RT - 7's imaging and soundstage.

Gary Robertson · January 2003

The imaging and soundstaging with my polk audio RT - 7's powered by an ADCOM GFA-545-II is abouloutley phenomenal.
Once i get in the hotspot the singer is right in the middle and the you can hear the snare popping about 10 feet behind the singer,,i'm totally amazed at how
a whole soundstage can be re-created.
It sometimes makes me wonder if we even need a center channel at all !! :-)
i am a 2 channel freak anyway..You all ought to check out Norman Browns new cd called "Just Chillin",,Damn, that's a good album.It has guests stars on it like Michael McDonald and Chante Moore and Debbe Nova etc. The Polks and Adcom make this an incredible expierence-especially with the velodyne 12/15 kicking in.I am using Monster 850i's for innerconnects and monster 14 gauge wire for the speakers--the question is . Does anyone out there know of a good wire upgrade without having to spend a fortune on.i mean Nordost is fabulous but i could never afford something like that or Tara's.

TroyD · January 2003

Damn good speakers the RT7. I think one of Polk's better offerings. I certainly loved mine and miss them greatly!

BDT

Gary Robertson · January 2003

Yes I totally agree i still cant
't believe that i pickd these over the paradigm studio 20's among others but when i got these things home, and got about 40 hours of hard break in on them,they just flew- people come for miles to hear this system.mainlt becaise i am the only high end audio nut in this smal town and surroundings and they all have rack systems from best buy and circuit city and while the racks sound great ,they just miss the explicit detail..Yes i love the RT-7's
and i will never get rid of them..(even if the IRS comes i will chain my self to the RT_7's) ha,ha,ha,ha...

MxStYlEpOlKmAn · January 2003

HEY! DUDE! u got the 545II also! Gimmie a reveiw! PLZ!!!

Gary Robertson · January 2003

Okay you want a review?? i'll go look up everything and get back to you later TODAY..i can tell you right now that these amps are way up there with the best--hell, they're designed by Nelson Pass from pass labs.The 545II is phenominal because they have huge toroidal transformers and polypropylene storage capacitors that store 40,000 microfarrads of power to insure a good stability and they eliminate coupling capacitors that create subtile but detectible distortion and they have those roderstein metal film resistors and the triple darlington array--Dude this is exeptionally top notch stuff and all high quality parts "no" generics".

TroyD · January 2003

I'm helping a buddy build a 2ch rig and picked up a 545 at a local shop RIDICULOUSLY cheap a little while ago. Nice amp, hated to let him have it, actually.

BDT

MxStYlEpOlKmAn · January 2003

*smiles ear to ear*

Gary Robertson · January 2003

Okay here goes::
Here is a review fot the ADCOM::
The ADCOM 545-II has outdone most of the competetion.It has done its time in in stereophile ,among others and it is just so damn clean sounding.. heres the specs..................................
20hz - 20khz
THD is rated at 0.04% at 100 watts per channel RMS at 8 0hms...
150 watts per chanel at 4 ohms..
and 200 watts at 2 ohms...there's so much current that it can probably drive "ANY" load that it is asked to drive--just remember to gat a litte 10 dollar fan and run it towards the amp
so the cool air can flow from the bottom vents to the top and this baby will never shut down..the instantanoius distortion lights will come on when the distortion hits 1% (they will flash) its okay to let them flash faintly but anymore is pushing it..the distortion cannot be heard by the human ear until it hits 10%--so when the lights come on brigt and solid -- bring it down.Also this thing puts out one hell of a lot more power tham 100 watts--(very moderately rated).
The amp is direct copupled from the input stage onward to minimize the need for signal path capacators which can distort the sound,,thus exceptional stability makes conventional potective output unnecessary improving phase and amplitude response even at frequency extermeties..A higher more consistant damping factor contributes to "OUTSTANDING" loudspeaker control.....
(ever notice that the speaker controls a reviever??) yes (that's why you can't run a 4 ohm speaker with a 8 ohm reciever) and thats why i personally will never do another reciever--they just do not have room for these big torodial transformers and the tuner and pre amp and the amp are all on the same chassis which creates all kinds of distortion and innermodulation feedback and virtually "dirty"power...-Seperate compomets is the way to go. anyway ,the signal in the ADCOM is as short and as direct as possible.The input and driver stages operate in "CLASS-A" mode for a quick and accurate response to the musical signal.this amp has twelve output transistors in the triple darlington array with approxamately 12 amps of current each--(extremely high current).
this has to be one of the cleanest amps i have ever heard.. Hey,, maybe i should do reviews for stereopile--just kidding hell my knowlede is not even a fraction of thiers..

danger boy · January 2003

hey what's the difference between the Adcom 545 and the Adcom 545 II ?

joe logston · January 2003

i love my rt-7, was thinking of replaceing them with the lsi-9, but the 7 will be hard to replace

running the 7 on aragon 4004 mark2,
aragon 24k sp pre-amp with ips
aragon d2a ad converter with ips
source- sony dvp-s7000

Gary Robertson · January 2003

I think the Aragon's are an excellent
componet system-i see them in stereophile constantly-good choice...
and i think thaT the RT-7 out does most speakers that are way above thier price range ...especially if you add a decent subwoofer to them- my sub goes down to 18hz even though the only thing that probably could make notes that low would be a pipe organ..but it's nice to know that the room is there..at any rate i am hooked on RT-7's-i bought mine brand new in late 96 and loved them ever since.

RuSsMaN · January 2003

Gary,

Troy gave me a pair of RT7's for free some time back, and I posted a review here:

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5438&highlight=Review

Just FYI, not tooting my own horn, just thought you might like the read.

