Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 482

Thanks for the feedback - very interesting.. For someone like myself that has external amplification that can pump 600 watts per channel*separately* into each individual LCR ( Lsi15s, LsiC ) channel: Would I see much of an upgrade going to the LSiM 703s that you demo'ed? As I have tons of available current I don't believe the 8 ohm compatibility will do a whole lot for me...
Edited by tonydeluce - 8/6/12 at 12:26am

Hello all! I just became a "Polkie" as i purchased a pair of RTi A9's and a CSi A6. This is my first experience with Polk Audio and I'm very happy so far. The sound is great but i'm actually more impressed by the finish, that cherry is amazing! I am upgrading from an Athena system, and before that I had JBL's. Does anyone have any tips they'd like to share? Right now they're bi-amped off of a Marantz SR6006, but I plan on saving up for a decent amp next year.

Also, after re-running Audyssey and testing I noticed that the bottom midrange driver in both towers doesn't seem to be as full range as the top one. It's like the top midrange has treble and mid while the bottom one has mids and lows. Is that normal? All speakers are set to small and crossed over at 80hz.

I recall seeing a thread regarding this over at polkaudio.com, which they stated is by design.

RT5000 system vs RTiA series - thoughts?

I'm considering selling my rt3000p's to move over to the RTiA series of speakers (RTiA9, CSiA6, F/XiA6) as I'm having trouble filling out to a full rt5000 system. Growing impatient waiting and wondering what kind of move this is - lateral or upgrade?

Really interested in general impressions/opinions of other readers.
Edited by jdustinb - 8/6/12 at 1:26pm

I'm guessing that by "RTiA6" you mean either A5 or A7, maybe A9. I have the A7's and really like them.
Nice bottom end and the 6" midrange driver handles voices well. The RTi tweeter is noticeably better than the Tsi's I came from. Since I am not familiar with your RT3000 equipment I cannot comment on any comparison, but quite a few of us here have both the RTi and RtiA line and really like them.

Yup! I meant the A9's - updated my post to reflect this - thanks for catching it!

I'm curious, what kind of power do you need behind these? I'm currently running on a Denon AVR-3212ci receiver and wondering if I would need an additional 2 channel amp to help power the fronts, maybe 3 channel to include the center speaker. The nice thing about the RT5000 system is that both the fronts and center have their own internal amp at 300w to power the two subwoofers in each enclosure.

Most say that the A9's do need an external amp to perform well. At the time I was running a Denon 790, which does not have preamp outputs (as do most of the Denon line below the 33xx) and so decided against the RtiA9's as I would have to buy not only an external amp but also a new AVR. In the meantime, I have upgraded to a 3312 when they went on sale and once again have toyed with the idea of going to A9's with an amp but repeatedly convinced myself to stick with what I have.

I do really like the A7's. It's not that I compromised and would have rather had the A9's, but I will always wonder how much better they might have been. But in the long run I did save a couple grand.

Looking to get a pair of Polk TSI300 speakers. Since they are 3 feet high and will be on the left and right of my TV, I was wondering, how shielded are they? Should I be concerned putting them on the sides of my Sony XBR HX929 65 inch TV?

Thanks!

AFAIK shielded speakers are only necessary for CRT (tube type) televisions.
Most are still shielded anyway, and it is rarely ever a problem.

This TV is an LED HDTV..so they should not be affected by speakers?

Correct. I had my Monitor 60's right next to my 56" DLP and my CS2 directly on top of it for years and had no issues.

Awesome, thanks

Some pictures:

Since you've got them crossed at 80hz you're missing the bottom octave and a half of what those speakers can do. I believe the bass drivers are crossed internally at around 120-150hz. Run them full range to get the bottom drivers active and be aware that you need more serious power than an AVR can deliver to get the bass in the A9s to shine.

Well, I need some help / guidance here with a purchase made at Newegg. I purchased a pair of RTi A9s on cherry a couple of weeks ago. One of the speakers was received with a dent right above the bottom subwoofer driver. I contacted Newegg as soon the speaker was unpacked / issue discovered and they offered me a replacement as soon they have them back on stock.

Problem now is Newegg's site is showing the RTi A9s in Cherry as "discontinued".................

So, any of you have any experience / recommendation on how to proceed with Newegg in this situation? Do they offer discounts if you are willing to keep the item?

I found myself in a similar situation. I received a severely damaged A9 from Newegg and did not accept delivery. Fortunately I had been home when it was truck showed. The replacement was delivered with the box in tact but a dent between the top woofer and bottom mid. Newegg extended a $50 discount and a friend of mine said he will complete the repairs for a few fingers of single-malt scotch and a Cuban I had in my humidor for some time now. Seems as though I may break even.

Fear not, they have not been "discontinued".
That's just how NewEgg lists stuff for which they do not yet have a restocking date.

Thanks for sharing this information. So, did you ask them for the discount or they offered that right away to you?

How big was the dent on your speaker?

Thanks for the input. Hopefully it will be the case. See just a couple of days ago the status was "out of stock", then it changed to "deactivated", but now it shows "discountinued" in a mean red banner.......

