RM series vs. RTi series?

gte697h
gte697h Posts: 27
edited June 2008 in Speakers
Hi!

I am new to speakers and keep hearing about the Rti series on the boards. I was wondering how the RM matches up to the RTi series? They are hardly any reviews on these and the RTi series seems to be similarly priced. Any 2cents will be helpful ;)
Post edited by gte697h on
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Comments

  • Ron Temple
    Ron Temple Posts: 3,212
    edited June 2008
    Apples and oranges and targeted at 2 different markets. RTis are my preference.

    Combo rig:

    Onkyo NR1007 pre-pro, Carver TFM 45(fronts), Carver TFM 35 (surrounds)
    SDA 1C, CS400i, SDA 2B
    PB13Ultra RO
    BW Silvers
    Oppo BDP-83SE
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  • jwhitakr
    jwhitakr Posts: 568
    edited June 2008
    Ron hit it head on with the apples to oranges. It all depends on what you are looking for in a speaker, your budget and what your room size constraints are.
    My HT
    HDTV: Panasonic PT-61LCX65 61" Rear Proj. LCD
    AVR: Harman Kardon AVR 235
    Video: 80GB PS3, Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD
    Fronts: Polk Audio RTi8
    Center: Polk Audio CSi3
    Amp: Emotiva LPA-1
    Surrounds: Polk Audio R150
    Sub: HSU STF-3

    The only true barrier to knowledge is the assumption that you already have it. - C.H. Dodd
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  • obieone
    obieone Posts: 5,077
    edited June 2008
    If you live near a Tweeter, they've got some RM's on clearance for 60+% off
    I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE!
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  • gte697h
    gte697h Posts: 27
    edited June 2008
    I am struggling to understand the difference between these....newbie :)
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  • zx_toth
    zx_toth Posts: 417
    edited June 2008
    I have not owned both but my understanding is that the RM series is more targetted towards the home theater in a box type people, who wish to get a entire speaker package without the hassle. The difference between the RM series and the other smaller satellite speaker packages is that they actually sound good! I own 5 RM speakers; RM 7300 x 2, center RM 7302, and the smaller RM 6901s x 2. They are a great solution if you want smaller speakers that look 'cool' and sound good. I found them that as my hunger for audio grew however that I wanted more accuracy and detail. I found that at high volumes they sounded a little 'tin-like' not quite the depth I had hoped for. That is when I upgraded to the LSi series which have more accurate sound reproduction. As recently as this past Thursday I used the RM 7302 as my center matched with the Lsi25s ... it worked though there was a very noticeable disrepancy between the sound quality b/w the fronts and center speakers.

    The RTi and RTia speakers seem to be geared towards people who dont care so much about compactness but are more interested in sound reproduction and home theater. Seems like some on this forum describe their strength for home theater applications.

    So to summarize:

    RM - want compactness, upgrading from a disappointing Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) experience and want noticably better sound but dont have the room to house floor standing speakers, wish for a modern look.

    RTi - Want great HT sound, have some cash to burn good equipment to probably drive them, dont care about size and actually prefer big powerful looking and sounding speakers.

    Hope that helps a bit. Though I dont own the RTis series I would recommend going with the Rti series as many people go from RM to Rti series, never the other way around! If you decide to go bigger with your Rti speaks than you can always use them as surrounds and perfectly match them with a Rti12 and relegating you Rti 4/6 for surround duty.

    Zsolt
    My Home Theater Rig
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  • jjeckelxz5
    jjeckelxz5 Posts: 48
    edited June 2008
    i agree i have a rm setup right now and i'm looking to upgrade from my rm50ts to rtia 7's or rtia 9's
    reciever-Yamaha rxv1700
    front-RM50t
    center-RM30
    surrounds-M40
    rear surrounds-RM30
    velodyne minivee
    playstation 3
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited June 2008
    As mentioned previously....two, totally different markets. The RTiA series is a traditional loudspeaker design, while the RM series is a condensed version of that for space limited applications.
    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.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited June 2008
    They don't match up. What's your main goal with these speakers and what do you most listen too (movies, music)?
    Jake
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  • gte697h
    gte697h Posts: 27
    edited June 2008
    Thx guys. I heard these at tweeter and can see why they're different!
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited June 2008
    gte697h wrote: »
    Thx guys. I heard these at tweeter and can see why they're different!

    And????

    C'mon - share what your impressions were!:)

    Erik

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • gte697h
    gte697h Posts: 27
    edited June 2008
    Erik Tracy wrote: »
    And????

    C'mon - share what your impressions were!:)

    Erik

    Well, the RM's sounded tinny, bright but tinny. Another problem was the Tweeter store had one damaged RM tower so it was hard to tell with just one speaker. I liked the Rti, though the store guy wouldn't let me play with the receiver settings and the subwoofer was a $1200 Klipsch :P
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