sub vs. powered towers

[Airplay355]

i have rti100s for mains and i get some serious bass from them...what would happen if i got a sub? would it really make a difference? or just overpower all other frequencies?

[scottvamp]

Originally posted by Airplay355
i have rti100s for mains and i get some serious bass from them...what would happen if i got a sub? would it really make a difference? or just overpower all other frequencies?
Ohhhh - Airplay, so much to learn.
First off, if you are getting "serious bass" from your rti100's - a high quality sub may put you in the emergency room.;)

[Airplay355]

well the bass from the speakers has already broken my computer desk and knocked other assorted things of of shelves

[Airplay355]

maybe i should have asked if i should get a sub or if the money could be spent in a better way

[Zero]

Don't let these critics get ya down. The 2000ps rocked every sub I have heard to date. Its knocked crap off the walls in other rooms without even breaking a sweat.

I purchased my parents some RT100i's (at retail - ouch).... they got some nice boom. If you think thats great, add a seperate powerfull sub (you may have to go somewhere else than polk though)...

[Airplay355]

whats a good sub company? and how much would i need to spend?

[LiquidSound]

SVS (www.svsubwoofers.com/)

*drool*

[LiquidSound]

By the way, exactly how did it break your computer desk?

[Airplay355]

the end vibrated off... i know it was my speakers because when i didnt listen with the subs on i had no problems

[Airplay355]

the svs subs seem like overkill, i dont have the room, desire, or need for sumthin like that. maybe when im older and livin on my own ill consider it but for now is there anything that would work better for a fairly small room......i dunno they dimensions of my room but i bet they are around 16x10

[LiquidSound]

Then you should get two. ;)

[scottvamp]

Maybe I should get rid of my rt1000p's - my PSW1200 - and my Bosten VR500 and get a pair of RT100's. I am getting ripped off.
I hav'nt broke nothing - just keep putting cracks in the wall and ceilings. Darn it!!! :D

[Airplay355]

haahaa i think my parents would have a stroke if i put two SVS subs in my room and instead of breaking desks it will be bones.
The rti100s can go down to 25hz i think so maybe ill just stick with them.......if i bought a sub from polk would i notice a significant difference?

[Airplay355]

heres another good question....sorta.......is having 2 6" subs with 80 watt amps just as good as having one 12" sub with 160 watts?

[scottvamp]

Originally posted by Airplay355
heres another good question....sorta.......is having 2 6" subs with 80 watt amps just as good as having one 12" sub with 160 watts?
Not even close. Like I said so much to learn.

haahaa i think my parents would have a stroke if i put two SVS subs in my room and instead of breaking desks it will be bones.
Like I said

a high quality sub may put you in the emergency room.
Seat back and get your read on. A quality powered sub will make big diff and it has nothing to do with drowning frequences - quite the opposite it feels in the low freq. that are missing from your towers. By the way:
Airplay, (living with parents) how old are you?

[Airplay355]

im 15......pretty nice system for bein so young huh? dont u wish u were me...lol

[scottvamp]

Originally posted by Airplay355
im 15......pretty nice system for bein so young huh? dont u wish u were me...lol
Airplay there is someone on the forum that you will have fun playing with - his name is Mx for short (sid) and he just turned 14.
Anyway I have not heard the what the rest of your system is - please list.
Do i wish i were you? :lol: :lol:
He don't know me vewy well, do he!!!!!:D

[Airplay355]

lol i have rti100s for mains as u know, a CS245i for the center, some yamaha 3 way speakers that i dont know the model number for as surrounds, an aiwa av-d57 receiver, a panasonic dvd player and my peice of crap rca 19" TV haahaa........im sure ur system is better but hey i cant have a better stereo then everyone haahaa

[scottvamp]

It's ok, your only 15. Right!!! You can learn alot from the Polk guys. Take Care.

[Zero]

Well MY main system consists of Polk Audio Lsi-9s, Rotel integrated and umm...well damn... nevermind. :(

Welcome to the boards Airplay

You want better subs that are affordable that wont give your parents a heart-attack, check out

Phase Technology
Paradigm
Velodyne
RBH
POLKs upcoming psw808, or the existing 1200
Sunfire
B&W

btw: Welcome to the boards. To your left you will find the "Sandbox" with only two known occupants - Organ and MX... Im sure they would welcome an extra playmate. hah

[Zero]

I Forgot to warn you. Keep your eyes open for -Justin-, he is known to kick sand in kids faces. Rest assured - you will not catch him. His lack of any body mass allows him to run away pretty fast.

waaaa

[Airplay355]

ya ya make fun of the young kid

[Dr. Spec]

Originally posted by Airplay355
The rti100s can go down to 25hz

That is probably the -10 dB point; in other words a useless specification. F3 point is 36 Hz - below that it's goodbye charlie.