My other problem is that I'm running out of time in order to process my return...........this whole thing sucks.......

I am sure Newegg will take care of you. I haven't ever had problems with them myself. Worst case, return them both and buy a pair of "refurbs" from Polks direct ebay site (when the pop up, right now it seems they are dry). I dont know of anyone who had problems with products received from there. They look just like new (and I seriously mean I haven't heard anyone complain of ANY digs to the speakers)

Thanks Enders! Yeah that will be another option. Good thing is that I still have my RTi A9s on black at home. So, I will have to take the "patience" pill until a pair of cherries are available at Polk's store at eBay. Or, hopefully I should be able to buy them during a special on Amazon, Frys or Brandsmart.

My scenario was a bit odd. I failed to change my Newegg from one A9 to two. I contacted Polk Direct once I learned of my error and they had a single refurb A9. I ordered the one from Polk Direct and requested the $50 discount and Newegg agreed. Try $75

The ding is ridged. Looks as if a bolt damaged the veneer. My friend was a furniture repairman in college and said he will lift the veneer and inject bondo then secure with 2X4's and clamps to form. Once set he will refinish with stain then use paint to match the wood grain..

I posted this pic few days ago, but just in case you missed it here is the dent again:





Could you please share with me the information on the paint that your friend will use for the repair (to match the wood grain)? I will contact Newegg probably tomorrow to see if they offer me a discount on this speaker. If they are willing to do that, then I might keep these..........it seems I have the Last of Mohicans with me......

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I've had a couple of problems with Polk Direct, though they were eventually resolved. My first and second orders from them went very well... fast shipping, and the speakers were like new. Third order I ordered two pairs of RTi's... that's four speakers. A week later they listed "one box" as being shipped. Eventually two of the speakers were delivered. I emailed them, what about the other half of my order? They replied they couldn't ship without my phone number, to which I replied USE THE SAME PHONE NUMBER YOU USED FOR THE FIRST HALF OF MY ORDER... Duhhhh! But I had to email them my phone number anyway, and had to wait another ten days for delivery. So I was starting to wonder if the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.

Then about two months ago I ordered a pair of RTiA's. Both showed up this time (Whew!) but one of them was in very bad condition. Not shipping damage, the box was intact. The speaker was USED, not "reconditioned". The cabinet looked like it had been hauled in the back of a pickup truck, with gouges and scrapes all over. And they had enclosed the wrong grill in the box, one from an older RTi10. There were a lot of emails back and forth. I had to take photo's and eventually they sent me a return shipping label after several "reminder" emails that they still hadn't taken care of me yet. Eventually I did receive a replacement that was in the expected excellent condition, but only after a lot of hassle.

To their credit, they were always very polite and the issues were eventually remedied, but both experiences indicated a serious lack of any quality assurance procedures. I never told the whole story here before, but I can't let anyone believe that there has never been a problem ordering from them.

Rob:

Thanks for sharing. Sucks you didnt have a good experience with them . Glad it eventually got resolved at least.

Could you please share with me the information on the paint that your friend will use for the repair (to match the wood grain)? I will contact Newegg probably tomorrow to see if they offer me a discount on this speaker. If they are willing to do that, then I might keep these..........it seems I have the Last of Mohicans with me......[/quote]


50% Cherokee, however we all look the same.

No problem. It may be 6 weeks or so as my work schedule has me traveling quite a bit in near future and my buddy is not local. He plans to make a weekend of the repair, which means I better stock up on the single-malt. I will also share the photo and get his thoughts and ask the type of paint he will use.

I have found Polk Direct, in general, provides good customer service. I ordered one A9,one CSIA6, and a pair of headphones not on the website but directly but over the phone. Since I had a direct contact, I usurped the web and ordered a set of LSI9's a week or so later. Again prompt service. I received my tracking info the same day and the packages arrived quickly. The third purchase was a bit suspect. I left several voice mail messages requesting a set of FXiA6's and never heard back. After a week and a half I placed the order through their ebay site. Not a horrible experience, but patience does not lend itself well to this hobby. At least in my instance.

Why dont you ask them to send you a new enclosure and move the speakers yourself from the old enclosure to the new. When I ordered my A7's in black they sent me cherry. After getting the cherry I really fell in love with them. Since I wanted all of my speakers to match color wise I called polk and asked them if they would be willing to send me a cherry enclosure for my CSi-a6. They agreed and I moved the speakers and cross over to the new box. I was extremely happy with it and all is good. I think it was probably a win win since paying for shipping from my house and sending our the new speakers would have cost way more than just sending me the cherry csi-a6 enclosure.

How hard is it to move the speakers over? How long did I take you?

That will be really nice if they can do that. But, did you purchase yours directly at Polk Audio or it was done with a authorized reseller? In my case, the speakers were purchased at Newegg and they don't have them on stock currently (actually, it seems they are not going to carry these speakers anymore as suggested by the discontinued banner at the website), so it seems from Newegg's point of view the only option is to return the spekers............

Please share a bit more information about where did you purchase the speakers. Thanks!