RT-12 Heritage?

Hi there,
Just discovered Club Polk and found the banter here very entertaining and informative!
I picked up a pair of RT-12s years ago as part of my starter home theatre. Its quite an eclectic collection but Im happy with the sound. Im now in the position to add/replace pieces of the HT and would like to know where the RT-12s fit into Polks line back then. Were they considered entry level, mid, top of the line (doubtful from the frequent pairing of SDA and drool in the flea market board )?
I guess Im just wondering if my money would be best spent on upgrading the receiver (Pioneer) centre channel (Yamaha), the subwoofer (generic), the rear surrounds (Celestion) or the RT12s? I doubt my budget will ever allow me to splurge on top end equipment so bear that in mind before you involve me in bidding for SDAs on eBay
Thanks
Dave
Just discovered Club Polk and found the banter here very entertaining and informative!
I picked up a pair of RT-12s years ago as part of my starter home theatre. Its quite an eclectic collection but Im happy with the sound. Im now in the position to add/replace pieces of the HT and would like to know where the RT-12s fit into Polks line back then. Were they considered entry level, mid, top of the line (doubtful from the frequent pairing of SDA and drool in the flea market board )?
I guess Im just wondering if my money would be best spent on upgrading the receiver (Pioneer) centre channel (Yamaha), the subwoofer (generic), the rear surrounds (Celestion) or the RT12s? I doubt my budget will ever allow me to splurge on top end equipment so bear that in mind before you involve me in bidding for SDAs on eBay
Thanks
Dave
Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
Post edited by phoneisbusy on
Comments
What's the layout on the rest of your rig?
BDT
Aaron
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
nascarmann - damn! That's a hell of a deal for R10's! Too bad it converts to a gazillion Canadian pesos up here.
Aaron, your review would imply that using a subwoofer and the crossover in my receiver would improve the bass? I've noticed an improvement when I added the subwoofer to the system. Still playing around with the positioning and crossover frequencies though.
I'm leaning towards upgrading the centre (donated Yamaha natural sound model yada - yada) with the CSi30 or CSi40.
Unless, ... the CS300 is significantly better to justify the price and effort?
Thanks again.
Dave
btw. How did I get labeled a 'Polkie'?
Aaron
I too hold a weakness for RT-12s. They were my first taste of Polk Audio and I have been hooked ever since. Much debate has ensued in this forum concerning the changing of the tweeters to the trilaminates used in the newer versions, albeit a derivative version of those used in the RT800i series.
I chose to upgrade my tweeters and have been extremely happy with the results. Although I have recently added RT800i's for my fronts (due to a can't pass up deal), when I was running Rt-12s with my 1000p center and LS/FX surrounds, the sound was seamless. Although older, I feel that the RT-12s are still very easily integrated with newer polk speakers and are a solid choice to build your system around. (I don't know if this holds true with the LSi series for I have no personal experience with them). As Aarons review showed, the differences in the RT-12s and newer 800 series are subtle.
I still use two pairs of RT-12s as my rear surrounds and they sound excellent with the rest of my polk set-up. Further, if you ask me, the build quality of the RT-12s are better than the RT800i's.
IMO, keep your RT-12s and put your money towards better components and completing your HT speaker arrangement. Once finished, try switching out the tweeters. You'll still come out ahead of the game money wise.
Have fun,
Brent