Speaker question

[silversubaru]

Hi guys. Daniel from SA here, hi to everyone!
I was hoping that I could get some advice on something....
I currently run an Onkyo 705 receiver mated with a set of RTi8's in the front, a CSi3 centre and a pair of RTi4's for the rear. Sub is a Polk PSW12 .The 8's are bi-amped by using the spare rear channels.

I was thinking of running another pair of 8's to replace the 4's at the rear. Would this work? I think that the receivers power output would be sufficient but I was just wondering if there is anyone out there that is running the same or similar set up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thks

[wutadumsn23]

Hey Daniel and welcome to Club Polk. Yeah adding another set of 8's to the mix won't be a problem for the Onkyo, might be a bit of overkill using the 8's as a surround but isn't that what it's all about, lol. I would be more concerned about your center, I have always heard that the RTi's and the CSi's don't play well together, any problems? Somebody else should chime in soon, but I don't see a problem, you may however, want to add an external amp to run your fronts/center and use the AVR to run your surrounds. That is another possibility, to limit the load on your Onk, but they are beasts and shouldn't have a problem doing what you want it to do since they are all 8 Ohm speakers. My 806 has yet to dissapoint me!!

[comfortablycurt]

The CSi3 is part of the RTi series. So that center is fine. If anything you'd want to upgrade to the CSi5 or CSi A6.

I've always heard great things about RTi8's as a surround speaker. Your receiver should do a great job powering them. As with any speaker, they would still benefit from an external amp, but it wouldn't really be necessary.

As wutadumsn said you might eventually want to look into getting an amp to power your front speakers though. Taking the load of the mains off of your AVR would free up your receivers power amp some, and would let the power amp push your surrounds/center with a little more power.

[silversubaru]

Thanks for the feedback guys. As I understand my 705 receiver, its continuous power that is sent to each channel so if I read this correctly, if I add another set of 8's to the rear position, they should be powered in the same way that the fronts are powered (exlcuding bi-amp option of course!)
Does this make sense?

[wutadumsn23]

Yeah that is true Silver, but lose the Bi-Amp idea. IMO it's not worth the cost of the extra speaker wire. If you like it, then keep it, but you will notice a real difference when you hook those 8's up to an external amp.

[silversubaru]

Thanks for the advice! Small spanner in the works.... Cannot find a set of RTi8's anywhere in SA so thats posing a problem.... I have however come across a set of RTi6's for a real good price (2000 rand so thats about 200 dollars give or take) They are demos but come with the boxes and warranty so thinking of replacing the 4's with the 6's.
The only problem is that they are in cherry finish and my current finish is black! Has anyone successfully sprayed cherry veneer finish to black??

[MSALLA]

The Rti8 is an 8ohm speaker and easy to drive. Your Onkyo should power them fine. An amp is always nice but not a "must have" in your set-up. Rti10's and up benifit from an amp.

[mdaudioguy]

The CSi3 is part of the RTi series. So that center is fine. If anything you'd want to upgrade to the CSi5 or CSi A6.

According to Polk's recommended surround "systems" http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtia/systems.php, the larger center (CSiA6 now, CSi3 in the OP's case) is recommended with the larger towers (RTiA7/A9 & RTi10/12).

Polk recommends the CSiA4/CSi3 to be used with the smaller towers (RTiA5 & RTi8) as well as the bookshelf speakers in the series.

Why is it that the larger center keeps getting pushed on people who only have the smaller towers? It's not about having the biggest, baddest center - it's about integration, and apparently Polk thinks that the smaller center integrates better with the smaller speakers.

Maybe some think otherwise, however, it seems to me that this would be an unnecessary upgrade for someone who already owns the smaller towers and center, which can be a pretty dang good setup, BTW.

[comfortablycurt]

According to Polk's recommended surround "systems" http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtia/systems.php, the larger center (CSiA6 now, CSi3 in the OP's case) is recommended with the larger towers (RTiA7/A9 & RTi10/12).

Polk recommends the CSiA4/CSi3 to be used with the smaller towers (RTiA5 & RTi8) as well as the bookshelf speakers in the series.

Why is it that the larger center keeps getting pushed on people who only have the smaller towers? It's not about having the biggest, baddest center - it's about integration, and apparently Polk thinks that the smaller center integrates better with the smaller speakers.

Maybe some think otherwise, however, it seems to me that this would be an unnecessary upgrade for someone who already owns the smaller towers and center, which can be a pretty dang good setup, BTW.

All of the speakers are voice matched to one another. There is no right or wrong choice. Polks recommendations are simply suggestions as to what would work well together, and fit into similar budget categories. You are always going to benefit from having the larger center channel. In home theater, the center channel carries about 60% of the sound track. So you could say that a very big aspect of HT is about having the biggest baddest center you can afford, as it's the most crucial speaker.

Not to say that there's anything wrong with the smaller center, but most of the people I know who have bought the smaller center, have eventually ended up upgrading to the larger one, because they felt the smaller one to be sort of lacking. It doesn't matter if they have bookshelves, small towers or large towers. The larger center will always be a big improvement.

[xcapri79]

You will find that many on this site like enhanced sound and will recommend beyond what Polk says. That is one of the great things about this forum. It offers other ideas to consider from experienced users who have tried different things.

[silversubaru]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Has anyone had any experience is changing the colour of a Polk speaker? I just need to know if its something relatively easy to do or not?
Thks

[comfortablycurt]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Has anyone had any experience is changing the colour of a Polk speaker? I just need to know if its something relatively easy to do or not?
Thks

I'm sure people have done it before. Assuming that you have some experience with painting, and take your time to do it right, I can't see any reason not to. I'd imagine it wouldn't be to terribly difficult or anything.

[mdaudioguy]

You will find that many on this site like enhanced sound and will recommend beyond what Polk says. That is one of the great things about this forum. It offers other ideas to consider from experienced users who have tried different things.

Yeah, I get that. However, if someone puts a CSiA4 with RTiA7s or A9s, everyone tells them that their center is too small... get an A6... So then, if someone gets an A6 center to go with their RTiA5s, then I guess you'd tell them to upgrade their towers for "enhanced sound," huh?

I'm not trying to argue... I just don't get why everyone pushes the larger centers, apparently without regard to the rest of the system. After all, there should be some synergy inherent in the systems as Polk has designed them.

[comfortablycurt]

The CSiA4 would probably work just fine with the RTi A5's...but that doesn't mean that upgrading to the larger center would be a bad thing. The whole series is voice matched to one another, so any combination of those speakers will work well.

The larger center is more highly recommended with the A7's, and A9's because of the fact that they are larger, and need a beefier center to keep up with them.

The other speakers in the system don't really matter in that case. The larger center channel is always going to be the better choice. Not to say that the A4 won't work with the A5's or the bookshelves, but it's silly to debate that the A4 is a better match for them than the A6 is. The center channel is what carries the majority of the dialogue, and most of the other action on screen. About 60% of a movies soundtrack is coming through the center. When budget allows, the larger center will always be the better choice.

Polk didn't design the smaller center to work better with the smaller speakers. They designed it because for some people, the lower cost of the A4 is more appealing, plus the A6's is a huge speaker. Not everyone has the room for it. In that case the A4 would be the better choice.

Typically when someone is getting bookshelf speakers over tower speakers, a big factor in that choice is the size. They don't want huge floorstanding speakers. That's why Polk "suggests" the smaller center channel. All the system selector is, is a guideline. It's not saying that one speaker will work better than the other...it's just to help people that are having trouble deciding.