Polk RTi A9 vs. Energy CF70 - Page 2

Why dont you try out the A9s in the standard config first, and see if you are happy with them as-is. Depending on how they sound to you, you can decide where next to spend your dollars, if at all.

Do not be in a rush and make decisions without even hearing them out in your current setup.

Passive bi-amping (without using an active crossover) has very little benefit. You'd probably have more success by crossing your speakers at 80hz, and letting the sub do the heavy lifting. Most of the power consumed by speakers is used in the lower frequencies, so the more of that you push to the sub, the less your AVR will have to put out. 80hz is the THX recommended crossover, BTW.

As to a seperate amp, you will probably need to increase the budget a bit. You can get a Emotiva XPA-3, which is 200wpc into 3 channels for a bit over $600 right now. The Marantz Sr-6006 puts out about 70 wpc into 5 channels at 8 ohms, so to really see a difference, you need to look at a big amp, and, even then, you will probably only notice a difference at higher volumes.

Mike

I have the A7s and I think they are awesome!!!! Just read the reviews. Some say the A9s are better, but I really don't care because the a7s are that Good. They don't lack in the mid range to me. That one 6 1/2 woofer is very accurate and it puts out some beautiful sound!

I also have the a7's and auditioned them along side the a9's. With my amp (denon 3808ci) the a7's were better. The 9's are very power hungry. a7's with the csi a6 are awsome!

Biamping using only the receivr will not give you any advantage. All you'll do is waste speaker wire. Try it if you'd like to quench your curiosity.

With a nice sub in the mix the load on your receiver shoudn't be bad at all. The RtiA9 has a 90db sensitivity rating which is fairly easy to handle by any receiver. I don't think you'll have a problem with your Marantz SR6006 which is a very capable receiver.