NAD & Polks dialed in now--tried 4 differnt hook-ups

searay40dad

ok, i had some fun last night. I took the forums advice and tried some different configurations with intent being to let my ears decide. Set-ups were as follows and my rating of each:

1) drove each RTi12 front/main full range with its own sperate NAD C270 in 2 channel mode. ~120W continuous/channel. one channel to LF and other channel to HF. NAD 755 drove the CSi5 center and surrounds only. GOOD

2) drove each RTi12 front/main full range with its own sperate C270 in bridged/mono mode. ~340W continuous/channel. one channel ran one RTi12. 755 drove the CSi5 center and surrounds only. BETTER

3) drove the LFs of both front/mains with one C270. drove the HFs of both front/mains with the other C270. 755 drove the CSi5 center and surrounds only. GOOD

4) drove one front/main LF only with one c270 in bridged/mono mode (340W). drove the other front/main LF with the other C270 bridged. 755 drove the front/mains HFs and drove the CSi5 and surrounds. the 755s continous 5 channel rating is 100w each channel. BEST

Guess my conclusion is the RTi12's 3 7" woofers simply need as much juice as you can give them--more the better. Since they're rated to handle 500W,..."duh"... as my son would say. and not just for "loudness" sake but for the extra headroom.

I wasn't sure how well the 755 would handle the RTi12s HFs, that is, would it do as good a job as the C270s would. I'm sure it doesnt when you get into analyzing numbers but my ears couldnt really tell a difference. Since HFs take alot less power to drive, I guess I stayed within a low distortion range for the 755 amps.

After I decided to go with hook-up #4, I went ahead and added a second sub PSW303 into the mix for kicks to see if could tell the difference, good or bad. The 303 is in addition to the PSW 505 and RTi12's 6 7" woofers. well, as I crawled around the room, i was surprised to find out that I could tell the difference and did seem better. I was really thinking I'd find a mess right from the start.

So, i think I've got my 2 channel set-up to my liking and HT squared away as well. sound is crisp, clean, full, and robust at any volume level I can tolerate. and, if I want, I can shake the windows!:D

All the feedback you've provided has been helpful and is appreciated folks;)

Next on the agenda is to watch Blackhawk Down and have some fun!:D

comfortablycurt

This is what it's all about!! When you get that rig dialed in just right, and kick back to listen to it...that's when you know it was all worth it.

Good to hear you're enjoying your rig!!!

cnh

Congratulations. And you knowm now that you've gone through all that--it makes perfect sense. There aren't 3 bad 7" drivers on each of those 12s for nothing!

Enjoy the film!

cnh