fxi a6 vs fxi a4

mdk5068

Hey guys,

Has anybody had much experience between the fxi a6 and the fxi a4? The following is my setup, and I was told that there I "did not need" the fxi a6's.

Fronts - RTI A7's
Surrounds - ?? fxi a6 or fxi a4 ??
Center - CSi A6
Sub - SVS PB12 Ultra
Receiver - Yamaha rx-v659
Amp - Sherwood Newcastle a965

It will be in a room about 23 long by 13 wide. 7.5 high ish. Right side is open for about 13 of the 23 foot length. Is it worth it to get the a6's? I am 50/50 ht/music. Any experience with either of the two? What drove your decision? What are the specific improvements/downfalls of switching between the two.

Thank you again (you have all helped me decide what to get in the past!)

--Mark

Mark1

You got all the speakers I'm saving up to buy.
I decided to go with the fxi a6, It's a big beautiful speaker. Since u went with the csi a6 for center u should probably get the fxi a6's too just for the fact that u went big on everything else. The price diference isn't really that huge plus if you get the a6's u get free atrium outdoor speakers for free, that also sold me.

Toolfan66

FXiA6

mdk5068

Mark1 wrote: »

You got all the speakers I'm saving up to buy.
I decided to go with the fxi a6, It's a big beautiful speaker. Since u went with the csi a6 for center u should probably get the fxi a6's too just for the fact that u went big on everything else. The price diference isn't really that huge plus if you get the a6's u get free atrium outdoor speakers for free, that also sold me.

Mark1,

Where do you get free atrium's if you buy the a6? And the only reason I hesitated to get the a6's was because of their size, the fact that my sub can pick up any slack on the lower end, and obviously the price. I am curious to see what type of speakers you said you have and how they sound. Have you not gotten all of them yet?

Thank you!

mdk5068

Mark1 wrote: »

You got all the speakers I'm saving up to buy.
I decided to go with the fxi a6, It's a big beautiful speaker. Since u went with the csi a6 for center u should probably get the fxi a6's too just for the fact that u went big on everything else. The price diference isn't really that huge plus if you get the a6's u get free atrium outdoor speakers for free, that also sold me.

I see now what you are talking about the atriums. Unfortunately I would only be willing to buy off the ebay polk direct store, ha, as I am extremely cheap! Maybe I can get them to swing me those free atriums anyway though, eh?

Mark1

I don't know if they'd do that, but maybe since you have bought all those other polk speakers, wouldn't hurt to try. I only have the fxi a6, im gonna get the csi a6 and rti a7s in the comming months.

mdk5068

Mark1 wrote: »

I don't know if they'd do that, but maybe since you have bought all those other polk speakers, wouldn't hurt to try. I only have the fxi a6, im gonna get the csi a6 and rti a7s in the comming months.

Good deal. I can't wait to finally get my hands on all these speakers. They are all waiting at my house but I haven't the time till around august to actually spend sometime with them to set them up and start the break-in process. I miss them more than my dog right now and I haven't even met them yet. : ( Either way after I do get my fill I will let you know how it goes!

leroyjr1

FXI a6 or RTI A3

camel_89si

my old man has fxi a6's as his surrounds in his 7.1 system. they sound very good in his set up which consists of lsi15 fronts, lsi-c center, rti in-wall sides, and fxi a6 surrounds. they sounded fantastic when he was using 5.1 before he added the in walls to complete the 7.1. never had a chance to hear the fxi a4's but i was considering them as my surrounds until i found a to good to pass up on deal on another set of rti-a1's that i'm using as my surrounds now.

Lib0rat0r

I'm going to go ahead and offer my opinion on this one...having listened to and experienced both sets of surrounds, the only different you are going to find is in bass. The A6 dips a bit lower than the A4, but I'm of the opinion that if you have enough bass from a subwoofer, or you have a quality subwoofer that can offer the added effects that the A6's lower end frequencies offers, then the A4 is the way to go.

The main difference is in the lower-end frequencies, so you have to decide whether that is something you are willing to pay more for. Because by spending the extra money and upgrading from the A4 to the A6, that is all you are getting, aside from a larger cabinet and more of the obvious.

This is all in my honest opinion of course, but I thought it might help contribute to the diversity of opinion in the thread.

comfortablycurt

I'd go for the FXiA6's myself. Having the larger woofers is really going to make them sound a lot better. Aside from having deeper bass, it's also going to be a lot more solid/smoother through the mid-range, due to rolling off later than the smaller woofers of the A4's.

mdk5068

Thansk so much for the advice guys...i really do not have to worry about the lower end, as I have an svs pb12 ultra. I guess my decision now is to decide whether it is worth potentially another 100-150 for a smoother mid-range. Any more advice would definitely be appreciated, but if the only difference really is the lower end and a minor amount in the midrange..... Any other differences let me know!

Thanks again!

