New System - Opinions

STIHLBOLTS

Hi, I currently have the following and looking to up grade a lot.
Its all pushed by a Sony STRZA3000ES - 110 watt 7.2-Channel AV Receiver
Speakers are all JBL - Bookshelf 2600's x 4 on pedestals, Northridge series E10 satellite, CE20 Center and Sub Woofer. It has been a good system until last year when the woofers in the 2600's died and JBL sent me replacements, but they are way too heavy for the older speakers. So, what I am looking at doing is RTiA9's 2 for the front, CSiA6 Center, RTiA3 for rear and a PSW125 Sub. I was trying to see if Polk had any satellite speakers for the book case? Do you think the RTiA1's would work for that?

tonyb

That sub won't keep up with the 9's, go bigger. Also that receiver won't keep up with the 9's, get an amp or go lower to the RTIA7's. The A1's will work for a surround, though never liked speakers in a bookcase. Just my quick .02....

papatom

DSkip wrote: »

I'd actually recommend taking a better look at the Signature Series. The more mine break in, the better they sound. The S60's are superb and cheaper than the 9's. You could pair that with either center and the satellite S10's they sell. If you decided to go with the S55 over the S60, you could take that $240 extra and put it towards a better subwoofer.

I've found the detail and range of the speakers to improve greatly over the last few weeks and I would undoubtedly take them over the RTiA line. They will be easier to listen to while also providing a great movie experience.

Agree with DSkip regarding the Signature Series. I've had mine for a little over a week and the more I listen, the better they start to sound. I've got the S55 for my fronts, S35 for Center and a Veloydyne DPS-10 sub (which is plenty for my setup). Looking at adding the S15 for my surrounds as well (to place my current T15's).

Best of luck!

STIHLBOLTS

Thanks for the input. I found the RTi A9's for $525 each open box from OneCall. Got them in today. Wow, fantastic speakers. (only negative was a small scratch, otherwise perfect) Only got them set up a little while ago and the are so smooth compared to the JBL's. The CSi A6 was too big to fit in my entertainment center from the front. I am going to have to take it apart and load it from the back and then rebuild it. I may have bought way too much speakers for my home. The Sony pushes them just fine so far, ran through a Blue Ray/VUDU Movie stream/Pandora and all the different modes that the Sony has to play the speakers and really like the sound so far. I agree with you about the sub woofer, (besides the PSW125 does not match the dark cherry of the rest of the RTi line). I am going to see if I can swap it.

Again thanks.

Upstatemax

Nice pick up. Just be careful with the volume knob...

The RTi A7/A9's do best with beefy, external amplification.

STIHLBOLTS

Upstatemax wrote: »

Nice pick up. Just be careful with the volume knob...

The RTi A7/A9's do best with beefy, external amplification.

The RTiA9's really came to life when I was playing "Guardian's of the Galaxy" Lots of music mixed in with the action. My JBL's were always kind of harsh that I would have turn the volume down, these just soaked it up and it came out so smooth. I have some regrets thought, I think I should have gotten the 7's or 5's instead. The 9's just take over the room. Wife not really please. It will take a little while getting use to. But not sending them back now. :-)

STIHLBOLTS

DSkip wrote: »

I'd actually recommend taking a better look at the Signature Series. The more mine break in, the better they sound. The S60's are superb and cheaper than the 9's. You could pair that with either center and the satellite S10's they sell. If you decided to go with the S55 over the S60, you could take that $240 extra and put it towards a better subwoofer.

I've found the detail and range of the speakers to improve greatly over the last few weeks and I would undoubtedly take them over the RTiA line. They will be easier to listen to while also providing a great movie experience.

My main reason for not going with those is "BLACK" I just don't care for the look. The dark cherry is a real rich and classic look.

Upstatemax

STIHLBOLTS wrote: »

The RTiA9's really came to life when I was playing "Guardian's of the Galaxy" Lots of music mixed in with the action. My JBL's were always kind of harsh that I would have turn the volume down, these just soaked it up and it came out so smooth. I have some regrets thought, I think I should have gotten the 7's or 5's instead. The 9's just take over the room. Wife not really please. It will take a little while getting use to. But not sending them back now. :-)

The wife will get over it... Haha

they might be "smoother", but they are a no easy speaker to drive.

Keep the volume in check to protect the speaker and the receiver.

The A9's don't start to really open up till they are being fed 200+ WPC from a good amp.

Some of the older parasound units can be had for a pretty decent price, but that opens a whole new can of worms...

STIHLBOLTS

Upstatemax wrote: »

STIHLBOLTS wrote: »

The RTiA9's really came to life when I was playing "Guardian's of the Galaxy" Lots of music mixed in with the action. My JBL's were always kind of harsh that I would have turn the volume down, these just soaked it up and it came out so smooth. I have some regrets thought, I think I should have gotten the 7's or 5's instead. The 9's just take over the room. Wife not really please. It will take a little while getting use to. But not sending them back now. :-)

The wife will get over it... Haha

they might be "smoother", but they are a no easy speaker to drive.

Keep the volume in check to protect the speaker and the receiver.

The A9's don't start to really open up till they are being fed 200+ WPC from a good amp.

Some of the older parasound units can be had for a pretty decent price, but that opens a whole new can of worms...

