Polk RTi70 vs Infinity Alpha40

trinhl

Hi,
My budget setup are Polk RT800i biwired, Onkyo 595 receiver, Pioneer 333 DVD player and Sony sub SAWM40 stuffed with polys. I mainly use for 2
channels music, sometimes watch movies (thinking HT later). For music, they are good sounding speakers (no complain here). I got the speakers from CircuitCity with one year trade up program. Now time is up, I can trade mine for the Infinity Alpha40 with $200 or Polk RTi70 for $200 plus the CSi30 center for free (I can use the matching center, special promotion from Polk with purchase of $499 up). I compare specs of the Polk RTi70 & RT800i, the tweeters, crossover, cabinet design are different and supposely better than RT800i. I listened to both at CC with the Onkyo SR700 in direct mode. Maybe I don't use correct words to describe here
The Alpha40 sound louder, more midrange and treble than the RTi70 but no bass at all.
The RTi70 has less mid and treble but has more bass, sound stage wider, deeper than the Alpha40, probably because the lower freq.
Probably many of you demo them at CC. Please give me your opinions and thoughts
Thanks in advance.
LT

Ceruleance

I'd go with the 70's. As an infinity owner (IL60's) I like their products, but it seems like the alpha line is a step down from the interlude line.. Polks handle 250 watts instead of 150, incase you was to step up to a serious amplifier later on (my IL60's only handle 170, which kinda bothers me) All in all I think the deciding factor is that free center channel, thats a good deal.

fireshoes

I pretty much hate the Alphas. Very harsh, and they are built like they are $100.

shack

I compare specs of the Polk RTi70 & RT800i, the tweeters, crossover, cabinet design are different and supposely better than RT800i.

If this gets you a free CSi30 I would go for the RTi70s. I don't think they are better than the RT800is but they are better than the Infinity IMO.

wlrandall

Personally I can't stand Infinity. Shallow, thin and way too bright at the top end, tend to make my ears bleed. Just my 02. I love my 800s and biamping them only made things better.

kberg

trinhl,

Ditto on everything ATCVenom said above.

I do like the mid's and high's of the Alpha's (vocals seems to be much clearer), but the bass seems to be somewhat of a tradeoff compared to the RTi70's. I compensate for what I prefer as perhaps a bit brighter sound by boosting the treble on my receiver to +6 for my RTi70's. All in all, I'd recommend the RTi70's for HT. In fact, I might even recommend the 40's if you're a bigger music than HT fan, but that's through my ears, not yours. Let YOUR ears decide.

faster100

The rti70's replaced the 800's so its basically the same speaker, should be better but more like the same, not lesser anyways.

pjdami

Dude, Polk RTi70's sound better than the Infinity Alphas in my opinion. I did the side-by-side comparison at CC. RTi70s are nice speakers plus a free center channel speaker. Its a wash!

trinhl

Hi,
Thank you for your inputs. I finally picked the RTi70s after compare them side by side at home. The RTi70s are more balance and fuller sound overall. The Alpha40s are clear in the mid to high freq but no bass which make them unbalance and uneven sound tonal. Now that I set the RTi70 in place, one of them stand right next to the TV (from 1 to 4 inches max) and it distorded the TV. The TV is in the corner of the room and I tried to slide it out to the middle before it will cover the fireplace. Polk service recommends to place them 4 feet away from the TV. Anyone has any experience with the magnetic problem with your speakers or solutions. I did not have problem with the RT800i.
Thanks.

STUFFMD

Depends on what your looking for, I have the 800's and for Ht I would put them up against a lot of systems...without hesitation. I personally have found to like the Infinity line's sound better musically. Seem to be a little more light and airy...sorry for the lack of technical terms. But the Infinity can't hold a candle to the Rt line in HT.
The Rt's obviously can take a lot more abuse and power than the Infinitys, and have far superior imaging in my opinion.
Ultimately though your ears need to live with the sound.
Stuff

dorokusai

I agree with PJ, you can't go wrong with that model IMO. AND you get a free center....shite, you da' man. I really like the RT series. I am a Polk fan. I've heard the LSi and yea its fantastic, just wasn't in my price range at this time. Ive also heard a couple Infinity setups, CMMD series, over time and while they are also another nice commercial speaker they didn't sound warm to me, they sounded too...I don't know...unfriendly. I can only describe things in caveman terms so bear with the aforementioned.

Trinhl - Good choice, I am sure you are happy by now. If you aren't, drink 72 oz. of beer, in 30 minutes, and get back to me after you listen to the entire Pink Floyd catalogue. JK Kinda.