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3M views 46K replies 3K participants last post by  LouM5 
#1 ·
I just felt it was about time we had an official polk speaker thread , being that according to the speaker brand poll , we have quite a few polkies in here. This might be a good place to discuss tweaks , problems or experiences with your speakers. I for one own a pair of Rti 8s which im very thrilled with and just recently upgraded my center speaker to the almighty csi 5 which has turned out to live up to the hype. The weak link in my set up is my Boston acoustic subwoofer which really isnt that bad but I could do better. The sub is positioned right next to my throne (sweat spot) ,a position I found to sound the best(at this location it also doubles as a poor man's butt kicker
). Anyhoo , it will be nice to hear from other polkies out there....
 
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#39,341 ·
For those of you that have ordered during the Friends & Family 50% Off Sale (before or this year)...what is the turnaround time typically like? I placed my order early Monday morning (12/1) and my order status is "in progress" at this time. I'm sure they've got tons of orders to fulfill but I thought I'd ask here anyway to see what people's experiences have been. Are they pretty good about emailing when it does ship and are they good with providing tracking info for FedEx Ground?
 
#39,342 ·
For those of you that have ordered during the Friends & Family 50% Off Sale (before or this year)...what is the turnaround time typically like? I placed my order early Monday morning (12/1) and my order status is "in progress" at this time. I'm sure they've got tons of orders to fulfill but I thought I'd ask here anyway to see what people's experiences have been. Are they pretty good about emailing when it does ship and are they good with providing tracking info for FedEx Ground?
I ordered Thursday. They canceled part of my order (no notice, no backorder etc) and shipped the rest promptly on Monday. I received my tracking number Monday, and order actually arrived today! (I paid ~25$ for FedEx shipping). I am still upset that they canceled part of the order but after talking with customer service they said they simply did not have back order capability and the promised to honor the previous price when the missing speaker comes back in stock.
 
#39,343 ·
Bonjour Alan (étant donné votre nom et que vous habitez le Canada, je suppose que vous êtes francophone),

I think for your purposes the PSW111 will do nicely; however I do think that you overpaid for the system you got. The TL350 is just plain pricy and I haven't seen it discounted much. Now, IIUC you are looking for a system composed of 5 small satellites and don't want to make the room for bookies let alone floorstanders; if so, the TL350 or TL250 will certainly fill the bill, but you do pay a premium for the small form factor.

FWIW, I purchased my TL250 from newegg.com two years ago for $320 shipped--and that included a free PSW111. I wound up selling the 8" 150W PSW111 and got the 12" 300W PSW505 instead, which I am currently using in my 7.1.4 living room set-up (FL/R-75t, C-CS2 Sii, SL/R & SBL/R-OWM5, FW-55t, FH-OWM5, TM-80F/X-RT). Like you, I do not want my living room cluttered by or aesthetically overwhelmed by speakers and that criterion has factored into my purchases.

You may well find that you are very happy with what you got, but if you have the room for a somewhat larger SW, the PSW505 is IMHO the best bang for the buck. Newegg is currently selling it for $200, but they sometimes list it for $180 and earlier this week for a short time you could have bought it for as low as $140 (listed for $170 with a $30 VISA checkout discount code). That's quite a bargain in my book! There are certainly better and more powerful subwoofers out there but not for anything approaching $200, and I like the performance and relatively small footprint of the PSW505 which at just over 15"H fits nicely under a side table in the corner of my living room.

You can read a number of newegg user reviews of the PSW111 here and the PSW505 here.

Salut, Jeff

P.S. You could get my used TL250 AND a brand new PSW505 for less than the $500 Crutchfield was asking for the TL250 plus PSW111!
LOL - the forum took my second name for some reason. Je m'appelle MacDonald, et mon francais est terrible!

Yeah, I probably overpaid, but if the sound is there, I won't mind. Certainly this system should put my 10-year-old Sony HTIB to shame. I'm hoping that the TL350 is a noticeable improvement over the tl250. I guess we'll see. I'm already experiencing buyers guilt!

That PSW505 sounds interesting. My media room is pretty small AND oddly shaped (under 1400 cubic feet) so I don't imagine that the PSW111 will have trouble filling that small a space, but my biggest worry is that my neighbour (with whom I share a wall) not be overly affected by a deeply rumbling bass. An underpowered sub and satellites are actually attractive to me, believe it or not!

Can't wait to get it all set up. Bought some blu-rays to give it a work out - "Apocalypse Now, Full Disclosure", "Blade Runner, Final Cut", "Band of Brothers". That should put all the components nicely through their paces! Any other suggestions re: good audio blu-rays?

