RTi Towers

Mjr7531

Hey guys, I've been trying to pay off all my dues, and it looks like I'm back in the black (for now) and I've been trying to figure out how much money to allot towards my HT, and I can't really go and audition speakers as the RTi series are no longer in CC, and that's the only store around Cleveland really that carries Polk. But I digress,
Which of the 3 (RTi 8, 10, 12) would be the most potent for me, (Objective if possible)

I have a huge room (24' x 24' x 6-3/4') and I'll be buying an SVS compliment my system. I like running my fronts on full (I already do with my RTi6s) and the less I can spend on these the better (So I don't kill myself saving for these) And I kind of have the bigger is better mentality going on, and lastly, as clean as I can get but still dynamic, I do about 50% movies 35% background music and 15% music.

Thanks in advance for reading through this long-winded post and your answers, if I need to clarify anything please let me know! Thanks guys,
Matt

EDIT: I completly forgot! I use the CSi5 as my center and will be using the RTi6s as my surrounds.

bamawardog

well i have the rti8 s as fronts and csi 5 s as center and fxi5s for surrounds and a psw 202 sub which is getting retired within the next month for a psw 505 i am running a onkyo 501 which is really undersized only 65 watss per channel but the one i want is over 800 dollors so must live with it for a while longer.mine is a room that is 18 by 20 it sounds good but i know in my mind that i need about 100 watts .but i would go with the denon or the hk or onkyo look at the THD on the specs u want it low .o8 or lower so the sound will be clear .me the clearer the better but welcome to the world of audiophile and good luck with ur new ht it will never be the same again:D

Tour2ma

Really depends on how much bass you want/ need and if you're good with a sub in the mix for music. If "maximum with no sub" is your answer, go with the 12's.

If a sub is OK, then grab the SVS first and see how it blends with your 6's.

Personally, I like the 10's. For music (sans sub) they have enough bass and it seems tighter to me than the 12's. And the 10's only take a tad more persuation power-wise than the 12's to match SPL.

For DVD's, once the SVS is around, I think you will find that running your mains set to small will be just fine. If you find this to be the case, then the 12's will be leaving a lot of capability at the door come movie time.... as well as background music time.

Mjr7531

Thanks for the replies so far

bamawardog - I doubt it will be, I've been using mediocre equipment (minus the Polk) and I've been excited to hear how this will sound.

Tour - I'll probably XO the fronts as low as I can get away with the future SVS or run em' full, I'll toy with that after I buy the speakers.

I've been yearning to get towers up in front, I like my RTi6s, but I want towers. I've been starting to lean towards the RTi10s, the price seems right to me, if I could only hear how all the towers sound...
How much can I get the RTi10 for around here?

Toxis

I'd also recommend the 10's. I am not a fan of the 8's as they for some odd reason never sounded the same as the rest of the RTi line. The 10's and 12's have similar sound but the 8 never did to me. The 12's are bad boys but unless you're going to run a ton of power to them, you're not really going to benefit a whole lot. Not to mention how much more you'll spend on them. Save the money over the 12's but get a better midbass punch than the 8's. 10's all the way.

Sami

Out of the three I like the 8's best. Much cleaner highs than on the 10's and 12's.

hamzahsh

Originally posted by Sami
Out of the three I like the 8's best. Much cleaner highs than on the 10's and 12's.

I'm agree with Sami, RTi8 will sound cleaner and better than 10's, or 12's. I got RT800i's the grandfather of RTi8's. Basically, the same spearkers with newer design, looks and different set of tweeters. Mine is trilaminate and the 8's have silk domes. Anyways, no matter what speakers you get you'll need a good separate amplifier to run them. A good continuous high current has lot of power and guts to move those mid/bass drivers quickly in and out. Your speakers will thank you and bless you by feeding them enough power.

EXAMPLE: Hold the pencil or pen in your palm and move as fast as possible you can and then stop immediately and then repeat. By doing this over and over your wrist, arm and fingers will get tired. Samething happens when amp drives the speakers and move drivers in and out quickly with such a high current and speed it gets warm (tired) after sometime.

I use to run a receiver but it never sounded tight, clear and punchy and the bass was always missing. Now I use separate amp and what a day and night difference they've made.

Also RTi8's are much easier to drive then 10's or 12's. Those built in passive subs suck lot of power and leave little for highs and mids unless you use a very powerfull and $$$$ amp to drive them. I would say no less than 200w RMS per channel. With RTi8's you need 100w RMS max and you're done.

landry_p2000

I started out with the RTi8s as my mains, and after listening to these for several months, I felt like there was something missing. BASS. These speakers had strong points, but I caught a deal at CC with the upgrade within a year policy. The RTi10s went on sale for $699 which is what I paid for the RTi8s. I was able to trade the RTi8s in for the RTi10s, even swap. What an improvement! I did not tell my old lady about it, and she noticed the sound was better on her own. I am not using a whole lot of power to drive the Rti10s, but it was a vast improvement over the RTi8s any day. It is all about what you like. If you depend mostly on your sub for bass, then the RTi8s will suffice. If you like to listen to music without a boomy sub all of the time, get the RTi10s. On certain music the sub can tend to be too much. The RTi8s are not very good stand alone speakers. (Just speaking from my experience with both speakers.) Good luck on your choice.

