RTI A5 or RTI A3: Starting from Scratch

[mj23457]

Hello all

I am looking to buy a home theatre 5.1 setup and am looking for opinions on what I should do. The room that I am putting these in is the family room which is 18 feet x 14 feet. The TV is on the long wall in the center. I would say that this system is going to be used primarily 85% for TV / Movies and 15% gaming and music.
I have went and listened to many different speakers and really like the Polk RTI A3 and Polk RTI A5. I was thinking that one of those combos with the CSI A4 would be nice. I will then get some surrounds and start researching a sub. I also need a new receiver I was thinking the Yamaha 663 or 665, but am open to suggestions.
Does anyone have any opinions on if the RTA A5 would over power the room for movies or would I be better off with the RTI A3 and spend more on a sub? . Any opinions would be great thanks. I would be buying these on Ebay refurbished. Has anyone had any problems with those?

[Toolfan66]

Budget???

Do yourself a favor and push to get the CSiA6 for your center. You can get both the A5's and A3's, use the A3's as your surround's or go with any of the FXi or FXiA series.

If you have the room go with the A5's for your fronts.

I personally don't like Yamaha, I am not saying this to push you away from Yamaha lots of guys here like them and you may as well. in my little experiance I like Pioneer Oynko and Denon.

Welcome to CP.

[xcapri79]

Budget???

Do yourself a favor and push to get the CSiA6 for your center. You can get both the A5's and A3's, use the A3's as your surround's or go with any of the FXi or FXiA series.

If you have the room go with the A5's for your fronts.

Welcome to CP.

Welcome to Club Polk.

[Toolfan66]

I forgot to add my RTiA9's and CSiA6 are Polk refurbs, They look brand new no problems at all..

[danz1906]

Welcome to the Club!

[cdn5003]

I have three pair of Rti A3's, a Csi a4, and a Csi A6 all refurbished. They all arrived packaged as new and have no cosmetic blemishes.

I found the A3's to be a great match with the Csi a4 center but I prefer the Csi a6. All of my Rti series speakers play well together.

The Rti A5's will not overpower the room. I have Rti 10's in a smaller room and they are not too much speaker.

Since you care most about HT I would strongly recommend investing in a good subwoofer that can deliver 20 Hz performance. Having a stronger sub would make a bigger difference than the improvement from the A3's to the A5's for movies in my opinion. The center speaker and sub are most important for movies. I love my Elemental Designs A2-300 and would recommend it. Also look into SVS, Epik, HSU and others if you want quality low frequency response.

welcome to club polk. there is a lot to be learned around here and your wallet will probably take a hit if you stick around long enough.

[Toolfan66]

Deleted wrong thread..

[dorokusai]

RTiA5.

[grimmace19]

For what its worth, I just got a Yamaha 565... blew my onkyo 505 out of the water.. and for only 300 on newegg I can't think of a better deal.

[Toolfan66]

For what its worth, I just got a Yamaha 565... blew my onkyo 505 out of the water.. and for only 300 on newegg I can't think of a better deal.

Where In Denver are you located grimmace19?

[coolsax]

if you are thinking of eventually adding an amp and are restricted by budget go with the yammy 665 and it has more HDMI than the 663, its the only current model in its price range that have preouts.. to get preouts with onkyo, denon or pioneer you'll have to pay 2-300 more...
even though it has less HDMI the 663 will probably push more power through the speakers however, b/c it generates more wattage from the power supply, i think the difference in the powersupply is like 400W for the 663 and 270 for the 665..

[Erik Tracy]

Just to stir the pot...

You can pick up some RTiA3s right now from the Polk official eBay store for a steal!

They would work great as mains and/or surrounds.

Matched with the CSiA4 or 6 and a good sub - you've got a really nice package.

I went for RTiA3s for my fronts because of space constraints for towers. Coupled with a good sub the RTiA3 can fill a small to medium sized room with great sonic goodness!

I'd be an advocate for towers any time you have the room and the budget, but when space or budget is an issue - the RTiA3s from the Polk eBay site are an incredible bargain.

[danz1906]

If you can spring for the A5s-Go for it!

[TouchOfEvil]

I vote A5's as well. I own a set of A5's and a set of A1's and had some A3's the A5's are a great budget floorstander.

[leroyjr1]

RTI a5's

[mj23457]

Alright guys thanks for all the responses. I went ahead and ordered the RTI A5s, CSI A6 and the RTi A1 for the rears. Now I have to find a receiver and subwoofer. I was looking at the Elemental Designs A2-300 and HSU STF-2. Other recommendations are also welcome.

As for a reciever what would you guys suggest for what I just bought? Thanks again.

[leroyjr1]

Look at Epik subwoofers and SVS

[Norm Apter]

OK, it looks like you have a system very similar to mine: I have a pair of RtiA5s, CSiA6 and a pair of Rtia1s for the rears. I can't help you on the sub, but I can make a suggestion for a receiver (or something comparable).

I went with a Denon AVR-2808 CI. Its rated at 110 w/pc and most important has pre-outs so you can add a separate amplifier in the future if you like. Has all the bells and whistles I need and does a very nice job driving the rtia series speakers. I think its a great bang for the buck AVR. Unfortunately it appears as if its an older model and is out of stock. Maybe you can try searching for its replacement. Here's the link to it anyway:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TW20A2/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

[apphd]

mj welcome to CP.
Sounds like you are on your way to a nice system that should please you for some time.:D

There have been many comments on the RTi lines forward/bright sound. Yamaha is also known for a some what bright sound for many ears. I would suggest you try to hear some RTi's paired up with a Yamaha. While the Yamaha makes an excellent choice for a good entry level AVR with pre outs (a must have in my book) it may not be right for some people with the RTi's. Not sure what you are able to budget for the AVR, but there are other options if you find the Yamaha sound not to your liking. I have a Yamaha 663 running some Monitor 50's and some older Genesis Physics speakers and I am happy, but these are warmer sounding speakers than the RTi.

80% HT 20% music assuming < 9' ceilings the eD A2-300 is a great budget choice (I have one) but HSU, SVS, Epik, and a few others all make very good subs at a variety of price points.

[mj23457]

THanks guys for all the help. I ordered the Yamaha Rx-V765 from electronics expo. I was trying to order the 663, but they did not have it in stock although the website said otherwise. The price of the 663 was 330 they were going to give me the 665 for 350, but from what i read it did not have as much power as the 663. They ended up giving me the 765 for 380, which i thought was a good deal.

This morning i ended up going with the A2-300. I looked at most of the subs suggested in the thread and this seemed like the best fit for me. The only issue i have with it is the size it looks to be mammoth. I will keep you guys posted once i set everything up.

Thanks for the help.

[cdn5003]

If you don't mind the appearance of the A2-300 you will love it. Its performance in movies is excellent. At $350 shipped I don't think there is anything that can compete with it. I upgraded from a Velodyne dls 3750 that is decent but only extends to ~30 Hz. The A2-300 walked all over it hitting 20 Hz accurately, I was missing so much LFE in movies. Keep us updated when you get it all hooked up.

[mralarming]

Maybe off-topic, but how do you unsubscibe from this forum? I no longer have anything Polk (nor will I ever again) and will not be posting here anymore (besides this last message)...thanks!

[coolsax]

I paid 500 for my 665 so 380 for the 765 is a good deal for sure especially since electronics-expo website shows the 765 for 499.95 as well.

also if they didn't disclose it, I would check to make sure it was used or not,.. they've got several 665s in their clearance section that states used for that 350 price they quoted you.. not saying it wont work but just buyer beware.