A bientot!

Alan
 
#39,344 ·
@ viking74 Thank you as well for your input! I needs all the help i can get! I have also been considering at least the CSi A6 front speaker to add to the two RTi A7's I have coming but now I need to wait a while for some "extra" money to accumulate. I think i need to go through my computer room and selling some extra baggage as in mass quantities of not being used PC parts. Where my sound gear is going is in my living room but there is quite a lot of open space with the kitchen, dining area, and living room all open in one big 18' x 24' space, half of which has a rug and half tile flooring. Then there is also a fireplace and sliding glass doors so there is a lot to consider after reading how the are can effect the sound quality as well. I should be alright though. I went and bought some material from audioholics to read and now have their u-tube TV vids to watch and learn with too. Lot of stuff to keep me busy for a while.

One issue though is still kindof bugging me. It is that issue of bi-amping. I got a call from C-fields this morning and the guy said that although he had never tried it, he asked me why I thought that the AVR's had that capability. He also said that maybe I could use the second zone to bi-amp the RTi A7's and that was something I had not considered but most folks on here say bi-amping is useless so why do the AVR's all have that ability? I believe you all know far more than the salespeople at C-field do as they are just parroting what the manufacturers are telling them in many cases although I am sure that there are people that are qualified over there that have their own home theater gear as well. I just need that whole issue to be completely settled in my brain before moving on.

Also, does anyone think that i would benefit from using both the Energy Take 5.1's subwoofer along with the PSW125 I will be getting this week? I really do appreciate all the info or help in setting up a decent sound system. I love listening to all sorts of music and watch the TV and movies about the same so I want to end up with the best system I can without totally breaking the bank but then I would imagine that to be everyone's mindset (just different banks!) Anyway, I do like my bass but also love clarity all the more and hearing all the musicians individually and at once of course.
 
#39,345 ·
I ordered Thursday. They canceled part of my order (no notice, no backorder etc) and shipped the rest promptly on Monday. I received my tracking number Monday, and order actually arrived today! (I paid ~25$ for FedEx shipping). I am still upset that they canceled part of the order but after talking with customer service they said they simply did not have back order capability and the promised to honor the previous price when the missing speaker comes back in stock.
Just curious what you ordered that was canceled (if you don't mind saying). I was going to get the 707s in midnight mahogany but they only have cherry is why I was asking.

And if anyone has an extra friends and family code they aren't going to use please PM me. THANKS
 
#39,346 ·
LOL - the forum took my second name for some reason. Je m'appelle MacDonald, et mon francais est terrible!
Ohoh, one of those Scottish Frenchmen, eh?

Yeah, I probably overpaid, but if the sound is there, I won't mind. Certainly this system should put my 10-year-old Sony HTIB to shame. I'm hoping that the TL350 is a noticeable improvement over the tl250. I guess we'll see. I'm already experiencing buyers guilt!

That PSW505 sounds interesting. My media room is pretty small AND oddly shaped (under 1400 cubic feet) so I don't imagine that the PSW111 will have trouble filling that small a space, but my biggest worry is that my neighbour (with whom I share a wall) not be overly affected by a deeply rumbling bass. An underpowered sub and satellites are actually attractive to me, believe it or not!
It sounds like you did your due diligence and got the right system for your needs, price aside. IIRC you bought from Crutchfield, in which case you can always return the merchandise at no cost after you've tried it out if you're not satisfied.

Can't wait to get it all set up. Bought some blu-rays to give it a work out - "Apocalypse Now, Full Disclosure", "Blade Runner, Final Cut", "Band of Brothers". That should put all the components nicely through their paces! Any other suggestions re: good audio blu-rays?

A bientot!

Alan
As a matter of fact, I just now finished auditioning this Audio BD of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, recorded in DTS-HD MA 5.1. I listened to it using the DTS Neo:X 11.1 upmixer and it was glorious. Even though I have a Dolby Atmos-capable 7.1.4 set-up with my Denon AVR-X5200W, I still prefer Neo:X surround mode for music sources and reserve Atmos/DSU for video. If you like classical music, give this disk a spin.:D
 
#39,347 ·
Just curious what you ordered that was canceled (if you don't mind saying). I was going to get the 707s in midnight mahogany but they only have cherry is why I was asking.

And if anyone has an extra friends and family code they aren't going to use please PM me. THANKS
It was a CSiA6 - showed in stock when I ordered but they must have ran out when filling orders. The site shows it out of stock now too.
 
