No tweaking left in me

danger boy

Ok. so when do you all think it's time to upgrade something in your system? I've tweaked here and there.. yes I do need a bigger more powerful sub.. that goes lower than the 350. That's a given.

But besides that... when do you say. "i've tweaked my system enough now, it's time to upgrade componets or speakers"

When new wires, cables, amps, moving around speakers, playing with different settings.. I find that there isn't much room for dramatic improvement left in my system without going with different speakers.

I guess i'm not happy with the lack of full range bass from the RT1000i's and RT800i's. I don't think adding a bigger sub is exactly the sound i'm looking for either. I much prefer fronts with larger woofers... for a fuller bass sound from them.

Are there any older model Polk bookshelf or floorstanding speakers which use a larger woofer? say at least a 8", perferably a 10" or 12"?

I don't think i can afford any of the SDA's right now..but maybe in the future. Would that give me better bass for fronts? If so.. would those match with the rest of my speakers?

While I've heard nothing but good things about the LSI line.. for the most part. I know the move up to say.. LSI 9's or 15's would sound better.. don't they also use 6" or 8" woofers in them?

I guess i'm bassing my expectations on my friends 13 yr old Klipsch Chorus II's. While i don't care for the horn tweeters... i love the full range bass sound he gets from the 15" woofer and 15" passive radiator, in each of his fronts. Lovely down to I think 16kHz

Finally, while i use my sub for two channel music.. i find that the 1000i's and 800i's don't do well for music with deep bass. I listen to mostly classic rock and 80's type music.

thanks for letting me get this off my chest.. i feel so much bettter already.

polkatese

db,
I think what you are missing is the experience of listening to music in *whole* (full spectrum) if I read you correctly. I don't think you need a bigger woof sub, but you need *musical* sub to complement your rt's. If I can make a recommendation, audition any of REL sub at your local tweeter, or even better, take one home to audition it with your rt's and see if that is what you are missing. As a matter of fact, I am looking around for a used REL to add to my 2 channel system (LSi9) because I missed so much of the low when I listen to it. I tested the REL with LSi7 and 9, and in every case, the REL REALLY made these speakers sound like a full range speakers. I am looking at a discontinued Q50/Q100E (there is one on Audiogon for $590 for Q100E) You can check out www.rel.net for their design philosophy, these subs are designed to do music first, movie second. You'll like them.

brettw22

Heya Al......

I don't know of a tower speaker that will do what a system would do with a good sub. Those Klipsch Chorus II's sound interesting, but I'm sure they're huge to accomodate that kind of woofer design. I don't really like any of the current Polk models that are out there right now purely because of the cheaper design build. If you're unhappy with the speakers you have and you can find a pair, the RT16's are VERY VERY pleasing. Oftentimes I don't even need to turn the sub on to get the bass that I'm looking for. I couldn't begin to guess what they drop down into frequency-wise, but I can say that if you find a pair, you won't be disappointed. I picked up a second pair of them for about $300, which seemed ok. They needed to be cleaned up quite a bit, which I spent about 4 hours doing going over every inch of the speakers. If you want an entire wall devoted to the speakers, then I'm sure the SRS line would do. I prefer the downright sexiness of the RT16's though......<<SIGH>> time to turn the babys on.........

VR3

Def Tech's TOTL tower. It plays down to 13hz! Bult in 18 inch subwoofer, 1000 watt amp. (4) 6.5" woofers, (2) 1 inch tweeter. 13hz-30khz. It sounds awesome! Ive heard a pair, and if your looking for bass...their your ticket.

brettw22

Originally posted by Vr3MxStyler2k3
Def Tech's TOTL tower. It plays down to 13hz! Bult in 18 inch subwoofer, 1000 watt amp. (4) 6.5" woofers, (2) 1 inch tweeter. 13hz-30khz. It sounds awesome! Ive heard a pair, and if your looking for bass...their your ticket.

Good call on Def Tech's. Those sound sweet, but I HATE the sock cover that they have on all of their speakers.......

VR3

i like that look personally...dunno y...lol

Dr. Spec

I'm with Polkatese all the way.

Run all your speaks on small. Neither the 800's nor the 1000's have any real deep extension or bass power. So the 1000's have a 35 watt amp - big deal. They are still only rated to 36 Hz -3dB, hardly better than the 800's.

The RT3000p's supposedly dig to 26 Hz, but supposedly so does the PSW650. And we all know the PSW650 is hardly a bottom feeder - it can only hit 95 dB in a 2000 ft3 room at 25 Hz before THD hits 10%. See Chart 2 at this link:

http://www.svsubwoofers.com/news_subcompare.htm

That doesn't give me a warm fuzzy about the RT3000p being the real deal. At least it has some real power though - 300 watts per side - impressive. Good luck finding the sub portions and even if you do they will not be cheap and a good dedicated sub can still go louder and deeper.

Keep the 1000's and the 800's. Then get yourself a real deal dedicated subwoofer up front between the mains that extends down to 20 Hz clean and powerful. Your entire system will sound much better.

Doc

mantis

danger boy
A REL seems to be up your alley.As polkatese mentioned they are very musical low playing subs.Go check out there site and see.You really need to listen.They blend in so well it's scary.

I know your pain here man.I have been down that road before.When I owned my rt1000p's,which I thought I loved,I didn't.I tweaked and tweaked untill I couldn't tweak anymore.So I decided that They were not for me.

You know when it's time