2 Channel on the Cheap

[weavercr]

I got my pre amp in last night. Yamaha C-40. I purchased the preamp thru Polk for sale forum from Peterng. The equipment Worked Flawlessly. Peterng is A fine example of a Mousekateer. If he is selling equipment don't hesitate to buy from Him. Equipment is as described. I will do busines with Peterng again.




Polk RT55i (for now) 400.00
Yamaha C-40 Pre amp 50.00
Dennon POA2400a 200wpc amp 25.00
Denon DCD 596 cd player 15.00
Monster Cable interconnects 5.00
Generic 10awg, (2) 6 ft runs. 3.00


Under 500.00 for a 2channel rig.

[TroyD]

Peter is a good dude who has put up with quite a bit of good natured ribbing, not to mention he has a lot of cool stuff....

You still need to bring that Denon by to test with the DQ-10's

Troy (of the Big Dumb Dions)

[joe logston]

hi weavercr, or is it peter, dont feel ashame of of all your goodies, thats one of the best setups i seen for the money,

i have the poa-2400 amp i modified it and got rid of the cheessey binding post and put good ones and wired it so that i elimited the two volume controls and ran it straight two channel its a good amp

[RuSsMaN]

Nice rig, no news on the Dahl/Krell gear?

Cheers,
Russ

[weavercr]

joe logston I'm NOT ashame of of all my goodies. The only part I may change out it the RT55i s.

I have my eye on some DQ10 that Troy called to my attention or maybe some SDAs CRS or an RTA11T ot some monitor 10's

Troy I may take you up on the offer after I get done with my house. It takes ALL of my time. Hopeing to have it done by mid July.


No word on them BUT I have a very good Ideal where they went.

[Aaron]

Don't waste your time with the RTA-11T's.

Aaron

[RuSsMaN]

Why is that Aaron? Just your personal preference? Because they aren't brand new?

I don't think you can take anyone's audio opinions TOOOO seriously, when their main system in the past couple of years consisted of Bose cubes..... ;)

Cheers,
Russ

[TroyD]

OUCH! That's going to leave a mark!

If you know who ganked your stuff and they need a good ass kicking...I'm in.

Troy

[weavercr]

Aaron what dont you like about the RTA-11T's? What do you like about the SDA CRS. The 10a are sold already.

I am looking for your opinion? Both pros and cons. Thats why I posted my options on the forum. Give more info....

[Aaron]

I'm probably going to offend the RTA-11T owners here, but you asked for it. I don't feel that these speakers do anything particularly well. My RT55's are superior in every respect except for deep bass extension. The 11T's are not detailed in the mids or the highs. The speakers sound hallow, like something is missing from the midrange (kind of Klipsch-like). The mid bass is fairly weak, but the low bass can be strong at certain frequencies. The bass seems to have nodes that are caused by the different tuning of the passive radiators. This creates for very uneven bass response. The RT55's have smoother and tighter bass. This speaker makes it clear how far Polk has come in the past 10 years. By the way, the 11T's were being driven by a 425W Carver amp.

Aaron

[TroyD]

Well, I mean really, how could ANYTHING compare to a pair of RT55's biamped by a Sony and a Yammie......not too mention a pair of full range cubes.

Jeez, I crack myself up.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

I hear ya, and the RT55 is a crowning acheivement for Polk too.....

Those ears will dry off over time....

Cheers,
Laughing Russ

[nascarmann]

Does anyone else think Aaron is starting to sound a lot like mantis?:lol:

[Aaron]

Tough crowd, tough crowd.

Aaron

[joe logston]

hey weaverer, if you come across a set of rt-7 they are a real good speaker, there a bookshelf but if you got a good musical sub, it will make a dynamite system.

[joe logston]

aarron you are right, because thats a good amp you got there if that amp cant make them sound good nothing will

[mantis]

I read that........Aaron is starting to sound like me???
whats that suppost to mean?
fromwhat I read Aaron doesn't like the rta11t's.It also sounds like he tested them.It didn't sound like he was talking out of his ass like some people do.
Talk is cheap but experience goes along way.

