“Big detailed sound!” - cphillips82’s Review of Polk Audio RTI A9 Floorstanding Speaker (Single, Cherry)

Big detailed sound!

Posted 6/19/12 · 18 Views · 7 Comments

Pros: HT and music, great bass, less bright than tsi series

Cons: none

I got a great deal on these from www.acousticsounddesign.com who were great to deal with. These replaced tsi500's in my 5.1 HT setup. The difference between these and the tsi's are night and day. The detail is amazing and they put out so much beautiful sound effortlessly. There are so many comments out there about the rti's being very bright/forward but i was pleasantly surprised to find them much more laid back when compared to the tsi's. I have these running off an Onkyo 809 and they sound fantastic -- full sound at all volume levels. I will think about adding an external amp at some point but given how great they sound now im unsure of how much improvement i would get. For HT I'm crossing them over at 50hz but for music it really does sound great to run them full band/range and turn the sub right off (for me an HSU stf-2). LOVIN' these bad boys!

7 Comments

SRTer 6/24/12 at 10:43am

Yes, they are nice. I have a set too. I would try a amp on them also. I went from a 140 watt Pioneer Elite SC-35 AVR to a 200 watt two channel Adcom and I love the results. You should test out a few amps to see if you like the extra power too.

Seth89 6/24/12 at 12:09pm

I like polk (and own polks) but i don't like this tweeter in this speaker. They should step up there game and stick there newest tweeter in this monitor. ( referring to the Ring Radiator tweeter found in the polk LSi)
I wished they would dump the plastic and use metal or even just plastic with a rubberized finish for the speaker trim and tweeter cover. I think this would sway peoples opinion about polk being cheap speaker.

but the finish on this speaker is awesome, i love the size too.

cphillips82 6/24/12 at 2:47pm

Glad to hear you had good results adding an amp -- I actually broke down already and ordered an Emotiva xpa-3. I think just the pure size of these made me wonder whether they were really getting the power they need. I definitely could hear a difference in the "fullness" of sound leaving when listening to music and switching from stereo to surround -- and then I'd have to crank the volume. I'll post back once I get the xpa-3 up and running, it will be powering the a6 center as well.

SRTer 6/24/12 at 6:37pm

You will be pleased with the amp. Also, Seth89, you are right. I hate the gray plastic as well. Plus, I would like a beter tweeter. Nevertheless, I still like the dual 5.25 inch ids and three 7 inch woofers. These speakers outright fill the room with impactful sound when you run them full range with some decent power.

cphillips82 6/24/12 at 11:41pm

SRTer, I just saw in a Polk thread that you were going to try out a neighbors Emotiva with your rti setup but I didnt see what kind of results you had. Did you try it out and what did you think?

SRTer 6/25/12 at 8:45pm

Well, he never brought it over. He said he would but never did. So I stopped asking. I will put some power on these babies soon enough. Maybe this year if Emo has a July sale like they have been known to do.

Also, with all the negative comment about Emo on the Polk board, I might just aim a bit higher in cost for a 300 watt amp by a company the has a bit more prestige. I would like a another Adcom or a Carver, and maybe a Wyred4Sound ICE amp.

We will see how the money flow is. I also want a Vette this year. I have more wants than money.

Soumya Maitra 12/13/12 at 2:24am

Hi all
Sorry to jump into
Actually I was also trying to bring RTi A5 but thinking about the high notes.
Can you guys suggest whether I go and get it and any way to improve the highs ?
Regards
Soumya

AVS