Refreshed my system with new Polk Speakers
gfong
Posts: 1,079
Updated my system on the weekend, I was running the Polk Audio RM20 5 speaker package with a PSW10 sub. My receiver was a Kenwood VR6070. A little dated but still ran well with the little polks!
The refresh included 2 RTi A7s with a CSi A6 center and a pair of FXi A4s for the rears.
I had a Soundstage 12 sub that I had purchased a few years ago so I got that out to match with the speakers for the time being. My Kenwood receiver with THX was doing a good job with the smaller speakers but I never did like the sound that it produced with 2 channel stereo music. I did some research and upgraded to a Sony STRDA5400ES Home Theater Receiver (got a good price on it as it was a "brand new" prior year model) Good reviews on the internet on the ES series from Sony.
A feature on the Sony ES receiver allows me to bi amp the RTiA7s off of the rear surrounds as I am only using 5.1 and not 7.1 that it is capable of. Once I get to a bigger place for living I will probably move to the 7.1 config and purchase an external amp for my system. For now though it works nicely.
The Polk speakers sound great and the more volume I give them the more they seem to like it! I do like my 70s and 80s music and on 2 channel stereo they do well. My only comment on them so far is that they lack a little in the mid range and do not do great in the tight bass department on some tracks. Overall for a speaker that rocks when using them in a movie home theater set up they can hold their own with most 2 channel music. Vocals and strings sound amazing as do keyboards.
I did a lot of searching on here for what type of speaker would do well with what I was looking for. I would like to thank the board/people for your opinions and posts that eventually lead me to my purchases. Hopefully now I can also be one of those that comments on the RTi line of Polk speakers. They are very nice and not over priced.
Sidenote...back in the mid 1980s I was stationed in West Germany and got some crazy deals on stereo equipment. Came back home with a Techniques SU-V9 amp, Pioneer dynamic processor, equalizer, AKAI reel to reel, Kenwood marble turntable and a bunch of other equipment. My prize possession were a pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers! ! Wish I would have kept that gear just like some of those baseball cards that I clothes pegged to my spokes!
The refresh included 2 RTi A7s with a CSi A6 center and a pair of FXi A4s for the rears.
I had a Soundstage 12 sub that I had purchased a few years ago so I got that out to match with the speakers for the time being. My Kenwood receiver with THX was doing a good job with the smaller speakers but I never did like the sound that it produced with 2 channel stereo music. I did some research and upgraded to a Sony STRDA5400ES Home Theater Receiver (got a good price on it as it was a "brand new" prior year model) Good reviews on the internet on the ES series from Sony.
A feature on the Sony ES receiver allows me to bi amp the RTiA7s off of the rear surrounds as I am only using 5.1 and not 7.1 that it is capable of. Once I get to a bigger place for living I will probably move to the 7.1 config and purchase an external amp for my system. For now though it works nicely.
The Polk speakers sound great and the more volume I give them the more they seem to like it! I do like my 70s and 80s music and on 2 channel stereo they do well. My only comment on them so far is that they lack a little in the mid range and do not do great in the tight bass department on some tracks. Overall for a speaker that rocks when using them in a movie home theater set up they can hold their own with most 2 channel music. Vocals and strings sound amazing as do keyboards.
I did a lot of searching on here for what type of speaker would do well with what I was looking for. I would like to thank the board/people for your opinions and posts that eventually lead me to my purchases. Hopefully now I can also be one of those that comments on the RTi line of Polk speakers. They are very nice and not over priced.
Sidenote...back in the mid 1980s I was stationed in West Germany and got some crazy deals on stereo equipment. Came back home with a Techniques SU-V9 amp, Pioneer dynamic processor, equalizer, AKAI reel to reel, Kenwood marble turntable and a bunch of other equipment. My prize possession were a pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers! ! Wish I would have kept that gear just like some of those baseball cards that I clothes pegged to my spokes!
Post edited by gfong on
Comments
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The Polk speakers sound great and the more volume I give them the more they seem to like it! I do like my 70’s and 80’s music and on 2 channel stereo they do well. My only comment on them so far is that they lack a little in the mid range and do not do great in the tight bass department on some tracks. Overall for a speaker that rocks when using them in a movie home theater set up they can hold their own with most 2 channel music. Vocals and strings sound amazing as do keyboards.
You might consider spiking the cabinets, Dynamating the mid-range drivers and putting Mortite on all your drivers and tweeters.
That should tighten up the bass and open up the mid-range.
The best brass speaker spikes can be had here;
https://myesound.com/Points_n_pads.html -
Are the speakers being pushed? If so this sounds like you might need more amp to gain control over the drivers. An external amp brought the mids out on my monitors. My $.02.Parasound C1, T3, HCA-3500, HCA-2205A, P/DD1550, Pioneer DV-79avi, Oppo BDP-83, WD Media Server W/HDD,
Dynaudio Contour 3.3, Dynaudio Contour T2.1, Polk OWM3, Polk DSW micropro 1000 (x2),
Pioneer Kuro 50" Plasma, Phillips Pronto Control w/Niles HT-MSU. -
Thanks for the advice above. I will look into spiking them for now and once I move to another spot I am going to look into an external amp. Thanks again.
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I have to check. I think mine came with spikes in the bag w/the manual.hearingimpared wrote: »You might consider spiking the cabinets,
Exactly where do we put the Dyanmate & Mortite?Dynamating the mid-range drivers and Mortite on all your drivers and tweeters.
All sounds like great tips, thanks tonySamsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work -
An external amp should get you a nice boost in the bass department. Not only in volume but how deep it will go and make it a bit tighter.Living Room Rig:D
Rotel RSP-1069/Rotel RMB-1095/Rotel-1072/Polk lsI15's W/modded xoverW/DBsubs/Polk LsiC/lsI7's/Klipsch sub-12"the weak link"/DLP Mitsubishi 65"
Xbox360/PS3/WII
M.Br. setup:)
Emotiva MMC-1/Rotel RMB-1075/Polk BlackStone TL350's/Velodyne SPL1000/Samsung 51" Plasma
Computer Rig:
Rotel RB1050/Tannoy DC4's/Klipsch RW-10d/ImodIpod/HK AVR230 for now....
Headphones-Ultrasone-HFI780's w/LittleDot MK Vamp Portables Panasonic HJE-900's -
I have to check. I think mine came with spikes in the bag w/the manual.
Exactly where do we put the Dyanmate & Mortite?
All sounds like great tips, thanks tony
There are many, many threads on Dynamat & Mortite. Here are a couple. I suggest you search through the forum for even more threads as there are many different opinions on how and where to place the Dynamat & Mortite.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52810&highlight=Dynamat
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74524&highlight=Mortite
Have fun,
Joe