These guys summed it up. A great sub will go deeper, cleaner, and louder than your RTi100's.

I would be happy to own any of these subs from:

Paradigm PW2200 or Servo 15
SVS any 20 or 16 series
HSU VTF-3 or TN1220 HO
Velodyne HGS II 15 or 18

If you don't like the cylinder, SVS has a line of new box subs - see their News section.

Goinganzo has a very nice Velo CHT12 for $250 that would be an EXCELLENT upgrade for your age and price bracket. Check out the Flea Market. Great price, very good starter sub - miles ahead of the RTi100.

Doc

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

SVS - overkill? Can someone buy me one? I need two subs...haha!
My system is.....
Mains - RT35i
Center - CS245i
Surrounds - rt25i
Subwoofer - M&K MX-90
Receiver - Yamaha (soon to be a pioneer elite, with adcom amps)
25 inch magnavox tv
pioneer dvd player
hitachi vcr
and i might get a SVS sub to go in my closet....lol

BTW - how in the el can Sid be for short of MX? when SID is 1 letter longer than MX???????:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[scottvamp]

AKA - Sid........MX for short user name.

[Airplay355]

grrrr dr spec was right.....i dont like being tricked.........oh well tricks or no tricks that doesnt change the fact that i love my speakers, after talking to u guys however a sub seems like a good idea

[Zero]

Airplay

The important thing is, - You enjoy your speakers you're satisfied.

[mantis]

OK,
what everyone missed on this topic is LFE channel.Powered towers I believe get missused.In my opnion powered towers should be used like any other full range(or close to it)speaker.Like the rti100's,setting them up is as follows:
Large setting in your processor,then blending the sub section with music.The goal here is seemless blend from top to bottom.This will give you good music replay.
Home theater needs a seperate sub.I know that using powered towers seem like a replacement ,but in my opnion this is far from the truth.So the .1 in your system needs it's own.
Your system calls for a psw450,psw550,or a psw404.These Polk sub's should be a nice .1.There not expensive and they play really nice with other polk speakers.
The Velodyne offer at 250.00 is a hell of a good deal, if you can jump on it,I'd say JUMP.

[Airplay355]

when i use the LFE output though, my bass seems to disappear....maybe its my receiver but the bass is much louder (which i like) when i have the rti100s hooked up with regular speaker wire.......why is this? do i need a subwoofer cable or sumthin?

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Ah, man u got some pics. Is your rig in yo room? Mine in da room and man its annoying, no towers can be placed in my room. If they could they'd be side by side! HAHA!

[Airplay355]

this is my old room, its symetrical so the same thing is on the other side in the exact same places....that wall is 10 ft i think

[Airplay355]

in my new room theres alittle more space but for now the same basic set up with the surrounds outside the mains......the cs245i is on top of my TV now also.........the yamaha is the one with the brown grill, sry the grills r on didnt think to take them off at the time

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Cool Cool...click the link 'System' to see mine

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

I see christmas lights....
BTW - I would love to have towers.....my room is furniture loaded tho..

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

here is some new pics.....blah

[goingganzo]

this is my take on powered towers. unless they have a real sub in them it is worthless to get them caues they will cost alot and not have as much output as a good sub for the same price.

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

I would rather have a passive, cost less and easier to use....couldn't set up 3 subs in one room, especially if one was huge and the other two were mediocre small

[danger boy]

i think powered towers and subs go hand in hand.. you can always turn off the subs in the towers later on if it's overkill to your ears.

[Airplay355]

i had an MK sub in my room but it was really old so it distorted very very quickly unless u kept the volume at 1/4 or lower....it was my dads and now it sits unused in a corner.....at the time i decided id rather have loud bass then deep bass, thats when i had the yamahas as mains....now with the rti100s i can have deep loud bass, and yes those are christmas lights, strobe lights, tube lights and electra light and a blacklight lol....party hardy

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

holy crap - this sub is 14 years old, its the MX-90, I blew the driver within months after buying it from my dad. I replaced it - and it works fine now. Awesome sound, maybe that SVS will work alot better in producing Sound

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

im getting a strobe and black light too -- fun fun fun

[Airplay355]

my dads sub is that old too, its the volkswoofer......its still on their website haahaa what a bad woofer tho lol atleast by todays standards

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

lol! I dunno, but this sub can rock the world...especially with these new drivers, however im looking into SVS....

[Zero]

By the way MX, I envy your TV......... Everyone seems to outclass me there!

Who ever heard of a tv built in the 90s, without audio and video inputs and outputs?

I live in the stone-age, I tell ya.

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

wtf....my mom has a POS tv thats atleast....what....10 years old...and its loaded with av inputs

[Zero]

Well her POS tv isn't so bad after all.

Ah well - Im not critical on video. Not yet at least.

