Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 452

Nope, not really. If I do anything I might move the center up to like 60hz and possibly the same with the surrounds, but for now I am just gonna leave it the way it is.

Sounds quite good, I am getting enough bass to make me more than happy with my setup.

Now to just get a good 2 channel amp for my LSi 15's to make sure they get all the power they need and allow me the flexibility of going 7.1


Yup, I am really enjoying it so far. Going to leave it this way for a bit and then set the xovers higher slowly till I get just what I want.

When I get the gear for REW I will start tweaking a little bit more.......




Depends, what you paying and how you getting me there lol.

I am just glad its done and so I can leave it alone for a long time. 5+ hours well spent and I know that the signal path is as free of interference as possible since all the cables dont overlap or touch....

That and I am a bit anal

Yes, the center is the only one I'm concerned about. I figure there probably isn't a lot of LF content going to the center anyway. I copied the specs and made a spreadsheet, summarized here. The center is just 5Hz above the rears, and I'm running the same RTi6's in the family room at full range.

Mains... RTi10: 20Hz-27kHz Lower -3dB Limit 35Hz
Surrnd.. RTi8: 30Hz-27kHz Lower -3dB Limit 40Hz
Rears... RTi6: 40Hz-27kHz Lower -3dB Limit 50Hz
Center.. Csi5: 45Hz-27kHz Lower -3dB Limit 55Hz

Previously I had kept everything at 60Hz. Music in particular sounds better at 60 rather than 80. I would rather not have much staggering or "stairstepping" of the xover settings. Sometimes I set everything to full range for music, but don't like having to change the settings back and forth, so for now I'm leaving the fronts at 40Hz and everything else at 60 and that seems to be a good compromise between optimum HT and music settings.

How far is you couch from the TV?

Eh just guessing but between 10-12 feet back......

Measured real quick and it's 8 feet from the entertainment center to the front of the couch.

Enders, just checked out the new pics. Nicely done!

Now, when I get through with my up and coming upgrades, please come over anytime (unannounced is okay) and tidy up my wire management, please

Nice work.

Thanks my OCD finally came in handy lol... I figured rather than keep re-doing it over and over, do it once, do it right and leave it the HECK ALONE!


See below

Lol the surrounds look like wireless speakers Enders. You can barely notice the molding. Sweet setup though.

Do you even need a sub with the 8" powered sub in your LSis? I find that even though my speakers hit low and hard, a 12" sub really gives you that heart pounding thump! Just curious how hard the powered 8" hits as they are only an inch larger than the subs in my RTi A9s...

I love your OCD man. My OCD drives me crazy until I get everything perfect. My cables are hidden with the closed entertainment center, but I want to really customize my setup with regard to the cables (separating speakers wires, interconnects, inputs, power, etc.). Kinda like I did on my computer (although not perfect):

I most certainly need a sub even with the 8's in my LSi's. Keep in mind you normally corner load your sub because you get more bass due to reflections. Your fronts are normally NOT anywhere near the corners so you get bass yes, but not nearly enough IMHO to replace a sub.

The LSi 15's and LSi 25's are good, but the internal sub isnt something you truly can replace a dedicated sub with. I got mine for a steal of a price or I would have gotten the 9's or 7's and spent the difference on a sub or two.

Also keep in mind the 15's are NOT powered like the A9's so how much power you get out of them is based on how your AVR has EQ'd your fronts overall as well as what your driving them with.

In my case I am working on finding a decent 2 channel amp for JUST the 15's as I think that might help them sound a bit better.

But to stop rambling, the 8" in the LSi is good to help re-inforce the bass, but not good enough to totally reproduce it without help IMHO.

Not sure about the 25's but have heard those are also not easy to dial in for the reasons mentioned above


LOL, my OCD started with the cables on my computer. I went through 4 cases before I found one that works good enough for me. I added 4 120mm Noctua fans, a automatic fan controller that works based off temps, noise dampening material in as many places as I could coupled with cable management.

I dont have pics anymore of the inside, but lets just say the case is darn near totally silent from even 6" away .

Sounds just like the RTi A9s.

BTW, my computer sounds like a small turbine when I first turn it on (prior to the fans spinning down)...

I used the 1000rpm adaptors on the Noctua's and they sound like they aren't even on

Noise from my computer (which is in my office) doesn't bother me when I have the Polk Audio RTi A9 pumping out Pink Floyd...

LOL... my office rig is not hooked up and may never be hooked up again, dont spend much time in there anymore....

My main space is a different story lol... so I spend more time and money on it

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Great job on cable management - I hate you

I've gotten into the habit of adjusting all front crossovers to 80Hz after XT32, it seems to be the most pleasing result so far. When new speakers arrive (Philharmonic 2's) I may drop back down to 60Hz.

I'd be interested in what amp you choose. FWIW for my 2 channel setup with LSi9 I bought my third Anthem MCA 20 (yes third, I seem to be in a cycle of wanting to upgrade and always going back - for the past 15 years) and they pair excellently. Roughly $400-600 used. For HT I'm seriously considering Wyred 4 Sound 5 channel, perhaps the Mini because I don't normally crank it up.

