New fxi a6 owner
Hey guys, I just got these a6's 2 days ago and been running them a lot for home theater and music. I've got them set on small and set the crossover to 60 because the speakers are rated at down to 55. They don't seem to be putting out much bass and the driver doesn't seem to be moving very much, more like just vibrating. They get loud and sound great and all but where's the bass? I'm starting to think I shoulda went with the fxi a4 and set the crossover on 80 and not missed out on anything.
My question is the drivers in these speakers look like the same one's in the rti a5's are they gonna be weak in the musical bass department too? I'm still in the process of speaker purchasing and was decideing between the rti a5 and a7 floorstanders.
They are being powered by a yamaha htr 6130 100x5watts (are they possibly under powered right now?) and I'm using monster xp speaker wires. Also do you think there might be something wrong with my setup or am I expecting too much?
I didn't get a chance to demo the fxi's, I was just going off listening to the a7's and the csi 6 that they would sound great especially the fxi a6 having a huge enclosure and a bass port.
My question is the drivers in these speakers look like the same one's in the rti a5's are they gonna be weak in the musical bass department too? I'm still in the process of speaker purchasing and was decideing between the rti a5 and a7 floorstanders.
They are being powered by a yamaha htr 6130 100x5watts (are they possibly under powered right now?) and I'm using monster xp speaker wires. Also do you think there might be something wrong with my setup or am I expecting too much?
I didn't get a chance to demo the fxi's, I was just going off listening to the a7's and the csi 6 that they would sound great especially the fxi a6 having a huge enclosure and a bass port.
Post edited by Mark1 on
Comments
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What else is your system made of?
Fronts?
Sub?
How are your speakers laid out in your room?
Lot's of factors at play here.
Also, in general, there is not a whole lot of content going to rear speakers and for HT, most of the LFE/Bass will be from your sub anyway.
For music, bass is non-directional - and again - is best handled by your sub.
Personally I would find it odd to be able to detect/locate bass coming from my surrounds.
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. -
I unhooked the other speakers just to hear the new fxi's
and put the reciever on 5 channel stereo, I think they should be getting the full signal but I could be wrong. I got a mix right now and it sounds awesome when all the speakers are going. I have a yamaha sub and center, a pair of old sharp 3-way floor standers with 15 inch subs that might have spoiled me.
I'm just in the process of switching over to the matching rti line from polk, and my expectations on the fxi's fell a little short on the bass. I have the speakers in dipole mode on the side walls, the tweeters are at standing ear lvl.
I realize this is a pointless thing to be concerned about being they are rear speakers and having a subwoofer. I just want to know if they are performing the way they are ment to, and there's nothing i can give them to be better lil' huge speakers. -
What crossover setting is usually best? I was planning on getting the csi a6 thats rated down to 55 too i think, so i could keep the reciever set to 60. If 80 is a better setting and letting the subwoofer handle all those freqencies would it still be worth getting a csi a6 over the a4 which doesn't go as low? Does the csi a6 produce better sound in the mid and high range to warrent the extra size and lower frequency handling that wouldn't be used with a higher crossover. I guess I'm still new to this.
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I unhooked the other speakers just to hear the new fxi's and put the reciever on 5 channel stereo, I think they should be getting the full signal but I could be wrong. I got a mix right now and it sounds awesome when all the speakers are going. I have a yamaha sub and center, a pair of old sharp 3-way floor standers with 15 inch subs that might have spoiled me.
I'm just in the process of switching over to the matching rti line from polk, and my expectations on the fxi's fell a little short on the bass. I have the speakers in dipole mode on the side walls, the tweeters are at standing ear lvl.
I realize this is a pointless thing to be concerned about being they are rear speakers and having a subwoofer. I just want to know if they are performing the way they are ment to, and there's nothing i can give them to be better lil' huge speakers.
If you unhooked ALL the other speakers - I'm assuming that included the sub?
If so - then you may have been listening to just the fxi's in a mode where they were being band pass filtered with no bass.
Not sure about your avr or how you set it up initially, but if you ran the auto-calibration and set the crossover frequency to 60Hz then this would be your baseline configuration - and only the sub would be responsible for frequencies below 60Hz.
If you then unhooked all the other speakers but did not re-run the auto-calibration, then the fxi's would only be getting frequencies above the crossover setting of 60 Hz because you originally set them to small.
If you really want to hear what the fxi's can do you should rerun the auto-calibration and set them to large.
However, the recommended rule of thumb if you have a sub, is to set all of your speakers (fronts, center, and rears) to small and set the xover to 60 or 80Hz (you should experiment with both to see what works best for you).
If you turn your sub off and listen to the rest of your speakers that have all been set to 'small' and cut off at 60Hz, then the sound will be anemic and lacking bass - which may be what you are experiencing.
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. -
ya probably right, sub was off. I think i'll just leave em on small. They do sound good with the sub on, i don't wanna blow em. What do you think about my questions about the center speaker?
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ya probably right, sub was off. I think i'll just leave em on small. They do sound good with the sub on, i don't wanna blow em. What do you think about my questions about the center speaker?
Well...since you asked...and I am an internet expert...:D
Go for as much speaker as you can afford - if you can afford the CSiA6 then get that.
Most folks here seem to agree that the CSiA6 does a better job at clearer(bigger) dialog presentation than the CSiA4.
Don't worry about low frequency response since you are using a sub. With a sub properly integrated via your xover setting, any low freq difference between the CSiA4 and A6 should be negligible....more important for the center choice is the presentation of dialog for movies.
The only thing I'd comment on for consideration is how well the CSiA4 or A6 would match the sound of your older Sharp speakers.
It IS important to have the fronts and center speakers match in sound - otherwise your 'front soundstage' may sound inconsistent - which is why most 'experts' recommend that at a minimum your fronts and center should be from the same manufacturer and from within the same 'family' (eg LSi fronts should be matched to an LSi center, or RTi fronts should be matched to an RTi Center, etc).
At some point, you may want to consider upgrading the Sharps to something in the Polk lineup since your rears and centers will be Polk.
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. -
hey erik and mark,
I was actually in the same boat, deciding between the fxi a4 and a6. I think I have made my decision to stick with the a4 because I just grabbed a big bad svs subwoofer. I would recommend the same for you mark, just like erik said. I am wondering, however, what your opinion on the rti a5 and a7 are erik. I was figuring I would get the a7, but considering that I do have a subwoofer, it is it even worth it to get them instead of the a5's? It is weird how much an investment into a good subwoofer can save you at each step through fronts, surrounds, even center.
--Mark (too)Bulls make money.
Bears make money.
Pigs get slaughtered.
...
You, my friend, are the bacon. -
hey erik and mark,
I was actually in the same boat, deciding between the fxi a4 and a6. I think I have made my decision to stick with the a4 because I just grabbed a big bad svs subwoofer. I would recommend the same for you mark, just like erik said. I am wondering, however, what your opinion on the rti a5 and a7 are erik. I was figuring I would get the a7, but considering that I do have a subwoofer, it is it even worth it to get them instead of the a5's? It is weird how much an investment into a good subwoofer can save you at each step through fronts, surrounds, even center.
--Mark (too)
There are other folks and other threads here about the RTi A5 vs A7.
I can't comment from direct experience...I'm a bookshelf+bad **** sub type of guy
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. -
i allready got the fxi a6's, i like em a lot. They sound really good, as i'm sure the 4s do too. I just saving for the rest of the speakers i need, i'm gonna go with the a7's i like 3 way front speakers, I'd get the a9s but they are quite a bit more expensive for 2 more drivers. I don't have a awesome sub so I like to not run it while listening to music.
