Question regarding my RTi8s

gocard
gocard Posts: 19
edited February 2008 in Speakers
I set up my RTi8 with a CSi3, RTi4 and a PSW10 (free sub) with a Denon 888 (100wpc), and I'm feeling a bit let down after spending all this money. I bi-amped the RTi8s (using the Denon 888's rear surround plugs), and I still feel like the RTi8s lack punch in the bass area, specifically around the 300 Hz range.

My question is, is this because I'm not feeding it enough power, or do I need to step up to the RTi10?
Post edited by gocard on

Comments

  • crd2002
    crd2002 Posts: 174
    edited February 2008
    I have the rti8 with a 300wpc amp and let me tell you all I can say is WOW when I raise the volume
    and remember I also have the 12's
    Home Theater sony 52 inch lcd,Cinenova grande 7 channel, polk RTI8,CSI5,FXI5,onkyo 805
    2 Channel rig Sunfire grand cinema 5ch,sunfire TGA III,Rotel 1072,polk RTI12,Monster hts 5100
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,019
    edited February 2008
    First,throw the idea of bi-amping out the window with that receiver.On the back of the speakers,make sure the metal straps are in place between the posts if they came with them.Hook up the speakers useing a single run of cable and make sure you don't have any of the plastic coating on the wire inside the post.Yeah,you probably could stand to feed them more power,but they should still sound decent none the less.What is your crossover set at? Are they hooked up thru the sub or directly from the receiver? Are they set to large or small?
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • gocard
    gocard Posts: 19
    edited February 2008
    tonyb wrote: »
    First,throw the idea of bi-amping out the window with that receiver.On the back of the speakers,make sure the metal straps are in place between the posts if they came with them.Hook up the speakers useing a single run of cable and make sure you don't have any of the plastic coating on the wire inside the post.Yeah,you probably could stand to feed them more power,but they should still sound decent none the less.What is your crossover set at? Are they hooked up thru the sub or directly from the receiver? Are they set to large or small?

    I'll try tossing out the bi-amping. Do you have reason to believe it's actually a problem, or is it simply something more to try out when all else fails?

    I have the crossover set at 80Hz and the all speakers set to small. All speakers are hooked up directly to the receiver.

    The RTi8s sound crisp and clear and good for home theater. It's just when listening to music, that ~300Hz range sounds a bit weak and not very deep.
  • Rike255
    Rike255 Posts: 131
    edited February 2008
    I have the RTi8's and the Onkyo 805 and I was REALLY surprised at how good the bass sounded when coupled with a good receiver. Originally I had them hooked up to a Sony HTIB receiver and I was extremely disappointed, the receiver makes a huge difference. The 805 puts out 130wpc and I haven't tried bi-amping with it to see if I can notice a difference yet.

    Make sure all your settings are correct I know I had to play with mine a lot to get it just right. Good luck!
    Polk Audio RTi8 Fronts
    Polk Audio CSi A6 Center
    Polk Audio RTi A3 Surrounds
    Polk Audio PSW505 Subwoofer

    Onkyo TX-SR805
    Sony Bravia V5100 46"
    Sony Playstation 3 160GB
    Sony Playstation 3 120GB Slim
  • J_Kennedy
    J_Kennedy Posts: 137
    edited February 2008
    Rike255 wrote: »
    I have the RTi8's and the Onkyo 805 and I was REALLY surprised at how good the bass sounded when coupled with a good receiver. Originally I had them hooked up to a Sony HTIB receiver and I was extremely disappointed, the receiver makes a huge difference. The 805 puts out 130wpc and I haven't tried bi-amping with it to see if I can notice a difference yet.

    Make sure all your settings are correct I know I had to play with mine a lot to get it just right. Good luck!

    I'm glad to hear that. I have an 805 on the way as well as a pair of RTi8's and a CSi A6 center and still working on the rest.

    I'd be interested in whether you try bi-amping and if it make a big difference.
    - Onkyo TX-SR805
    - Polk RTi8's Main L/R's
    - Polk CSi A6 Center
    - Polk FXi3 Surrounds/Rear Surrounds
    - HSU VFT-2 MK3
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 11,064
    edited February 2008
    keep them biamped and try 60hz. I have my 8s hooked up to 200w monoblocks with xover at 60. nice full mids. Or you can try non biamped but still at 60hz.
  • gocard
    gocard Posts: 19
    edited February 2008
    I removed the bi-amping. No noticeable difference in sound quality.
  • MADGSF
    MADGSF Posts: 603
    edited February 2008
    I did the Biamp thing on my RTi-10s and AVR and did not notice a difference either. The power is all coming from the same amplifier and it can only provide so much. Do try setting the crossover to 60Hz and you might play with speaker placement, toe in and tilt them back just a touch.

    I was OK with the bass from my setup when I only had the AVR, but I do have a powerful sub. I did notice a BIG jump in bass when I added the amp. I hate to tell you to throw money at this without trying setup first. However, if you have the budget a better sub would help and an amp would wake up those speakers IMHO.
    AVR: Elite VSX-21TXH
    Amplifier: B&K 7250 Series ii
    Misc: Velodyne SMS-1
    Mains: RTi-10
    Center: CSi-5
    Rear: Boston DSi460
    Sub: SVS PC-Ultra
    TV: Panasonic TC-P58V10
    DVD: Panasonic DMP-BD60K
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited February 2008
    set those RTi8's to large.. they can handle it. trust me....
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2008
    gocard wrote: »
    I set up my RTi8 with a CSi3, RTi4 and a PSW10 (free sub) with a Denon 888 (100wpc), and I'm feeling a bit let down after spending all this money. I bi-amped the RTi8s (using the Denon 888's rear surround plugs), and I still feel like the RTi8s lack punch in the bass area, specifically around the 300 Hz range.

    My question is, is this because I'm not feeding it enough power, or do I need to step up to the RTi10?

    I'd like to know where you determined it was a problem in the 300hz range. What did you upgrade from?

    The RTi10 has nothing to do with this issue.

    Bi-Amping should be the least of your worries and why bother? It's a 90db loudspeaker....do you live in a concert hall or auditorium?

    MADGSF - AMEN!
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    edited February 2008
    Mine have plenty of punch even before I added amps.
  • gocard
    gocard Posts: 19
    edited February 2008
    I upgraded from TV speaker :p

    I figured out which frequencies are lacking by playing around with an equalizer on my HTPC.

    I guess I'm just being a bit overly critical. Popping in a DVD, it sounds really good through the entire range of frequencies. There's depth in the low end and voices are crisp and clear. It's just with music, I feel like those low bass melodies don't quite punch as much as they should. For music, it sounds good, but not great. Although, from the sound of the feedback I've been getting, this should be remedied if/when I get a separate amp (I'm planning on returning the Denon 888, as I heard the 230x/88x line will be getting more HDMI inputs this summer, and possibly some of the other features of the 2808/988. So, I can either get that, or maybe the 3808 will drop in price).
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,019
    edited February 2008
    set them to large.By setting them to small,your removing a good portion of the bass and sending it to the sub.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's