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Anonymous | I am thinking about buying the Polk RTi 12's for my front speakers but I can not find very many reviews on them. Just wondering if anyone here knows anything about em or could recommend some other good speakers that go for around 1400 a pair or less. I am going to use them about 50/50 for watching movies and listening to all types of music. Thanks |
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Silver Member Username: Joe_cOakwood, Ga Post Number: 260 Registered: Mar-05 | I asked about the polk ls's in here and all I got was a blow off in the excuse of thread hijacking. I like polk alot and from what I have heard they are good for the money , but don't expect anything but snobbiness from most of the crowd in here. |
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Silver Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 379 Registered: Feb-05 | Joseph, I owned Polks way back when, and I enjoyed them very much. I haven't heard the latest manifestation of their products but if their old gear is any indication they probably make a pretty good speaker. I know that the ls's have received very good press. I also believe that the Rti's have received some positive reviews. It is there lower range that has not been real popular with the audio press. Sorry I couldn't be more informative. |
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Silver Member Username: Joe_cOakwood, Ga Post Number: 264 Registered: Mar-05 | thank you arthur |
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Anony Unregistered guest | Anonymous and Joseph, I do own a pair of RTi12's and believe me they sound great. I agree, almost no reviews regarding Polk Speakers in this forum; perhaps some people lost confidence when Circuit City started carrying them, in any case, IMHO they are terrific speakers for the price, however, they will need more than entry level components to really shine. First, I used them as fronts for my Surround Sound system, they were hooked to a Pioneer Elite VSX 53 and they sounded pretty good, then I added an Amplifier (NAD c270) and they just came alive, both movies and music sounded very nice; but since I listen to music a lot more than I watch movies; I decided to build a "Stereo Only" system so I purchased a Pre-Amp NAD C-160 and a second amplifier; I am running the two amps in bridge mode as monoblocks, let me tell you, these speakers sound just great. I do not consider myself an expert when it comes to high-end gear but I trust me ears when it comes to sound. Before I purchased the Polks, I had the opportunity to audition other speakers, many of them mentioned quite often in this forum and believe I do not regret a bit buying the 12's I guess best thing to do is try to audition, hopefully you will find the speakers that best fit your needs. Good Luck |
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New member Username: Roc383Detroit, Michigan USA Post Number: 3 Registered: May-05 | Im glad I read your post, Anony. I just got a Pioneer Elite VSX-59TXi, and was considering dumping my polks for something "better", as I have not seen many reviews on Polk lately and was assuming they took a turn for the worse. The Circuit City thing kinda scared me too! I have two floor standing fronts right now, and need to finish off the surround system. Maybe I will give Polk an audition. One other speaker that caught my attention is Aperion. Anybody have any opinions? |
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Anony Unregistered guest | I guess the RTi and LSI series might be under rated and I feel like some guys are really tough on them, I do agree though, that the Monitor Series are not as good. If I remember well, the RTi's 6 were reviewed on "Stereophile" about six or seven months ago and the comments were very positive. Again, thankfully we have a lot of different good brands to choose from and I am very happy with my choice. Anonymous, you can read some reviews at the following link if you wish http://www.polkaudio.com/home/library/reviews/customers.php?category=3&speaker=3 47 No experience with Aperion, Sorry Cheers |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 383 Registered: Mar-05 | I heard the entire Polk RTi series at Fry's a few months ago, they were running off some massive $2K Harman Kardon flagship receiver and from the 8 on up they were pretty impressive though a bit overpriced IMHO...but that could've just been Fry's being Fry's...Gouge City for everything other than their low end and generic advertised specials! Personally I liked the RTi8s the most for mids and highs, the RTi10s packed a bit more bass, and felt the RTi12s were actually a bit flabby, lost a lot of clarity compared to the RTi8s. Then again if they were powered by some killer separates, who knows? |