#39,348 ·
Was the improvement from the amp beneficial only at mid/high volume?
Primarily at what I would have to call mid volume, around 20db down from reference level, or typical movie volume.

I do not listen at high volume... never higher than -10db.
 
#39,349 ·
It was a CSiA6 - showed in stock when I ordered but they must have ran out when filling orders. The site shows it out of stock now too.
Please tell me it was the Cherry CSiA6 that they were out of stock on? I ordered a black one. When I ordered the Cherry wasn't even available... :eek:
 
#39,350 ·
Please tell me it was the Cherry CSiA6 that they were out of stock on? I ordered a black one. When I ordered the Cherry wasn't even available... :eek:
Yep it was Cherry, was in stock when I ordered but went out sometime over the weekend. Black still seems to be in stock, you are probably good to go.

I got the RTiA5's unpacked and up and running - they sound great! The FXi's will go up later tonight. Really anxious for the CSi now, I am considering ordering at near full price from Amazon just so I can have it!
 
#39,351 · (Edited)
Yep it was Cherry, was in stock when I ordered but went out sometime over the weekend. Black still seems to be in stock, you are probably good to go.

I got the RTiA5's unpacked and up and running - they sound great! The FXi's will go up later tonight. Really anxious for the CSi now, I am considering ordering at near full price from Amazon just so I can have it!
Thanks for confirming that. Whew. :eek:

I've also got a pair of A9's, a pair of A7's and a pair of FXiA4's coming along for the audition. I am hoping to have them by Tues/Wed of next week. No word on shipping confirmation yet. Fingers crossed.

Share your feedback on those FXiA4's (or 6's), will ya?
 
#39,352 ·
Ohoh, one of those Scottish Frenchmen, eh?

It sounds like you did your due diligence and got the right system for your needs, price aside. IIRC you bought from Crutchfield, in which case you can always return the merchandise at no cost after you've tried it out if you're not satisfied.

As a matter of fact, I just now finished auditioning this Audio BD of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, recorded in DTS-HD MA 5.1. I listened to it using the DTS Neo:X 11.1 upmixer and it was glorious. Even though I have a Dolby Atmos-capable 7.1.4 set-up with my Denon AVR-X5200W, I still prefer Neo:X surround mode for music sources and reserve Atmos/DSU for video. If you like classical music, give this disk a spin.:D
Ha ha - Aye laddie. I mean, Oui...I'm so confused...

I do like some classical. Hadn't thought of trying straight audio. That disc sounds like it would be stunning. How do you like Atmos?

Until the new speakers come along, I may just plug in with my Sennheiser HD 598 headphones - Stereo, but oh my, they sound sweet.

Cheers, A
 
#39,353 ·
They will not match at all, but once you hear the CsiA6 you will realize how much better the Rti's really are over the Tsi's. Quite possibly you will end up replacing everything. I know, it happened to me. I had Monitor 70's and a CS2, then upgraded the center to a CS20, and, still not satisfied with the clarity of the center, finally bought a Csi5. From there, I realized just how much better the entire Rti line is compared to the Monitors and Tsi's and upgraded everything.
Thanks. That's where I thought that might go...My concern was putting down any money and locking my path into Polk RTi series. I'm sure they are a significant upgrade but probably better to open the field to other manufacturers as well.
 
#39,354 ·
Ha ha - Aye laddie. I mean, Oui...I'm so confused...

I do like some classical. Hadn't thought of trying straight audio. That disc sounds like it would be stunning. How do you like Atmos?

Until the new speakers come along, I may just plug in with my Sennheiser HD 598 headphones - Stereo, but oh my, they sound sweet.

Cheers, A
You know the old saying: Don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer.

I had stereo receivers for decades until about three years ago, when I got my first AVR (Denon AVR-3311CI). Like you, I went with a small satellite speaker system at first (Polk 5.1 RM705). Now I'm up to 14 speakers in my main zone and upgraditis still hasn't subsided. (For example, I frequently think about replacing my Monitor system with RTi's or even LSi's, but with such an expansive set-up getting all the right pieces together is too problematic to make it worth my while at present. Besides, what I have now sounds terrific.)

Atmos for the HT is an exciting development, but until some interesting source material is released in it there is not much to enthuse over other than in the academic sense. In the meantime, the Dolby Surround upmixer (DSU) is a nice resource for movie and TV listening. If you are sufficiently interested, there are a number of AVS Forum threads you can follow (e.g., here and here).
 
#39,355 ·
Do the RTi8s make pretty good rear speakers? I'm currently debating on getting the RTI12s or the RTI A9s for fronts and moving my RTi8s to the back. Any thoughts or suggestions regarding this process?

