Help me keep my RTA11TL's

skrol

My wife has been wanting custom book shelves in the family room. Unfortunately, the RTA's will need to go in order to make room. Last night, in a weak moment, I set up my Monitor 5A's in the family room. My wife is overjoyed and asked, "What are you going to do with the big speakers, sell them?"....:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:( They will sit in storage in the basement first, as I doubt that I'll ever obtain a better speaker. Not to say that there are none better out there; it is just that I likely will not be buying them.

I am sorry but Monitor 5A's, even with the Peerless tweeters, do not sonically replace the RTA11TL's. While the 5A's are silky on the top end, they really lack low end and don't fill the family room and adjoining kitchen with music the way the RTA's do.

Solutions:
1) I could build around the RTA11TL but the SQ would greatly suffer
2) I could build a man cave system in the basement but I am not likely to enjoy them much and the kids play rough down there.
3) I could store them until who knows when and dream of how they once played
4) I could beg my wife to let me keep them in the family room.
5) I could...sniff..sniff...sell them for 3x what they are worth.

Stan

Knucklehead

3,4 or 5, 4 not being likley.

danger boy

build your man cave... and keep those speakers out of storage.

Face

Tell her they'll go bad or get ruined in the basement and they aren't worth anything on the used market. Or show her pictures of SDA's, and tell her to be glad you don't have a pair of SRS 1.2TL's.

concealer404

I'll care for your RTA11TLs.... let's make a deal. You can buy them back when your wife starts caring about your interests.

skrol

Face wrote: »

Tell her they'll go bad or get ruined in the basement and they aren't worth anything on the used market. Or show her pictures of SDA's, and tell her to be glad you don't have a pair of SRS 1.2TL's.

I tried that. In fact, I used nooshinjohn's as an example since he has nearly the same fire place mantel as mine. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showcase/view.php?userid=92017

Didn't work.

kawizx9r

Tell her it's your house, your rules :cool:

Lol j/k
I too would hate the thought of having to put them in storage, but if it's in a controlled environment at least it'll be better than selling them. I think I've seen 1 pair of RTA's come up on Chicago CL since I moved out here (Apr. this yr) and they were the much smaller pair and for a hefty $. Keep them, you'll be glad you did.

Face

Now might be a good time to move up to LSi9's.

thuffman03

danger boy wrote: »

build your man cave... and keep those speakers out of storage.

Your screwed dude! +1 on Man Cave. It will come down to keeping the wifey happy or keeping the speakers. I don't know how many sets of speakers my buddy has picked up at yard sales because the speakers were in storage for years and he lost intrest in audio.

Big Dawg

Build around the speakers. Do your best to limit the SQ degradation. continue to enjoy your speakers. Let your wife know that you want to make her happy by building the shelves, and you are only asking for a small compromise.

If that fails, I can hold them for you until you're ready to take them back. Free storage....;)

ben62670

Explain that the 5's need to be on stands, and that takes up just as much floor space.

nooshinjohn

I would take option 1 as the best choice. Place the speakers in the optimal position for listening and then build around them, allowing them to blend in as custom as possible. Make certain they are spiked first, as this will reduce the amount of resonance transmitted to the shelving.

skrol

Face wrote: »

Now might be a good time to move up to LSi9's.

Whenever my wife has brought up getting rid of the RTA11's I have thought about the LSi9's. I almost picked up a pair when Tweeter went out of business but someone else snagged them. Is the bass decent or would I need a sub?

My Denon DRA-835R says it will drive 4 ohms and even has ratings down to 2 ohms. It definitely drives the RTA's better than my DRA-825R but I wonder if the LSi9 would be too much for it. Looks like I'll be needing an amp too.


6) I could try the RTA's in front of the book cases but being black they may be too obvious.

Stan

kcoc321

I vote for the "build them" in too.
Post pics and measurements & I would/can sketch something kewl up, if you want.
What style do yo want?...And how much $$ to spend?...hehe

Besides spiking, any other measures that can/ need to be added to improve/ minimilize the "lost SQ".
If I remember right, the 11's are 38-39"h (+/-) and 10.5" (+/-) and xx deep
{the spec link for the RTA11's on the Vintage page is gone}

skrol

You guys are great for helping out a fellow Polkateer. I'll snap a photo and post it later.

snow

Tell the wife your trading her in on a smaller model because you like the looks of them better and see if she gets the message.



