RTi8 or RTi10

ZIPNVW

I have tried to read as much about the two speakers and have had a hard time deciding. Right now, I can get either sets; RTi8 for $799CDN or RTi10 for $899CDN. Im getting mixed info on the two so I registered here to get some help.

I have read that the RTi10 have a lack of Mid and that if I have a Sub(I have a PSW404 and Love it) I should go with the RTi8 which has a better mid. Even on Polks site it suggests the RTi8 to go with my Sub, but when I called CS they told me that if I can get them, get the RTi10s.

It has been noted that the RTi10 need alot of power to run. This scare me becasue of the size of my room (12x16), I know I wont need to crank them up now, but IF I ever get a bigger house, the RTi10 would be a better investment.

I called Polk and asked them what they though and CS told me that if I can get them, get the RTi10s. Even the Guy at the Store(Which had no stock in either, so i wasnt going to be buying them from him) sad that the RTi10 are a better choice because right now they are better value for the money.

The lack of mid doesn't bother me as much since I like to have my mid a little lower. Its the way i like to listen to music.

I followed the advice in going to the store and listening to both. Hooked up to a HK with a JBL sub, first I heard the RTi8 in a Speaker room and they sounded very nice. The RTi10 in the room were broken and sounded ok. I was told that they had another set of RTi10 in the HT cubical(open area). When i got there, they had the RTi10 hooked up Yamaha HT5960 and a Polk PSW12. Since I just bought a yamaha RXV659 (HT5960 Twin) and the PSW404, i thought it would be as close as i can get to a match with my system.

With this setup, I was in aw. It sounded great and the speakers cranked out everything the yamaha gave to it. Its just that all the talk on how the RTi8 are better than the RTi10 makes me doubt them.

GaryZ06

ZIPNVW wrote:

Its just that all the talk on how the RTi8 are better than the RTi10 makes me doubt them.

What sounds good to me might not sound good to you.Your observation proves that..

ZIPNVW

I know, but i cannot totally ignor the bias towards the RTi8.

GaryZ06

ZIPNVW wrote:

I know, but i cannot totally ignor the bias towards the RTi8.

I will only listen to people's opinion's and take it with a grain of salt.I bought my RTi12's cause to me they sounded great....even beter than the LSi15's....but how can that be cause evryone says the LSi15's are in a different(better)league.

Schwingding

I have a set of both RTi10s and RTi8s. I can perceive no such loss of mid range from the 10s, but I can definitely tell you that the 10s provide much more presence in the room. They create a larger and more full sound stage.

Were in your position I would buy the 10s.

PolkWannabie

ZIPNVW wrote:

It sounded great and the speakers cranked out everything the yamaha gave to it. Its just that all the talk on how the RTi8 are better than the RTi10 makes me doubt them.

Doubt EVERYTHING ... Except ... Your own ears ...

Personally I like the 12's best of that series and I have a pair that I use in a mini bedroom HT w/CSi5 & FXi5's ...

ZIPNVW

Schwingding wrote:

I have a set of both RTi10s and RTi8s. I can perceive no such loss of mid range from the 10s, but I can definitely tell you that the 10s provide much more presence in the room. They create a larger and more full sound stage.

Were in your position I would buy the 10s.

This helps alot since i was not able to truly hear a side by side comparison, thank you.

danger boy

go for the bigger RTi10's. both are good speakers.. but.. think of it like this..

if you were looking for a car.. and you had the choice of getting a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder for a few more coins... both are nice.. but after a while.. you'd wish you'd gotten the 6 cylinder over the 4 cylinder. a bit more power.. yes it uses more gas, but not that much more.

my motto.. overbuy, you'll never be disappointed.. if you underbuy.. you'll always be thinking... "what if"?

ZIPNVW

danger boy wrote:

go for the bigger RTi10's. both are good speakers.. but.. think of it like this..

if you were looking for a car.. and you had the choice of getting a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder for a few more coins... both are nice.. but after a while.. you'd wish you'd gotten the 6 cylinder over the 4 cylinder. a bit more power.. yes it uses more gas, but not that much more.

my motto.. overbuy, you'll never be disappointed.. if you underbuy.. you'll always be thinking... "what it"?

