Monitor 70's vs. RTi8's

cantzme78

I am new to the Polk family and am trying to make the right decision for my HT system. My room is 14 X 20. What I am looking for is a starting spot with the right floorstander for my fronts on a 5.1 to start and then maybe move to 7.1. I will be running them with the Onkyo 805. Any thoughts or suggestions?

cantzme78

I would love the opinion of some members on this subject as the 70's look to be very comparable to the RTi8's! Top of the line Monitor vs. bottom of the line RTi. Which one is better?

J_Kennedy

You'll probably have to listen to them to see which has the sound you like better. Either will be "great" in the right set up, but keep in mind you'll want to stay with the same family of speakers for the rest or the system. So if you go RTi, you'll need to stay RTi because they are Timbre matched. Micing them might not give you a decent sounding system.

BTW, if you want RTi8's, if you haven't found them yet, act quick. I have 2 being delivered today, but between 3 vendors I spoke to, 1 only had one left, one only had Cherry and the other had sold out of Cherry but only had a few black left and 2 days after ordering mine, they are out of stock completely.

FYI, Fry's (www.outpost.com)had Cherry for $149 in stock online. Smoken deal since everyone else is blowing them out for $199 ea.

lockmart

J_Kennedy wrote: »

You'll probably have to listen to them to see which has the sound you like better. Either will be "great" in the right set up, but keep in mind you'll want to stay with the same family of speakers for the rest or the system. So if you go RTi, you'll need to stay RTi because they are Timbre matched. Micing them might not give you a decent sounding system.

BTW, if you want RTi8's, if you haven't found them yet, act quick. I have 2 being delivered today, but between 3 vendors I spoke to, 1 only had one left, one only had Cherry and the other had sold out of Cherry but only had a few black left and 2 days after ordering mine, they are out of stock completely.

FYI, Fry's (www.outpost.com)had Cherry for $149 in stock online. Smoken deal since everyone else is blowing them out for $199 ea.

I agree, right on. I spoke to Frys directly the other day and they didn't have many left. If you can make it to a Circuit City and a Tweeters you might be able to listen to the M70's and Rti's as I did first. They have the new Rti-a line but it doesn't appear to have many changes except the cabinet is a little more sleek in the back. Soundwise they are both good setups, the Rti has real wood veneers which is a nice step up from the M's. Lots of good comparisons on AVSforum.com. I did see an article where the M's beat some Paradigms or PSBs they are always pumping over there! I keep seeing things about Polk's being "bright" but if you start researching all the other brands you can almost always hear the same thing being said about them. Of course the reviews are just a data point, the main thing is to listen for yourself.

cantzme78

Been doing alot of research and it just seems that the RTi8's are more poplar then the 70's! And with the deal that Fry's has going on it seems almost to good to pass up especially since the Cherry finish would go good in my room. Also found a CSi3 for $130 on amazon, is that a good center for the 8's and is that a good price? Lastly if I figure out the fronts and the center what is the recommended surround speaker in a 5.1 setup?

lockmart

The most popular seems to be the Fxi A4's on Amazon for $250 a pair. They are bipole/dipole which means they'll be harder to isolate where the sound is coming from (good thing). They should be timbre matched to the Csi-3, but Polk's website recommends them with the Csi-5. I'm too picky though, if you read the Fxi A4 it also says matched to any Polk Home Theater speakers.

I researched like crazy before getting these, glad it's almost done. I ordered all my wire and connectors at Monoprice plus the Sub this morning. Bic H100 is almost unanimously touted as the best for the price range.

The 70's are nice too, it's just that the Rti is a step up in their range of offerings..

jayman_1975

It depends on what you are looking for....I have the Monitor 70's and absolutlely love them for 2 channel. Of course i had to put some good gear on them but now...wow. I know everyone says the Monitors are inferior but they totaly blow me away. I can't imagine how good the RTI or LSI's would sound in my rig.