Questions on RTi12 and amp

hwu56

Hello,
I am a newbie to hi-fi and have several questions (yes, I know some or all of them are dumb questions)
I just got a pair of RTi12 as fronts. I read that almost everyone said it requires a lot of juice to drive it. So maybe an external amp is necessary.
I have a Boston Acoustics 7100 receiver (110w x 7, I know this number is exaggerated, but don't know by how much). I am running a 7.1 setup. I use it 70% for movie and 30% for music. I am far from an audiophile, nor do I have picky ears. I am just thinking, since I have a good pair of speakers, I may want to squeez the most out of it -- at a reasonable cost. Here are my questions:

1. Some said you better have 300w to fully utilize RTi12. I will definitely not spend more than $1000 for an amp (thinking about $500 probably). With this price, maybe I can only get a used 125w x 2channel amp or something like that. The sound quality will definitely get better with amp, but do you think this is worth the money, given the fact that I don't have picky ears and the 7100 already has "110w" per channel ??? Or do you suggest that "save the money, because such a cheap amp will not give you too much difference" ?

2. My center and surrounds speakers are small. Does that mean I only need a 2-channel amp to drive the RTi12 fronts, and use the receiver to drive the remaining?
Also, if I use the pre-out for fronts, does that mean the receiver will have more power to drive the remaining?

3. With the price range, what used amp do you suggest? I have never owned an external amp, so need help with brand/model/channel/power ...etc. Besides Audiogon, where can I get one?

4. What is the lowest watts you suggest to drive RTi12? Is that "50wpc is better than nothing" or "don't bother if it is lower than 150wpc" ?

5. Can I connect the regular speaker-out from receiver to speakers AND also connect the pre-out to amp to speakers at the same time? Is this called bi-amp? That way, I can buy a smaller amp. right ?

6. If bi-amped, does it make difference which power source connects to top/bottom posts of the speaker?

I really appreciate you time !!!
Jesse

tonyb

In your situation,Let me give you some honest ,to the point answers.Yes,an amp would help squeeze out the most your speakers have to offer.No,you do not need an amp for all of your speakers.300 WATTS is a tad bit over the top.A good quality 150-200 watts will drive them very well.Adcom,Rotel,B&K,Carver,Parrasound, are just a few brands to look at.Used 2 channel amps can be had well in your price range.The amp gets hooked up to your receiver with rca cables from the AVR's front left and right pre-outs to the amp.Speakers connect to the amp.Forget about bi-amping for now,your getting way ahead of what you need.Given the fact that you yourself said you don't have a picky ear,then I have to ask why you are asking about an amp? Is there something you don't like about the way your system sounds? Placement maybe? 100 WATTS in a receiver is not the same as 100 watts in a dedicated amp.By getting a cheap used amp you can be the judge on if the cost was worth it.And if not,selling that amp will amount to minimal loss,if any.Trial and error my friend,thats what this hobby is all about.Oh,and welcome to the forum.

66chevyIISS

I know these have been sold, but something like this would probably be exactly what your looking for and even under your $500 budget.

http://buy.audiogon.com/cgia/cls.pl?ampstran&1203458380

chadjessie@hotm

To answer a couple more of your questions, no by amping your two fronts (rti12's) with a seperate amp your reciever will not provide any more power to the remaining channels. Your receivers power should be fine for your other speakers for now. Ebay also always has bunches of differents brands of amps for sale. You will be able to get a pretty nice used two channel amp for your $500. You can even look cheaper and be alright if you want. This the amp I originally bought for my rti12's and it worked really well, is not to expensive, has 200 watts a channel, and will work for other things later if you ever decide you need to upgrade. http://cgi.ebay.com/AudioSource-2-CH-Class-T-Digital-Stereo-Power-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ120201202694QQihZ002QQcategoryZ39783QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

mrbigbluelight

The amps listed by chadjessie are listed as "Class T".

A little blurb on Class T amps on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_T_amplifier


Long story short, it's a Class D with different control methods.

Interesting little read.

hwu56

Thank you guys for your help. I will pick up an amp to try it out. Looks like $500 is more than enough.

Also, after reading the short article in wikipedia, the class T amp listed by chadjessie seems a good value -- 200wpc x 2 channels, and brand new. $300 shipped. Sounds too good to be true!!

Is AudioSource is a reliable name?

Thank you.

chadjessie@hotm

Audiosource makes some other decent equipment. There is better out there but it is pretty good stuff especially to get started off with and for the price has pretty good value. I was pretty happy with how the T Amp sounded with my rti12's and it gives you a starting point if ever you feel you need to upgrade. But also some of the amps Tonyb listed are great amps too. (Rotel, Parasound, B&K etc.) You can easily grab one of these used in your price range.

ktrieu9999

I just purchased the Polk RTI12 for my Onkyo receiver model TX-SR574. I have read the forum that everyone suggested to get an amp to get full wonderful sound for RTI12. I have an old Onkyo amp from my old stereo system that I rarely used, so I decided that remove the amp to hook up with the receiver, but there is a problem please help, on the back of the receiver there is no labeling for connecting to an amp. Any suggestion how to connect the amp to the receiver with RTI 12.

PolkWannabie

It doesn't appear that this particular receiver has pre-outs except for a sub ...

hwu56

Hi, ktrieu,
I took a look at TX-SR574 manual, and confirmed that PolkWannabie is correct. It has only subwoofer pre-out, but no pre-out for other speakers.
In general, you connect pre-out to other power source or powered speaker/subwoofer to add power to the signal. However, in your case, it only has regular speaker-out (and only 80 wpc), I don't know what you can do to increase the power, since I am also newbie here.

ktrieu9999

Thanks guys, I finally figured it out by connecting the amp to to cd audio out jack . My RTi12 now qre working but I have another problem that the sound from RTi12 so loud and there is no adjustment knob dial to tone it down even I tried the volume knob from the Onkyo receiver to no avail. Any suggestion really appreciated.