Polk Rti Vs Aperion Intimus 422 Harmony

raull1

Two Setups.:) Budget Can't Exceed $900 For Speakers. I Placed an Order for the Rti setup but because of error the order has not gone through, so I'm giving it more thought.

13x19 Room with 9' Ceiling
Tiled Floor

1st Setup. (This setup is common because of firesale pricing due to new RtiA line)

2 Polk Rti8 Fronts

Polk Csi3 Center

Bic h100 Sub

Polk Rti4 Surrounds.

This one is about $900

2nd Setup.

Aperion Intimus 422 Harmony.

This one is $800


Use, about 50% Movies, 50% Music


Can I get a similar setup for tops $900?. I feel I have extended my budget from what I originally planned and I'm going out on a second hunt to audition speakers.

anything else that competes with this???:cool::rolleyes:

MADGSF

Welcome to the club Raull.

I have not heard any Aperion speakers and suggest if you can listen to both do so. Also my first thought on the RTis in a tiled room is they will sound very bright unless you have an area rug or other absorptive stuff in the room. The RTi series is a little bright, like too much treble, and a tile floor tends to accentuate that quality.

raull1

Thank You for Replying. I just finished writing this in another forum, so i thought i'd put it here.

I found out after I bought it, that indeed the Rti is a bright speaker, maybe no the best for my room and my listening preference... got brand new rti8's and a csi3 coming. yaiii:o

Also, I know this speaker is a great value for the money but turns out that maybe it's not my type of speaker
__________________________________
Martin Logan Vs Polk vs Focal and why AUDITIONS are a must for any Purchase = (
I'll walk you through my Auditions Today..

I am very New here and feel that most people don't care to answer questions about what stuff to go for as there is so much stuff out there and the question is beaten to death every single day.


Today I felt the itch to go on the hunt again to see If I could audition some speakers. Went to CC and Sound Advice.


They had some Polk Monitors, Bose and KEF 5000 satellites Hooked to 3 different Tvs,. Tried them all. and in order of best to worst. Polk, KEF, Bose. The best being the monitors which still didn't wow me or gave me that reassurance I was getting my money's worth. So out I went.


Next stop was Sound advice where I auditioned the Polk RtiA5's which are the newer version of the Rti8 That just came out. I mention that i'm by no means an audiophile, I have never owned a H/T.

so I tried the Rtia5's which are the Rti8's with a newer much nicer cabinet which is supposed to make it sound better but even the salesman told me that he has had customers be surprised that the newer model sounds basically the same as the old Rti8's, maybe a bit better Im guessing, but nothing worthy for the Rtia5 to be bought over the Rti8 specially at the closeout prices of the Rti8.

I have read a couple of times that the Rti8's are a bright speaker. and I had no idea what that meant..

well after comparing the Rtia5's to some Martin Logan Montages and Focal Chorus 806's (The montages were on sale for the same price o rtia5's and focals were 20 bucks more but were bookshelves)

...I can safely say according to my ears that the Polks were the speaker I liked the least. and I wouldn't buy it at the $399 price that Sound Advice had it for. I was surprised by how much different speakers can sound and I walked out of there loving the martin logans, they weren't as imposing or good looking as the polks but the sound out of them was very different to the polks. the sound was spread everywhere and the sound wasn't like all up in my ears, I listened to my own cd, same track and with the logans and I just relaxed, the music didn't feel straining, the polks were more imposing and loud but it was obvious that the sound was coming out of the speaker, there was no feeling of being enveloped by the sound. also, I felt more "fatigued" of hearing the same song in the polks, the sound was like all up in my ears.

I also tried some Focals and for being bookshelves they were really good, almost as much sound as the polks and they had bass, a little bookshelf speaker with bass! The sound was of the same type as the logans, not as in your face as the polks, something that you could listen to for a long timee.

I can answer a PM (There's negatives to the other speakers too, I spent almost 2 hours in sound advice and tried 3 cds and 3 different setups), with more info as I'm really surprised after the time I spent at Sound Advice today.

so, please GO OUT AND AUDITION, No matter what they say here the sound can vary so much from speaker to speaker.

oh and just in case you think I'm biased, I ordered an Rti set from Frys before I went out to audition, they are now on their way, and they're really not what I wanted.

sucks for me, huh?

dorokusai

Aperion is the modern day equivalent of Cerwin Vega.

raull1

Ok, Update for anyone that cares. I called to see if my items had been shipped out and they already have, so I guess I'm an unwilling polkie, Hopefully I can tweak it to my comfort and it's not like i'm getting a bad speaker. I went for it because it was the best bang for the buck and im guessing it still is, it's just that I didn't know about how different speakers can sound. and I haven't even tried a quarter of the stuff that is out there:rolleyes:

james vaughan

dorokusai wrote: »

Aperion is the modern day equivalent of Cerwin Vega.

