RTi100 or RT800?

Cachorrito

Hello polkies!!

I am new on this business of the home theaters, I have bought my first two frontal speakers and I am trying to arrange my complete HT, the speakers that I bought are TSi300.

Now, I am looking for the surround speakers, one friend of mine is selling a pair of RTi100 ($400 pair) and in craiglist I found a pair of RT800 ($200 pair); I am not sure which would match better for the new speakers that I bought (TSi300), could anybody of you help me to choose?

Or maybe none of these speakers are good for me?

Also I would like to know which would be a good center speaker to use and subwoofer, (right now the problem is for the sourround speakers)

Thanks in advance for all your help

by the way my receiver is a Denon AVR-589
8 Ohms
75 watts per channel

GP

Kex

I have a pair of RT800 myself, powered by an older, high end Denon (AVR-3200) and IMO they are an excellent home theater speaker, although they really only shine to their true value with excellent amplification (which helps them deliver surprisingly powerful bass), and my Denon is not as good at this as my NAD receiver, so I would not expect miracles with the 589. You may actually prefer the RT800 to your TSi300 (they have a lower 3dB limit). The specifications are linked below (they are identical to the slightly newer RT800i). The CS300 or CS400 would be the best matching center. About $125-200 used, if you are patient.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/rt800i/.

The big difference with the RTi100 is that these are powered towers. Make sure the amplifier is working correctly to power the built in subwoofer. These will probably be much better than the RT800 if you are not intending to buy a subwoofer, since they will play a fuller range. With an external subwoofer, which you should be planning on getting if this is for HT use, these might only be an advantage when listening to music and with the subwoofer turned off (many subwoofers can be considered too sloppy for music, depending on your specific taste for bass and/or music). In any case, the $200 difference you are supposing might still be better spent on an external subwoofer for an exhilirating movie viewing experience through the Low Frequency Effects you would then be able to use. Either way, it would be silly to use powered towers as surrounds in your case IMO, so these would definitely have to go up front, and your TSi300 as surrounds instead. You would then need a matching center (and it can take a while to find those for the older models such as these, but they do pop up regularly).

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/rti100/

In any case, I would only pay $200 for the RT800 if they are in pristine condition. Otherwise, $125-175 would be a more appropriate craigslist price IMO, even if they frequently sell for more on eBay (much wider audience). I'm not sure about pricing for the RTi100, but again, I would not personally pay $400 unless they are pristine.

However ... if this were my setup, with that receiver, I suspect I would be looking for something like a pair of RT35 surrounds instead, which have keyhole ports for wall hanging, allowing you to position the tweeter about 2' above the listeners' ear height for correct surround placement, and would probably cost about $125 (perhaps as low as $90 or so). Did you specifically want towers? You could also research some excellent pricing on newer models to wall hang that will match your TSi300 towers, which gives you extra options.

Where you expect to go with this? Mainly HT, I am guessing, rather than music?

Oh, and welcome to Club Polk!

Cachorrito

Thanks for your answer Tex.

The main purpose of the HT is going to be for movies, I just got a blue ray player and the sound is very good even with the old yamaha speakers That I have (HT in box).

So, I decided to upgrade my HT (If this sound is produced with the old speakers imagine with the polk speakers how good it would be).

I was thinking on tower speakers because I think those have more power, I think the satellite speakers do not have power as the tower speakers, maybe I am misundestanding the function of the rear/sourround speakers.

I still can return the speakers TSi300 to Best buy and if you have a good recomendation I would really appreciate it for my upgrade.

Thanks

GP

dorokusai

RT800i. It's a surround application so timbre matching really isn't that crucial and you'll save some money.

Kex

Cachorrito wrote: »

...

The main purpose of the HT is going to be for movies, I just got a blue ray player and the sound is very good even with the old yamaha speakers That I have (HT in box)....


I still can return the speakers TSi300 to Best buy and if you have a good recomendation I would really appreciate it for my upgrade.

Thanks

GP

I think the TSi300 should be quite a good match with your Denon. I would suggest looking at the matching surrounds, however, before mixing with towers from the older RT series you mentioned above (even if those would not be a mistake either). The TSi100 are only $200 brand new, direct from Polk, with warranty, and would work well as surrounds. You could check BB pricing to see if it is any better. The TSi200 would give you some added punch, since you were thinking about towers, and they have the same dual drivers that you already have on the TSi300, but they may not be as easy to wall mount as the TSi100 (ask c/s if they have the keyhole mount included in the power ports on the rear or not). Those would be my choice with your current speakers and receiver.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/tsi/specs.php#bookshelf

I think most people would advise you that there is not really much point in using towers for surrounds with your current receiver. In any case, when using towers as surrounds, you would have to put them on a coffee table or something to get the tweeter above the listeners, as is suggested for recommended placement.

http://www.polkaudio.com/education/article.php?id=15

The matching center is a CS10 or CS20. This should give you a very convincing home theater experience IMO, once you add a subwoofer.

The RTi series speakers are also very popular for home theater use, but if you liked the sound of the TSi series when you listened to them at the Best Buy store, I'm not sure I'd mess with that initial choice. If you complicate things too much, or get speakers that exceed what your receiver can do with authority, then you might actually risk paying more for less convincing performance!

Whatever you decide, with any of the options discussed, you will not be making a mistake in any case IMO.

Cachorrito

Thanks a lot to everybody,

Now I know the directions to take, I will look for the TSi100/200 for surround, CS10 or CS20 For central and PSW110 or PSW125 for subwoofer.

Thanks again.

GP
p.s. does anybody know how to close this post? as "Question solved"?