already know they are going to be a better set than the old Altecs just because they are not 20 years old and tech has changed ... blah blah,
Nothing could be further from the truth.I do not need to hear, as the sales driven teenager kept repeating, that my Altecs are junk.
I suggest you have a word with his manager as that is no way to treat a customer and make sure you let the teenager know he lost a sale because of his unprofessional behavior.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Guess the OP didn't like the advice offered. Oh well.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
ahh hell, I was drinkin' .... gimme a minute, tomorrow.
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Put the bottle down, it's already tomorrow.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
my bad ... I'm still drinkin' ... and listening to some old **** Altecs, we shall discuss this further in the late morning after the next sunrise ... aka tomorrow
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This thread woke me up! Too funny and much needed this morning!"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
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OK, got a cup of coffee in me and pretty much awake now so I will respond, to the best of my slightly decreased ability. Please note, however, that after this response I will be heading to the gym and pushing some iron around, swimming a couple of few sets in the pool and depending on how I feel might lay around in the sun for a couple of hours. After that I have some errands to run and I do need to be somewhat productive and make a dollar or two. So ... I most likely will not respond instantly to any posts.
First off to Chumlie, the ST140 is 105 pc and seems to have pretty good power but if I find the A7s underpowered I will certainly address that. I just do not think they will be, but it is possible.
Hey Jim, thanks for the response. Yea ... I ditched the leather sofa and got a big **** cloth sectional, put a rug down to center the room, hung some canvas art on the walls and got rid of the framed glass covered art. Put some throw pillows under the coffee table and tossed a comforter over the fireplace landing when not in use. Of coarse I am limited to what can be done .. well, 'cause she says so. But yea, I know the room has a lot to do with it.
F1, thanks for the response and sorry it took as long as it did to get back to it ... life and all. If all was the way I wanted then there would be no issue as I would do whatever I wanted and hang acoustical panels on the wall and buy whatever I wanted to and if I did not like them I would just buy something different. Unfortunately I can not do that, as above ... 'cause she says so. The hardwoods are going to stay, they were installed before we moved in here and there is nothing I can do about that. It just is. I can get away with some things and the fact is the A7s are considerably bigger than the Altecs but I do not think she gets that and right now it is, "ohh those are pretty".
I can see how you may think the comment on the performance of the Altecs may be contradictory so let me see if I can clarify. Assume that the volume control goes from 1-10. 1 being useless and 9/10 pushing past the distortion limit. When watching TV the system is on, most of the time ... otherwise we'll sit in the kitchen and watch just a TV with no system. So, when we sit down to watch whatever the system will be at 2.5/3. At that level the Altecs just aren't being pushed enough to have a good sound and are muddy, where the TSi200s are crisp and clear. The difference is amazing and I love those little bookshelves. When a Blue Ray pops in the system moves up to a 4/4.5 or so and the Altecs come to life and sound fuller than the TSi200s, which they should ... they are four times the speaker. At this level, with the sub the TSi200s are still acceptable though and if this is all it was used for there would be no issue.
When the room is mine, (it connects to the kitchen/dining - semi-open floor plan), and I decide to go two channel and listen to music and push the system up to 6 or so there is where the Altecs come to life and make the little TSi200s just simply outgunned and unacceptable. I like to run my two channel with no sub as I like to hear the speaker. I hope that helps to explain my issue.
The Altecs are old, and truthfully have been abused a couple of few times and pushed hard for to long. They have some miles on them for sure, they have been wonderful companions, and as the end nears for them it seems like it is putting down the family pet ... but that day is approaching. Well the other half of the household has no issue with the TSi200s and does not understand my need for new towers I will be able to spend a decent amount on towers/center to "upgrade".
The store down here on 1960 is an uppity tard shop and the only reason I was there was to listen to the A7s as they had them in a room, but the salesbrat was down on the Polk brand and was trying to steer me towards some 2K a pop Logans as, "Polk is just an OK speaker". Ahhh .. push off, I was not going to buy them there either way.
So ... back to my issue with pulling the trigger on these mammoths. I am curious to know, from those of you here on a Polk site, if any of you own these A7s and when my system is on that 2.5/3 level am I going to get the kind of crisp sound that these little TSi200s are giving me or do they need to be up in the 4+ level to come to life and give me the full range sound I am looking for? That is my issue and most likely more than anything I am looking for a nudge to pull the trigger.
thanks for the responses ... off I go -
F1, thanks for the response and sorry it took as long as it did to get back to it ... life and all. If all was the way I wanted then there would be no issue as I would do whatever I wanted and hang acoustical panels on the wall and buy whatever I wanted to and if I did not like them I would just buy something different. Unfortunately I can not do that, as above ... 'cause she says so. The hardwoods are going to stay, they were installed before we moved in here and there is nothing I can do about that.
No worries......life got in my way yesterday/today.
What I was saying is to put some carpet down, just a large area rug, on the hardwood. It will help tame the room.So ... back to my issue with pulling the trigger on these mammoths. I am curious to know, from those of you here on a Polk site, if any of you own these A7s and when my system is on that 2.5/3 level am I going to get the kind of crisp sound that these little TSi200s are giving me or do they need to be up in the 4+ level to come to life and give me the full range sound I am looking for? That is my issue and most likely more than anything I am looking for a nudge to pull the trigger.
The RTAi series are designed first and foremost to perform best for HT and for that purpose I believe they are exactly what you are looking for. That said, for 2 channel you might find them a bit hot, so careful selection of gear is important. Another way to improve their music performance is to upgrade the crossovers. It makes a noticeable improvement in the aspect.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
