Calling all Polkies:Official Polk thread - Page 325

Ron & Shadow, thanks for the suggestions. The Epik sub looks very appealing with two 15" woofers and a built-in 600 watt amplifier.

He's talking about A9s and has been widely reported here and at Club Polk, the larger RTiA floorstanders respond to power and headroom, especially in the bass department.

It's common wisdom on Club Polk that separate amps improve sound quality for most speakers. If you spend any time there, you'll most likely get persuaded, give it a try and get onboard. I personally will give it qualified agreement with RTiA 9s and A7s due to the bass drivers. Many AVRs just don't provide enough current to get them operating to their potential. When they are, these speakers are pretty much full range. Those claiming that they sound bright are probably hearing a high end bias, plus room reflections. With dedicated current the speakers become better balanced, the bass and midrange are no longer overshadowed by the tweeters...thus the claim that they open up. You can argue all day with folks proclaiming that amps, whether in AVRs or separate, driven within their limits, shouldn't make any difference in sound quality with an 8 ohm speaker of reasonable sensitivity. In general, I'm in agreement for HT applications where you've crossover the bass and LFE to a sub. However, if you push it a bit and want to run those floorstanders full range for music, then you're going to benefit with separate amplification.

To your question regarding the lines. The Monitors have been replaced by the TSi line. They are similar, but not identical. Monitors are still available through newegg and a few online sources at blowout prices. RTiAs are a higher speaker line, featuring better and sturdier cabinets, real wood veneer and better parts, crossover and higher resolution.

Yeah, I didn't realize there were so small. I was thinking they were 6 1/2 inch drivers. I was a initially wanting to use them as surrounds to replace the R50s. I'll have to look and see if Polk makes some bookshelf or stand mount speakers with 6 1/2 inch drivers.

Just to clarify, the external amp would be good for the RTi series floorstanders, but is not needed for the bookshelf ones. I have the RTi A3's powered by only a Denon 75 watt per channel low end AVR and they sound WONDERFUL!

Go with the RTi's they are a better speaker. Regarding your question, the TSi series replaced the Monitor series in all the big box stores. Newegg is the only vendor of the Monitor series.

Thanks for the clarification. It may be time to snag a few Monitors. Although I do like the RTi sound. I wish I could find Monitors locally since the TSi sound may be a little too soft for me.

What makes the RTi's better? Just curious. Would they go better with the CSi center channel I have?

EDIT: Nevermind.....I just saw they go for almost 500 each....

Thanks for the recommendation. That's what my ear is telling me. My wallet on the other hand...

The RM95 came alive a little better this weekend. I have it in 3.1 right now and it was quite amazing on the Resident Evil blu-ray, I must admit. Its still lacking real punch in the music I listen to, however, they have gotten better as they've broken in.

I'm still looking to upgrade the fronts at some point soon, but I have no idea what to get (the have to be wall mountable, and look great)

Monitor 40's can be wall mounted with the PinPoint Am40 wallmounts. Also wallmountable are the Monitor 30's (keyhole included), RTi A1 (keyhole included), RTi A3 (mount neeeded), LSi 7 (keyhole included), LSi 9 (mount needed).

The RTi would be the next best step up as the LSi line needs a dedicated amp whereas the RTi sound almost as good but can run off a regular reciever.

For everyone looking at the Monitor Series at Newegg:

The sale prices are back!

Jump on the those Monitor30's (black or cherry) at $90/pair, or the Monitor 70's for $180 each

Just bought two pairs of monitor 30's . This will complete my HT setup for now .

Anyone know if the Monitor 30's will mount to these (click here) stands? I ordered two pairs of those as well for sides and rears. Such a good price I couldn't resist.

Thanks!

I saw that.... luckily for me I had picked up a barely used set of M70's and a CS2 for $360

I also went with a CS2, but I went with Monitor 50's for my front left and right (didn't get nearly as good a deal as you though ....). I wonder if I would notice much difference stepping up from 50's to 70's in the future? I have a PL-200 on the way for my sub, if that makes a difference in how you answer my question.

According to the Polk site, those 30's are 9 lbs each. The maximum speaker weight for those stands is listed at 5 lb.

(I guess if you used concrete blocks to hold down the bases, those would work . However, I suspect that the 30's are going to immediately resize those to the minimum adjustable height ...)

Wow. I'm thinking about those bad boys. I think I can make them fit in my setup. My question would be: how will they blend with my CS10 center? Would I want to sell that and get a CS2? lol. I know they won't match exactly. But basically has anyone actually listened to a CS10/20 mixed with M70s? (or anything from M line) God damn that's a good price!

I do have a few concrete blocks sitting outside.... J/K

Well I didn't realize the Monitor 30's weigh 9lbs....... I guess I'll have to do some modifying to the stands so they'll work with those beasts.... I'm thinking add a little extra weight under the bottom, weld the stands at the required height, then finish up with a little flat black rattle can paint . Sounds good on paper, now they just have to arrive so I can see in person what I'm working with. If it doesn't work I'm not out too much. At least I didn't buy from the other places who charge WAY more for shipping. BTW, these stands will be placed in an area with very little traffic, and I don't have any rug rats running around that might knock them over.

yes, there is a big diff between the M50's and the M60's and 70's.... there is a difference between the M60's and the M70's but the jump from the 50's to either the 60's or 70's is pretty extreme.

