Visited Circuit City, Reviews are in! (Long)
VR3
Posts: 28,784
Hey Folks,
I just got back from CC, got my demo on! I heard some RTi150's. Some Infinity Preludes, and the Polk RTi38, and some Velodyne subwoofers. Here are the reviews.
Polk Audio RTi150:
I heard these for a short time! They were being played with The Matrix.
Looks: These speakers look amazing! The woofers, the wood grain! All good! All looks class A to me. However, the grills, man the grills look CHEAP. In comparison to the RTxxxi grills, they look pretty bad. Almost like a styrofoam look! Anyway, other than the grills I really liked how they looked! Ohh yeah, the new logo kicks!
Highs: VERY smooth highs, unlike the tri-lam tweeters they are very smooth. The voices didn't hiss, and it all just sorda rolled off smoothly.
Mids: The voices were clear, and very punchy (in a good way). The entire movie was at you! When junk happened it was right in your face. The impact of towers is truly amazing!
LOWS: Ok, these speakers are bass monsters. They are VERY clean in this region. Its low, and its tight and VERY accurate. These speakers are not in any sense boomy. The 6.5" subwoofers built in, are very good indeed, and add a high sense of impact to the speakers. It all blends seamlessly to! So It's all a one shot parade!
Overall: I couldn't believe just how well these speakers handled themselves! The soundstage was out of this world, even with the TOTL Onkyo! I am sure these speakers would of sounded a world better with seperates. I am sure the Onkyo didn't do them all the justice in the world. No offense ot Onkyo owners. The speakers overall was very smooth, and it blended perfect. Nothing was missing. It covered the full spectrum! If Polk still sales these speakers when I get my house, these will be my Mains! They were simply awesome! Nuff said.
Infinity Bookshelf (6.5", 1 inch tweeter) VS. Polk Audio RTi38
Looks: No contest, Polks all the way. The infinity had a cheap grill, cheap vinyl enclosure. The all the wood, all the way on the Polk is totally sweet. Once again I don't like the grills of the RTixx line. I just don't like them. They look cheap to me! However I thought it looked more high dollar than the infinity.
Highs: The infinity had increbily smooth highs. I was expecting the Infinity's to just dominate the playing field here with Polk. Surprisingly the Polk's held their ground and weren't smashed in this region. They were both incredibly smooth and crisp! However the infinity had a slight edge over the Polk in this area.
Mids: Here is where the Infinity just went completely down hill. It had a very clear midrange, however due to the clearness it was like it was not even there. It totally was blown away by the Polk woofer. The polk woofer had impact, low exstention, and superb vocals. The infinity had clear vocals, no impact, no lows, and ghost instruments. I didn't like this part of the infinity speaker.
Lows: As I said above the infinity had absolutely NO lows. I mean Z-E-R-O, nada, nothing. Totally empty on the bottum end of things. The Polk, like my RT35i, had pretty good exstention, tight, deep, accurate bass. The i38 had the impact feature where as the infinity did not. Its like the Infinity was totally absent, I am sure the i28 could wipe it's power ports with the infinity drivers. Totally bad in this region the Infinity's were!
Overall: The Infinity's I give a 2.5 out of 5, and I give the Polk's a 4 out of 5. I gave the infinity a 2.5 because of the mids, lows, and the looks. The Infinity had a nice, smooth, crisp high end, and clear vocals. However they had no mids, no lows, and they just looked very cheap. I gave the Polk's a 4, because they had a nice wood enclosure all around, Smooth highs, crisp, but not all the way up to snuff with the infinity. They had full, deep, mids, clear vocals, and tight, articulate lows. However since the highs weren't up to snuff and the grill looks cheap I gave it a 4 out of 5. It is probally more along the lines of 3.5 out of 5. But, In my opinion agains the Infinity its a 4.
The Polk RTi38 VS. Polk RT35i:
Looks: The RTi38 looks really sweet with the complete wood enclosure, however that grill just looks cheesy. The new Logo really kicks though! I give the looks a 4 out of 5 on both. They both fail in one area, the RT35i: Not all wood. RTi38: Cheap grills
Highs: The i38 wins here. No contest, much smoother and crisp. It was never etchy, and never missed a note. This is where the RT35i fails at times. I give the RTi38 a 5 out of 5 in this area. Compared to the RT35i, they are much smoother and crisp. The RT35i, a 4 out of 5. Although smooth, just not smooth enough.
