Sneak peek teaser, look inside

[faster100]

Hey now i gotcha here.. i'm going to watch a movie.. ahumm..
on some new speakers..

details, demo, Rti150 versus Rti70 grudge match with both in the house :D


the new painted base is actually chocolate brown not black as the pic looks, I did that today..

[bigsexy1]

Congrats. Faster. I just wish you had some more wattage to hit them with though. Keep in mind that the more and more you hit them with, the better and better they sound!

[VR3]

Thats great faster! Can't wait to hear your opinion!

[Terrax]

WTG Faster, I hope you like'em as as well as I do. I agree with Big on the power part, but you will certainly, more than be able to enjoy them with what you have. My opinion is that, placement is as critical as anything else for the 150's. Keep on rock'n on!

[jkratzer]

[RuSsMaN]

Nice money shot. Outboard amp time, or can the Integra hold it's own. That is the $64,000 question for me.

Too bad you bought into all the 'hype' about SVS - think of all the money you would have saved with a $100 Best Buy special.

Cheers,
Russ

[faster100]

well i managed to keep my Rti70's and purchase the 150's.. No the Integra can't hold its own, on large and bass +2 it went into protect mode at loud volumes, I changed to small and 0 flat on bass and it was better.. These speakers do sound good, less harsh if you can believe it. same tweeter and my wife rigth off the bat said they were less harsh, well she said the "highs" were not so loud and unbearable like the other ones (70's ) I planned on a outboard amp anyways and the jury is not concluded yet as i have only watched one movie tonight and a few cd's prior to the movie.... They can be run flat on bass and treble and have plenty of bass and the right blend of highs.. so far.

and the price, $245.00 each, I fell into a situation where i can afford now to keep my 70's and buy the 150's.. so regardless what stays for my HT both speakers are staying for this price.. If we end up not useing the 150's for the HT they will become my new 2 channel project..

No i'm not sorry i bought the SVS, I love my SVS and the 150's just add to the solid sound of this now bullet proof front stage as it seems so far,

secondly, all the people who don't beleive in the 150's have also not demo'd them at home on their gear, I don't think anyways.. I love my rti70's and may just keep them for movies i don't know yet, But i wanted the 150's for the past year and 1600.00 was just to much for us, My wife even liked them, looks and sound.. I got these for about a grand off and i couldnt pass it up, last pair in my town period.. I need alot more time and later more amp power unless someone wants to loan a nice amp for me to demo?? It does need power!!! you guys were right about that, wow they need power.. my poor Integra was stubleing at high volumes and went into protect mode 3 times.. BUt they sound better then at CC and comparable to the 70's with more bottom end, My back is killing me, after taking these about 40 foot from my Xterra to my florida room... they are large, more so then they looked in store..

so guys take a listen, I wont say they are the best things since sliced bread like some around here may, and i will keep my 70's... lets just see how they work as music and movie slaves.....

[phoneisbusy]

They look very nice. Have you tried stacking them ?
</duckandrun>

regards

Dave

[Terrax]

I agree they are not the end all sound to end all sound, but at 245.09 each, and for what they do offer, how can a person go wrong, heck, even with my Panny rec. (which has one gone to overload once, and that was on LoTR's at very high volume) they sound great. Which, lends me to believe that once I can afford a much better power source for them to feed on, they will only improve exponentially. I'm glad you are liking them so far Faster.:D , Of course I'm trying to find a killer deal on some 70's as well. LOL just to have to mate my Sub with. The 150's I'll use for music later. I'm happy ya got a good deal on'em and was able to keep your 70's too.

[faster100]

Oh, tomorrow they will be playing some movies and i will demo the heck out of them, I need a nice stereo adcom for these. My onk M504 would have been perfect. to bad its gone.. till tomorrow i will report back...

[Solaris]

Congratulations on your new babies.

I have them too and I love them to death. I was going to keep my CS400i as the center channel, but got a deal from CC for the CSi40 I can not resist: $169.00.

I don't know how CC can stay in business.

Solaris

[Emlyn]

Faster,
Glad you're enjoying your new speakers. I also found that set-up was important with mine for the front end and found that giving the speakers room to breathe worked best so I have mine about three feet from the front and side walls. They sounded a little muffled set further back in the corners in my room.

What speaker wire are you using? I'd suggest 12 guage or bi-wiring, but your picture looks like something smaller is being used there right now.

All the talk here about more power being needed is causing me to think more about trading in my five channel Rotel RMB-1075 for the two-channel RB-1090. The Absolute Sound magazine recently picked it as a great bargain and Rotel has a blurb about the review on their Web site. I have read some reviews of Adcom amps that say they are more detailed than Rotel's. Personal preference plays heavily in this of course, but I get the impression that Rotel's more laid-back sound may fit the RTi speakers a little better than Adcom's. The RB-1090 is about the same price as Adcom's 300 watt two channel amp.

