AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Poor Midrange on Polk RTi A7's
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Poor Midrange on Polk RTi A7's - Page 2

post #31 of 39
3/30/12 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_1042 View Post

I'm not quite to the point of returning them yet, but I'm close. Budget restrictions are starting to weigh into my decisions now, I'm not sure if there's a significantly better speaker in this price range. I'm certainly open to suggestions. I paid $800 for the A7's, I had also looked at Energy but did not like the look of their speakers more than anything. (Probably a poor criteria by which to choose speakers, I know, but I'm a bit picky about the way speakers look.)

You're right about the power... the reason I went with a power amp is because I like to listen to loud music from time to time, so wanted to have plenty of power available so I wouldn't damage the speakers. (I know myself, with any system I'll crank it up eventually ) And I chose a lower high end receiver because I'd like to build an audiophile quality system someday - so I figure a decent receiver is a good starting point. I'm not the type who likes to buy something now and then upgrade it later - I'd rather save and get what I want initially. But with the price of high quality towers seemingly being so high - if I did have to comprimise for now and then upgrade later, I chose that as the point at which to do it.

And you dont' have to worry about hurting my feelings, I'm always open to constructive critisizm. (although I don't necessarily take what you said as a critisizm of me personally, moreso of the speakers themselves )

But yeah, I guess I had expected to be a little more satisfied with these speakers. I'm a little unsure as to what to do now. Hopefully the center channel will offer the improvement I'm looking for. If not, I'm not sure where to go from there.

I haven't completely lost faith in Polk yet so I would still consider upgrading to a pair of A9's. (I figure an exchange would probably be easier than an all out return.) But the problem there is I got the A7's at a discount so I would be paying significantly more for a pair of A9's. And then I'm getting into the price range where I could have just got the speakers I wanted - the B&W 683 - but had decided against due to budget reasons.

I'm also wondering if the Polk midrange is substandard across the entire range. In Polk's defense, the midrange seems to be the area of comprimise at this price point. For example the B&W 684 has the same MSRP, and I have heard that the midrange on that speaker is lacking when compared to the 683 (which I think would be the B&W equivalent of the Polk A9).

So I guess I haven't completely lost faith in Polk yet, but from what I'm hearing here I'm pretty skeptical. Especially if even their bookshelf speakers are muddy in the midrange, as NewtoHT has said, and others here have said about their towers.

Well, I think best case scenario is after adding the center channel (and sub) I find the speakers to be sufficient, and then I can wait a few years to upgrade.

Sorry for the rambling, and thanks for the input everyone. For a while there I thought I was going a bit off my rocker because these speakers seem to get rave reviews (both consumer and professional) and it seemed like I was the only one who could hear the problem with the midrange.


If you do decide to return them, the Ascend CMT-340 with pedestal stands is IMO be the best choice in your price range.
LL
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #32 of 39
3/31/12 at 4:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_1042 View Post

How are the speakers being powered? If you were playing them at high volume the problem is most likely that you were pushing the receiver/amp to the point of clipping.

Thanks for the response, I am powering these with an Adcom GFA 555II using a Denon 2805 as the preamp. I was at about 65% and the clip indicators on the amp did not show anything, but I suppose that it is a possibility.

I agree that speaker performance should be flat across the range, it just seems like a preference to me because I EQ these speakers for music and I run it with mids in the negative. However I cannot comment on movies as I have always had my center and sub in the mix.

Hope you find something that you like. The jury is out for me on the A7s now as well.
Reply
Reply
post #33 of 39
3/31/12 at 7:24pm
I've been looking at new speakers and the A7's were on my short list. Glad I found this thread.

One speaker I haven't seen mentioned as a potential alternative is the Jamo C607. Searched the forum for opinions, and most reviews seem pretty positive. They're a little bit less money, too, which is always nice...

Anyone have direct experience comparing the two?
Reply
Reply
post #34 of 39
3/31/12 at 9:48pm
OP, you sound like a PERFECT candidate for a set of Polk LSi15 Towers... They are a completely different speaker, world apart really. And they are currently priced at about $850 a pair since they are being replaced by the FAR pricier LSiM speakers.
Reply
Reply
post #35 of 39
4/1/12 at 4:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by emd75 View Post

Thanks for the response, I am powering these with an Adcom GFA 555II using a Denon 2805 as the preamp. I was at about 65% and the clip indicators on the amp did not show anything, but I suppose that it is a possibility
I agree that speaker performance should be flat across the range, it just seems like a preference to me because I EQ these speakers for music and I run it with mids in the negative. However I cannot comment on movies as I have always had my center and sub in the mix.