Mids: Pretty much the same mids. I thought the i38 was a tad more open. Both a 4 out of 5. Although clean, deep, accurate, and full, they are not the cleanest. The infinity was much cleaner, but with the Infinity much of the mids were adsent and left MUCH to be desired.
Bass: Pretty much the same in this region also. Tight, accurate, and just plan good. Both 5 out of 5. Deep, accurate, and tight. Both these speakers succeed in this area.
Overall: You can't go wrong with either speaker. However, If I were buying my speakers all over again, I would get the i38, the highs alone make it worth while. Way way smoother in the top end.
Velodyne Subwoofers:
12", 10" model.
I really couldn't get all that good of a listen on this. Somewhere, either on the subwoofers, or the receiver the bass was turned all the way up. So it sounded really boomy and distorted. I tried turning them down, it just didn't seem to want to. However, for what I could manage the Velodyne's were pretty sharp. However they seemed to be a tad boomy. This of course could of been the situation of the high volume. The 12" model had alot more volume to it than the 10". It sounded a tad fuller, and a tad deeper. The 10" was just a little bit less of a sub than the 12".
Funny thing is, i accidently turned on a Bose bassmodule. Man I tell ya, that thing SUCKED GRASS! My lord. Nuff said!
Polk CSi40:
Looks: Way better looking than my CS245i. All the wood, all the way around. Looks very good, and very intimidating. That new logo, i swear, it just kicks! Makes me want to send in my Grills, get them redone with the new logo! I love it! However, that new grill, Polk: WHY! It looks so.....so.....so.....CHEESY MAN! Styrofoam looking man! I couldn't believe it!
Highs: The highs on this speaker is WAY smoother than my CS245i. I mean they just roll off and have ZERO hiss. Much smoother, and crisp. It sounded way more natural and it blended much better with music than the cs245i does.
Mids: The mids are WAY clearer and deeper sounding. They have more depth to them. A more fuller sound, very accurate. Just a completely better sound. It sounds alot better than the CS245i with music. Its a very musical center, where the CS245i is not.
Bass: This thing is a BASS machine. Nuff said. Deep, rich, VERY accurate bass. Nothing overwhelming. Just a very deep sound, where as my CS245i has absolutely 0 bass response due to its 60hz FR.
Overall: This is the center I will be purchasing this year, after listening to it, I just fell in love. I totally loved the sound. It is night and day over the CS245i. Much cleaner, smoother, deeper sounding. It also looks alot better except for that cheesy arse grill. My lord, it sucked! lol! 4 out of 5, don't like that grill!
Infinity System, On wall speakers (I believe).
I became curious when I saw a pair of On-The-Wall infinity's that I was originally going to purchase for my back surrounds a year or two ago. And man, am I glad I didn't. It turned on some mains, center, and them as surrounds.
Looks: Cheap, nuff said
Highs: SMOOTH! A tad better than the Polk's in the high end.
Mids: Clear vocals, TINY sound, ghost instruments. Just sucked.
Bass: What bass?
Overall: This system sounded like a ghost setup. Everything was missing, and to its dismay I turned off the subwoofers. So it sounded completely bad. Tiny sound! No bass! No mids! Good highs though! 2 out of 5, just alot was missing. Would not recomend to anyone what so ever.
Well I hope you enjoyed my reviews!
I just got back from CC, got my demo on! I heard some RTi150's. Some Infinity Preludes, and the Polk RTi38, and some Velodyne subwoofers. Here are the reviews.
Polk Audio RTi150:
I heard these for a short time! They were being played with The Matrix.
Looks: These speakers look amazing! The woofers, the wood grain! All good! All looks class A to me. However, the grills, man the grills look CHEAP. In comparison to the RTxxxi grills, they look pretty bad. Almost like a styrofoam look! Anyway, other than the grills I really liked how they looked! Ohh yeah, the new logo kicks!
Highs: VERY smooth highs, unlike the tri-lam tweeters they are very smooth. The voices didn't hiss, and it all just sorda rolled off smoothly.