[TroyD]

UHHHHH.......how 'bout, lighten up?

I think we were just having a little fun with Aaron, who seemed to take it in stride.....

[RuSsMaN]

That's twice now, who is talking out of their ass?

Cheers,
Russ


;)

[TroyD]

EXCUSE ME! does anyone have a mint or perhaps some binaca??

Chief Whisper From Rectum (of the Asstalker tribe)

[mantis]

Having fun with Aaron at my expense...thats cool.Glad I could be of service.:rolleyes:

[TroyD]

no problem.....

lemme check....nope, didn't say anything at your expense. However I have a strong suspicion that I may be one of the folks that you refer to as talking out of thier backsides :D

Chief WFR

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

"The speakers sound hallow, like something is missing from the midrange (kind of Klipsch-like). "

Dude I have some news for ya, but klipsch do not sound hollow...maybe the new ones, but the ones 15-17 years ago are AWESOME!!!!!!!!

[mantis]

the reference was at nascarman not you troy.
its all good.....
the talking out your ass comment is meaning this.....if you havent tested it/demoed it yourself......its just talk.....still fun but weightless words....you guys sound like you could post some real good posts about your experiences,you have.

[TroyD]

...absolutely....

If someone can get a good yuk at my expense, I say have at it!

The Chieftan

[weavercr]

MxStYlEpOlKmAn Are you talk about the Klipschhorns, Lascala and Herseys from 20 - 30 years ago (70's) or the KG3 and Tangent series from 15- 20. (80's). Sorta like the Tangent 30 that setting in a local pawn shop for 200.00. Dated 1988. What are these like. Good ones or bad ones. I Have listened to the Klipschhorns from the 70's. They are the Good ones but have a unique sound to them.

[TroyD]

I like the Hersey's, a coworker has a pair.....the KG series - I don't know about the KG3 but I spent a lot of time with the KG4 and don't have much good to say about it....

BDT

[nascarmann]

the reference was at nascarman not you troy.

Thank you for the reference! :D Need all I can get!:lol:

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Their the ones with the horn tweeters, and the dual woofers, woofer on the front and back...they sound awesome

[raycomics]

I have Klipsch Heresys (1984 vintage) and Klipsch Tangents (80s?
Bookshelf) incorporated in my all Klipsch HT Setup.

Like the sound very much, especially for Action and Sci-Fi Movies.

$200 sounds bout right for the Tangents. Orion (2001) has them MSRP $380.

The Guy probably would take $175 if you give it a try.

[Akhenaten818]

Hello Polk people. I have read about the Polk RTA 11t's for a while now, and heard ao many distictive applause and sneers that I feel I need to speak my piece about this speaker. I have had the Magnepan MMG, the Paradigm 9semk3 and the highly reviewed 5semk3 and the 7se mk3, the Infinity Kappa 8.1 and various Pinnacle speakers. As you can see, I love to listen and try them out.

I must say, that while all the sepakers mentioned above are really good speakers, there can be something wrong found with all of them. The Infinity Kappa 8.1 were the most expensive speakers but the worst built in my opinion. I had to track down rattles, buzzes, a fawlty circuitbreakers for the tweeters that made the tweeter pop at low volumes. Once that was all fixed, they were great, but the tight bass was so tight it was less than life.

The Pinnacles were great for the price paid. I always wanted to change the look of them though. PN8+ was a bit lean on the bass. Very clean though.

That Paradigms were impressive. Solid. The 7se were bigger sounding than the 9semk3 but both had subdued midrange and the praised 5semk3 had a desert dry sound in the tweeter--all three speakers had the same tweeter but this sounded worst on the 5's.

The Magnepan MMG, wow. But needs oodles of power to wake them up. Distant though, to me, and that is what people love about them I guess. Lots of depth, not enough forward to me. Too sentive in room placement for my real world.

