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I am running 2 Polk RTi12's for the L/R, a CSi5 for the center, and 2 R50's for the surround, thought better than the sony bookshelves I was using.

So thats my babies
 
I am curious, I am currently using my Polk R50's as Surround Speakers, would I see more benefits using RTi6 Bookshelves as the Surrounds for the 4, 5, 6, and 7 Speakers? I was considering the FXi Series for those speakers at some point.

Or just keep the R50 Towers, and do 5.1

In all honesty I don't see alot of 6.1 or 7.1 material, alot of it still seems to be 5.1. Wish they had more 6.1 or 7.1 material.
 
Hummm... Not sure. The FXiA's are cool because they are dipole/bipole. I've definitely heard a difference with them as they extend the sound field down the wall. It's a great effect.

I have a 7.1 set-up... For any movie in 5.1, I use a THX setting that "fakes it" and uses the 2 rear and 2 surround speakers. I have zero complaints about the surround experience... And, in those instances where you have a 7.1 movie, with unique sounds coming from all side and rear channels, it's a pretty cool experience.

I guess you could consider moving into the RTiA bookshelves for your rears/surrounds simply as an upgrade. You'll be dropping a driver, yes, but cabinets in the RTi line are 3/4" mdf... Much more inert... And better build components. I have RTiA3's and they are incredible performers for the $. Also, the FXi's and the 6's would allow you to mount the speakers slightly above head level, creating and immersive sound field.
 
Yeah with the FXi or RTi line for my surrounds I would have matching timbre on all speakers, and decent depth for all speakers. I was wanting all RTi12's for all 7 speakers...It would be awesome...but the center is the one im having most trouble with trying to set-up if i tried...lol
 
Older near vintage Polk speakers in my living room 7.1 set-up. RTA-12C's as left and right mains, a modded Monitor 7C as a center channel, Monitor 5JR+'s as side and rear surrounds. Someday I hope to update my AVR from the older pre-HDMI Pioneer Elite VSX-90TX to something newer and beefier to give these polks the wattage they deserve. The front three speakers have matching tweeters and mid drivers. The four across the sides and rear are identical and match the front quiet well. All seven were purchased for less than I care to admit!
The bedroom set-up is a pair of SDA CRS+ with matching stands and a Harmon Kardon 330B that mate together better than peas and carrots and Forest might say.
 
I just picked up the following:
Center CSi A6
Front R/L RTi A5
Sides R/L FXi A6
Rear R/L RTi A3's
All hooked up except the RTI A3's ....still waiting for them to arrive.
 
I just purchased a 5 speaker polk surround set,the rti a9, csi6 and the dipole surrounds...i have a marantz 7007 reciever but im wondering if that'll give enough wattage to get the best out of the a9's,even biamped. I've read everything i could before taking the jump and lots of folks say they need a ton of power to shine..is an emotive xpa2 needed?
 
For now the marantz should hold its own for the speakers, its 1/2 of the recommended power for the A9's, but still enough to sound good.

However you should look into more power at some point. To make all 6 drivers really sing, more power would benefit it. I know when I had it just single amp powered with the bridges on the plugs, it sounded fine. But after I Bi-Amped it, they sounded better than before.
 
Well figured I'd come and join the Polk Owner Thread...Since I picked up mine when they were on clearance/sale and I'm a happy camper.

Front: Rti 8
Center: Csi 3
Surrounds: Fxi A4
Sub: eD A3-300
Reciever: Onk 705

To me this setup sounds and works amazing for games and movies..It was an amazing investmet :)
I love my Rti8's and Csi3. Blend wonderfully with my CHT-10 !!
 
For now the marantz should hold its own for the speakers, its 1/2 of the recommended power for the A9's, but still enough to sound good.

However you should look into more power at some point. To make all 6 drivers really sing, more power would benefit it. I know when I had it just single amp powered with the bridges on the plugs, it sounded fine. But after I Bi-Amped it, they sounded better than before.
I agree that most large Polk speakers sound better with more power. I've been using an Outlaw 770 amp (the forerunner of the 7700 currently available) and have been very pleased with the combination.
 
well i was expecting delivery yesterday but it seems Monday is when they get here, on a pallett..I'll have to try and find some help as i understand they're beasts....and I'm an old fart..hoping i'll be satisfied for awhile with the a9's biamped, but knowing how things are,and advise given by some of you, I'll probably end up with a xpa2 shortly.
 
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finally got the rti a9's center and surrounds to go with them. Unboxing wasn't fun,they are large and heavy speakers. I was amazing at the price point how good they looked in cherry. Right from the start they have way more detail than the b&w 600's. I'm hearing things on tracks that just wasn't audible before. The vocals are outstanding, almost live sounding. Very subtle sounds on tracks in matrix, avengers, green lantern make listening a pleasure. I have to do more playing around with placement to get an idea of soundstage on direct stereo mode, but I'm quite pleased from the start and hopefully they'll only get better with time..have to crank them more than the b&w's and may end up with a emotiva but for now its all good.
 
Fellow Polkster here.
I have RTIa9's
CSIa6
and monitor 40's doing the surround and rear thing.
I currently have a Denon 987 and since I am running 7.1 system, I am not bi-amping the rtia9's
I think I am going to upgrade to the Denon 4520ci, then bi-amp them. I guess from what I have read that should make them sing. I am not complaining about them now though, they do sound great, and since I have a HSU VFT2-MK4 I am not losing any low end. Eventually I want to get FXIa6's for the surrounds and rtia3's for the rears.
Like I said, I have had polks for a while and have alweays loved the sound they put out. I just got the new center and Front's recently and the upgrade has been outstanding. I had m20's for my front and a cs1 for the center before.

Go Polk!
 
I'm glad you like your a9's. I auditioned many speakers before deciding and I have been pleased. Integrating them with subs was a bit tricky, so I would recommend using REW to fine tune if you haven't already. I tried bi-amping with my reciever just for kicks and didn't notice any improvements at any volume level. However, after adding an XPA-3 I did notice some improvement; not just from the front channels, but from the surround channels as well.
 
I do not have the huge woofers in my Polks that most of you do.

I have Four Monitor 70 series ii floor standing for the corners (not right in the corners, but standing out from)
- two RTi A1 bookshelf for the surrounds set head height or a tad higher.
- one CS2 series ii center and
- a PSW 505 sub.

Room is about 600 sq feet, close to square, but with some wall deviations, and is all finished surface over concrete. I am contemplating another layer of drywall right over the installed stuff, but am unsure if it would make any difference.

I got these when I still had a NAD 753 to power them, and they were about a perfect fit.

Now I have an Onkyo TX-NR828, and I still think it will be a perfect fit. The powered sub is crossed over at 80Hz and seems to keep up pretty good at only about mid volume, and it was no trouble at all to reference these at 75db (yeah, I know, 85 is better) but I had to turn the receiver up a bit to do it. It was easier with the NAD. I still need my receiver volume up about 70 out of a max number of 90 to really enjoy and become immersed in movies, but I just discovered the answer to that (because I now have an Onkyo - and my thinking has been flawed by the commercial market). For music, I can turn it way down around 40 and still get pretty much everything I think I am supposed to. Sound is pretty clear and crisp, including lows and bass.

I think that's about all there is to say. Comments or suggestions are always welcome, as although I can set my system up okay, I do not know a whole lot about why I do some of the things that I am instructed to do, :yikes:
 
Viking, do you have a specific question? It sounds like you covered the basic manual setup. Did you run Audyssey? Are you hearing any distortion during heavy movie passages?
 
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