RT800/i- What a GREAT speaker!

[RuSsMaN]

Picked up a pair of RT800i on CL today for next to nothing. What a trip down memory lane, as the original RT800 was the first speaker I ever paid retail (well, close to retail) for, which at the time was a pretty good chunk of change for me working at Home Depot loading trucks.

I forgot how nice a speaker they were, well are. Tons of bottom end - using them straight 2ch for HT, no sub, might ad a period correct Polk to match them down the road, but for now, Patricia Barber, Mark Knopfler - holy crap they sound good. I must have some nodes loading up, because the bass is shocking - but it's still articulate, not boomy so I may just leave them alone.

I am always amazed at how much fun you can have in this hobby, without spending a mortgage payment.

Cheers,
Russ

[tonyb]

Amen brother, Mark Knopfler is one of my favs and usually the one I use to demo gear on and set up my own stuff. He makes a good gauge.

Nice grab on the 800's. Your the CL king as of late.

[danger boy]

atta boy Russ.. i still have my RT800i's from when they were new on the Polk Audio web site.. several years now.. bottom end is quite impressive for a tower without being boomy.

They changed hands and moved out of my house a few years ago.. but I missed them so much.. I actually bought them back from the buyer.

are your's cherry finish? I'm diggin' the cherry finish.. just the right amount of look.

I'm sure mine could benefit from new crossovers.. they lack some detail between the mid bass drivers and the tweeter.. dig the blue drivers too

[RuSsMaN]

No, mine are black like Charlie Murphy (have been streaming Chappelle's Show on Netflix).

I have RTi10's in another room, and I don't know if they are missing anything in the mids, but they have an overall 'dark' sound to them in comparison, which I kind of like - but that's 180 degrees from what I remember people saying about them, which was that they were bright. They are anything but bright imo.

Cheers,
Russ

[danger boy]

i agree... i remember a few people calling them bright.. i think it was more a mis match with their components instead of the speaker.

[Cayuga]

Nice grab, I sold mine and wish I never had.

[disneyjoe7]

Still have mine, a nice overall speaker IMHO.

[treitz3]

I have RTi10's in another room, and I don't know if they are missing anything in the mids, but they have an overall 'dark' sound to them in comparison, which I kind of like - but that's 180 degrees from what I remember people saying about them, which was that they were bright. They are anything but bright imo.

Well, that may be associated with the gear you have it hooked up too. With all of the gear I have used with them, IMO, they were bright and a little ear piercing at times. Great bass and great for HT, just not for 2-channel for these ears.

I also had the Polk Rt-800 speakers. Man, I loved those speakers. They weren't a powerhouse, mind you but they sure were a good overall speaker. I wish I had not sold them to upgrade to the RTi-10's. I will tell you this. Whenever I can score a deal on getting another pair when I have some extra cash? I will own them once again. They were really an enjoyable speaker, so I can completely understand your observations.

[adam2434]

Always had a soft spot for the RTxxxi series with the blue drivers and trilam tweeters, from the 25i on up to the towers.

Still using a CS400i and FX500i's with my LS90's - they match quiet well.

Always looking out for a pair of 600i's or 800i's to use in another room.

[djperez81]

I just picked up a pair of the rt800's from frodaddy last weekend. Im really digging them they sound great with my cs400. They sound great for HT and dont sound too bad in 2ch either definitely a keeper, especially for the price i got em for.

[DSkip]

Did you go after the CS400i for $25 as well? I emailed him and it seemed he wanted to start a bidding war, so I never responded.

[scottyboy76]

dont let the grand one find out, hell have cordell wheel him to the keyboard and bitch about you being a nanner nanner.

nice grab

[shack]

I still have my RT55i (the bookshelf version of the RT800i) as my main HT speaker and will listen to them and Dayton Titanic sub in a 2.1 set up for music. Polk got the RTxx and RTxxi series right IMO.

[RuSsMaN]

Skip same here, I told him I wasn't going to bid on it.

[B Run]

The only reason I found the forum was because I picked up a pair of Rt800's off craigslist, so i can say they definitely ended up costing me some money. First pair off decent speakers i've ever owned, still listen to em daily.

[Knucklehead]

I agree my RT8t's continue to amaze me.

[mantis]

No, mine are black like Charlie Murphy (have been streaming Chappelle's Show on Netflix).

I have RTi10's in another room, and I don't know if they are missing anything in the mids, but they have an overall 'dark' sound to them in comparison, which I kind of like - but that's 180 degrees from what I remember people saying about them, which was that they were bright. They are anything but bright imo.

Cheers,
Russ

You Russ as we get older we lose the ability to hear the top end.
Fun stuff dude , I would like to pick up a pair of RT2000p or I's , my real find would be a pair of RT16's as they are what sold me on new speakers back then and when I went to get them , they where all sold out and the new models came out so I got a pair of RT1000p's , I'd rather had the RT16's

[RuSsMaN]

I have my hearing checked annually, I am golden from 30Hz to 15000 (+/- 1 db), from 250Hz to 4000 I'm under 1db +/-, and only 3db down by 17Khz so far. I'm done at 21K, can't hear that tone at all. Doesn't bother me, it's the golden midband that I'm worried about the most, the rest I can't help - I'm not buying Klipsch yet, so I'm still ok with it.

A pair of RT1000I showed up tonight on CL, and I immediately thought of you. They want too much though for me to get into them. $340, worth every penny, but you know me, I've got to have plenty of room in them.

Cheers,
Russ

[mantis]

My uncle still has my rt1000p's which I upgraded to RT1000i's before I gave them to him. I still enjoy going over there and sitting in front of them for a while.

Hey maybe you can persuade dude to sell them for like 250.00 , that would be a hell of a deal and probably closer to what you would want to spend. Then you can recreate the decade old shoot out between the RT800 and RT1000. Back in the day in here as well as in my neck of the woods , guys would have huge debates on which was a better musical speaker. I always liked the sound of the RT1000 over the rt800 due to mid range clarity and lower bass extension.

[cfrizz]

Glad you're having fun Russ! It's nice to someone who has been all over the map with different speakers, come back to some of the gear he started out with & can sing their praises.

It's one of the reasons why I'm in no hurry to upgrade my 21 year old RTA-8Ts.

Thanks for continuing to reaffirm my belief that just because they are old they are no longer viable.

[DSkip]

I'm going on a limb and pinning you as the buyer of those RTi28's for $25 today? I hope it was you at least. That'd be a great start to a surround sound with those 800's.

[RuSsMaN]

Nah. I didn't feel like making the drive today. I told you I would leave some stuff for you guys. Besides he dropped on of them. ;)

Straight 2 ch for HT here right now broham.

[Kenneth Swauger]

I always recommended the RT800 whenever I could to customers. Very well balanced, very high level of detail and clarity and sounded like real music. Only limited by the associated gear.
Enjoy, Ken

[treitz3]

That's exactly why I would like to get me another pair. These hold the record in my audio history as being the speaker that stayed the longest amount of time. They pleased these ears for well over a decade. Since I sold them, countless speakers have come and gone. Some, rather quickly.

[phipiper10]

Like Russ RT800i was the first speaker I paid retail for. Great stuff, clear and articulate. Throw me in the just slightly bright camp, A nice Blue Circle amp could be wonderus!

In the end those are the speakers that ended up costing me much much more and bringing me here to CP