Sami

Originally posted by landry_p2000
If you like to listen to music without a boomy sub all of the time, get the RTi10s.

He's getting a SVS sub so we know it won't be boomy. With that in mind the 8's are a much better choice even for music.

If he was going to do more music listening then a move to LSi-series would be the thing to do.

Willow

FWIW I prefer the 8's over the 10's and I use a sub with my 8's for HT and 2CH

landry_p2000

Originally posted by Sami
He's getting a SVS sub so we know it won't be boomy. With that in mind the 8's are a much better choice even for music.

I am speaking from experience. I have owned both speakers and found the RTi10 to be more to my liking. It is a matter of opinion and mine states that the RTi10 are a better choice IMO.
The RTi10s sound great with a sub also. If you like speakers that have very little bass response, then the Rti8s are what you need. If you want a speaker with a more full range (highs, mids, lows), get the RTi10s.

Willow

Right but you can save yourself some $$ if you are going to be using a sub.

Sami

Originally posted by landry_p2000
If you like speakers that have very little bass response, then the Rti8s are what you need.

With a good sub there is more than enough bass from the 8's. Upgrade your sub, it will help you a lot.

The 8's sound much cleaner on the highs than the 10's or 12's. That makes them better suited for music listening IMO. If you don't have a sub then the 10's or 12's might be better suited for the application but both still lack bass for movies.

I have A/B auditioned all the three and the 8's were the clear (pun intended) winner. I have owned the 70's and 150's and the 70's sounded better to me than the 150's but these are for a secondary rig without a sub so the 150's stayed. For my main rig, HT and 2.1ch, I chose LSi7's with a SVS PCU.

landry_p2000

Originally posted by Willow
Right but you can save yourself some $$ if you are going to be using a sub.

Now that's the truth.:D

Willow

But it boils down to the buyer, if you wish to spend more then go with 10's providing you like the sound. Either way it's not a bad choice more of a refined choice depending on your needs and $$.

Sami

Originally posted by Willow
But it boils down to the buyer, if you wish to spend more then go with 10's providing you like the sound. Either way it's not a bad choice more of a refined choice depending on your needs and $$.

Of course, he has the money and the decision to make, we can only offer our views.

That said, my choice would be to get the subwoofer first. Put together the money and get the best sub you can afford and worry about the mains later. He has a big room and it will take $$$ to get to reference levels on bass (if that is what he wants and seeing how he said "bigger is better" I think he would regret getting too small of a sub).

Willow

according to other posts he is getting an SVS

Sami

Originally posted by Willow
according to other posts he is getting an SVS

Yes and that's why I said to get that first. With the RTi6's as mains he isn't going to improve much in comparison by going for 8's, 10's or 12's. Get the biggest, baddest SVS he can afford and then see what kind of mains to get.

Willow

I would disagree that he will not improve much over the 6's. 8's have 2 mids 6 have 1. Improvement right there

Sami

Originally posted by Willow
I would disagree that he will not improve much over the 6's. 8's have 2 mids 6 have 1. Improvement right there

"improve much in comparison"

Meaning he'll improve much more by spending the money on the biggest SVS sub right now.

gregure

I agree that getting the 10's would be a great compromise between the 8's and 12's. I love the 10's, always found their musical quality to be just the right balance between bass and mids. Running them for two-channel w/ no sub gets a decent sound, but I always use my SVS even w/ music, as I like that full-range effect (especially for classical). I also set my 10's to small, as the SVS does bass so well, why not let it handle the majority of bass? I set my 10's to large for movies, and found I lost a lot of bass, as the main channel bass was not routed to the sub. Doubling up bass (full range to mains, main bass to sub) results in boomy overkill. Again, the SVS does bass so well, I would recommend setting the 10's to small for movies, and running them full-range for music and setting a low XO. You will not be disappointed by the 10's if you like the Polk sound. Check out ebay for some reduced prices, sometimes you can get a good deal on new ones, and Polk is not a stickler for honoring warrantiesif bought online like some speaker companies, or so I've been told.

Willow

Random had some 10's for sale I think he was looking for 500US$

landry_p2000

Originally posted by gregure
I agree that getting the 10's would be a great compromise between the 8's and 12's. I love the 10's, always found their musical quality to be just the right balance between bass and mids. Running them for two-channel w/ no sub gets a decent sound, but I always use my SVS even w/ music, as I like that full-range effect (especially for classical).