Yeah but if I move the Lsi 15s to 80hz I might as well just sell em and get the lsi 7s as the internal sub would be almost a total waste.

I did move them up to 60hz and plan to do some testing Sunday to see what's what. With regard to what amp I get I am wanting to stay in the carver family if possible so thinking like tfm-35 and up or some of the m1.0t and up family. Maybe para sound as I have heard LSIs on them before and they are a good match.

I understand the reasoning for 80Hz across the board for HT usage, but for music I'm convinced that allowing the mains to handle most if not all of the bass is vastly superior. I suppose it may be different for those with the $1000+ subs, but for the rest of us (the 90%?) using 40-60Hz makes a big difference in SQ.

^^

Agreed. With mains that go down to about 30Hz I don't use my sub for music.

Back in the 90s I had a pair of Monitor 10Bs. I always liked the imaging and soundstage of those. Probably never should have sold them.

Do the new Polks carry on that tradition?

I am very impressed with the depth of the sound stage the RTi A9s projects. It's as if there is an invisible speaker sitting right in front of you. If you close your eyes (and your not listening to an over-emphasized stereo shift from the 70's) you feel as though you are in the recording studio. The width is quite impressive too. Some systems only sound good in a 2 degree angle (that one seat in the room) like electrostats, but these have a much broader stage. They completely fill the room with music.

Another amazing sound, though quite different, is the "all channel stereo" when I am about the house or outside. The CSi A6 and FXi A6s, along with the sub, are quite an impressive addition to the RTi A6s for music.

Ahh climberson, I see you have entered into the A9 music zone.

Shame on those that even suggests that the A9's aren't an awesome musical speaker.

Pink? Yes my friend, my A9's boldly project the remastered series of Animals and Wish You Were Here, supported by 300wpc and listened at -10, ooooh what a treat!

I am very seriously considering the XPA-2 at 300 WPC. I do wonder, how close to double the watts I am getting with the NR3009 biamped. At 140 WPC I should be well over 200 WPC biamped. It has a massive high current transformer. We'll see once I get settled in. It plays "WAY" too loud and hard for my house anyway. I can't get anywhere near the Onkyo's "THX Reference of 82 dB" without worrying about drywall cracks... LOL

I just finished watching T2 Skynet Edition for the first time since moving to the RTi's, and I am truly impressed with the awesomeness of these speakers. T2 has been my most fav movie for two decades now (Watchmen came close to replacing it, but not quite). I've had every edition of video tape, DVD and BD and have watched it with probably at least six different A/V systems... the last time I was probably still running Monitor 60's. But the RTi's made it like I was hearing it for the first time.

Now I have to go watch T2 again... I can't believe how awesome all of my movies sound now that I have the Rti A speakers. Bose sucks!

Yeah, I never need my powered sub for 2 channel music on the RTi A9's. I do run a custom EQ that I adjusted my self with the speaker playing full range.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-POLK-MON...item564a54a3cb


These appear to be in very nice shape, but I don't know about that price. Is a good deal?

I wonder if the newer Polk centers would sound good with these.

Hello,

I have tried to do some research on in-ceiling speakers and the necessity (or not) of enclosures. I bought two pairs of rc80i's for left/right and rears of my 7.1. Fronts are A5 and centre is csiA4 or something like that.

The question is polk's information talks about infinite baffling (not sure what that means) and virtual enclosures to use the ceiling space. Does that mean an enclosure is not needed? If it would help to build an enclosure, is it possible to screw up and make it sound worse than without enclosures? In some places where I'd like to put a speaker leaves very little room for an enclosure due to vents, pipes, etc. My wife and I are still debating between drywall and dropped ceiling. If we do go with drywall, then I really only have one crack at this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can't wait for the basement to be finished to start putting the home theater to use!

Jmoe, congrats on the speakers. I do have a pair of RC80i as surround speakers and a pair of RC85i as back surround. All of them are installed on drywall and all of them driven by an Emotiva XPA-5 amp. BTW - I added this amp just yesterday's night, so I wasn't able to test them at reference level. But, at -25db the whole system sounded fantastic.

In my case no enclosure was used at all. I have my crossover set at 60Hz, so I really don't need the surround speakers to handle low frequencies (my subwoofer is taking care of that).

Let me know if you want a pic or two of these speakers and I'll share them with you.

Cheers!

Hoping to get myself a little present this Memorial day... a Carver M1.0t amp to drive my LSi 15's

Be prepared for some major gear changes in the next few weeks. Decided to part out my car audio stuff to plug the money into my HT gear.

Hoping to acquire 2 more Carver M series amps (another 1.0t), get my 705x in to the shop for a checkup and possibly a set of Maggie MMG's for the wife

An infinite baffle means that the entire space behind the speaker is used as an enclosure. In the case of ceiling mounting, the space above a dropped ceiling (sometimes referred to as "plenum space" when used for HVAC) or volume between studs is the speaker cabinet. That works okay with plaster or drywall, but the problems with acoustic tile is that the tiles are inherently weak and cannot support much weight (in the form of speaker magnets and frame) and also they produce dust that can collect behind the speaker cone if it is not protected by a dedicated enclosure.