Hope you find something that you like. The jury is out for me on the A7s now as well.

Have you checked to see if the electrolytic caps on the amp are leaking at all? From what I understand the lifetime of the caps is limited, and when they fail the amplifier can give DC output. The crossover on the mid for the A7 might protect the driver from DC but I'm not sure - perhaps someone else here can give you more details in that regard, or it might be something to ask Polk customer service about. (Really, in a passive crossover set up the woofer should be the driver most succeptible to damage from DC, I believe - since a simple low pass is just an inductor. But I've no idea what crossover designs for loudspeakers look like - I would think they are a bit more complex?)

If you haven't checked the caps on the amp yet and want to, let me know because there are some precautions to take / things you will want to know before removing the cover from the amp.

As for speaker response not having to be even - upon further thought I do actually agree with you to an extent. There are some music tracks, mostly in the rock genre, where I like the sound of the A7. But there are also other songs I frequently listen to that when played over the A7's reveal the lack of clarity and presence in the midrange. When buying HT speakers, a clear midrange is the area where I had expected the most improvement over past set ups I have had, and IMO it's just not there on these speakers. On the other hand I could imagine that an overly bright midrange might become annoying, so perhaps I'm looking for something in between?

My thoughts would be that a flat/clear speaker response across the audio range would be prefferred, and then EQ'ing can just be used to tone down the areas that the listenter considers to be overly bright - but I'm sure that approach has its drawbacks as well.

Thank you for the kind regards as well. If you like the sound from the A7 I wouldn't be too discouraged, I would just do some investigating and see if you can find the reason why the mid puked out on you.
Reply
Reply
post #36 of 39
4/5/12 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 
Well, the A7's went back today. It wasn't only the HT performance but their performance with music which I found I didn't like as well. The more I listened to familiar music tracks over them the more I began to notice that the midrange was a bit recessed. I did some EQ'ing to the attenuate the lower and upper frequencies in an attempt to bring the midrange out a little more, but by my ear that just made them sound muddy.

Really a decent speaker, just not suited to my listening tastes or what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone for their input.

The dealer was really good about the return, too. Just a few questions, but no hassle. They could've charged me a restocking fee for the fronts since I destroyed the boxes, but didn't. Really great service and I would go back there for other home electronic needs.

I'm not too sure where to go from here, but I'm looking at the Ascends that Jay suggested and will be looking at some other brands as well. One of the local shops sells Paradigm, B&W and JBL so I'll be going there to check some things out. I think I may have expected a little too much from towers in this price range... it seems like with what I'm looking for and the price range I'm in bookshelf speakers might be the better option.

I'm also considering some DIY speakers but I'm not sure if this would be a wise choice. I think I've got the soldering / carpentry skills to make some decent speakers but would have to put a lot of research into the design or just buy a kit. Either way there's still the uncertainty of what they will sound like in the end.
Reply
Reply
post #37 of 39
4/5/12 at 5:39pm
If you're capable of diy you would be doing yourself a disservice to not seriously consider it, especially in the $1000pr price range. You have to consider $800 for parts, $200 for wood/supplies vs a speaker that cost $200 total to make, sold to the retailer for $500 and to you for $1000. Look around and you will find many highly regarded designs not just kits.

The Partsexpress forum and htguide forum are great places to start looking.
Reply
Reply
post #38 of 39
4/5/12 at 5:42pm
In the last month I've had 3 Polk customers looking to upgrade. I demo'd the Wharfedale Diamond series to each of these customers. All three purchased Wharfedales. They are affordable and sound great. I recommend giving them a listen. They seem to do a pretty good job at performance vs budget.
Reply
Reply
post #39 of 39
4/6/12 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Webomatic View Post

In the last month I've had 3 Polk customers looking to upgrade. I demo'd the Wharfedale Diamond series to each of these customers. All three purchased Wharfedales. They are affordable and sound great. I recommend giving them a listen. They seem to do a pretty good job at performance vs budget.

Yes, at the same price Wharfedale always gives you a difference class of sound when comparing with Polk or Jamo. For most audiophiles, Wharfedale Diamond 10.6 is better than B&W684 and same between Diamond 10.7 vs B&W683.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Speakers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Poor Midrange on Polk RTi A7's