Cheers,
Russ

joe logston · January 2003

that was one of the best post on the rt-7 that i ever read,
russ you did a great job on that one thanks.

and i would add that the cleaner the equipment and soltware
the cleaner they sound, add the better the equipment & soltware and the better the rt-7 get,

set up i have mine,i set speakers so the tweeters are higher than my ears and tilted down to where they are focus just a little above my ears and set strarght forwared make sure that they are perfect, set the right tilt the same and straight ahead, this will make a solid soundstage , try this, i been trying setups for a real long time and this is the best setup that i found so far for the rt-7, play with the distance between the tweeters and the distance from tweeters to your ears to. thats more for your room acoustics

Gary Robertson · January 2003

Thanks,
I really enjoyed that review.you've got a good ear.i am going to file that review and keep it..i am also very famiiar with the B&W trickle down line of speakers they are spme of the most beautiful sounding speakers that i ever heard-the 800,801's and 802's are considerd some of the worlds best and the 801' are used in the abby road recording studios for playback monitors.they were there in 1968 when the Beatles were there.Those speakers have been around for a very long time.
i realize that you probably already know all of this but it just feels so damn good to be able to discuss things with other serious audiophiles.My people think i am mentally dusturbed because i spend a rediculous sum of money on this stuff,they say as long as they can hear the song thats all that matters.and i say hey, you love your LEXUS don't cha??? then i say : What do you need a LEXUS for? As long as you can get where you are going is all that matters..and they say---""****""....... Ha,ha --i love this hobby.and you guys are all pretty damn kewl...Thanks again :-)

Gary Robertson · January 2003

The only difference between the 545 and the 545II that i could find is the higher capacity power output,better quality storage capacitors, eseoteric brand parts like roderstein resistors.
oh and we cannot forget the new DC servo circuit which virtually eliminates DC offset at the amplifiers output to provide clearer sound and prolonged speaker life. There could be more changes that i don't know about but this is all i could come up with. as i am just a amateur myself..i certainly need to learn a lot more.

joe logston · February 2003

hi gary, yes im lucky to have them, (aragon system) i had them for 12 yrs. now and love them.
especially the aragon 24k sp pre amp, with the ips.

Gary Robertson · February 2003

Hey Joe,
I have checked out those Audio Source subs,They are pretty damn good (especially for the price)--i came ,"oh so close" to buying the 12" downfire. I see those in the JB World catalouges that i get in the mail--I also have an Audio Source Graphic equalizer that i use--(only to costomize my cassette recordings) and it works quite well i like it really because it goes through the tape loop and the cd's can be made to travel through it bafore the sound hits the tape so the sound can be modified just likea studio-so if i want more bass,i put it in there -and the tapes sound totally bitchen in the car.

joe logston · February 2003

yes they are dam good for the money, if you can find one, i got real lucky on the one i have, got it for $199 .00 at coscos it was the last one.
i use it as a placement sub, that blends the bottem octive with my 2 polk psw-650, and it works real good doing that, it is real hard to set up though. but wend you do its bottem heaven.

joe logston · February 2003

heres the specifications on the audiosource sw 15

200w rms
fr 25hz to 250 hz
s to n r >90 db
driver 15" reinforced
sub crossover frequency 40 hz to 180 hz

power audio on & off switch

phase 0, 180 switch

it came with a subwoofer cd to set up

and a lot more

Gary Robertson · February 2003

Cool,
I like a good bottom end thump..
Especially when it's nice and clean..
Using a decent sub with the RT 7's makes one of the most fantastic set ups around.Seriously (with the sub) i have actually seen them out perform 5,000 dollar "boutique" brand speakers by far..

weavercr · February 2003

I know the orginal 535 and 545 used Bipolar transisters and the newer 5300 ect, use Mosfets in the output stages. The Bipolar transistors give a little punchier bass. Not sure when they made the transistion to mosfets. I have the 535 in the garage rig. I repaires a few of the 535, 545 and 555 in the mid 80's when I was working in the electronics field. All 3 models would bench test higher than their rated wattage. 535 would range from 70 to 78 watts amd the 545 110 to 125 watts and the 555 ran 215 to 230 watts. I personally like the sound quality of the 535 best. but would love to get 3 - 545 models for HT.

hoosier21 · February 2003

Ithink for the most part Adcom amp with 3 digit model numbers
were Bipolar and model numbers with 4 digits have the Mosfet

Gary Robertson · February 2003

Yes, i Remember the mosfets came in late 1996 which replaced the upgraded 545II and the 555II--i must say that i really love these amplifier's and stand by them 100%..You should hear these amps driving a pair of NHT 3.3's or the bigger polks..man. the amp just controlls the hell out of the speakers with the utmost authority. for the price -it's incredible..

Gary Robertson · February 2003

I put in a very nice set of MONSTER 850'I
innerconnects and i think it made a world of difference--Much more clean and detailed.. definately one of the best "AFFORDABLE" innerconnects i have expierenced..Around 85 dollars per M.

Gary Robertson · March 2003

still dreaming of the ADCOM-gfa 5802 but for now i'll just have to live with about half the power..
Do you all know what GFA stands for???
(Great f

g amp !! )

MxStYlEpOlKmAn · March 2003

Originally posted by Gary Robertson
still dreaming of the ADCOM-gfa 5802 but for now i'll just have to live with about half the power..
Do you all know what GFA stands for???
(Great f
g amp !! )

LOL, I hope so. I will be able to use my GFA-545II by the end of next week at most. I am expecting some results!

Gary Robertson · March 2003

MX .....Your 545II is gonna be so damn clean..
trust me..

RT - 7's imaging and soundstage.

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RT - 7's imaging and soundstage.

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