On a side note, The Absolute Sound uses a RTi150 with its grille off on its subscription page. Somebody there must like it too.

[faster100]

Im useing 14/4 Monster wire Bi-wired... it seems to do fine...

here is a pic of the wire with connectors

[Emlyn]

Faster,
Great, that's perfect and ready for more power to be put in the pump! I thought maybe the white wire in the first picture was the speaker wire, but it's obviously not. I'm using a set of bi-wire cables from Better Cables on mine, but don't really notice it being any "better" than Monster.

[PhantomOG]

Originally posted by Solaris
Congratulations on your new babies.

I have them too and I love them to death. I was going to keep my CS400i as the center channel, but got a deal from CC for the CSi40 I can not resist: $169.00.

I don't know how CC can stay in business.

Solaris

Solaris, was this an open box price? I'm looking for a CSi40 and would jump on a deal like that.

[bigsexy1]

Faster, I hate to say I told you so, but, well, I did! They are power hungry beasts! When I was just driving them with the 3802, it also shut down a couple of times too. Although one day, it drove them at 00 volume for like 11 hours straight with no problem! If you think that the 150s are more than holding thier own with the 70s now, just wait till you finally get an appropriate amp for them, and see how the 70s will become very small in the 150s rearview mirror!

Em, if it were the old tri-lam tweets, I'd agree with you 100%, but with these new silk tweets, I think the Adcoms are a good match. Now that's not to say that the Rotels wouldn't be even better, because they just might be, but I think the Adcoms blend very well with the 150s. I don't consider the 150s to be a "bright" speaker. I think that they are more "laid back" and "warmer" on the top end with the new tweeter. I'm not the only one either. Read the only magazine review of the 150s on Polk's website.

If you get rid of your Rotel 5 channel for a 2 channel, what will then power your rear set of 150s.

[faster100]

I agree, we agree,(me and wife) they are less harsh.. less bright for some reason, height maybe have a small factor.. I don't noticed that much of a mid range hole like some claim they will have over the 70's.. I compared side by side last night (short demo) unplugged replugged type deal and the 70's were bright as hell comparitivly, I also tried one 70 and one 150 at the same time, they both calibrate the same on my meter.. and with one of each the 70 stood out not in quality but brightness.. i'm not sure if i like the brightness if that makes it better then the 70's.. IMHO

[bigsexy1]

"I also tried one 70 and one 150 at the same time,"


Sid would be proud!


Have you tried them set to large with the bass set flat yet?

[Emlyn]

Originally posted by bigsexy1
I think that they are more "laid back" and "warmer" on the top end with the new tweeter. I'm not the only one either. Read the only magazine review of the 150s on Polk's website.

If you get rid of your Rotel 5 channel for a 2 channel, what will then power your rear set of 150s.

I found this review where the reviewer was using some very impressive equipment, including Krell and Adcom...

Home Theater Sound

I'm not sold on the idea of getting rid of the RMB-1075 quite yet. Depending on what deal I can get on an RB-1090, I may keep it. Right now, I'm only using the amplifier for the front and center channels so two channels on it aren't being used at all (which may be a good thing though since there's only one power supply). The main reason for not using two of the five channels is that I recently added a pair of FXi30s as side surround speakers for movie purposes. Although the Denon 3803 allows hooking up A and B sets of surround speakers (one for music and one for side surrounds), it only has one pair of pre-outs for the A and B surrounds. When I have the rear RTi150s hooked up through the pre-outs to the Rotel, the RTi150s play back sound during movies, which spoils the diffuse effects of the side surround FXi30 speakers. As a compromise, I'm powering the rear RTi150s with the Denon's amp directly for music. In this configuration, all of the Denon's power goes only to the rear RTi150s. It actually works okay that way. I listen to multi-channel SACD and DVD-A this way at higher volumes and five channel stereo at low volumes. For "serious" music listening, I only use the front set of RTi150s though.

[faster100]

oh yes, run on large bass flat.. still good bass response.. when ran on small with bass +2 they are just right... I just don't hear the lack of mid bass. they actually are more seamless with the SVS pb1 then the 70's.. and they were pretty seamless.. the highs to mids, bass and then sub seem to match accordingly... I do need more power at this point. My avr i think is starving with 6 channels of speakers... during dvd playback. I can say without doubt, in my room the 150's are less harsh compared to the rti70's. for what ever reason,


IMO, rti150's are not a waste run on small, however run as surrounds is a large waste IMHO.. they will be more versatile far as being able to listen to music without a sub, alot of guys here like this option, and with a sub for bass intensive music and movies..






watching Jurrassic park 3 dts now.. amazing..