Its so funny you say that since this was my thought process when getting my GTI VR6 instead of the 4 cylinder ver. money didnt matter, but the smile on my face did.

polktiger

PolkWannabie wrote:

Personally I like the 12's best of that series and I have a pair that I use in a mini bedroom HT w/CSi5 & FXi5's ...

WOW - talk about a mini - bedroom system. - What do you have for a bathroom rig?;)

Ron Temple

I think the bias for the 8s is because they are easier to drive with a receiver while the 10s need more power to open up. I've heard both and auditioned the 8s. They are both great speakers.

PolkWannabie

polktiger wrote:

WOW - talk about a mini - bedroom system. - What do you have for a bathroom rig?;)

LOL ... Don't go there ... The wife wants to rebop master bath with all sorts of stuff which I'm doing my best to ignore for now ...

On the other hand WAF in this house means something very different then it does most places ... That's a good thing ...

GATOR3000

The 8’s and 10’s are both very nice speakers. If you were going to use them for mostly music I would get the 8’s. The 8’s sound awesome with subwoofer. If you were going to use them primarily in your HT, for the extra $100.00 I would go with the 10’s. Remember, bigger is not always better!

I have auditioned both and thought the 8’s sounded better integrated with a sub. With the 10’s and sub there was a lot of unbalanced bass. The 10’s have more bass and just didn’t sound as good as the 8’s with sub (IMO).

Also, I thought 8’s were to bright for music till I hooked them up with tube amp. With my tube amp and sub out connection these babies are heaven for music. Whether you decide to get the 8’s or 10’s make sure you get decent speaker cables!! Good cables will tame the Rti silk tweeters by far and you will be able to listen to you favorite music for longer period of time without any fatigue.

Anyway, at the end of the day it will be your ears that make the final decision.

Where are you in Canada? Are you getting Black Finish or the Cherry?

Cheers

Gator

ZIPNVW

Finally did it and got the 10's. To me they both sounded good, but I thought for the extra $100, it was a better investment for the future. I got them in black since the rest of my setup is in black, but the cherrys looked very nice.

Im in Mississauga. Hopefully i can finish my basement so i can hook theys guys up. I might have to hook them up in the office if i get tired waiting.

Thanks for the help everyone.

cfrizz

Congrats! Welcome to Club Polk.

GATOR3000

ZIPNVW wrote:

Finally did it and got the 10's. To me they both sounded good, but I thought for the extra $100, it was a better investment for the future. I got them in black since the rest of my setup is in black, but the cherrys looked very nice.

Im in Mississauga. Hopefully i can finish my basement so i can hook theys guys up. I might have to hook them up in the office if i get tired waiting.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Congrats on your new 10's. You are going to enjoy them for sure. Try different cable. You won't regret it.

Gator

ZIPNVW

What cable do you suggest. I got some 12GA twisted speaker cable from home depot in a Green cover. I havent had any problems with it so far.

GATOR3000

There is a lot of cables on the market (Cobalt, Signal…..) use Internet to do your research. There are many posts on CP on speaker cables and IC. You can do a lot better than home depot 12 ga. Experience with different ones to see what you like the best for your taste. Try to audition cables with the same music cut that you are familiar with. You will hear different sonic characteristics from variety of cables. Let you ears be your guide.

Gator

Willow

How long do you need?

I have some kimber 4pr lying around the house I could part with, I'm sure!

ZIPNVW

I can try some other cables, but i already ran the surrounds and rear lines in the ceiling in the green stuff. I remember having to buy 26' x 4. I remembering that there was a discussion on these wires on AVS, and many people said they were great cables which is why I got them.

cfrizz

www.bluejeanscable.com.

Well made cables & speaker wire at reasonable prices.

ZIPNVW

The green cables i used are exactly like this...
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/beldengray.jpg

ZIPNVW

The Plot Thickens...

Well the local store that i Got my RTi10 from now have the RTi8 for $200 less that i got the RTi10 and will inclued a PSW10. Should I take back the Rti10s ?

NNatic

nah... you are entitled to the sub anyway... look at circuit city's site... any purcahse over 500 gets you that sub. I have heard all kinds of places giving this deal as well.

ZIPNVW

You are right...I called the Canadian Polk Distributer and he told me that any polk purchase over $600 got me the sub if the store was part of the promotion. Because the shop has the deal with the RTi8, they were part of the promo. So I went back and talked to the head of the department and after he looked into it, he gave me the sub without issue. Will go back to make sure I deal with him again.