Ummmm.......don't know that I would go that far;) Aperion makes a fine sounding speaker IMO, but to each there own. Hopefully no offense.

dorokusai

james vaughan wrote: »

Ummmm.......don't know that I would go that far;) Aperion makes a fine sounding speaker IMO, but to each there own. Hopefully no offense.

Offense? Of course not, it's just an opinion. That might be harsh but they do nothing that great and are easily forgotten, so they fall into the CV category for me.

james vaughan

dorokusai wrote: »

Offense? Of course not, it's just an opinion. That might be harsh but they do nothing that great and are easily forgotten, so they fall into the CV category for me.

HA! We agree on one thing, the CV sound! But your killing me on the Aperions man! O.k. you have to admit the veneers are nice?

RuSsMaN

Mark is thinking of something else (Axiom perhaps?), we both heard these (the second from the left) in a 2ch setup and thought they were really nice for the price. I remember Aperion back from the old 'Edge Audio' days.

Cheers,
Russ

TroyD

If your room sucks, acoustically, that is going to affect any speaker.

Since when did Polk speakers become 'bright'? I've never found that to be the case. What I have found is that a lot of HT receivers tend to run a hot high end to give the impression of greater detail but the Polks I've had on decent gear...it's just not been my experience.

As always...YMMV

BDT

raull1

Yeah, it just might be me, Compared to the other two speakers I auditioned there was that marked difference, I would call that brightness, maybe I'm misinterpreting the term.

When I was auditioning another couple looked at the Rtia5's and loved them,, so it's all about what your ears tell you.

I am getting my Rti setup and buying one of those meter to tweak the sound, I also got a sub coming so that should enhance everything.

I came off as being completely disappointed on the Polks but they had some awesome sound for the rock music I listened to for a while and either way, They were setup next to 6k Electrostatic Martin Logans. I am getting my Rti8's for $150 each and that type of bargain on a high end speaker is something that just stops me from going to anything else because IMO, in the price nothing can touch it.

This is my first setup and I'm damn sure I bought a high-end setup because Sound Advice sells the new one for $500 a pair and they're next to some higher end stuff but to a specific ear something else might sound better in a store setting.

In my house, with my receiver and a sub in play I know for a fact that it will be different,

btw, the Rti's in the store were playing off of a $1400 yamaha receiver, I have an Onkyo 605, is the onkyo along the same path soundwise as the yamaha?:D


Thanks,

markmarc

Raull1:
Thee RTi8's are a bit bright, but they have great imaging. For the $$ spent (especially if you got cherry veneer), you've got a great setup. But I would highly recommend getting some carpet, and or wall treatments to absorb the refections.


Doro:
Respectfully, a very unfair comparison. CV was always about big boomy bass and being loud. Aperion reminds me quite a bit of Polk just before the SDA's came out in the early 1980's. A strong lineup with quality sound for the money. To top it off, their customer service is every bit as good. Will they expand into multiple levels of lines, I don't know. But it would be foolish to dismiss them.

danger boy

TroyD wrote: »

If your room sucks, acoustically, that is going to affect any speaker.

Since when did Polk speakers become 'bright'? I've never found that to be the case. What I have found is that a lot of HT receivers tend to run a hot high end to give the impression of greater detail but the Polks I've had on decent gear...it's just not been my experience.

As always...YMMV

BDT

I've had the same experience... i've never had a Polk speaker be bright unless it had a SL2000 tweeters in em. RTi line up, never bright to me. But your receiver may be bright or your source could be too.

danger boy

the Aperion bookshelf speakers image very well. bass is quite good for a bookshelf as well. Maybe they will come out with a bit higher end speaker in the future. I think though for the price, Aperion speakers are a good bargin. Plus I think you get in home 30 day trial if I remember right with their speakers.

james vaughan

danger boy wrote: »

the Aperion bookshelf speakers image very well. bass is quite good for a bookshelf as well. Maybe they will come out with a bit higher end speaker in the future. I think though for the price, Aperion speakers are a good bargin. Plus I think you get in home 30 day trial if I remember right with their speakers.

Yes free round trip if you dont care for there speakers. I really liked the bookshelf version alot.......not just the veneers but the sound was very pleasing.

james vaughan

james vaughan wrote: »

Yes free round trip if you dont care for there speakers. I really liked the bookshelf version alot.......not just the veneers but the sound was very pleasing.

I would be very pleased to have a complete Aperion H/T setup indeed.

dorokusai

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Mark is thinking of something else (Axiom perhaps?), we both heard these (the second from the left) in a 2ch setup and thought they were really nice for the price. I remember Aperion back from the old 'Edge Audio' days.

Cheers,
Russ

I don't recall that but Axion sounds about right, my mistake. The Venetian expo just plain stinks and there was no doubt a bad demo to be had every other room.