The lone survivor is the RTA 11t. I have the Stereophile review on these by JA, who was peeved that he had to buy the speakers and Polk didn't volunteer a pair for review, as I understand it. Who cares. Pshycho-acoustics... What I love about the RTA 11t's is that they aren't "dry" in the highs, not overly lean in the bass and look awesome. The best imaging I had of all these speakers. I think they do everything well. I removed the bass, and put Dayton chrome spikes where the screwholes were. SL2000 is a kind of analytical tweeter not all that different from the Infinity's. For the fun of it I am going to try the new upgrade tweeter and see how I like them, which will take about 3-6 months before I really know. If they degrade the imaging, I will go back to the SL2000.

I have sold all my speakers but still have the RTA 11t, and the RTA 8t, one of which is being used as a center channel speaker, its mate is storage. I am using the sweet Yamaha RXV-657 home theater receiver which I switch to driect pure audio when listening to music only on the 11t's.

I have never had an ideal listening room. My place is a small house with a 16 x 20ft loft, with a stairwell in the middle and lots of wierd angles in the ceiling. I sit and listen to music of all kinds from Mozart to new age to rock and never at levels that can be heard away from the house on my 75 x 85 lot on the coast of Oregon. When listening to the music and forgetting about the speakers, the Polk 11t's are a satisfying speaker.

Thanks, and hope you enjoyed this post.

Akhenaten818

[MillerLiteScott]

Welcome A...818.

I also own a pair of RTA 11t's with the new tweeters and I really like these speakers. They have been displaced by a pair of SDA's but the 11's are not going anywhere.

Stick around they is a lot to be learned from many of these guys.

And yes it is an awesome looking speaker in a manageable size. You get a lot for a small foot print. Long live the PR's.

My 11t's the large part of a little 2 channel system that I have $275.00 invested. Which includes cost of speakers, small donation to George Grands kids cause, RDO tweeter upgrades, Accurian amp deal of the century and a vintage JVC cd player. My wife even made a comment today on how good it sounded in my garage.

Scott

[TroyD]

wow...blast from the past....

Welcome to the Forum....

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

I thought I was having this pre?

[TroyD]

with all the money in the world, there is no need for option.

[tonyb]

Hello Polk people. I have read about the Polk RTA 11t's for a while now, and heard ao many distictive applause and sneers that I feel I need to speak my piece about this speaker. I have had the Magnepan MMG, the Paradigm 9semk3 and the highly reviewed 5semk3 and the 7se mk3, the Infinity Kappa 8.1 and various Pinnacle speakers. As you can see, I love to listen and try them out.

I must say, that while all the sepakers mentioned above are really good speakers, there can be something wrong found with all of them. The Infinity Kappa 8.1 were the most expensive speakers but the worst built in my opinion. I had to track down rattles, buzzes, a fawlty circuitbreakers for the tweeters that made the tweeter pop at low volumes. Once that was all fixed, they were great, but the tight bass was so tight it was less than life.

The Pinnacles were great for the price paid. I always wanted to change the look of them though. PN8+ was a bit lean on the bass. Very clean though.

That Paradigms were impressive. Solid. The 7se were bigger sounding than the 9semk3 but both had subdued midrange and the praised 5semk3 had a desert dry sound in the tweeter--all three speakers had the same tweeter but this sounded worst on the 5's.

The Magnepan MMG, wow. But needs oodles of power to wake them up. Distant though, to me, and that is what people love about them I guess. Lots of depth, not enough forward to me. Too sentive in room placement for my real world.

The lone survivor is the RTA 11t. I have the Stereophile review on these by JA, who was peeved that he had to buy the speakers and Polk didn't volunteer a pair for review, as I understand it. Who cares. Pshycho-acoustics... What I love about the RTA 11t's is that they aren't "dry" in the highs, not overly lean in the bass and look awesome. The best imaging I had of all these speakers. I think they do everything well. I removed the bass, and put Dayton chrome spikes where the screwholes were. SL2000 is a kind of analytical tweeter not all that different from the Infinity's. For the fun of it I am going to try the new upgrade tweeter and see how I like them, which will take about 3-6 months before I really know. If they degrade the imaging, I will go back to the SL2000.

