RTi12 "review"

C J T

Can somebody please explain the crossover in the RTI 12? What frequency is it set at? And if people say that you aren't truly biamping without an external crossover is this true?

I know with the Behringer EP2500 there is some kind of low pass filter switch. Does that do anything fo my set up?

Thanks!

CJT

Systems

Perfect thread for me! Right now I’m running the RTI12's off my receiver and they sound great as it is but I ordered a separate Onkyo Amp to test out various uses from running my rear speakers (when I get my theater room built) to simply running the RTI12's.

Do you think I should try Bi-Amping the RTi12's with the Separate Onkyo Amp or just run them strait on?



I just replaced my old RT12’s with these Rti12’s and there is a major improvement in sound for me, especially mid-range.

bob1029

Silverti wrote: »

Perfect thread for me! Right now I’m running the RTI12's off my receiver and they sound great as it is but I ordered a separate Onkyo Amp to test out various uses from running my rear speakers (when I get my theater room built) to simply running the RTI12's.

Do you think I should try Bi-Amping the RTi12's with the Separate Onkyo Amp or just run them strait on?



I just replaced my old RT12’s with these Rti12’s and there is a major improvement in sound for me, especially mid-range.

With the m-282, id definately bi-amp. Even running my ep-2500, I am very concerned about the sound quality I would get on the top end during heavy lfe sequences.

C J T

beware some guys around here actually try to defend their purchases of the RTI 8's, at half the price and the RTI 10's at 2/3 the price as being better than our RTI 12's.

How one mid woofer is better than 3 is beyond me.

dhead1

C J T wrote: »

Can somebody please explain the crossover in the RTI 12? What frequency is it set at?

Thanks!

CJT

CJT,

As far as the rti12's x-over, in the polk manual (rti12) it lists the x-over for woofer/mid:120Hz, and mid/tweeter:1.8kHz

Duane

Systems

dhead1 wrote: »

CJT,

As far as the rti12's x-over, in the polk manual (rti12) it lists the x-over for woofer/mid:120Hz, and mid/tweeter:1.8kHz

Duane

So theoretically, if I bi Amp them with my new Onkyo amp, I should set the amp X-over to 120hz correct?

C J T

Good question. I often wonder about that too. I find 80hz sounds the best to me but i wonder what the "ideal" setting is for the RTI 12's..I have the Denon 3805, Behringer EP2500 on the lows with the low pass filter turned off.

bob1029

With my onkyo I find that a xover of 100 is good for all incomming optical/multichannel analog content, but It seems like mine will cut off the lfe on tuner (internally generated) content if the xover is too high.

freeride

This might be stupid question, but I have the RTi12's and am now considering bi-amping. If I understand the budget minded configuration, it will look like this:

Mids and tweeter: Driven from HT receiver Left and Right channel speaker terminals
Woofers: Driven from a separate amp that gets it signals from the HT preouts

Is this right?

If so, how do you ensure the tweets and mid are getting the same level as the woofers, since the receiver's internal amplifer surely has a different power curve than the pre-outs+amplifier.

Does this question makes sense? I'm not convinced I'm describing it accurately.

C J T

yes that configuration is best. I have an Art Clean Box because I have a pro amp with different output levels compared to home gear. Works great.

You have to listen by ear and make adjustments. Too much volume makes the woofers a little muddy. You will hear it right away and will have to adjust the gain to your liking.

I tried running the amp full range on my fronts and it didn't sound near as good as my Denon receiver on just the highs and mids..Save all the juice from the amp for the power hungry woofers.

remember to take off the jumpers on the speakers!!

Sherardp

Buy a larger amp and you wont have to bi-amp the 12s. The 12s are monsters for speakers and are power hungry. I just bought a new amp to run the 12s, 525 watts @ 8 ohms which doubles @ 4 ohms. I no longer bi-amp but finally those 12s are putting out more bass than before.

C J T

The Behringer EP2500 is also 500w. I personally found the centre soundstage was better having the Denon receiver powering all the tweeters and mids and let the amp power the woofers. If yyou don't, the fronts sound different from the rest of the speakers and it's harder to match. The tweeters and mids need minimal power so why waste it on them?

nm4710

While I don't have a set of RTi12's (wish I did), I went this route with my RTi10s. I am running an Onkyo M282 to the woofers of the RTi10s and I am running the mids and highs with my HK AVR 245. This combination gives 50w to the tweets/midrange and 100watts to the hungry 7" woofers.

Adding the onkyo made a world of difference. Truthfully when listening to music, I can hardly tell if my sub is on or off. The onkyo has an adjustable gain so you can tailor the amount of bass to your liking. I have the onkyo's gain cranked all the way up and find the bass is adequate only if I crank the bass tone control on my receiver up to at least +2. If I crank my bass up to +4 I get abdundant tight, well controlled output.

Be aware that I don't think the M282/receiver bi-amp setup is going to give you the soundstage and overall clarity of a superior amp...but for $200 it's world's better than relying on puny receiver power. Keep in mind your RTi12's will be a little more power hungry than my RTi10s as well.

I've tried running the onkyo full-range on the front speakers...I prefer the bi-amp setup. The front soundstage is better.

Truth be told if I could do it over again I'd buy a multichannel amp - either budget (an emotiva LPA-1 - 125wpc x 5 + 50wpc x 2) or I'd save up and buy a nice 200wpc 5 channel. People here recommend the used market...I've been looking for a while but even ancient amps (>10yrs) are going for over $300. I'm sure they're great amps...but i'm not willing to gamble hundreds of dollars on dusty used electronics that've been handled by more guys than paris hilton.

The newer second-hand models command prices that are barely any cheaper than brand new...so why sacrifice the warranty?

Sorry for the long reply, but I figured you'd want to hear all the details from someone that went the exact same route you're about to take.

Hope things work out well for you.
NM

C J T

I have a Denon 3805 powering the front tower tweeters/mids, centre channel. and rears. Hsu 10" sub..I know everyone's t6astes are different, but the sound of the pro amp I have was worse than my Denon and I also wanted to match the center channel and rears. Bass doesn't matter for sound quality, just need power. I love the flexibility of the Art Box and the gain controls on the amp. I have more bass than I need. That is a great thing.

cfrizz

This is why we always recommend HT amps for HT equipment! But some are simply too cheap to spend the money & try to take the easy way out.

C J T

cfrizz wrote: »

This is why we always recommend HT amps for HT equipment! But some are simply too cheap to spend the money & try to take the easy way out.

Cheap? I would call it smart. I got an amp that I use DJing that can power a large room, at home it powers my woofers. I paid $500 for the Behringer and I read great things about it before I did. One of the best values out there.