Receiver to go along RTi10 and RTi6

black magic

Hello all,

I am a stranger to the home theatre side of this forum. I am mostly into car audio, however I've decided to up my game in my pathetic excuse for speakers in my room.

I'm still a student, and I don't spend as much time in my room as I do in my car. I'm looking at getting the RTi10's and RTi6's. I've decided to go without a sub until I find a place for it, so I'm going to be without deep bass extension for a while.

I'm looking for a receiver I can use with these speakers and with a sub for the future. Now, although I know a little about car audio, I am quite a n00b in the home theatre area. The only major difference I noticed is the difference in resistance. Most home theatre speakers are 8ohms, where as mobile/car speakers tend to be 4ohms and in many cases wired down to 2 ohms.

Anyways, this is the receiver I am currently looking at:
http://www.crutchfieldcanada.com/Sony_STR_DG710_Home_Theater_Receiver_p/158stdg710.htm
In car audio, Sony definitely lacks quality, but I hear their home theatre lines are a little better. Please feel free to make recommendations. Like I said, I am very unexperienced in this area.

Thanks!

ben62670

For this one use the search feature. This type of thread has been beaten to death lately. Especially with the RTI's. Sony receivers are like the head units. Go HK, or Denon.
Happy hunting
Ben

jerry22m

I have the Rti10 and 6s hooked up to a Pioneer VSX-84TXSI 140wpc works just fine.

Sherardp

ben62670 wrote: »

For this one use the search feature. This type of thread has been beaten to death lately. Especially with the RTI's. Sony receivers are like the head units. Go HK, or Denon.
Happy hunting
Ben

I wouldnt say all of that now, I have a Sony 7100ES, though I am using external amps the thing is a beast of an AVR. Nothing wrong with Sony at all. Just pick a receiver that has all the bells and whistles on it that you want/need in the future and has preouts on the back.

black magic

Thanks for the inputs everyone. I'm reading a lot of reviews and I'm gonna try to audition as many as I can. I'll definitely keep everyone updated.

thanks again

mrloren

I am a Sony fan too,

The lower end Sony receivers are not that great but when you get into the high end stuff like their ES. The 710 you are looking at in NOT in the high end. I would look 2 modles up from there like the 910 or the DG1100.

I have friends that hate Sony audio products till they come over to my house. now most of them own Sony ES receivers. Ebay was good for their receivers that started with the letters D, O, H, & Y.

I am currently running a 5300ES in my family room with RTi8's and this is soooooo sweeet.

My bedroom has a 2100ES with Rti4's It is great

Sony high end with Polks are great.

black magic

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that the RTi10's require a decent amount of power. here are my final choices after doing a little bit more research.

Sony STR-DA5000ES
Harman Kardon AVR 635
Pioneer VSX-81TXV
Yamaha RX-V2500
Sony STR-DA3000ES

Any final opinions?

Sherardp

Just make sure you have all the bell and whistles on it. Do it right the first time. Take pre-outputs, Hi Def Decoding into consideration as well.

nm4710

I'll add to this as well...Sony is unnecessarily maligned by the audio community. Like other manufacturers (Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer) their low end products leave much to be desireable. But their ES and mid-range (DG910, 1100, etc.) hold their own against anything in their price ranges.

I just picked up an open box sony for my bedroom 5.1 setup...after plugging it into my main room w/an all RTI setup I was shocked...it sounded far superior to the HK I just bought a few months ago. The HK is now driving the bedroom setup and the Sony is the star of the show. It is not an ES model (sony's top line) although interestingly the power supply says ES on it.

It's especially funny b/c I originally bought the Onkyo 605 which is universally lauded here and at avsforums...when I got it home and plugged it in i was really disappointed. Tons of features but the sound was very thin and even harsh. I thought the HK was a huge upgrade but I'm honestly wow'd by the sony.

kuntasensei

Yeah, the Onkyo 605 is disappointing. It has a very sterile sound in my opinion and only has Audyssey 2EQ, so it does zero equalization of the subwoofer (which is where most equalization is needed). The 705, however, has Audyssey MultEQ XT and sounds amazing. Probably outside of the OP's price range based on that original link he posted, but it does give you all the bells and whistles and lets you matrix 5.1 lossless to 7.1 (which the 605 does not). I'm running the 705 with older Polks - RTi70 mains, CSi40 center and 4 RTi28 surrounds (with SVS 20-39CS+ sub) - and it's the best sound I've had in my room thus far.