That is how I feel. The sub definetly make it better, but I sometimes use the "direct" mode for music. It channels the bass from the sub channel through the L/R main channels for great stereo imaging. I rest my sub sometimes, eventhough it is not required. If you place your speaker in the corners of the room just right, you can get good bass from your towers with or without a sub. When I get my SVS, I probably will never turn it off either.:D

AsSiMiLaTeD

I'm with Sami on this one. I've had both types of setups (RTi150s with no sub, and 70s with a sub) - the smaller fronts with a sub gives me a far better sound for a general application.

If you're putting together a 2 channel music system, then larger speakers may be better, but for an overall system, I'd go with the 8s and a good sub...

Toxis

Here's the problem when it comes to asking opinions on sound. One guy tells you his story and how he likes speaker B over speaker A. Another guy comes in and says "No, you're wrong." Now how can someone come in and say that because he thinks/hears one thing that the other guy MUST be wrong?

I had egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. I really enjoy egg sandwiches, with salsa. MMMMM But if some guy comes in and tells me that egg sandwiches are the worst thing he's ever tasted and that the sandwich as a whole is nothing anyone should try, does that mean my tastes should also change?

landry_p2000

Originally posted by Toxis
Here's the problem when it comes to asking opinions on sound. One guy tells you his story and how he likes speaker B over speaker A. Another guy comes in and says "No, you're wrong." Now how can someone come in and say that because he thinks/hears one thing that the other guy MUST be wrong?

I had egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. I really enjoy egg sandwiches, with salsa. MMMMM But if some guy comes in and tells me that egg sandwiches are the worst thing he's ever tasted and that the sandwich as a whole is nothing anyone should try, does that mean my tastes should also change?

Toxis is right. That's the truth. We are just stating our opinion, no one is right or wrong. It is a matter of what type of sound Mjr7531 is looking for.

AsSiMiLaTeD

right, but if you've never had eggs, you might want to know how they taste before trying them. If 90 out of a 100 people say they're nasty...you may want to avoid them.

Personally, I'm gonna go ahead and try them so I know for myself...but not all people are like that. The truth is, majority of people can't tell good sound from great sound...so if having the approval of others makes them feel better...then more power to them.

I've heard the whole 'just buy what you like, and let your ears tell you what to get, don't worry about what anyone on here says" a few too many times. Sure, you should buy something you like, but if you 're new to this game, you may not know what to listen for - even if you do have good ears. That's why we're all assembled here...to offer advice about something which we know - and that's why people come here expecting us to tell them what to buy. And we tell them 'just buy what sounds best' - well if they knew that they wouldn't be here asking us questions would they...

Toxis, that isn't direct at you really...just a general statement I wanted to make. In fact, it doesn't even really apply to this thread much...just wanted to rant a bit...

gregure

Originally posted by Polkmaniac
I've heard the whole 'just buy what you like, and let your ears tell you what to get, don't worry about what anyone on here says" a few too many times. Sure, you should buy something you like, but if you 're new to this game, you may not know what to listen for - even if you do have good ears. That's why we're all assembled here...to offer advice about something which we know - and that's why people come here expecting us to tell them what to buy. And we tell them 'just buy what sounds best' - well if they knew that they wouldn't be here asking us questions would they...

I couldn't have said it better. Thanks for sharing.

As for the comment about proper placement giving you more bass from towers for two channel, I agree that proper speaker setup is a huge addition to performance for straight two-channel, provided one actually sits down and listens in the sweet spot. However, placement alone will not add nearly the bass that higher current, quality amplification will. Lower, tighter bass will be more apparent if adding a quality amplifier than if simply placing the speakers in the corners. I had the pleasure of hearing the new B&W 803's run on a two-channel, 400 wpc McIntosh amp recently, and I was blown away at how much bass the towers could produce w/ some proper amplification.

Tour2ma

From about a page of posts ago...

Originally posted by Mjr7531
Thanks for the replies so far

I wonder if he still feels thankful?

Disagreement is all good, guys. If we all agreed, this place would be dull.

PM,
Great point. I've often said, "you have to be the final judge," assuming the buyer knows how to judge.

Not sure we can type out the ultimate guide to speaker auditioning, but laying out a few simple basics, e.g., take CD's/ DVD's with which you are familiar and stirve for equal SPL's when A-B'ing, would be doable.

In fact I'd be willing to bet it's been done. I'm sure I've participated in at least one "How do you audition..." thread here.

aaharvel

how about save your money and buy the 4'/6's with a really kickass sub?

Willow

Originally posted by aaharvel
how about save your money and buy the 4'/6's with a really kickass sub?

He could then have to spend xtra on stands, 6 of one half a dozen of the other