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Anony Unregistered guest | Edster, Could it be that even though the Amp was very expensive, perhaps it was not the best match for the 12's? As I understand there are many factors that affect the speaker's sound quality, like environment (Room, noise, etc) Just trying to learn more Thanks |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 384 Registered: Mar-05 | Yes that's always possible, hence the advantage of Internet-direct speakers: in-home auditions for the cost of return shipping if you don't like them. Aperion is the only Internet direct company that pays for return shipping, but don't know much about their speakers. |
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Silver Member Username: KanoPost Number: 484 Registered: Oct-04 | I own Polk too and love them, great build quality and sound. Also look great. I'd love a pair of Lsi9s for a 2 channel system in the future. You will get better responses at clubpolk.polkaudio.com than here though. |
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NADMAN Unregistered guest | Anony - I strongly believe that room acoustics play the most vital role in the way your system sounds. Even at the best hi-fi stores, room acoustics aren't that great. How many speakers in these stores are truly set up to maximize soundstage, imaging, etc. In most stores they have 15-20 pairs of speakers fighting for this elusive spot in one room. If the sales person tells you this is ideal, he/she is full of it and you shouldn't trust antoher word he/she says. This is why 99% of the speakers, components, etc sound dramatically different in the showroom than in your house. Unless you have made an appointment with the sales person that will set up the equipment the right way in room that best represents yours (some places can in fact do this), you won't truly know how it will sound in your room. Most of the people here have heard a ton of speakers on showroom floors, but have never heard them in their own home with their own gear. My advise is to try to take home as many different speakers as you can, and compare them side by side, in your house with your own equipment. I haven't come across a place that lets you take home whatever you want without paying for it first, so this may be pretty tough to do. What I did was I got a new credit card, and charged 3 pairs of approx $1000 speakers on it, knowing that 2 pairs were going back. I compared PSB t55, B&W (can't remember the model) and Paradigm (again can't remember the model). Everyone is so fanatic about the B&W and Paradigms, but in the end, I ended up with the PSB's, because side by side, in my room, with my equipment, they sounded better to me...and that's what really mattered most. It was a real pain in the a$$, returning the other two pairs, lugging speakers that each weighed between 80-100 lbs up and down 2 flights of stairs, but in the end it was well worth it because I know I made the right decision. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have changed anything. I don't have the kind of money to buy new speakers whenever I feel like it, so I felt I had to make the most informed and undisputable decision for my hard earned money. By the way, if you are going to do this, make sure you know the return policy before the speakers leave the store. Some places may have a restocking fee, short return period, exchange only policy, etc. If you can't get all of your money back, find someone else who has what you want that isn't going to screw you. In the end, find the speakers that best match what you are looking for...would you buy a new car soley on what Motor Trend had to say about it? Neither would I. All the best!!! |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 393 Registered: Mar-05 | NADMAN, Excellent advice. That is exactly the optimal way of shopping/auditioning speakers that I often recommend to people! I'm curious, what shop did you find that allowed you to do that without a restocking fee? In my city the only places that don't have that restocking fee are the big box chains like Best Buy which have crappy selection anyway. The small independent shops will only let you do that on floor demos. |
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NADMAN Unregistered guest | Edster, I lived in Albany, NY at the time. I got 2 pairs from one local store, which didn't hassle me about it because they knew that I was going to buy one pair, and I've bought so much stuff from them in the past. The other was another local store who let me take home a floor model. The Paradigm's I took home were 1 week old floor models, and they had a few of the same ones set up elsewhere in the shop, so it wasn't a big deal. Another lesson I've learned is to make as many phone calls as possible when shopping. Dealers often add and drop product lines without you knowing about it. I got my second system this way. My dealer dropped NAD and PSB (my favorite lines), and was basically selling all of their stuff at cost. NAD C320BEE cost me 300, second pair of PSB Image t55's cost me $550. Both were brand new (not refrub, blemished, etc.) Same system MSRP (which most dealers in my area sell for) is $399 for the amp, and $899 for the speakers. Doing the math, I got the amp and speakers for $50 less than the MSRP on the speakers. If only I made a few phone calls