Currently using RTi4s in the back but might move them to a zone 2 elsewhere.

Front - RTi8
Center - CSi5
Rear - RTi4
Sub - SVS PB12
Receiver - Marantz SR5008
No Amp yet, but that will be next.
If you have the room, the RTI8's will be fine as rear speakers, especially if you already own them and plan on upgrading the fronts...but, if you didn't own them already, I would recommend to keep using the 4's since I don't believe you gain that much (8's over the 4's) as far as rear speakers. If you had the room in your zone 2, I would move the 8's there. Also also :) , and there is a varying opinion on this, but with your AVR (which I happen to like a lot) I'm not sure you're really going to being getting the most out of the RTIa9's. You already have the good sub, so honestly I think with your setup you're not buying yourself that much difference with the 9's over the 8's. Now, if you're planning on adding an amp in the future, and are just future proofing your rig, then I'd say have at it.
 
#39,356 ·
Thanks for confirming that. Whew. :eek:

I've also got a pair of A9's, a pair of A7's and a pair of FXiA4's coming along for the audition. I am hoping to have them by Tues/Wed of next week. No word on shipping confirmation yet. Fingers crossed.

Share your feedback on those FXiA4's (or 6's), will ya?
9's and 7's??? :D:D:D
 
#39,357 · (Edited)
If you have the room, the RTI8's will be fine as rear speakers, especially if you already own them and plan on upgrading the fronts...but, if you didn't own them already, I would recommend to keep using the 4's since I don't believe you gain that much (8's over the 4's) as far as rear speakers. If you had the room in your zone 2, I would move the 8's there. Also also :) , and there is a varying opinion on this, but with your AVR (which I happen to like a lot) I'm not sure you're really going to being getting the most out of the RTIa9's. You already have the good sub, so honestly I think with your setup you're not buying yourself that much difference with the 9's over the 8's. Now, if you're planning on adding an amp in the future, and are just future proofing your rig, then I'd say have at it.
I already have the 8s and the 4s, but with a good deal on the RTi 12s and 9s currently I feel it would be a good time for an upgrade.

For the amp part, I definitely want to get one. I'm thinking something about 200 wpc or so for the Front left/right. I've been told with Polk Speakers to look for Rotel/Parasound/B&K as the emotiva's I've been looking at will probably end up being too bright saddly. I'd love to find an amp for around $800-$1000 but I know that will be pretty challenging.
 
#39,358 ·
I already have the 8s and the 4s, but with a good deal on the RTi 12s and 9s currently I feel it would be a good time for an upgrade.

For the amp part, I definitely want to get one. I'm thinking something about 200 wpc or so for the Front left/right. I've been told with Polk Speakers to look for Rotel/Parasound/B&K as the emotiva's I've been looking at will probably end up being too bright saddly. I'd love to find an amp for around $800-$1000 but I know that will be pretty challenging.
Emotiva should be fine. Amp shouldn't effect sound one way or another.
 
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#39,359 ·
@Archigos

Emotiva is a decent amp, but some folks dont like the harshness it tends to bring out. Some folks say that amps cant change sound, I wont start an argument here one way or the other.

I know folks that have Emotiva & RTi speakers and like it, that had Emotiva and RTi speakers and returned the Emotiva amp.

As far as amps go Emotiva is a good starter amp. If your comfortable with used amps sometimes you can get a good deal.

I bought a B&K 200.5 amplifier off eBay (having a local contact listen to it for me) for 500 dollars. That amp provided 375 wpc @ 4 ohms for my LSi speakers. Thats a couple hundred cheaper than the lowest priced Emotiva.

Thing is I got no warranty on it, so there are some risks.

Anyway good luck in your search. I'd suggest Parasound, B&K, ATI, Outlaw as options more because you can find them used for a decent price.

Also worth mentioning is if you find a used Emotiva amp, if there is any warranty left, its transferable.
 
#39,360 ·
Emotiva should be fine. Amp shouldn't effect sound one way or another.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I would think the speaker itself would produce any "brightness" that you might hear before an amp does. If there are any articles or threads alluding to Emo amps producing a "brighter" sound, I'd love to read them. I have heard people claim that they can get "warmer" sound from higher end/higher dollar amps. Is there any truth or scientific evidence to back up such claims?

I use an Emo XPA-3 (which I bought new) to drive my front three speakers and I absolutely love it. Archigos, if this is your first amp, I'm thinking it would be more than sufficient for what you need to do. It's on sale now for $679 for god's sakes!!!! :eek:
 
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