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Amen ATC - AMEN! Im not high on video either, when I watch tv its at night, and at that time my rig isnt on in the first place. I had 200 dollars to spend last year at christmas and I told my mom thats what i wanted, walked in walmart....and I saw it...haha...

[Zero]

Haha.

Perhaps the love for video comes with age. After all, most individuals my age (not to mention your own), simply dont care or seem to appreciate picture perfection. Especially someone like me who has crappy vision in the first place.

Perhaps in a few years, when wrinkles will be common, baldness will be setting in along with backpains... we will ascertain a whole new love and interest for big screen or hi-fi TV's.

Not yet however...... Im happy with my POS.... and will rock it till it dies.

[Airplay355]

like my pos? its a 19" RCA beat that

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

LOL! I wouldnt mind having a HD flat screen - wide screen tv in my room....but I dont give 2 cents to the dollar about it. I wouldnt need it, maybe when im old, retired, and glued to a chair and cant move ill enjoy video...

[Airplay355]

haahaa we have a 24" wega in the living room with my dads old DCM speakers but theres only 2 of them and they cant hit those low notes, not for a second

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

El, When I get my own House and all i got a real job, I wouldnt mind buying the RTi150s or the LSI15s. That'd be awesome, im getting the amps now, speakers..lata..lata. I Really dont see powered towers in the future for me, however I do see a subwoofer in every corner. I got one now...lol! - will have two later

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Mine is a 25 inch POS magnavox - My mom's den is a 31 inch magnavox. my dad's den is a 62 inch rear project. mits tv. My dad is the only other person in my family into audio

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

ATC - If you kept all your speakers and amps and such....could u imagine your rig? it'd....be....huge

My monitor is braking....its been vibrated - when the sub hits some low continuous bass notes, my monitor has like a rainbowy wave shooting from the bottum for a split second. Its wavey all over tho, its annoying. Its going to die soon tho, IMO

[Airplay355]

my dad was but he thinks speaker technology hasnt changed in the last 15 years so he has no idea what the **** is goin on in the audio world.....THX to him is a system with 10 surround speakers lol

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

LOL! My dad is pretty behind too, however he has some kick arse speakers. Klipsch speakers, KEF - M&K, Adcom amps - etc, the works. Its an awesome system, could make any polk system except the SRS 1.2tl's and maybe the LSI's run to the water and hide, however they are ear bleeding

[Airplay355]

haahaa my monitor does the same thing, its a sony trinitron and the screen shakes when the bass is loud....thats the signal to turn it down alittle

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

haha....my monitor best get used to it, because its only gonna get louder, my monitor is my dad's old one - its like 5 years old, its been through hell and back.

[Airplay355]

in my new room the bass doesnt hit my computer as much so it doesnt happen as much but it still happens

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

my sub....it just sorda.....passes over my room and hit the rest of the house. My sub is really drowned out since my bed is RIGHT INFRONT OF IT!

[Airplay355]

my speakers work perfect in my room, right where my couch is the bass is the loudest, the closer u get to the TV the less the bass

[Zero]

Take it easy on your monitors.... those things are very fragil. Though I have done the same thing a few times with my KLH 15' sub. If anything, I have inadvertantly placed one too many magnetic devices around my 19' Hitachi. No real problems with it yet, besides the compatibility issue which is usually never an issue to begin with.

MX - I cannot even begin to imagine all the crap I would have accumulated if I was to keep everything I purchased. Hell, I could probably rival Russ in terms of quantity.

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

LOL! Well, my Sub dosnt affect the TV, it hurts the monitor tho...and its....atleast.....6 feet away from it....haha

ATC - One day......when I get as old as george grand....im gonna have one of those magic closets!!!! :lol:

[MxStYlEpOlKmAn]

Heres all the crap thats gonna be in my room....*sigh*

Mains - Rt35i
Mains 2 - KLH900b
Mains 3 - Optimus (dunno model #)
Center - Cs245i
Rear Center - CSi30
Rear surrounds - Rt25i
Subwoofer - M&K MX-90
Subwoofer 2 - SVS (550 dollars model)
TV - Maganvox
VCR - Hitachi (soon to be laid around as it will be replaced by a JVC)
DVD Player - Pioneer DV-340 (soon to be replaced by a Panasonic or a Sony
Receiver - Yamaha Htr-5460 (soon to be laid around as it will be replaced by a Pioneer Elite VSX-41 (I think))
CD Player - Yamaha CDC 585
Amps - ADCOM GFA-545II x 3
...
and thats just what's gonna be in my room...haha...
I have another VCR and TV in my sister's room
lord who knows what else.....

[dbournival]

I have Rt1000is, When I set them up I used sub cables to the LFE jack and had the same issue. I then just set them up with regular wire and they work much better.

I just added a PSW404 for better LFE.