SO far I have only gone to 50 on the volume and that has been more than loud enough watching the ball games last night. I also ordered the RTiA1's for satellite's and a taller set of speaker stands for the 3's, going up from 15 inch to 18 inch. That should help the rear out.

Thanks again for all the input.

rpf65

Amplifiers aren't just for loud. They actually let the speakers sound better at lower volumes at lower volumes, providing you don't match those A9's up with an overly bright amp.

STIHLBOLTS

Thanks for all the input. I got the A1's in place and they do very nicely in the book case. The 9's rock in the Sony's HD-DSC Mode for movies. Really feels like at the movie theater now. Wife even loves the look, with the dark cherry matching the entertainment center, they feel more an extension of it. I will do like you suggested and look for a larger receiver next year. Any recommendations there. I have always liked my Sony's.

chumlie

Here ya go. Buy yourself a Christmas present.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pioneer-Elite-SC-SC-55-9-1-Channel-140-Watt-Receiver-Excellent-w-Accessories-/322362023555?hash=item4b0e461e83:g:zGEAAOSw5cNYVLXy

Dmega

Sorry to chime in late but I have also run rtia9's with the csi 6's and the psw125 and I'm currently going through the motions of upgrading the system.

The RTIA9's are great. They go low but are only rated down to 30 hz. The psw125 is rated to 32hz I believe. That said room and speaker placement makes a big difference with that combination of floor standing speakers and sub woofer.

When the 9's were set wide and into the corners relative to my main seating position they sounded almost as deep as the sub with the sub between the tv and the corner. My mrx1120 supply's enough power for them to sound good in this placement. So much so that I was considering upgrading the sub woofer to svs.

This weekend I changed switched the speaker and sub woofer placements and what a difference for my sub woofer. One might say I'm kind of wasting the potential of the 9's now becuase they are crossed over at 100hz now whereas before they were crossed at 80hz. But music and movies sound so much better.

I was also contemplating to buy the A1's too. I think the Rti series is no longer being made so I will probably get 4 before they are too hard to find. According to Polk Customer service they are voiced matched perfectly to the A9's. One does not NEED to have surrounds be the same brand or same line of speakers (I run harman kardon satellites right now and they work for most things) but if you OCD like me it will bug you on 5% of the movies out there.

Long story short if you haven't bought the sub yet you will like the psw125 if placed properly. Be safe and get a better sub because the 9's will challenge the 125 based on placement. As far as amplification goes to drive the 9's ... there might be something to giving it more juice, but 140 watts stereo out of my MRX does just fine. In the current position I prefer running a 2.1 setup for music...the psw125 properly intergrated with the 9's sound fantastic.

Willow

100? That's really high. You should stay at 80 set mains to small. Maybe put your sub in a corner to help boost the output. You said it yourself, your mains are rated to go lower than your sub... you need another sub.

Dmega

Yeah I thought 100 was high too. What happend was the bass was sacked from a9's when I moved them away from the corner (probably a room node at the main listening position). So the room correction rightly gave more responsibility to the sub which is now in the corner. Rest assured it sounds really good now.

Willow

At that high of a xover you might as well have satellite speakers. No offence but something is not right with your set up.

Dmega

No offence taken...it's just how things worked out with getting a linear response from all speakers in my room.

How do I know something is not wrong...it sounds great

BTW when I had the speakers in the corner and the sub near 1/4 of the wall in the x over was 80hz. But it didn't sound as good.

cfrizz

If it works for you, then rock on! Welcome to Club Polk.

Dmega

cfrizz wrote: »

If it works for you, then rock on! Welcome to Club Polk.

Thank you m8!

mrloren

STIHLBOLTS wrote: »

Thanks for all the input. I got the A1's in place and they do very nicely in the book case. The 9's rock in the Sony's HD-DSC Mode for movies. Really feels like at the movie theater now. Wife even loves the look, with the dark cherry matching the entertainment center, they feel more an extension of it. I will do like you suggested and look for a larger receiver next year. Any recommendations there. I have always liked my Sony's.

Till last year i too liked Sony, I worked for them in the San Diego CRT plant for 17 years. I got discounts on Sony items and AV gear was about 50% off retail. I always thought my ES sounded great. I did have to have a friend pickup my 5700ES, I thought wow this is a great receiver. Then last year it suffered a heat issue and died, in the month I had to wait for Sony to replace it I picked up an Onkyo 626 for dirt cheap on Amazon. WOW on movies that thing just blew me away. The $1500 (retail) Sony had no hope in matching the sub $500 (retail) Onkyo.

Now I am dialing in a Marantz SR5010 which does sound much better than either my Sony ES or Onkyo.

If you are not getting huge discounts on Sony then I would stay away. The 5700 ES will probably be the last Sony I own unless they try to match what others are producing

Oh and get an AMP for them A9's they need the extra juice.

tonyb

Sony's never did impress in the HT department. The ES series was fairly good on music though.

mrloren

tonyb wrote: »

Sony's never did impress in the HT department. The ES series was fairly good on music though.

That is one of the main reasons I stayed with Sony so long, My 5700ES so far has been the best on music. I still have my 2100ES and the 5300ES was replaced with 6 months or warranty left (factory recall thing)

At work in my nice little warehouse I still crank a circa 2000 STR-DE885 refurb unit I paid like $100 for back then and it is still going strong. I might replace it with my 2100ES now that the 5700ES is in the backup role.