Is 130 watts enough for RTi10's??

groover

I'm upgrading my system to 7.1 and have been looking at the RTi10's. (I had RT8's for ten years+). I've read lots of posts about the power 10's and 12's require, but I don't want to have to buy several amps to up the output at this point (maybe a future option).

Also, to hear people have been disappointed in the 10's/12's because of under powering is a concern. Is guess what I need is someone with experience with the 10's giving me some advice. I'm looking at the 10's because I'd like something I can grow into when we move into a stand-alone HT room, but I want to be happy with them in the mean time. Maybe the RTi8's would be better? There is quite a price difference here in NZ between the various models which I also have to consider.

I'm running a Yamaha RXV2600 @130Wx7.

Thx.

george daniel

If you have pre outputs on your receiver,I would go with more power,say 200/ch,I have 8's in the living room and have 125/ch going to them.Hope this helps.

VR3

The problem with comparing receiver watts is there is not many receivers that make their rated power. Most make a third of their rated power, so when you say 130 watts - its actually more like 30 or less... ---

However, thirty watts is quite a bit of power... - but you need more, and a higher power receiver wont get it for you, but a seperate amp will.

reeltrouble1

You need to know the amount of Amperes flowing down the line. Look for an amp in the 25-35 range with the more the better, my B&K is rated at 75 pk2pk as an example.

It works like this.

The voltage applies the pressure to get things going, the number of electrons flowing through the system is the amperage rating and then the whole thing has a rated resistance. If there is not enough resistance to control the amount of electron flow the speakers and components/amp heat up resulting in blown parts, fried drivers, clipped signals and so on.

Most of the receiver manufacture's dont rate their watts rating with more than one channel being driven because they are not required to by law. So they may be able to push 130 watts for a brief period down one line but these ratings change as more lines are added as in stereo or HT.

RT1

groover

Thanks for the replies. I'm not really keen at this point on spending more money for more amps just to drive a set of new speakers. I think I'll try and convince the local supplier to allow an in-home demo, that way I can test the sound in my own rig.

jakelm

Personally, I think you will be fine with the Yamaha. I tested these same speakers with a freind of mine at my house on my Onkyo @ only 75wpch.

Zen Dragon

Groover. That is a pretty nice THX Yammy. While it will not drive the RTi's to their full potential, I would think it will certainly be listenable. Yamaha's can be a bit on the bright side, but I have not heard the upper end THX certified units. I suspect they may be using some better DACS in those units. Your receiver has all the good features to keep you up to date with technology for a little while.
If you find the sound of say the RTi8 or 10's to be acceptable it leaves you the option of later adding an amp to the pre-out for the mains. A single 2 channel amp for the mains on the used market should run you in the $300-400 range for something good. In fact if you went with the RTi-8's instead of the 10's the difference in price would be enough to pick up a nice amp for the front channels right away.
Just a few things to consider.

groover

I have to admit I've found my new Yammy particularly yummy (I like the bright sound of Yammy's). The clarity of the sound is amazing - even my wife noticed it immediately and asked to play some music through the system - first time ever. We both feel it's a big step up from our 10 year old RXV2090. In fact, I've been a little disappointed in the ability of our little RT8's to keep up - hence the upgrade path being examined at present.

I'm leaning toward the RTi10's because they are probably more than I need right now, but when we migrate to a stand-alone HT room I want something I can repower to better power levels. (I'm keen on investigating/using bi-amping at a future time)

I think an in-home test drive is definitely in order. I'll try and get both 10 and 8's for a test. That way I can A/B a comparison. And you're right - there is a considerable saving between to two. The new RTi8's are a lot bigger in size than my current RT8's and may be all we need.

Thx again for the replies everyone.

Early B.

Hey, if your goal is to grow into them, then it makes sense to get the RTi10's. You'll be fine by driving them with your receiver for now. Get the 10's and don't look back.

Zen Dragon

Early B +1
Agreed, get the speakers you want now and grow into them. The yamaha will drive them fine and amplifiers are always available for reasonable scratch used when you are ready to really light up the front channels. It's the subs that really add the impact to home theater anyway.
Enjoy your shopping.

Toxis

a buddy of mine has the 10's and is running them off a denon 2805 (100x7). They sound great but when we added my secondary Rotel 2ch. amp (120x2) to them, they came alive. Do they need extra power? No but they sure as hell love it if you have it to give.

For now, your Yammie will do just fine. But when you're ready to get an amp, they'll sing that much more.

groover

Your words are like music to my ears Thx

loserguy

first time posting.

I have the yamaha 2600 but with rti8 and the csi5. the they sound more laid back without an addtional amp. with the extra power the imaging and mid bass really stands out, there is a very noticable difference. The Yamaha 2600 allows you the Bi-wire with the A+B speakers. I have'nt tried that yet but it might help (in theory).

kingkip

I ran 10s off my 2400 for a while, and I thought it was great. When I hooked them up to my parasound 1500 at 205 w/ch they really came to life. I agree with the concensus here, get the 10s and when you can afford an amp you will like them that much more. However, if you can do an in-home by all means do it.

EricBurg

I was originally running my 10's off a pioneer 1015 reciever and have to say that they didn't sound too bad...then I added a Rotel 1075 amplifer and ran them off the 120 wpc...needless to say a huge improvement. Now, I have added a Rotel 1080 at about 200 wpc and although it isn't as big an improvement as I got going from the reciever to the amp, it is a much better sound. It could be that the 1080 is a "better" amp per channel, but the 10's really sound nice.

Eric

groover

Certainly seems like RTi10's are the speakers to aim for. I'm still going to try for a in-home demo to satisfy myself of the best speakers for our setup/room dynamics etc. Time is certainly going to tell. Thx for the replies.