Mids: The voices were clear, and very punchy (in a good way). The entire movie was at you! When junk happened it was right in your face. The impact of towers is truly amazing!
LOWS: Ok, these speakers are bass monsters. They are VERY clean in this region. Its low, and its tight and VERY accurate. These speakers are not in any sense boomy. The 6.5" subwoofers built in, are very good indeed, and add a high sense of impact to the speakers. It all blends seamlessly to! So It's all a one shot parade!
Overall: I couldn't believe just how well these speakers handled themselves! The soundstage was out of this world, even with the TOTL Onkyo! I am sure these speakers would of sounded a world better with seperates. I am sure the Onkyo didn't do them all the justice in the world. No offense ot Onkyo owners. The speakers overall was very smooth, and it blended perfect. Nothing was missing. It covered the full spectrum! If Polk still sales these speakers when I get my house, these will be my Mains! They were simply awesome! Nuff said.
Infinity Bookshelf (6.5", 1 inch tweeter) VS. Polk Audio RTi38
Looks: No contest, Polks all the way. The infinity had a cheap grill, cheap vinyl enclosure. The all the wood, all the way on the Polk is totally sweet. Once again I don't like the grills of the RTixx line. I just don't like them. They look cheap to me! However I thought it looked more high dollar than the infinity.
Highs: The infinity had increbily smooth highs. I was expecting the Infinity's to just dominate the playing field here with Polk. Surprisingly the Polk's held their ground and weren't smashed in this region. They were both incredibly smooth and crisp! However the infinity had a slight edge over the Polk in this area.
Mids: Here is where the Infinity just went completely down hill. It had a very clear midrange, however due to the clearness it was like it was not even there. It totally was blown away by the Polk woofer. The polk woofer had impact, low exstention, and superb vocals. The infinity had clear vocals, no impact, no lows, and ghost instruments. I didn't like this part of the infinity speaker.
Lows: As I said above the infinity had absolutely NO lows. I mean Z-E-R-O, nada, nothing. Totally empty on the bottum end of things. The Polk, like my RT35i, had pretty good exstention, tight, deep, accurate bass. The i38 had the impact feature where as the infinity did not. Its like the Infinity was totally absent, I am sure the i28 could wipe it's power ports with the infinity drivers. Totally bad in this region the Infinity's were!
Overall: The Infinity's I give a 2.5 out of 5, and I give the Polk's a 4 out of 5. I gave the infinity a 2.5 because of the mids, lows, and the looks. The Infinity had a nice, smooth, crisp high end, and clear vocals. However they had no mids, no lows, and they just looked very cheap. I gave the Polk's a 4, because they had a nice wood enclosure all around, Smooth highs, crisp, but not all the way up to snuff with the infinity. They had full, deep, mids, clear vocals, and tight, articulate lows. However since the highs weren't up to snuff and the grill looks cheap I gave it a 4 out of 5. It is probally more along the lines of 3.5 out of 5. But, In my opinion agains the Infinity its a 4.
The Polk RTi38 VS. Polk RT35i:
Looks: The RTi38 looks really sweet with the complete wood enclosure, however that grill just looks cheesy. The new Logo really kicks though! I give the looks a 4 out of 5 on both. They both fail in one area, the RT35i: Not all wood. RTi38: Cheap grills
Highs: The i38 wins here. No contest, much smoother and crisp. It was never etchy, and never missed a note. This is where the RT35i fails at times. I give the RTi38 a 5 out of 5 in this area. Compared to the RT35i, they are much smoother and crisp. The RT35i, a 4 out of 5. Although smooth, just not smooth enough.
Mids: Pretty much the same mids. I thought the i38 was a tad more open. Both a 4 out of 5. Although clean, deep, accurate, and full, they are not the cleanest. The infinity was much cleaner, but with the Infinity much of the mids were adsent and left MUCH to be desired.
Bass: Pretty much the same in this region also. Tight, accurate, and just plan good. Both 5 out of 5. Deep, accurate, and tight. Both these speakers succeed in this area.
Overall: You can't go wrong with either speaker. However, If I were buying my speakers all over again, I would get the i38, the highs alone make it worth while. Way way smoother in the top end.
Velodyne Subwoofers:
12", 10" model.
