RTi70 vs. RT55i

TN_Polk_Lover

Howdy Neighbor. I'm in Murfreesboro. According to mappoint, I'm 55 miles from downtown Fayetteville, straight shot down 231. My daughter is a college student at Sewanee (University of the South). Is Fayetteville up on the plateau like Monteagle is? It is really beautiful country down that way.

Anyway, I have a pair of RTi38's and a pair of RTi70's. I have used both of them (not at the same time) with my Yamaha 2 channel R9 receiver which is 125 watts per channel.

I would try the RTi70's with an amp or receiver with a little more power. Do you know someone with a higher power 2 channel amp that you could borrow just to see if it made a difference?

I have bought off of ebay a yamaha 2 channel amp (MX600U ? I think - 135 watts per channel at 8 ohms, more at 4 ohms) and an adcom 2 channel control pre-amplifier / tuner. I should get both of them sometimes this week. I"ll use these to drive my 70s'. I haven't taken the plunge to HT yet.

In comparing my RTi70s vs. the RTi38's on Sanus cherry stands, they sound extremely close to the same, except that the RTi70's will go lower in the bass, but it's not an earth shattering difference. The RTi38's may image just a "hair" better, maybe due to them being more "in space" on the stands with less cabinet in the way toward the bottom. And yes, positioning and how far you are from the wall has a tremendous effect on the imaging. I keep the front of the speakers a minimum of 24 inches from the wall behind. That puts them in line with the front of the tv screen.

Interesting thing about the DVD player versus standalone CD player. I moved the R9 receiver and the RTi38s down to the living room after my wife recently bought new furniture for the living room and we rearranged. Anyway, the Cherry 38's on the cherry Sanus stands actually look good enough in the new arrangement that my wife actually kind of likes them instead of just tolerates them. (She would probably never go for the black 70's in the living room). To keep from having as many components, I was going to use just my Sony DVD player to play DVD's and CD's. However, when I put a CD in and played it, something was just missing. It didn't sound right. The sould was lacking bass. I went and got my older model Sony CD player and hooked it up and voila the sound from the CD that I was expected was back. So, I'm not sure why. That particular DVD player just may be bad, I'm not saying that all DVD players will do a bad job with CD's.

Loud & Clear

I've found that the 55i's sound significantly better than the 800i's, fwiw. Much tighter midbass and bass, improved transient response, dynamics. The 55i's are a fine speaker, while the 800i's are an attractive, waf speaker, imo.

Dennis Gardner

I prefer the 55s for music, for HT it is a toss up for me with the 70s. For looks against my 8 foot screen, the 70s are way sexier, as the 55s are almost too big to look good on a high stand, let alone the tipping factor.

Just my .02,

DG

jimed1

Originally posted by TN_Polk_Lover
Howdy Neighbor. I'm in Murfreesboro. According to mappoint, I'm 55 miles from downtown Fayetteville, straight shot down 231. My daughter is a college student at Sewanee (University of the South). Is Fayetteville up on the plateau like Monteagle is? It is really beautiful country down that way.

I hope your daughter is on scholarship. I know school isn't cheap at Sewanee. It is a beautiful campus. I enjoy driving through the campus sometimes when I am passing by. If you haven't eaten at Pearl's yet you should drive down and take your daughter there. Good food.
Fayetteville is just about due south of the Boro, and although we have some hills and valleys, we are not nearly as high as Monteagle.

I have considered trying an amp and I still may do that. I am tired of the looks of my 70's. I really wish I had bought cherry instead of black. I use RTi28's in cherry for surrounds. I have been tempted to try them as mains.

I have done some more critical listening to my 70's lately and I do like their sound. I seem to have some cd's that just don't sound very good. Most of the smooth jazz I have sounds great.

I am thinking that speakers on stands will be more of the look I am going for. I think it is a little more refined looking than towers. That being said, I do like the looks of the new RTi's and the Monitor towers.

I have been thinking about trying some RTi38's on stands, so what have told me is really making me think I will try those and see what I think. It's just hard to find anything in cherry in the older lines because CC didn't sell them. I don't know why they only carry black. Cherry looks so much better to me and they look better to most wives too. I wish Polk had continued making a bookshelf speaker with dual 6-1/2" drivers like the RT55I's.

jimed1

Originally posted by Loud & Clear
I've found that the 55i's sound significantly better than the 800i's, fwiw. Much tighter midbass and bass, improved transient response, dynamics. The 55i's are a fine speaker, while the 800i's are an attractive, waf speaker, imo.

That's what I was thinking about the midbass and bass. It seems it would have to be tighter with a smaller cabinet and I have always liked tight bass. I have a sub so I don't think I will suffer and low end loss. I have my 70's crossed at 80Hz anyway.

dcarlson

My point is if you're going to upgrade your speakers. Make it worth your while and jump up a notch to LSi or something more substantial. Otherwise, there are some large gains to be made by upgrading source, cables, amplification, tweaks and so on.