Well I think I've finally decided on some surround and rear speakers for my 7.1 setup but I need some advice on mounting them.

The speakers I decided to go with are the RTi4's for all four. The wire for all the speakers is coming out of the ceiling (9') and due to windows/doors being in the way the speakers will only be able to come down approx 2' from the ceiling. I know these speakers have keyhole mounts but I think I should aim them towards the listening position instead of being flush with the wall, no? Can anyone recommend some good mounts to work with these speakers?

Thanks for the reply. I'm a newbie (in case you didn't already notice ), so where would the difference be heard? My speakers will see home theater and gaming about 99.9% of the time.

Thanks!

They will get louder easier due to the more cone area. Also the M70's can be used without a sub for music (or with for lots of bass). I own the 40's (basically M50's speaker setup in a bookshelf) and M60's and like the 60's much better for my room.

I have run M40's as fronts but they dont give out nearly as much sound as the 60's do IMHO....

Personally for gaming and HT I would go with the 60's or 70's. That way your not questioning if you got the right ones....

However the RTi A7's and A9's are built for HT (but they are more expensive).....

The RTi A1 looks like a an interesting pick. I am going to measure my maximum depth (reason I went sats) when I get home

Cool, dont forget about polks ebay site either. You can sometimes score some really good deals.......

I'm in the midst of doing a gut job/renovation of our basement rec room and the adjoining small dedicated HT. I've been contemplating to replace my old Athena system but I thought that I wouldn't be doing this until after the job in the theatre was finished. I have the Audition series: 4 - AS-B1s, AS-C1 centre. I also have a Polk PSW-111 sub that I picked up a couple of years ago. The Athena's were OK and served their purpose but it's time to move up a bit in sound quality.

I read about the Polk Monitor sale at Newegg and being in Canada I decided to check out if they had similar deals on Newegg's Canadian site. The prices for the Monitor series are not as good as for you State-side folks but the savings were still signifigant. The almost free shipping was the kicker for me. I picked up 2 - M40s, 2 - M30s and a CS1. They should fit nice in the room - as I said it's small at 13.5' x 10' x 7.5'.

Now I'm looking for a deal on a decent sub with a bit of umph. I think Lava's LSP10 should work nice. Lava also has free shipping to Canada which is also a bonus.

I've heard the Monitor 40s and 30s before and I remember that I do like their sound. I can't wait to get the theatre done and hook those babies up.

I have been investigating the differences in the Polk lines and one thing seems to be the crossovers. The only mystery I have, is what is actually happening inside the Monitor 70s.

The website has a description of "cascaded tapered array."

Cascade Tapered Array (2-1/2-way) design. Both drivers play bass frequencies but only one driver (the upper one) plays upper-midrange frequencies. This method provides maximum bass output along with precise imaging and detailed midrange response.

The tech specs page shows a 2 and 2 division though, but I guess that is wrong. So the bottom 3 woofers get all bass, the top woofer gets bass/mids.

If this is true, then this speaker will need at least 3 filters. But they don't list 3 filters on the Polk website. Only 1 filter frequency.

On the other hand, the Lsi9 clearly state that they have 3 filters and show a HPF@2.4KHz, an LFP @2.4KHz, and an LPF@200Hz.

I looked at the TSi500 to see if it would describe this, but those have even less information than the Monitor 70s. Heck, the TSi500s don't even mention the cascaded woofer configuration. Did they remove it? If you read the LSi page they claim "...It's only used on higher end speakers"

Any idea if the 70s do it like the LSi9s??

Doubtful based on price point. They have no incentive to make their entry level speakers have the same crossovers as their "Premium" line. Doing so would only make folks buy entry level and never step up into their higher end lines

Also there are difference in how the speaker cabinets are built (materials, filler, bracing) as well as differences in the actual material the speakers themselves are made out of.

Monitor 70's are a great value for what they are (entry level speakers), but the LSi line is much much better..

Moving from Monitors to RTi's is also a big jump. RTi to LSi not nearly as big a jump.

Also keep in mind LSi series speakers need a dedicated amp to shine and monitors dont....

But if all you can afford is Monitor 70's (or even 60's) you will be happy.

Bought some m30's this morning. I am now rocking, 3 50's in front, 2 30's as surrounds, 2 Boston Acustics in the ceiling as backs. Next will be to grab a BIC america sub.

Well I wasn't really trying to compare LSis to Monitor 70s as much as I was trying to understand what the Monitor 70s actually do. If you read the Polk Website and take it at face value, the Monitor 70s do it just like the LSis, but the newer TSi500s don't. That doesn't make sense to me.

I can see the RTis use bandpass filters and not the cascaded array of the LSi and apparently Monitor 70s. Just wondering If anyone has seen inside these and maybe knows for sure.

Gotcha. I would post this over at the Polk Forums. Lots of fella's have taken apart their speaker there and might be able to better tell you (or show you via pics)

How good are the m70's paired with a cs1 or cs2 vs. rti a3's and a csi a4? I'm feeling like I should sell my RTi's and get the monitor towers at these incredible prices... Ugh I hate home theater sometimes. Where's contentment come into play?