I really couldn't get all that good of a listen on this. Somewhere, either on the subwoofers, or the receiver the bass was turned all the way up. So it sounded really boomy and distorted. I tried turning them down, it just didn't seem to want to. However, for what I could manage the Velodyne's were pretty sharp. However they seemed to be a tad boomy. This of course could of been the situation of the high volume. The 12" model had alot more volume to it than the 10". It sounded a tad fuller, and a tad deeper. The 10" was just a little bit less of a sub than the 12".
Funny thing is, i accidently turned on a Bose bassmodule. Man I tell ya, that thing SUCKED GRASS! My lord. Nuff said!
Polk CSi40:
Looks: Way better looking than my CS245i. All the wood, all the way around. Looks very good, and very intimidating. That new logo, i swear, it just kicks! Makes me want to send in my Grills, get them redone with the new logo! I love it! However, that new grill, Polk: WHY! It looks so.....so.....so.....CHEESY MAN! Styrofoam looking man! I couldn't believe it!
Highs: The highs on this speaker is WAY smoother than my CS245i. I mean they just roll off and have ZERO hiss. Much smoother, and crisp. It sounded way more natural and it blended much better with music than the cs245i does.
Mids: The mids are WAY clearer and deeper sounding. They have more depth to them. A more fuller sound, very accurate. Just a completely better sound. It sounds alot better than the CS245i with music. Its a very musical center, where the CS245i is not.
Bass: This thing is a BASS machine. Nuff said. Deep, rich, VERY accurate bass. Nothing overwhelming. Just a very deep sound, where as my CS245i has absolutely 0 bass response due to its 60hz FR.
Overall: This is the center I will be purchasing this year, after listening to it, I just fell in love. I totally loved the sound. It is night and day over the CS245i. Much cleaner, smoother, deeper sounding. It also looks alot better except for that cheesy arse grill. My lord, it sucked! lol! 4 out of 5, don't like that grill!
Infinity System, On wall speakers (I believe).
I became curious when I saw a pair of On-The-Wall infinity's that I was originally going to purchase for my back surrounds a year or two ago. And man, am I glad I didn't. It turned on some mains, center, and them as surrounds.
Looks: Cheap, nuff said
Highs: SMOOTH! A tad better than the Polk's in the high end.
Mids: Clear vocals, TINY sound, ghost instruments. Just sucked.
Bass: What bass?
Overall: This system sounded like a ghost setup. Everything was missing, and to its dismay I turned off the subwoofers. So it sounded completely bad. Tiny sound! No bass! No mids! Good highs though! 2 out of 5, just alot was missing. Would not recomend to anyone what so ever.
Well I hope you enjoyed my reviews!
- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
Comments
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Awesome review Vr3MxStyler2k3. Your review helped me decide to upgrade my CSi30 to the incredible CSi40. I hope you got yours as well. I also own the RTi38's and love 'em.
Peace Out.My 7.1 setup consists of:
Denon 3803
Panasonic DVD
RTi70s front
CSi40 front center
RTi28s side surround
FXi30s back surround
PSW202 Subwoofer - Hey, it's my first sub!
RCA 46" 4:3 RPTV -
Which CC did you go to? The one on Harris Blvd?Two Channel Main
Receiver - VSX-54TX
Mains - Csi40's
Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones
"If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend -
The one near Tinsel Town- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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Originally posted by jkratzer
Awesome review Vr3MxStyler2k3. Your review helped me decide to upgrade my CSi30 to the incredible CSi40. I hope you got yours as well. I also own the RTi38's and love 'em.
Peace Out.
Cool deal man, Enjoy!- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Look at Mx getting his review on.......I like it man.Good job.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
LOL Mantis, Thank you. Now if someone would of noticed this review 1-2 months ago when i posted it..........:rolleyes:- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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what are yeah gonna do,it happens.....but it didn't go unnoticed at leastDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
hasnt been one month until tomorrow,MY HT RIG:
Sherwood p-965
Sherwood sd871 dvd
Rotel 1075 amp x5
LSI15 mains
LsiC center
LSIfx surround backs
Lsi7 side surrounds
SVS pb12/plus2
2 Channel Rig:
nad 1020 Pre-amp
Rotel 1080 stereo amp
Polk sda 2B
kenwood grunt Tuner
realistic lab 450 TT
Signal cable IC