[Emlyn]

I agree with Faster that the RTi150s as surrounds meet the definition of excessive if they're only going to be used in a home theater. The FXi speakers are much surrounds for home theater purposes. Having the second pair as "surrounds" is ideal for multi-channel hi-resolution audio though, getting close to meeting the design specs for SACD and DVD-A which work as intended only with full-range speakers all-round. The only thing that would be better would be a fifth RTi150 as a center channel speaker, but then I wouldn't be able to see my TV!

[walk]

DD/DTS 5.1 (6.1/7.1 etc..) is full-range to all the main channels -yes it would be excessive but not wasted. I swear the most ideal setup for HT is 5 identical full-range speakers (or 6 or 7..), but the ergonomics of most people's living rooms (not to mention their wallets) usually prohibit that.

Sure would be cool, though :)

[bigsexy1]

Em, that is exactly the review I was talking about. Specifically this part:
"the warmth and relaxed sound does seem to soften the upper frequencies to a degree. The last smidgen of detail present in effects like pots clanking and nails scraping was subdued, as were the arrows flying overhead in Gladiator’s opening scene. Don’t get me wrong; I like this tradeoff with most material, if not all. Frankly, I’ve had enough of the overly bright sound you hear in some home-theater speaker systems. That’s the type of sound you can find almost anywhere, but not here."

That's why I like the Adcoms with them. Rotel may be warmer than Adcom, but it's still not as warm as say Parasound for example. So I'm sure Rotel is also a great match as well. You could sure as hell do a whole lot worse!

==============================================


Faster, I must admit that I am a little surprised that you and your wife both find the 70's tweeter brighter, as they are the exact same. I'm also a little surprised that you find that the 150s blend in with the SVS even better than the 70s when high passed. That was the one and only area where I felt that the 70s may actually have an advantage on the 150s.

[Ceruleance]

Hey Emlyn,
You're thinking about letting go of an RMB-1075? I'd be interested, and I live in Fairfax. On audiogon there's an RB-1090 for 1250 + split shipping and the seller says its negotiable. send me a PM or an email if you decide to let go of the 1075.

[kberg]

Originally posted by faster100
I compared side by side last night (short demo) unplugged replugged type deal and the 70's were bright as hell comparitivly, I also tried one 70 and one 150 at the same time, they both calibrate the same on my meter.. and with one of each the 70 stood out not in quality but brightness.. i'm not sure if i like the brightness if that makes it better then the 70's.. IMHO

See, this is what makes speakers sound good for one person but perhaps not another when compared side by side. Personally, I prefer the brighter sound of the 70's (that is, if they REALLY ARE BRIGHTER!). :)

My perception/opinion is that the 70's are brighter sounding, but is that simply because they lack the powered sub if the 150's and are naturally perceived as "brighter"? Regardless, the superb midrange of the 70's combined with the powerful, deep and accurate bass of my SVS produces incredible sound, but that's just me. ;)

[faster100]

don't get me all mixed up now, LOL
don't get me wrong, I like the 70's.. have for awhile..

just the 150's are large authoritive, more versatile.. for sub/no sub situations ... on small they blend great with the SVS.. on large they produce alot of bass and don't need a sub for everything... I like em so far..

[bigsexy1]

Faster, just wondering how you like the 150s now after having a cuople of days with them?

[faster100]

I (we) like em, I put the 70's in my computer/florida room.... on zone 2, trying em out there to see what they sound like in a different room. they actually sound alittle different out here. The walls are wood and ceiling is wood, with alot of windows on 2 sides.. we will be keeping them, what ever we decide.. after all they cost double.... their larger, louder.. not saying there better or worse or same.. sometimes its just new and different thus its better in some ways.. plus my wife digs em and thats enough for me,

[Frag_em]

The first time I listened to the 150s, I wasn't impressed. They sounded grainy and thin. Months pass and another visit to CC. This time, the story's a different one. I activated the 150s by accident, and was floored. They sounded fantastic. The difference wasn't subtle. I couldn't believe these were the same speakers!

They were, by a substantial margin, the best speakers in the store. I couldn't stop playing music through them. Another customer walked in and excalimed, "DAMN! What did you do to those things?"

I replied, "Nothing! They just sound great, don't they?"

I guess he agreed. He hunted down a CC salesman and purchased the last pair. :(

Elton (waiting for the RTi12s)

[VR3]

If you are waiting for the RTi12, and you thought the RTi150 sounded good...your in for a surprise. Trust me..