I have sold all my speakers but still have the RTA 11t, and the RTA 8t, one of which is being used as a center channel speaker, its mate is storage. I am using the sweet Yamaha RXV-657 home theater receiver which I switch to driect pure audio when listening to music only on the 11t's.

I have never had an ideal listening room. My place is a small house with a 16 x 20ft loft, with a stairwell in the middle and lots of wierd angles in the ceiling. I sit and listen to music of all kinds from Mozart to new age to rock and never at levels that can be heard away from the house on my 75 x 85 lot on the coast of Oregon. When listening to the music and forgetting about the speakers, the Polk 11t's are a satisfying speaker.

Thanks, and hope you enjoyed this post.

Akhenaten818


Now thats an excellent first post,welcome!!

[steveinaz]

Once again, another argument based on opinion. I'll take a set of RTA-11T to anything (sans Lsi series) that Polk has put out in the last 15 years.

You buy what sounds good to you; not for pats on the back from your fellow "audiophiles."

Weaver, your system looks real good.

[JimBRICK]

ok no one beats my cheap system

pioneer elite integrated amp 125 (bought in FM)
Nakamichi cd player 30 bucks (neighbour)
Yamaha turntable (Karma gift from local audioguy) this thing looked new out of box
Mirage sm-1 speakers 30 bucks (local guy) told by mirage in email this was first speaker they produced

[MillerLiteScott]

I just noticed this thread was started @ 5 years ago.

[George Grand]

Life is suck.

[cfrizz]

Welcome Akhenaten818!

Enjoy your RTA-11T's. I still enjoy my 17 yr old RTA-8T's.

[schwarcw]

Welcome to the Club Polk Forums Akhenaten818! I highly recommedn that you get the replacement tweeters for the SL2000. These new softdome tweeters (RDO-194) are much smoother on the high end, not "analytical" as the SL2000's. Glad to hear you like the RTA-11's and welcome!:)

[George Grand]

No Jim, I don't beat your cheap system, I stomp it.

How about these 3 pieces for $2.00?

NAD Receiver
Yamaha CD player
B & O Turntable

All in working order, all purchased from the same seller, at the same time.

I could add any number of speakers that I purchased in perfect working order for less than $10.

How about a Marantz "Esotec" pre-amp and power amp. Both in the original boxes with all paperwork and not so much as a speck of dust, let alone a scratch? Those set me back $5 for the pair.

You're way out of your league friend.

[ben62670]

Don't waste your time with the RTA-11T's.

Aaron

I have RTA 15's, and they are great speakers all around. I have had a few SDA's, and the RTA's sounded great. I have not heard the RTA11's, but I can't imagine them not sounding great. I would love to have a set to try out. I would not hesitate recommending them even without hearing them. Dual passives, MW6510's. Upgrade the tweets, and I would bet that they would be a great speaker.

http://www.polksda.com/pdfs/RTA_TL_Sales_Brochure.pdf

[W WALDECKER]

No Jim, I don't beat your cheap system, I stomp it.

How about these 3 pieces for $2.00?

NAD Receiver
Yamaha CD player
B & O Turntable

All in working order, all purchased from the same seller, at the same time.

I could add any number of speakers that I purchased in perfect working order for less than $10.

How about a Marantz "Esotec" pre-amp and power amp. Both in the original boxes with all paperwork and not so much as a speck of dust, let alone a scratch? Those set me back $5 for the pair.

You're way out of your league friend.I would have to agree George :D

[tonyb]

Holy crap G.G.....and I thought Early was cheap.
You must be one helluva sweet talker pal.

[avguytx]

That beats my deal of Monitor 10B's, Carver C-1 and M-1.0t for $20! Bravo George! Gotta love them deals!

[tonyb]

You guys are the masters at hunting up cheap gear. Hell,I couldn't go out and steal it for that cheap.

[George Grand]

No way the crown goes north or south of our borders.