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I'd go for the FXiA6's myself. Having the larger woofers is really going to make them sound a lot better. Aside from having deeper bass, it's also going to be a lot more solid/smoother through the mid-range, due to rolling off later than the smaller woofers of the A4's.

mdk5068

What are some of these "obvious" differences you speak of?

Lib0rat0r wrote: »

I'm going to go ahead and offer my opinion on this one...having listened to and experienced both sets of surrounds, the only different you are going to find is in bass. The A6 dips a bit lower than the A4, but I'm of the opinion that if you have enough bass from a subwoofer, or you have a quality subwoofer that can offer the added effects that the A6's lower end frequencies offers, then the A4 is the way to go.

The main difference is in the lower-end frequencies, so you have to decide whether that is something you are willing to pay more for. Because by spending the extra money and upgrading from the A4 to the A6, that is all you are getting, aside from a larger cabinet and more of the obvious.

This is all in my honest opinion of course, but I thought it might help contribute to the diversity of opinion in the thread.

Lib0rat0r

By obvious differences, I just mean someone a 10 year old could see. A6 is is a larger size, weighs more, etc.

And you mentioned a smoother mid-range on the A6...IMHO, I didn't really hear much of a difference. Perhaps a trained audiophile could tell a difference, but I am someone who is fairly well-read and have auditioned a wide range of speakers (all the Polks, as well as many, many other brands) I couldn't tell much of a difference. That being said, I just want to say that it is my opinion....the only opinion that matters is your own, because it is going to be your speaker, in your home theater, and you're going to be the one hearing it. Go with the one you like better. For me, there wasn't enough of a difference to justify the added cost of the A6.

mdk5068

Awesome, thank you so much for your opinion. My main concern has always been trying to cut some money off the top and then not getting as much as possible in terms of the experience. My speakers will have two drastically different environments. One will be in the 23/14 room I told you guys about at school, but then I have a 35/35-40 room at home that I use when not at school. Ideally these speakers would fit both purposes (obviously the smaller room being a much much better of a fit). Anybody have experience will wall mounting? Difficult? Is placing them rather high on the wall a bad idea (keep them as far away from people as possible)?

Thanks again!

Lib0rat0r wrote: »

By obvious differences, I just mean someone a 10 year old could see. A6 is is a larger size, weighs more, etc.

And you mentioned a smoother mid-range on the A6...IMHO, I didn't really hear much of a difference. Perhaps a trained audiophile could tell a difference, but I am someone who is fairly well-read and have auditioned a wide range of speakers (all the Polks, as well as many, many other brands) I couldn't tell much of a difference. That being said, I just want to say that it is my opinion....the only opinion that matters is your own, because it is going to be your speaker, in your home theater, and you're going to be the one hearing it. Go with the one you like better. For me, there wasn't enough of a difference to justify the added cost of the A6.

mdk5068

bump

Lib0rat0r

It depends what you are aiming for. If you want to have the best sound, it is generally agreed that having the speakers at ear level from your viewing position (example: height of your ears when sitting in a couch). But if you have a smaller room or worry about people running into them, you will want to mount them higher. I personally think everything sounds best at ear and eye level, but others will have other opinions.

As for wall mounting, it is very easy. I barely know how to pound a nail in the wall, and I could figure it out. FXi A4 will also be slightly easier to mount relative to the A6, due to its smaller size.

mdk5068

Good deal, and thanks for the advice! have you hears either the fxi a4 or a6? Which would you say is your top pick for surrounds? I will pay the money for the a6's but only if it will be entirely worth it.

Lib0rat0r wrote: »

It depends what you are aiming for. If you want to have the best sound, it is generally agreed that having the speakers at ear level from your viewing position (example: height of your ears when sitting in a couch). But if you have a smaller room or worry about people running into them, you will want to mount them higher. I personally think everything sounds best at ear and eye level, but others will have other opinions.

As for wall mounting, it is very easy. I barely know how to pound a nail in the wall, and I could figure it out. FXi A4 will also be slightly easier to mount relative to the A6, due to its smaller size.

Lib0rat0r

I've heard both, and in my opinion, the difference is very negligible. I didn't listen blind, but in comparing the two, I didn't find much of a difference in sound. With all other speakers off, you can hear that the A6 goes a bit lower, but with my sub and even the woofers on my RTi12s, the A6 surround lower frequencies are very difficult to even notice...at least for me.

Honestly, if you have the money you might as well get the A6, but I would go with the A4s and kick the extra cash towards something else in the system.

kevhed72

For whats is worth, I have my A6s on the back wall, about 2 ft. above ear-level....seat position is about 18" from back wall. This works pretty well for a 5.1 system with room size limitiations.

mdk5068

Thank you! I think I have somewhat settled on the a4's just because I do have a powerful sub and I can't find enough opinions from people to hugely justify spending another 100 or so to get the a6's. I will definitely try your positions first though, as I need a benchmark that works to start at!