Anybody Elese Have That One Pair of Speakers...

[organ]

Anybody else have that one pair of speakers that for some reason perform MUCH better in your rig than they're suppose to?

You know, something not considered high end, but for some reason, they can compete with much more expensive and higher end speakers in your personal set up.

For me, it would be the Polk RT1000p. I believe they came out in the late 90's. Tri-lam tweeter, 6.5" mid range in their own sealed enclosure, and 6.5" powered woofer.
At the moment, I own 4 pairs of speakers but I've sold many others. Some of the great stuff I've used are Maggies (model escaped my mind, it's 12QR or something), Klipsch La Scala, Mirage M3-si, Klipsch Cornwall.

My main speakers are the Lowthers. I also have a pair of LSi9 which I haven't heard in years.

For some reason these old Polks can satisfy me as much as my other speakers, even though they're not suppose to be as good. I'm currently powering them with my NAD seperates and I'm in heaven. They also work just as good on my single ended tube amps. They're so well balanced from top to bottom and cast an extremely dynamic sound with incredible power. They have that powerful "live" feel to the sound where you can hear the heft and weight of the sound.

I used to own a pair of RT800i which I sold to my friend. The 800i's sounded amazing in my rig, but in his set up it was very forward, a little harsh and bright. Bass is a little boomy in his set up as well. His gear isn't as good as mine, but the sound character is night and day difference.

I've come to the conclusion that these Polks sound so good because their sound character, dispersion, etc work out great with my room acoustics. For some reason they just click in my listening environment. The RT speakers with tri-lam tweeters sound so good in my set up but not even close in other set ups/demos I've heard.
These speakers will continue to get rotation in my rig and I'm never selling them. I've been listening to them again for the past week and I'm so impressed with the sound.

Anybody else experience this? Weather it was due to room acoustics, gear combination, or both? I'm not talking "high end" speakers. Just something most would consider average, but for some reason you get amazing sound quality in your rig using them.

[txcoastal1]

IMHO...Polk makes a well rounded speakers that don't always tear apart recordings as the higher end revealing speakers.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

My PSB Are like that, they sound way better than they should in my rig

[DSkip]

I fell in love with that RT line. The RT3000p REALLY did it for me. Then, I heard Usher a second time around. I say the second time around because the first time, I wasn't sold. I was too wet behind the ears and hadn't found "that sound" yet. For me, they pair the "high-end sound" with the RT voicing, bringing out details you could only wish for out of the Polk's. If you haven't had a chance to hear any Usher's yet, you owe it to yourself to seek some out.

I've still got the RT3000's in the closet. I've thrown them up a few times for sale in a few places, but my heart isn't into it. I don't want to see them go. It was hard enough shipping the CS1000p to Canada.

[ZLTFUL]

This pair of Klipsch KG 3.2s that were free with my RTAs are sort of like that for me. They shouldn't sound good but on live music, I think they sound better than the RTAs. The RTA's are definitely the better overall speaker but yeah...I get what you're saying.

[skrol]

My latest "this speaker sounds better than it has any right to" speaker is the Advent 2002 which I just re-foamed. I picked them up for $8 at GW because I always wanted to try re-foaming a speaker and figured it would be no big loss if I screwed up. They are a 2-way speaker with an 8" paper woofer with foam surround and a paper cone tweeter (phenolic dome?). The sound blows me away for such a humble speaker. The imaging is incredible.

[Toolfan66]

RT55i's for me and I sold them..

[mantis]

I enjoyed the RT1000p's myself. I always liked the way they sounded for both music and theater. My Uncle still has my pair and I always enjoy going over there and listening to them. I liked them much better then the RT800's.

For me over the last few years , I can't seem to get rid of my Definitive Technology Mythos ST's. Every time I think I want new speakers , I listen to the ST's and think "Why do I want to get rid of these?". They are my overachievers.

[Dawgfish]

DCM Timeframes are like that with me. They are not the most detailed speakers nor do must of them have the bass slam that other speakers have. They are very musical though and just sound right. You don't find yourself picking apart the system, but instead get lost in the music.

[decal]

I have a pair of cheap outdoor speakers on my back porch that sound really good. I can't even remember what brand they are.

[organ]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, guys. It's so nice when all of a sudden you hear a pair of speakers in your rig that sounds way better than they have any right to lol. The RT speakers are superb when used with seperates and tube amps that can power them nicely.

Dskip,
Just checked out Usher's website. I'd like to audition those if I find a dealer. But I have no means of spending that much on a pair of speakers again. I've been "out of the game" for a while now. I feel I'm already there with all the stuff I have now on rotation. I've spent way too much on audio since the early 90's. The game is over for me. The only speakers I'm looking out for at the moment are used RT3000p/i and the B&W Matrix 802. Both should be $1000 max in the used market. But interesting to know there is something with similar voicing to the older RT line. The thing I like most about the older RT line is the warmer and thicker/richer sound. I also love the older tri-lam tweeters. I feel the "i" version with blue mids and upgraded tri-lams sound thinner and more transparent. And the highs more laid back than the older RT's. I like the thicker and brighter sound of the older ones.
Good to hear you're keeping the 3000's. That's the only model from Polk's powered towers I haven't heard.

Dan,
Good to hear your 1000's are still being used. You helped me out on them back in the day. But by the time I was ready to purchase, the store only had the 800's. I lived with them for a few years and got the 1000's years later for "nostalgic" reasons but I didn't expect them to sound this good in my room. Like you, I also prefer the 1000's. Cleaner and more dynamic mids.
Enjoy your Def Tech's man. I still want to hear the bipole towers. The bipole sound is so different and interesting. I had big Mirage bipoles for a while.

[DSkip]

Luck of the draw man. I was able to pick up mine for a hell of a price off craigslist. I'm thinking I might do a trade-in on the MD1's with some cash in hand, but I gotta get the cash first. If you're looking at $1k price point, the 6 series is a definite maybe on the used market. The only problem is availability in your area. I'm lucky enough to have a dealer in Dallas.

[ken brydson]

I've got a pair of RTA8t's in my semi vintage office rig that sound much better that the $30 I paid for them at a garage sale would indicate. Powered by a old Marantz 2252B receiver, a Sony CDP-C8ESD, and a Kenwood KD-2070 TT....

[cnh]

I'll tell you a little speaker that surprised me for $10 (of course it was bought used; thrown in with a set of EPI 120Cs), the Wharfedale Denton II. Small box, two way (7-8" woofer, paper cone tweeter with cloth shield). Low power (25 watts or so). Let me tell you, nothing "spectacular" but VERY competent and unbeatable at ten bucks! Best 10 I ever spent.

cnh

[wkjeffers]

JBL L5's with a $100 used B&K st140 amp and a $10 goodwill find crown preamp, my buddy has a system that sounds better than my $5000 rig. I loaned him the B&K and it sounds so good I told him just to keep it.