How about the Carver power amps (M-500t) I got for the price of shipping? The NAD preamps too. The NAD 50wpc power amp that was left on my desk? The Fisher 500c tube receiver in immaculate condition that found its way to the Magic Desktop for freeb? The brand new in the box Carver TFM-35 that cost me $125? Same with a Carver C-11 pre for $119?

You greenish there yet Mr. Brick? Never make a statement that's going to get WAY stomped on.

Early's a good guy with a good ear, but compared to moi, he spends money like it's going out of style.

Carver Amazing Plat Mk.IV's delivered directly from the Carver factory to my home, 17 years ago, for $1,156?


And to a least have something to do with the original thread, I've had 4 pair of RTA11t down through the years. I thought they sounded pretty good for the money. BRAND New, the first pair cost me $290 in 1989, and the second pair, also brand new in the boxes, cost me $272 a couple days later. If they had more, I would've gone back and got those too. Like our new boy 818 up there, I got my first issue of Stereofool the day after I bought the first pair of 11t's. Guess what got the **** beat out of it in that issue? Yup. I think the last sentence of that ******* JA's review was, "How Matt Polk plans on being competitive at the $1k price point with these is beyond me." A few issues later they rave about a pair of $5k mini-monitors, but only if you buy two $5k subs to go with them. Right then and there baby, right then and there.

[JimBRICK]

No way the crown goes north or south of our borders.

How about the Carver power amps (M-500t) I got for the price of shipping? The NAD preamps too. The NAD 50wpc power amp that was left on my desk? The Fisher 500c tube receiver in immaculate condition that found its way to the Magic Desktop for freeb? The brand new in the box Carver TFM-35 that cost me $125? Same with a Carver C-11 pre for $119?

You greenish there yet Mr. Brick? Never make a statement that's going to get WAY stomped on.

Early's a good guy with a good ear, but compared to moi, he spends money like it's going out of style.

Carver Amazing Plat Mk.IV's delivered directly from the Carver factory to my home, 17 years ago, for $1,156?


And to a least have something to do with the original thread, I've had 4 pair of RTA11t down through the years. I thought they sounded pretty good for the money. BRAND New, the first pair cost me $290 in 1989, and the second pair, also brand new in the boxes, cost me $272 a couple days later. If they had more, I would've gone back and got those too. Like our new boy 818 up there, I got my first issue of Stereofool the day after I bought the first pair of 11t's. Guess what got the **** beat out of it in that issue? Yup. I think the last sentence of that ******* JA's review was, "How Matt Polk plans on being competitive at the $1k price point with these is beyond me." A few issues later they rave about a pair of $5k mini-monitors, but only if you buy two $5k subs to go with them. Right then and there baby, right then and there.



As I pass you a downer :)

[George Grand]

Goslings with ice Junior.

[cfrizz]

:D I just love it when you are in rare form!!!:D :D :D :D :D :D

[AndyGwis]

Agreed, solid rant(s), George.

Reminds me of the thread where I asked if I got a good deal on my first amp (a B&K ST202 off ebay) and your response was "yeah, if you think paying $2 a watt for a 20 year old amp is a good deal."

This rant makes that comment sound like a compliment.

[George Grand]

The Rodney Dangerfield of the Polk Forum I am rapidly finding out is what I is.

Andy, thanks for not taking offense early on I guess.

Sistuh, rare form about 10 times a day, just not always about audio.

[RuSsMaN]

Why does anyone sell anything, other than a pet rock, dirty undercrackers, or a can of pop for $2?

How does that even happen?

[George Grand]

1. Cause they're as dumb as a stick?
2. When they asked for $4 they got hit in the mouth with a Louisville Slugger?

Couple wild guesses.

Don't go off misinformed. It was all three for $2. About $.66 each. I'm just glad the guy had change for a five so that I didn't get ripped off.

[daveyg2]

Great "cheap" 2 ch system is:

B&W 805
Conrad Johnson PV-12
Citation 7.1 amp
Cardas Cross Cables.

This is bliss for those that can spend about 3grand total. Wouldnt recommend garbage here.