What do yall think of...

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

IM really bored...so how would yall rate the rti series? the old ones...not the new ones

mantis

Ok,
rt15i's........I have no use for them
rt25i's......dissapointed me on a one on one test with the B&W lesure monitors.
rt35i's........good bookshelf, hard to beat at its price.
rt55i's.........killer bookshelf with good musical and theater sound.My favorite passive speaker.
rt1000i's.....better sounding for 2 channel over all the passive speakers in the line...is why I chose them for my mains years ago(rt1000p's)
rt2000i's......big, heavy, but sound really detailed mated with the right amp.They have a cleaner mid range and high's then the rt1000i's.They play deep.
rt3000p's........simply put awesome.........soundstage was wide and deep.Detail was what was expected on such a high dollar speaker.Sounded like a passive speaker when setup correctly.Demanding speaker, picky with what you ran them with, can really show off your system.

Thats about it for me I have demod the line/lines over the years as much as Possible.Today they don't impress me like they once did.The new ones where a complete let down so far as I couldn't get a good demo.
I will say this about the rt line........worth every penny you pay.You get alot of speaker for your money.Not many speaker companies can claim that.

mantis

thats a damn same I skipped over the rt800i's,
somewhat better that I did as I hate that speaker.I think it's a failure on Polk's side.its the only speaker in the line that's overally muddy(to me).I wanted so badly to own them as I didn't want a powered tower.I demo'ed them against the rt1000p's and then the rt1000i's of both series.Left dissapointed in the performance.The mid to high transfer was poor.the tweeter stuck out like it was in a different speaker.The mid to low rolloff mudied up the mid range as well as any lows the speaker could pull off.I didn't get it as the rt55i's smoked them in a head to head test i did so many times.i couldn't figure that speaker out.I never brought a pair home like i did the rt1000p's, but I felt no need to as I couldn't get into that speaker.
I'm not trying to piss off you happy 800 owners, I st personally don't care for that speaker.

jcaut

:supermad: powered-tower-hatin' RT800i owner, now totally pissed off!:supermad:

--Jason

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

I have the rt35i for mains, rt25i's for surrounds (i really like the 25's for surround but i wouldnt use them for bookshelf) and i have a cs245i and a M&K sub...and i really like it! Although, I was looking at the new rti's 38 and 28, they look real cheeese-e...and cheap! The all wood thing looks really cheap!!!! I also dont like silk tweeters...lol!

mantis

jcaut,
I assume you own the rt800i's.Don't be mad........
If you like the rt800i's thats all that matters.If you don't like powered towered towers, thats cool 2.I don't really care for powered towers myself even though I own a pair.They are extremely hard to setup.Always to much or not enough bass.So hard to find the middle.It took me some time to get them sounding good.
But the midrange and high's just smoke the rt800i's dead.They aren't muddy as well.
Really the rt55i's are the best choice for passive speakers of those years.Thye still don't sound as good as the rt1000p's or i's.
I'm at /they are at there end in my system.As soon as my house is finished being built(it just takes forever)I will be getting an entirely new system as I'm building a stand alone theater in the basement.

TroyD

I think the RTi line is pretty solid and compares well with other lines in it's price range.

The RT15i is a cool little speaker for those who don't like the tri-lam tweeter.....The RT25i, IMO is a GREAT bookshelf, there was a great review of it in Stereophile a little while back. My least favorite bookshelf in the line is the RT55i, it's a little too big to really be a bookshelf and doesn't have the detail, IMO as the RT35i, which is my favorite of the bunch.

The towers I don't think are too bad either.

I too am not a fan of the powered towers.....the "powered" part of the RT1000i is a 6.5" driver powered by an impressive 35W amp.....RT200i is 2 8 inchers powered by a 50W amp.....If you like 'em that's cool but I think Polk would have been better served by putting out a true 3-way design.

Now, the original RT line, different story.

RT 3,5,7....the RT5 was a Stereophile Class C pick and the RT7, IMO, is a bookshelf worth it's weight in gold. The towers (my experience with them is minimal) from what I heard was good as well. The RT16 just LOOKS dead sexy.


BDT

Dr. Spec

Mantis:

I've never heard the RT3000p, and I don't doubt it sounds very impressive.

But doesn't the unpowered top half of the RT3000p have the same driver compliment as the RT800i?

With the RT3000p having an impressive powered sub, I would suspect the 6.5" "woofer" would probably be crossed over at 80-100 Hz or so, and that might clean up the lower midrange a bit, explaining at least one of the differences you heard.

But I would have guessed the upper midrange 6.5" driver and the tweeter of the RT3000p had the same or very similar crossover networks as in the RT800i and as such would have sounded similar in the midrange and top end.

Of course I could be way off base here....without hearing them side by side, I guess I'll never know.

Spec

TroyD

I'm somewhat baffled by your distaste for the RT800i and love of the RT55i......they are pretty similar really, the RT800 has a little better bass response that you can attribute to the size of the cabinet. Other than that, the driver compliment is the same and I'm pretty sure (although I could be wrong) they are crossed over at the same points...


BDT

joe logston

my self wend i listen to the rt-35i and the rt-55i in compairison to each other, i realy like the rt-35i best the 55 had to much bottem end it mudded the meds & highs, the 35 was just right. it would be a good speaker to have for mains and surounds, with a real good sub. the extra driver is not a anought for a full range speaker set up, you are better off to go with a good powerd sub to get that lower end.

OrangeToupee

The RT55i's are not similar to the RT800i or the RT35i, I attribute this to the RT55i's larger cabinet width and depth; it's a 'bigger' sounding speaker wend I listen to it.

Aaron

You ****! Don't make my lug both sets of speakers down to the living room and A/B them to settle this dispute!

Aaron

TroyD

I'm curious about this, I'm not disputing what others think, but in my mind, there shouldn't be a tremendous difference.

BDT

mantis

There is a big difference,
the rt55's are tighter sounding and the rt800's are muddy.
The rt55's sound cleaner and more open,the rt800's seem to scream at the top and mudd all the rest.Ver unbalanced sounding speaker.
Aaron,you own both right??have you a/b them???stupid question but would like to read your comments.
As far as the rt3000p's, they don't sound like none of the other Polk's.Very different the way they roll off in the high to mid range.Just because they have the same driver's don't mean they are the same.....there not the same sounding.Its a shame you never heard the rt3000p's they are nice.At 3800.00 I have many speakers that can rip them apart...but for Polk's they are very clear..clearer then the rest of the line.Something like a stand alone speaker out of the line.They are the best sounding out of them all.

jcaut

I was, of course, just kidding about being pissed off---

Actually, I own both the Rt800i's and the Rt55i's as well. My Denon 3801 doesn't allow for easy A/B comparison, but I listened to each set of speakers extensively in my living room theater arrangement, and I decided that I preferred the 800's. The fact that I thought they'd be less likely to get knocked over by my four year-old son, than the 55i's on 21" stands, figured into the decision too. They sound pretty similar to me---- There are differences, but without being able to do a quick switch, I can't really put my finger on what's different. The 800's have a little better bass, on their own (no surprise there), but I'd use a sub with either set.

I've never thought the 800i's sounded muddy--- at least not since I got rid of the Sony receiver.

Jason

RuSsMaN

I had the original rt800's for 3 years, nothing even close to muddy.....

Cheers,
Russ