Rti's Surprised the Hell Out of Me

nikolas812
nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
edited April 2008 in Speakers
I recently decided to start putting together a small surround sound system in the living room. I was lucky enough to find a polkie willing to sell a a pair of Rti4's and a Csi3 to me to get me started. In cherry no less.:) I ended up getting my receiver before I got the speakers so with me not having any patience I decided to hook my M7's from the 2 channel rig until they got here. As I expected the M7's sounded great and had a TON! of bass. So I immediately started thinking the little RTi's were going to be a disappointment.

WRONG!

I could not believe what I was hearing. They matched or exceeded the M7's in the bass category!:eek: I couldn't believe a book shelf speaker was producing the kind of clean bass it was producing. Not to mention they sounded good every where else. Not harsh or hard to listen to at all. Very detailed and smooth.

I also didn't expect a 3 channel setup to sound so much different than a stereo setup.

Needless to say I can't wait to get the another pair of Rti4's for the rear and a good sub.

I just wanted to put together something very small and modest. Looks like this system is going to be a over achiever.:D

Just wanted to share my Rti experience with others.

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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited April 2008
    There's nothing quite like hearing the weather forecast in 5.1!:p
    Sharp Elite 70
    Anthem D2V 3D
    Parasound 5250
    Parasound HCA 1000 A
    Parasound HCA 1000
    Oppo BDP 95
    Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
    Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
    Totem Mask Surrounds X4
    Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
    Sony PS3
    Squeezebox Touch

    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,077
    edited April 2008
    Looks nice,glad your jonesin' on them.

    Really Darla,when was the last time you actually listened to the weather,in frickin' "sunny every day" Florida?
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited April 2008
    Great to hear Nikolas, party on.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited April 2008
    tonyb wrote: »
    Looks nice,glad your jonesin' on them.

    Really Darla,when was the last time you actually listened to the weather,in frickin' "sunny every day" Florida?

    Don't haterate.:p


    Seriously Nik, it looks great . Enjoy.:)
    Sharp Elite 70
    Anthem D2V 3D
    Parasound 5250
    Parasound HCA 1000 A
    Parasound HCA 1000
    Oppo BDP 95
    Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
    Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
    Totem Mask Surrounds X4
    Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
    Sony PS3
    Squeezebox Touch

    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,561
    edited April 2008
    There really isn't anything I enjoy more. Years ago I installed this Mirage system with a Yamaha receiver. I have installed this package many times with good results ... except this time.

    It was a cold **** day about 5 years ago. Liv4fam and myself went out to this job that was getting a Mitsubishi 65 inch in a corner which already kills it, the Mirage and Yamaha package with a Sony DVD and cable box no it was a DSS HD receiver by Mitsubishi if you can remember them. We Installed a Antenna on the roof for HD over Local channels. There was a **** crawl space underneath the room and one rear was going on a wall we had to access from outside. it was a overhang. So Livr4fam was out there while I was running the other rear, and it started to snow.
    After a few hours of tweaking there Philips Pronto to work the system, we fired her up and calibrated. Sub was in the corner behind the tv so Balancing it was a little tricky. It humped at 58hz and Yamaha didn't have any kind of notch filter to fix the problem. So we took a pillow and stuck it back there with trail and error we got the sub pretty smooth.

    Star Wars EP1 just came out on DVD and we fired it up. The light saber fight between Maul and Ob1 . Liv4fam and myself was shocked how effin good the system sounded. It was totally amazing. The room and that system even with bad placement due to the room lay out (Wife wanted things a certain way) just effin rocked. We LAUGHED OUT LOUD for awhile I think the customer thought we where crazy or something. Liv4fam actually broke a tear.

    We didn't expect that system to exceed our expectations. I did so that Liv4fam went out and purchased the entire system. His didn't sound exaclty like that one did but it was good nontheless.

    You know when you buy higher end gear, you already know it's going to perform to your or above goals. Sometimes it don't. So when you put in a system that you don't expect to go and it does, it's such a rewarding feeling.

    Congrads on the system man.I hope the luster stays for awhile.

    Dan
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited April 2008
    Cool story!

    Thanks for the kind words everybody.

    I couldn't help but wonder if having everything caddy cornered the way it is has something to do with the bass response. I mean.... Its almost on par with a PSW10 or PS110 or something along those lines that I use to own a while back. Remember its also only a 3.0 system right now. No rears or sub.

    I forgot to mention how nice they look. I never had a chance to see them in person. All the pictures on the net made them kind of look cheap. I don't think so anymore. Very solid build and the cherry finish looks great. The grill covers are a little tricky but who cares. Once there in place I don't plan on touching them anymore.
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  • Ron Temple
    Ron Temple Posts: 3,212
    edited April 2008
    A clean recording sounds great on RTis. The "harshness" only came into play during very busy guitar work with distortion effects. Just seemed to overload the treble a bit. Wrong room or gear and it can get tiresome. Since I don't play much metal, I never had a problem and enjoy the RTis quite alot.