REGARDS SNOW

skrol

She won't buy it; she is pretty small as it is and she knows I couldn't do better.

everpress

skrol wrote: »

She won't buy it; she is pretty small as it is and she knows I couldn't do better.

Show her this thread and let her see what you just said there; then ask her if you can put the shelves on another wall.

Or...

Put them in the bathroom and say that it is the only room in the house that is as close to acoustically correct as the room you took them out of....

skrol

everpress wrote: »

Or...

Put them in the bathroom and say that it is the only room in the house that is as close to acoustically correct as the room you took them out of....

If I do that she'll be feeding me Metamucil 'cause of all the time I'll be spending in there.

Face

skrol wrote: »

Whenever my wife has brought up getting rid of the RTA11's I have thought about the LSi9's. I almost picked up a pair when Tweeter went out of business but someone else snagged them. Is the bass decent or would I need a sub?

My Denon DRA-835R says it will drive 4 ohms and even has ratings down to 2 ohms. It definitely drives the RTA's better than my DRA-825R but I wonder if the LSi9 would be too much for it. Looks like I'll be needing an amp too.

They had a decent amount of bass. How big is your room?

If your receiver is rated down to 2ohms, you should be fine.

gdb

Are you doing the work yourself? If so, I don't see any reason why you couldn't either replicate the enclosures in your design or.....create "garages" for your polks to rest in when they're not in use. BTW, a tablesaw is available close by, if you're in need of one.;)

skrol

Thanks for the offer but I already have a table saw. I would like to do it myself but I have a long on honey-do list and short on time.

everpress

Maybe you could have them built in but on casters or a slide-out platform so that when not in serious use, they are tucked back and out of the way, and when listening intently, you can pull them out with relative ease?
Then, pray that after you drop the cash for the build, you aren't hit by a serious case of upgrade-itis.

wutadumsn23

LOL Snow, something tells me if he told her that he would be looking for more than just a new home for his 11's. I don't know what is going to happen the day my wife tires of my Monitor 70's and they are relatively "small" as florrstanders go. I don't know what is going to happen if I ever come acrosss a deal of a lifetime on some 2.3TL's, lol.

-Jeff

gdb

I'm still housing my SRS2s in my shop and waiting for the right time to sneak them into the LR in place of the Studio 1As that're there now. My wife already thinks that the 1As are too big as it is. Maybe I'll silkscreen some Christmas themed grille cloths for them to ease their acceptance factor around the holidays !! HO HO HO

JohnLocke88

skrol wrote: »

My wife has been wanting custom book shelves in the family room. Unfortunately, the RTA's will need to go in order to make room. Last night, in a weak moment, I set up my Monitor 5A's in the family room. My wife is overjoyed and asked, "What are you going to do with the big speakers, sell them?"....:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:( They will sit in storage in the basement first, as I doubt that I'll ever obtain a better speaker. Not to say that there are none better out there; it is just that I likely will not be buying them.

I am sorry but Monitor 5A's, even with the Peerless tweeters, do not sonically replace the RTA11TL's. While the 5A's are silky on the top end, they really lack low end and don't fill the family room and adjoining kitchen with music the way the RTA's do.

Solutions:
1) I could build around the RTA11TL but the SQ would greatly suffer
2) I could build a man cave system in the basement but I am not likely to enjoy them much and the kids play rough down there.
3) I could store them until who knows when and dream of how they once played
4) I could beg my wife to let me keep them in the family room.
5) I could...sniff..sniff...sell them for 3x what they are worth.

Stan

6) I could get a new wife...

I only kid...

skrol

JohnLocke88 wrote: »

6) I could get a new wife...

I only kid...

Covered in #16 and 17.

Polkersince85

Get some laun plywood and make cases for them and change the grille cloth. Color them to match the bookshelves so they will blend in.

skrol

Here is a pic of my family room (excuse the mess, I love toy trains and Lego:)). There book cases are to go on both sides of the fireplace. The fireplace mantel/surround may change. We haven't discussed color but if we go with natural wood then the speakers may integrate better.

The room is 18' wide by 16' deep but is completely open to the adjoining kitchen for a total listening area of 18' by 32'.

kcoc321

How far out does the Face of the wood mantle stick out?
Also, what is the height to the bottom of the Mantle?
Did you ever say what style you guys like?

skrol

The top shelf is 12" deep, the fascia is 8" deep, hearth is 2" high, mantel is 54" up to the shelf. Probably cabinets at the bottom with shelves above.