What is the best way to get RTi12's max potential, musically?

tinnitusTooL

After 20 years with my old JBL N38II towers and HK AVR, I upgraded to a Denon x4500H. This allows me to have enough chanels rmto run other zones. I purchased a SVS PB2000 Pro next. JBLs sounded better than they ever have, but still wanted more.

Enter the RTi12's. I did read up on these before purchasing used. I did not,however, realize I was reading an HT blog of people gushing about them. I did not find out they were specifically designed for HT.

I almost exclusively use these for music. I have them bi-amped as the AVR instructed, just because I could. I have read to not do this in other forums, so should I undo this?

Also have read many posts saying to use a good amp with them. I do not have 2-3k to spend on an amp, but I did see some BK and others on ebay for under 1k.

Looking to reduce the mids over presence, what are some suggestions to help mellow the brightness when playing at high volume? Crossover upgrade (if possible)? Or decent amp?

They sound pretty good now, just want more out if them, hopefully without having to buy new. I auditioned some new B&W and Monitors that sounded pretty good...just running low on budget.

msg

I feel your pain. I did the same thing in a purchase of RTi10s at the end of 2013. They almost ruined music for me it was such an awful experience.

I tried the recommendations to tame the highs - Parasound and B&K amps, preamps and processors. Nothing worked well enough to make them listenable for music, not even close. Still way too hot up top.

Backing down the treble and bumping the bass slightly with the tone controls was the only thing that got them remotely close to listenable, and still wasn't comfortable enough to enjoy the music. Not to mention, that was taking away from the music.

You'll have to go around your elbow to get to your nose to make these speakers work for music. In my humble experience, better to start off with a speaker that gets you closer to the end goal than to overspend trying to match gear to speakers that aren't the right fit to begin with.

If you pursue that option, it will require the cumulative effect of everything you can possibly do to get them to work for music. Equipment with warm sound signature, maybe those crossover mods, and room treatments would help get them closer, but even then, whether they'd be acceptable to you?

You can sell them and move to something like the Signature Series speakers, which are better for music, and a nice speaker for combo use.

For strictly music, you might consider the LSiM if you can find a deal on them.

@gp4jesus mentioned some crossover work that helped these in his experience. Maybe he can hop on with some info.

Emlyn

A B&K 200.2 Series II amp would be ideal for those. The Denon receiver is also not an ideal match for the RTi speakers. In comparison to a Marantz receiver Denons are deliberately designed to have a "more exciting" or brighter sound. Instead of doing anything with the Denon though I'd try a B&K amp first and see if that makes the speakers easier to listen to. A Parasound HCA-1500a is also a good amp to try.

I wouldn't be concerned about "biamping" with the receiver. It's a gimmick that doesn't really do anything. I would run the main speakers normally although the biamp feature does no harm.

nooshinjohn

Separate amplification and a tube preamp may help as well...

F1nut

tinnitusTooL wrote: »

After 20 years with my old JBL N38II towers and HK AVR, I upgraded to a Denon x4500H. This allows me to have enough chanels rmto run other zones. I purchased a SVS PB2000 Pro next. JBLs sounded better than they ever have, but still wanted more.

Enter the RTi12's. I did read up on these before purchasing used. I did not,however, realize I was reading an HT blog of people gushing about them. I did not find out they were specifically designed for HT.

I almost exclusively use these for music. I have them bi-amped as the AVR instructed, just because I could. I have read to not do this in other forums, so should I undo this?

Also have read many posts saying to use a good amp with them. I do not have 2-3k to spend on an amp, but I did see some BK and others on ebay for under 1k.

Looking to reduce the mids over presence, what are some suggestions to help mellow the brightness when playing at high volume? Crossover upgrade (if possible)? Or decent amp?

They sound pretty good now, just want more out if them, hopefully without having to buy new. I auditioned some new B&W and Monitors that sounded pretty good...just running low on budget.

Time to punt. You got the wrong power source (AVR) and speakers for a music system.

jeremymarcinko

600wpc Emotiva XPA1 mono blocks did the trick when I had RTi12s.

tinnitusTooL

Ok thank you all. I will try an amp, and if I'm still not happy with it, I may just have to start from scratch.

One thing to note is that these were purchased years ago new and stored, so they also might need to break in from what I've read. I will keep my eyes open for an amp.

msg

Some break-in will help, and with an amp, you'll definitely notice immensely more authoritative and controlled bass. In my experience after adding the amp, the top end still completely overwhelmed the broader mids and lower frequencies, except for the newfound bass authority, which you'll notice after you have an amp. This bass, however, will likely be impactful in a tight range; no broad tone or timbre.

Put another way, as you raise the volume to fill in those frequencies you perceive to b lacking, you also raise the output of the higher frequencies, so the perception of thin sounding frequency ranges remains, only the highs are screaming even more. This is why reducing the treble a notch or two and bumping the bass up seems to make things a bit more listenable, scaling back and filling in, in a sense.

Best option I found was the "Sound Retriever" mode on the Pioneer AVR I was first using, at lower volumes. It was the only thing that seemed to fill in those "missing" frequencies, but the highs were still too much for me, not to mention, not the best way to enjoy 2ch.

This leads into the consideration for the quality of the audio overall and what your goals are.

Definitely, though, try it for yourself and see what you think. You can probably keep using the amp moving forward.

VR3

The biggest problem with that series are the cabinets. They are built in a very affordable manner. You can rip the front baffle off with your hands!

I would recommend taking all of the drivers out, reinforcing the cabinet and applying no rez strips in a few places to help deaden the enclosure.

This series was only around a few years before they built new cabinets for the drivers in the current RT line that has been around for a decade.

Once you have the cabinets reinforced and improved, the crossovers need a good overall as well.

It may be better though to find a pair of RTiA9.

tonyb

I would suggest selling them and starting over.

By the time you invest in an amp, cables, better source, a pre amp....to make something naturally bright to sound more warm and musical, you'd have spent more money.

There is simply a boat load of brands that are built for music that sound fantastic. You won't find them at your local Bestbuy though.