    Combo rig:

    Onkyo NR1007 pre-pro, Carver TFM 45(fronts), Carver TFM 35 (surrounds)
    SDA 1C, CS400i, SDA 2B
    PB13Ultra RO
    BW Silvers
    Oppo BDP-83SE
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  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited April 2008
    Very nice. Personally I would get a pair of RTi6's to put up front and just move the 4's you have now to the rear position, but thats just me.....

    I bet the weather sounds better at your house than anywhere else on your block... :)

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited April 2008
    The thought of getting 6's has crossed my mind. It really all depends on what I come across when I have the money.

    I will also be getting a SVS pci 25-31 to round things out.

    I can't wait to get everything. The 4's have really gotten me in the surround sound mood.

    I also plan on moving the 4's into my listening room this weekend just for fun. It will be neat to see how they sound on some tube gear.
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited April 2008
    Looks terrific, congrats Nikolas!
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • MKZ
    MKZ Posts: 1,068
    edited April 2008
    Nice setup Nick, glad to hear that you enjoy it. BTW How do you put CSi3 on top of LCD?
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  • BeRad
    BeRad Posts: 745
    edited April 2008
    I do agree that the RTI's are quite... Delightful!! :D:D:D
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited April 2008
    tonyb wrote: »
    Really Darla,when was the last time you actually listened to the weather,in frickin' "sunny every day" Florida?

    I'm not going to speak for Darla, but I like to keep an eye on the weather from August till November;) Other wise pretty much sunny everyday with a chance of showers in the afternoon:D

    ENJOY NICK!!!
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited April 2008
    MKZ wrote: »
    Nice setup Nick, glad to hear that you enjoy it. BTW How do you put CSi3 on top of LCD?


    I don't know if you can see it but the entertainment center has a post to mount flat panel tvs to. The front of the center is resting on the LCD and the back of the center is resting on the entertainment center's post.

    Worked out nice.:)

    And thanks for the speakers MKZ.;)
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited April 2008
    Ron Temple wrote: »
    A clean recording sounds great on RTis. The "harshness" only came into play during very busy guitar work with distortion effects. Just seemed to overload the treble a bit. Wrong room or gear and it can get tiresome. Since I don't play much metal, I never had a problem and enjoy the RTis quite alot.

    This has been my experience as well with my x4 RTi4 setup.

    With a clean 'open' audio track the RTi4s do very well with range, imaging, clarity and musical - even when driven loud.

    With busy rock, they do seem to have a tendency to get tiresome.

    However, this may have to do more with poor sources of good quality 'rock' recordings than the RTis?

    While I wouldn't call Pink Floyd "metal", I have played Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and the RTi4s were quite impressive!

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited April 2008
    McLoki wrote: »
    Very nice. Personally I would get a pair of RTi6's to put up front and just move the 4's you have now to the rear position, but thats just me.....

    I bet the weather sounds better at your house than anywhere else on your block... :)

    Michael

    Do you think there is a big difference in sound Q between the 4s and 6s?

    Dang you - getting me to even contemplate upgrading already!!! :p

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,669
    edited April 2008
    tonyb wrote: »
    Looks nice,glad your jonesin' on them.

    Really Darla,when was the last time you actually listened to the weather,in frickin' "sunny every day" Florida?

    Not that often. You can look in the sky to know the weather here.

    Sorry,
    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • polkyphil38
    polkyphil38 Posts: 447
    edited April 2008
    Erik Tracy wrote: »
    This has been my experience as well with my x4 RTi4 setup.

    With a clean 'open' audio track the RTi4s do very well with range, imaging, clarity and musical - even when driven loud.

    With busy rock, they do seem to have a tendency to get tiresome.

    However, this may have to do more with poor sources of good quality 'rock' recordings than the RTis?

    While I wouldn't call Pink Floyd "metal", I have played Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and the RTi4s were quite impressive!
    The Wall sounds superb on my RTi6's. Pink Floyd is my fav!!!! :):)
    The way one uses a product is a much more SIGNIFICANT factor than which product(s) he uses.
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,358
    edited April 2008
    Nik, your system looks great! I'm glad for your success with these components. I had the RTi6's and liked them very much. I imagine the RTi4's sound very good also. I have a pair of old RTi28's which I believe were the forerunner of the RTi4's in the computer room. They sound fantastic!

    Maybe it's just my own taste, but I prefer the center lower than the screen and pointing up slightly. I know that you would lose a shelf with that configuration, but I like the center under the screen.