Of the other brands listed, Sony and Pioneer tend to be on the brighter side, which I don't particularly like with the Polks. Yamaha and HK are warmer sounding, which works better with the general characteristics that Polk speakers have historically exhibited. That said, I don't particularly care for the Yamahas and I don't think their YPAO auto setup works very well. I would say the HK, out of that list and ignoring Onkyo as an option, would be the best match to Polk speakers. But if I'm being honest, I think Denon receivers tend to have a sound to them that works really well with Polks, so he should definitely look for a comparable Denon in his price range. If I hadn't found my Onkyo 705 for under $500, I probably would have ended up with a Denon myself.

Meechsterlee

black magic wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that the RTi10's require a decent amount of power. here are my final choices after doing a little bit more research.

Sony STR-DA5000ES
Harman Kardon AVR 635
Pioneer VSX-81TXV
Yamaha RX-V2500
Sony STR-DA3000ES

Any final opinions?

I am finding my 10's could use a bit more than my Sony has to offer...B&K time?

black magic

All of the stores in my area are sold out of the 10's as of yesterday I think I might have to settle with the 8's.

Right now the battle is between Sony and HK, because they sounded good to me. I will try an audition some Denon and Pioneer ones as well. The thing i like about the Sony ES, is that they put out a decent amount of power (I'm looking at 3000ES or above)

tcwong

I have the RTI8, and the sound is open and very clear. It just weak on the bass comparing to the RTI10. When I audit the new RTIA7 vs A5, i like the A7, but I settle for the RTI8 for the price. 1 pair of RTI8 cost less than 1 RTIA7.

black magic wrote: »

All of the stores in my area are sold out of the 10's as of yesterday I think I might have to settle with the 8's.

Right now the battle is between Sony and HK, because they sounded good to me. I will try an audition some Denon and Pioneer ones as well. The thing i like about the Sony ES, is that they put out a decent amount of power (I'm looking at 3000ES or above)

nm4710

Meechsterlee wrote: »

I am finding my 10's could use a bit more than my Sony has to offer...B&K time?

If that's you're receiver and that's what you think...essentially no receiver is going to cut it. Do yourself a favor and get a nice outboard amp. I hope that's what you meant by saying you were gonna go B&K. They make great stuff!

sdcfan19

black magic wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that the RTi10's require a decent amount of power. here are my final choices after doing a little bit more research.

Sony STR-DA5000ES
Harman Kardon AVR 635
Pioneer VSX-81TXV
Yamaha RX-V2500
Sony STR-DA3000ES

Any final opinions?

I'm running my 10's with the Pioneer VSX-1017. Sounds great for me and I would expect even more out of your system with and of these amps. I would go with either the Pioneer or the HK.

chargerman426

i would definitely go with the HK. i have an AVR 745 i use to use it to power all my speakers (i had 5.1 then 7.1 now 5.2) but now am running a separate amp on the fronts now. but when i did run just the HK it worked and sounded great. also dont be fooled by HK's low power rating on there web site the HK's are usually 30 to 40 watts under rated. i dont know the pioneer AVRs but i would think they would be fairly accurate especially if you get the elite seres. hope this helps

black magic

Thanks... I'm impressed with the HK quality, what worries me is whether or not they can handle the rti10's as they require a decent amount of power...

chargerman426

i ran my rti12 with my HK for a little while it was only for like a day or two and it was about a month ago but if i remember correctly they sounded fine and with the HKs you will get all the pre-out so if you wanted to add a separate power amp you could

black magic

Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone! I'll keep you guys updated.

MADGSF

I ran my 10's with an Elite AVR alone for a couple of years and it sounded good but you could tell they wanted more power. I think the 8's would of been fine with my AVR though.

stangjason

I love my refurbed H/K 635 I picked up a few months back it makes my RTi8's, CSi5, and fxi3's sound oh so nice!

Willow

black magic wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that the RTi10's require a decent amount of power. here are my final choices after doing a little bit more research.

Sony STR-DA5000ES
Harman Kardon AVR 635
Pioneer VSX-81TXV
Yamaha RX-V2500
Sony STR-DA3000ES

Any final opinions?

You can go the HK route (I did and love the set up) but I would suggest a lesser model to save cash and buy a seperate amp(s). I have a 335 paired w/ marantz monoblocks (200wpc each and an outlaw m200 for my centre again 200w) this will kill the wpc that the HK puts out.