the first time around. Will everyone run into a deal like this every time? Highly unlikely, but it happens often enough to call every dealer within driving distance to make sure. Also ask them if they've got specials on anything else in their store. They may have a "last one" model that got discontinued that may have been out of your budget until now. They usually never advertise these, or sometimes don't tell you about them in the store unless you ask, or see a few boxes in a back corner. The local store I go to has a "bargain room." Sometimes it's pretty much empty, other times it's full. The stuff there is either discontinued, demo, or traded in stuff. The dealer has been around for about 25 years now, and I really can't say enough good things about them. In the end, it's all about how much time you spend doing your homework. |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 402 Registered: Mar-05 | Yeah, I call around and ask about specials, discontinued models and floor models too. That's how I got a Marantz 5400 for just $360 a few months ago. That C32BEE for $300...wow! Recently did the phone-shopping-around thing again with a car tint job, ended up getting one of the best window films available at a very good price. |
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NADMAN Unregistered guest | Just don't buy from the internet, you never know what you're going to get |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 404 Registered: Mar-05 | I disagree. There are some very reputable vendors that I've used time and again without any problems: jandr.com, crutchfield.com, buy.com, onecall.com, vanns.com, accessories4less.com, newegg.com to name a few. You can always research the dealer through resellerratings.com or pricegrabber.com and steer clear of the ones with very few reviews or many bad reviews. |
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NADMAN Unregistered guest | Good point. In fact the dealer that I've been praising here has recently started internet sales. Hippo's in Albany, NY. The advertise the MSRP's on their page, but say to call for actual prices. For example, the Monster power conditioner is $350 MSRP, the sell it for somwhere around $250. They are an authorized dealer, and have great service. You can't put a price tag on that. But how many internet dealers are out there? How many people have had a lot of problems with them? Unless you know them well, I'd advise against it. J&R and Crutchfield (I have ordered car audio from them, by the way) are probably the original pioneers of internet sales. They've been doing it for as long as anybody, so they should be pretty reputable, but I don't know about the "mom and pop" ones |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 406 Registered: Mar-05 | Yeah I also tend to avoid the totally obscure and tiny little operations which aren't even listed on resellerratings. Crutchfield doesn't have very good prices or huge selection but they are a good source of basic information. I bought some car speakers from them but chickened out on the self-install and returned them unopened, they were very nice about it, zero hassle. |
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NADMAN Unregistered guest | I've ordered car audio from them on four different occasions. Never had a single complaint... stuff arrived on time, if not early; install manuals are pretty straight forward (depending on the car). But this isn't the norm, it's the exception. Classic example - a friend of mine ordered a Denon reciever a few years ago for around $1500 from an obscure internet retailer. When he got it (late), it was damaged. It worked, but it had a dent on the bottom of it that caused other problems. The retailer told him to contact the shipper. The shipper told him to contact the retailer. Denon didn't want any part of it because their warantee (at the time, maybe still today?) didn't cover internet sales. After 3 or 4 months, he finally realized that he was stuck with a $1500 banged up reciever. The retailer told him "Well, at least it still works", no BS. He saved about $300. I don't think this would ever happen with Crutchfield or J&R. They would probably exchange it and argue with whoever after the fact. But I think Crutchfield and J&R (and the like) are truly the exception, not the rule. |
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Silver Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 407 Registered: Mar-05 | OUCH...that is one CHILLING story all right! When it comes to things that expensive, yeah I am willing to pay a little bit more to get it from the likes of J&R. Actually J&R often will come down on their prices if you call them up and tell them the website of someone selling the same thing for less, don't know if you knew that or not. Even if they're just an extra hundred more, I'm usually willing to accept that as insurance money. Recently did buy some miscellaneous computer acceessories from some random tiny little Yahoo! Shops dealer without a hitch though; I figured that since these were such small dollar items anyway I'd chance it. |