    Congrats on the setup!:)
    Carl

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  • donedroolin
    donedroolin Posts: 225
    edited April 2008
    Nik, Your setup looks SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Amazing what a good set of speakers can sound like. You hear new sounds in movies and music,its awsome. Glad to hear you like your POLK setup.
    TV- 52 inch LCD SONY BRAVIA XBR6
    TV- 42 inch PLASMA HITACHI ULTRA VISION
    AMP- PARASOUND HALO A-51
    CONTROLLER- PARASOUND HALO C-2
    FRONT SPEAKERS- LSi15's and LSiC
    REAR SPEAKERS- LSi7's
    SUBWOOFER- VELODYNE DD15
    BLU RAY- LG SUPER BLU BH200
    BLU RAY- SONY BDPS350
    GAME SYSTEM- NINTENDO Wii
    MONSTER POWER CONDITIONER
    WIRES- AUDIO QUEST and MONSTER
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited April 2008
    Keiko wrote: »
    Very nice Nikolas. I got a pair of 6's as mains and 4's for my surround. The RTi bookshelves are nothing short of amazing. A well built and beautiful speaker. Nothing else comes close in their price range IMO. Njoy :)

    Just out of curiousity - have you noticed a big/better difference between the 4s and 6s as mains?

    I'd have to agree the RTI series is a great value.

    Not sure if I'm breaking forum etiquette again but when I got all 4 of my RTI4s, the cost after tax and shipping was about $80/speaker!

    Coupled with a modestly priced PSW303 (acknowledging it is a budget sub) - my listening experience is very sweet!

    I still shake my head in disbelief at the sound per dollar value I'm getting! :D

    Erik

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,546
    edited April 2008
    Rti's rarely get the respect they deserve. They often can run with anything at twice their price. Enjoy.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Source: Rotel CD14MkII CD Player - Speakers: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • polkyphil38
    polkyphil38 Posts: 447
    edited April 2008
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Rti's rarely get the respect they deserve. They often can run with anything at twice their price. Enjoy.
    Steve, I agree that the RTi speakers do NOT get the respect they deserve. I am just loving my RTi set-up.
    The way one uses a product is a much more SIGNIFICANT factor than which product(s) he uses.
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  • polkyphil38
    polkyphil38 Posts: 447
    edited April 2008
    nikolas812 wrote: »
    I recently decided to start putting together a small surround sound system in the living room. I was lucky enough to find a polkie willing to sell a a pair of Rti4's and a Csi3 to me to get me started. In cherry no less.:) I ended up getting my receiver before I got the speakers so with me not having any patience I decided to hook my M7's from the 2 channel rig until they got here. As I expected the M7's sounded great and had a TON! of bass. So I immediately started thinking the little RTi's were going to be a disappointment.

    WRONG!

    I could not believe what I was hearing. They matched or exceeded the M7's in the bass category!:eek: I couldn't believe a book shelf speaker was producing the kind of clean bass it was producing. Not to mention they sounded good every where else. Not harsh or hard to listen to at all. Very detailed and smooth.

    I also didn't expect a 3 channel setup to sound so much different than a stereo setup.

    Needless to say I can't wait to get the another pair of Rti4's for the rear and a good sub.

    I just wanted to put together something very small and modest. Looks like this system is going to be a over achiever.:D

    Just wanted to share my Rti experience with others.

    http://
    [
    Very nice looking set-up Nik. I noticed you listed 812 so how close are you to the Evansville area? I am just across the Twin bridges from there. Just curious. Congrats on your new set-up.
    The way one uses a product is a much more SIGNIFICANT factor than which product(s) he uses.
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  • polkyphil38
    polkyphil38 Posts: 447
    edited April 2008
    Hey Nik just got my FXiA4's up on my walls. Plan to run the speaker wire tomorrow and recalibrate. I will try to post a few pics tomorrow as well. Now, I am stuck with a set of the RTi4's in black that I have no room for. The new ht room is just too small. Guess, I will have to put them up for sale. Nik, just wished you lived closer to the Evansville area. :):)
    The way one uses a product is a much more SIGNIFICANT factor than which product(s) he uses.
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited April 2008
    polkyphil38 wrote: »
    Hey Nik just got my FXiA4's up on my walls. Plan to run the speaker wire tomorrow and recalibrate. I will try to post a few pics tomorrow as well. Now, I am stuck with a set of the RTi4's in black that I have no room for. The new ht room is just too small. Guess, I will have to put them up for sale. Nik, just wished you lived closer to the Evansville area. :):)

    I hear ya.

    Seems nobody is in a resonable driving distance from me.:(

    Shoot me a PM on a price for the 4's. I need one pair to complete my 5.0 setup. They don't match the cherry ones I have but they would be for the surrounds anyway. So it isn't that important.

    I'll be looking forward to some pics.

    Nick
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  • LVD
    LVD Posts: 12
    edited April 2008
    sweet setup
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  • polkyphil38
    polkyphil38 Posts: 447
    edited April 2008
    nikolas812 wrote: »
    I hear ya.

    Seems nobody is in a resonable driving distance from me.:(

    Shoot me a PM on a price for the 4's. I need one pair to complete my 5.0 setup. They don't match the cherry ones I have but they would be for the surrounds anyway. So it isn't that important.

    I'll be looking forward to some pics.

    Nick
    Nik, sent you a pm. let me know my friend.
    The way one uses a product is a much more SIGNIFICANT factor than which product(s) he uses.
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