RC80i vs 80 F/X RT

stars

Hi,
Anyone have experience with both of these. Which one would you recommend for real life sounds and durability of the speaker in the long term. Any advantage of the RC80i over the 80/FX RT and vice versa? I know the 80F/X is in the vanishing series, but other than that, is it better than the other unit?
Thanks,

mrloren

The FX is a surround speaker. The RC is more of a direct sound.

mak99

I have direct experience w/ both of these models - I started w/ the RC80i's in early 2008 (used in previous house), upgraded to TC80i's in late 2010 (previous and current house) and upgraded to the 80F/X RT in 2014 (current house). They have only served as surround L+R speakers so have only seen so much action. They are driven by an Emotiva UPA-7 which only serves SL/SR and SBL/SBR speakers.

Though it's been a while since the initial upgrade, I felt that the F/X had a slightly better diffused sound than the previous models. I also liked being able to rotate them "just so" to make sure the tweeter pairs were aimed toward the MLP. I didn't really try the different boundary switch positions so can't offer much experience there.

I will say that after dealing with the push-on/pull-off grilles of the RCs/TCs and the magnetic grilles on the F/X, I'd *never* go back to non-magnetic grilles ever again. When removing the RCs at the previous house for the TCs, the grilles were so tight that I unfortunately damaged them while using a paper clip to help remove them. I did call Polk to complain about it, and they did send me new grilles (thanks, Polk!). Ironically, it was about this time that I thought "Hey, magnetic grilles would be a thousand times better!". Too bad I didn't patent that idea...

Regardless, I think you'd be happy with the F/Xs. I actually will be upgrading my F/X RTs to F/X LS since I recently upgraded my fronts from RTiA7/CSiA6 to LSiM707/LSiM706c. The F/X LS's are sitting in the factory box, waiting for me to get off my a$$ and swap them out. Oh - and all three models use the same cutout size so it's a quick changeout...

Good luck!

circuitmage

Glad I saw this comment , and found the F/X RT's. After 3 weeks of going OCD on speaker selection, I have settled on this;

4 ceiling speakers, 80FX RT
2 Front L R In-Wall 65 RT
1 Center 255C-RT

PsiPhiDan

mak99 wrote: »

I have direct experience w/ both of these models - I started w/ the RC80i's in early 2008 (used in previous house), upgraded to TC80i's in late 2010 (previous and current house) and upgraded to the 80F/X RT in 2014 (current house). They have only served as surround L+R speakers so have only seen so much action. They are driven by an Emotiva UPA-7 which only serves SL/SR and SBL/SBR speakers.

Though it's been a while since the initial upgrade, I felt that the F/X had a slightly better diffused sound than the previous models. I also liked being able to rotate them "just so" to make sure the tweeter pairs were aimed toward the MLP. I didn't really try the different boundary switch positions so can't offer much experience there.

I will say that after dealing with the push-on/pull-off grilles of the RCs/TCs and the magnetic grilles on the F/X, I'd *never* go back to non-magnetic grilles ever again. When removing the RCs at the previous house for the TCs, the grilles were so tight that I unfortunately damaged them while using a paper clip to help remove them. I did call Polk to complain about it, and they did send me new grilles (thanks, Polk!). Ironically, it was about this time that I thought "Hey, magnetic grilles would be a thousand times better!". Too bad I didn't patent that idea...

Regardless, I think you'd be happy with the F/Xs. I actually will be upgrading my F/X RTs to F/X LS since I recently upgraded my fronts from RTiA7/CSiA6 to LSiM707/LSiM706c. The F/X LS's are sitting in the factory box, waiting for me to get off my a$$ and swap them out. Oh - and all three models use the same cutout size so it's a quick changeout...

Good luck!

Question for you... I just purchased and installed the FX-RTs. My speakers are directly over our sectional sofa, about 8 ft apart. I currently have the angled woofers aimed towards the main listening position (center of sofa). This means the tweeters sort of aim in front and behind... Is this the idea way to install or should I be aiming one of the two tweeters and having the woofer by aimed ahead of behind the couch area? It's very unclear... Thanks in advance!

Dan

mak99

I honestly don't know what the correct orientation should be. I have mine with the angled woofers pointing directly towards each other, so the tweeters point slightly forward and backward of the MLP (towards the MLP, not the side walls). The rearward-facing tweeters direct sound towards the side of the 12" deep soffit, but not sure if that has any real-world effect. Sadly, I used a laser level to make sure both speakers were pointing directly at each other! Sometimes I think I need therapy for the hobby/addiction...

One item to note is the mounting location of the RS speaker - the way the ceiling joists run in this basement room this hole butts right up to a joist so I cannot rotate the speaker to a certain position as the one clamping wing cannot be used (though I could just clamp down using the three other wings). The joists at the LS run the opposite direction so no problem rotating that one to wherever I need.

Side note: I think it's about damn time I sprayed those white grilles to match the rear surrounds - it's only been how many years now?!?!


^^ view toward ceiling SL/SR (white grilles) and rear wall SBL/SBR (black grilles)


^^ Left surround


^^ Right surround